# Audio Crackling Noise



## thekochs (Oct 7, 2006)

I have both a HR20 and H20 (brand new) with the Oct 4th updates. My outputs are SP-DIF to my Yamaha/ Amp/Receiver. I have setting on settops to Dolby 5.1. For the local HD channels I hear alot of crackling noise. I've been playing around with this......going back and forth with my HR20 and H20 in the same room. The audio crackling happens on both receivers on HD local channels.....in either Dolby 5.1 or PCM setting. On my H20 where I do get OTA channels the crackling is still there. As soon as I tune into a HD channel like HBO or HDNet or other channel the sound is crystal clear. My previous HR10-250 and Sony HD300 were crystal clear....no other changes.

Has anyone seen this ? 

DirecTV Apps needs to look at this....something is most definitely wrong with their audio decoding.


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## pappys (Jul 27, 2006)

My Yamaha receiver has this same exact problem. What model do you have for the receiver? I have the HTR-5835. 

I find it a little annoying but I get over it. I am waiting for the wife to bring it up :nono: 

I didn't have this problem with the SD Tivo or the HR10-250, or at least to the degree that I get it now. I notice it a lot when the HD pic changes to SD for commercials, etc, or when certain graphics or color backgrounds (lots of white) come on the screen.


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## thekochs (Oct 7, 2006)

pappys said:


> My Yamaha receiver has this same exact problem. What model do you have for the receiver? I have the HTR-5835.
> 
> I find it a little annoying but I get over it. I am waiting for the wife to bring it up :nono:
> 
> I didn't have this problem with the SD Tivo or the HR10-250, or at least to the degree that I get it now. I notice it a lot when the HD pic changes to SD for commercials, etc, or when certain graphics or color backgrounds (lots of white) come on the screen.


I have the RX-V650. This is NOT an Amp/Receiver problem. This is a HR20/H20 MPEG-4 digital audio decode problem for sure. Like you my HR10-250 and Sony HD300 I had before was crystal clear. I'm running Component for video and TosLink SP-DIF for audio. I also have RCA out of these settops to other TVs and no noise. So, in my home theater room I have these settops thru a crosspoint switch (http://www.video-storm.com/proddetail.asp?prod=CSM42) so I can toggle between both settops. For the SD & HD local channels I get the crackling noise, when I go to say an HBO HD or other channels it stops. This happens identically on both of these settops which are the same box except for DVR. I've even taken the crosspoint switch out of the link and hooked up direct and same thing. Also, I have no noise from my DVD player, HTPC, et.c which all go thru the Yamaha RX-V650 thru TosLink. I even played some MPEG-4 video/audio thru the HTPC to the RX-V650 and no problem/noise. I changed the Dolby setting to ON/OFF in the settops and no change.

I assuming it is an MPEG-4 digital decode thing in the settops because of the above.

Have you tried any other amps/receivers to see if you still get the noise ?


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## pappys (Jul 27, 2006)

No, I haven't tried other receivers to check the noise. I don't have any others. I am connected through Optical and HDMI to my TV.

I have noticed it on my mpeg4 locals as well, and now I cant remember if it is on th e MPEG2 or SD channels right now. I will try to pay attention today.


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## thekochs (Oct 7, 2006)

pappys said:


> No, I haven't tried other receivers to check the noise. I don't have any others. I am connected through Optical and HDMI to my TV.
> 
> I have noticed it on my mpeg4 locals as well, and now I cant remember if it is on the MPEG2 or SD channels right now. I will try to pay attention today.


So, you are running both the optical and HDMI thru the Yamaha Receiver then to TV ? If so, can you run these straight from the settop to the TV bypassing the Yamaha and see if the noise is still there ? This will tell us if it is the Receiver or Settop for sure. If your TV doesn't take optical just use the HDMI since it also has digital compressed audio.

I'm going to play around with it today as well. Do you have your units set for Native ? I'm just wondering if the unit trying to change/monitor this signal effects audio ? Anyway, I'm going to change my Native setting to OFF and let the settop do the scaling to 1080i or 720p and see if this has any effect. I'd prefer my highend TVs and PJ to do the scaling but if this solves an audio problem short term...fine....just a thought.

Also, can you hookup RCA stereo jacks out of the settop and see if you hear the noise there ? I don't hear it on analog RCA.

Maybe we can isolate where the problem is. 

Also, another person having the problem:
http://forums.directv.com/pe/action...read?rootPostID=10164384&returnExpertiseCode=

Please call DirecTV and also send e:mail to tech support. The more folks that notify them the better chance for them to fix.


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## jedster (Sep 20, 2006)

thekochs said:


> I have both a HR20 and H20 (brand new) with the Oct 4th updates. My outputs are SP-DIF to my Yamaha/ Amp/Receiver. I have setting on settops to Dolby 5.1. For the local channels....HD & SD I hear alot of crackling noise. I've been playing around with this......going back and forth with my HR20 and H20 in the same room. The audio crackling happens on both receivers on HD & SD local channels.....in either Dolby 5.1 or PCM setting. On my H20 where I do get OTA channels the crackling is still there. As soon as I tune into a HD channel like HBO or HDNet or other channel the sound is crystal clear. My previous HR10-250 and Sony HD300 were crystal clear....no other changes.
> 
> Has anyone seen this ?
> 
> DirecTV Apps needs to look at this....something is most definitely wrong with their audio decoding.


Is this a minor "sparkling" or a severe "snapping and popping"? If it is severe and unlistenable, then I bet your box is bad. I had this problem and finally swapped out the offending receiver with one of my other HR20s. Problem gone. Called D* and they are sending a replacement for the bad box.

My advice: before you get too much stuff recorded on the box, call D* and demand a new one. Don't live with the problem. Replace the box.


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## thekochs (Oct 7, 2006)

jedster said:


> Is this a minor "sparkling" or a severe "snapping and popping"? If it is severe and unlistenable, then I bet your box is bad. I had this problem and finally swapped out the offending receiver with one of my other HR20s. Problem gone. Called D* and they are sending a replacement for the bad box.
> 
> My advice: before you get too much stuff recorded on the box, call D* and demand a new one. Don't live with the problem. Replace the box.


Well, it's hard to qualify....I'd say it is *intermediate* noise. There is no mistaking the crackling when it happens.....maybe 5-10 seconds....then many minutes, even half hour before it starts again. I'd say if the volume is a 10 the crackling is about a 3 or 4. I thought about what you said as well.....bad box....but it happens on both the new HR20 and H20 units I just got. Also, it *ONLY* happens on local HD channels.....if I switch over to HBO HD or other channels not crackling. So, I'm guessing the odds of two bad boxes...and both resolve if switching off HD local channels would be very very small chance. I'm guessing the better bet is MPEG-4 audio decode issue over digital/compressed. I see others have this problem with HDMI and of course that is same thing.

Can you please decribe the audio problem you had ? Also, your setup (eg. SPDIF, thru Receiver, etc.). Lastly, you said you have other HR20s that work fine ? I see from your signature (3) HR20s.....does this mean you had one with bad audio and others were fine under same setup/connection ?


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## w6fxj (Aug 10, 2005)

FWIIW I have had several instances of the cracking sound on my HR10-250 primary DVR in the last week or so. My recollection is that it was on one or two of the Los Angeles local HD stations in the channel 81 to 87 range. It appears to be related to DirecTV's attempt to reduce the amount of lip sync error. First it was a steady loud cracking sound that went on for several minutes. On later recordings it only occurred for a few seconds. The sound track appeared to stutter around the same time. Other times just a few cracks then OK. My connection was optical to my Sony AV receiver.


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## jedster (Sep 20, 2006)

thekochs said:


> Well, it's hard to qualify....I'd say it is *intermediate* noise. There is no mistaking the crackling when it happens.....maybe 5-10 seconds....then many minutes, even half hour before it starts again. I'd say if the volume is a 10 the crackling is about a 3 or 4. I thought about what you said as well.....bad box....but it happens on both the new HR20 and H20 units I just got. Also, it *ONLY* happens on local HD channels.....if I switch over to HBO HD or other channels not crackling. So, I'm guessing the odds of two bad boxes...and both resolve if switching off HD local channels would be very very small chance. I'm guessing the better bet is MPEG-4 audio decode issue over digital/compressed. I see others have this problem with HDMI and of course that is same thing.
> 
> Can you please decribe the audio problem you had ? Also, your setup (eg. SPDIF, thru Receiver, etc.). Lastly, you said you have other HR20s that work fine ? I see from your signature (3) HR20s.....does this mean you had one with bad audio and others were fine under same setup/connection ?


only one was bad in the way this one was bad. it was spdif to a sony receiver with hdmi passthrough to an sxrd (i.e., i need spdif for audio since the receiver can't decode hdmi).

the problem occured with spdif when i turned DD off and only output PCM; it also occured with the tv listening to the hdmi audio (receiver muted).

it was constant snapping and popping; you never could hear a complete sentence, and rarely a whole word.


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## thekochs (Oct 7, 2006)

w6fxj said:


> FWIIW I have had several instances of the cracking sound on my HR10-250 primary DVR in the last week or so. My recollection is that it was on one or two of the Los Angeles local HD stations in the channel 81 to 87 range. It appears to be related to DirecTV's attempt to reduce the amount of lip sync error. First it was a steady loud cracking sound that went on for several minutes. On later recordings it only occurred for a few seconds. The sound track appeared to stutter around the same time. Other times just a few cracks then OK. My connection was optical to my Sony AV receiver.


Hmmm.....so you think is was something D* was trying in their broadcast MPEG-4 encoding for locals ? 

FYI....I'm in Atlanta.


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## pappys (Jul 27, 2006)

Ok, quick reply today. I watched HD locals all day including the Bears game, Eagles game, Cards, and Steelers (what happened to my team?) and I did not notice 1 audio crack until the steelers game was just about to go to credits, then I heard it twice. I couldn't believe it was that rare yesterday. I thought for a minute that it may have been fixed.

Kochs, sorry, I didn't get a chance to hook up RCA to my receiver. I fractured a vertebrae in back last week, and bending obviously is an issue, so I didn't want to get back there...

Also, my HDMI goes to my plasma, not me receiver, only the optical to the receiver. My plasma speakers are unplugged, so I didn't check speaker volume to see if it happens.


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## thekochs (Oct 7, 2006)

Well, I'm sure hoping that w6fxj is correct in this thread since he heard this on a HR10-250 and that _ It appears to be related to DirecTV's attempt to reduce the amount of lip sync error. _ I can live with D* playing with stuff to improve but wish they would let folks know so we don't go ripping our setups apart and call customer service for new boxes. :nono2:

Also, just curious if your Display Setting is set to Native ON ?

FYI....thread on DirecTV Forum talking about this.
http://forums.directv.com/pe/action...read?returnExpertiseCode=&rootPostID=10164384


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## w6fxj (Aug 10, 2005)

thekochs said:


> Hmmm.....so you think is was something D* was trying in their broadcast MPEG-4 encoding for locals ?
> 
> FYI....I'm in Atlanta.


No, the cracking I encountered was on MPEG2 channels (HR10-250 will not receive MPEG4). I believe it could happen on ANY DirecTV HD channel and MAY be related to DirecTV's lip sync problems.


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## pappys (Jul 27, 2006)

thekochs said:


> Also, just curious if your Display Setting is set to Native ON ?
> 
> FYI....thread on DirecTV Forum talking about this.
> http://forums.directv.com/pe/action...read?returnExpertiseCode=&rootPostID=10164384


No, native is off. WAF would not like 5 seconds between channel changes, LOL.


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## thekochs (Oct 7, 2006)

pappys said:


> No, native is off. WAF would not like 5 seconds between channel changes, LOL.


Hmmmm......I was wondering if the "delay" caused an issue since it sounds like D* has an issue with lip sync. I was just wondering if this exrta NATIVE "delay" caused more problems in audio. Personally, I believe to leave Native ON to passthrough the image and let my PJ or TV do the scaling. I personally call on settop box makers here is Atlanta (eg. Scientific Atlanta and Motorola/BCS) and they choose components by cost not quality. These boxes are made to be cheap....so my theory is who has the better scaling/de-interlace devices....a $2,000 TV or a $200 settop box.

Anyway, question......what is the reason for the delay on the Native mode ?

Thanks.


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## immax45 (Oct 2, 2006)

FWIW, I am experiencing similar crackling/popping on my set. I am using only an HDMI cable out to my Denon 4306 receiver. Given the HDMI/audio issues I’ve had with my HR10-250, I was getting ready to try a separate optical cable for audio, thanks for saving me that hassle. The problem seems to be only on the MPEG-4 locals for me, not on HDNet/ESPNHD, etc. If anyone finds a fix, please post it. Thanks – immax45


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## thekochs (Oct 7, 2006)

immax45 said:


> FWIW, I am experiencing similar crackling/popping on my set. I am using only an HDMI cable out to my Denon 4306 receiver. Given the HDMI/audio issues I've had with my HR10-250, I was getting ready to try a separate optical cable for audio, thanks for saving me that hassle. The problem seems to be only on the MPEG-4 locals for me, not on HDNet/ESPNHD, etc. If anyone finds a fix, please post it. Thanks - immax45


I'm a little confused.....your HR10-250 gets local HD channels ? I ask because the HR10-250 does not support HD locals MPEG-4 broadcasts....HR20 does.

How long does the noise last ? How frequent ? How often have you heard lately ? Is the audio still understandable thru the noise ? I'm just trying to pin down some commonality of the problems. So far it looks like folks have a catastrophic noise issue that full sentences, etc. are garbled then there are others thru digital HMDI or SPDIF audio (with or without Receivers) that have intermitant crackling/popping.

Thanks !


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## Stuart Sweet (Jun 19, 2006)

I had my first real experience with this while watching the 10/1 episode of Desparate Housewives. For about 30 seconds all dialogue was replaced with loud pops that stopped during pauses in the dialogue. The only other pops I've had were some minor ones that weren't terribly distracting, but always during ABC programs. I wonder if this is the fault of the HD network feeds themselves...

May I ask, thekochs, if you remember if you were watching ABC programs when you heard the problem?


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## dthoman (Aug 22, 2006)

I do get the cracking or poping audio sound. Very intermitted and not that anoying. I just waiting for DTV to fix it with another update.


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## thekochs (Oct 7, 2006)

lamontcranston said:


> I had my first real experience with this while watching the 10/1 episode of Desparate Housewives. For about 30 seconds all dialogue was replaced with loud pops that stopped during pauses in the dialogue. The only other pops I've had were some minor ones that weren't terribly distracting, but always during ABC programs. I wonder if this is the fault of the HD network feeds themselves...
> 
> May I ask, thekochs, if you remember if you were watching ABC programs when you heard the problem?


It was ABC and other local HD channels as well. I literally sat there flipping between channels and HR20 and H20 settops.....since I have a crosspoint switch it is easy to do. For any local HD channels I would get the crackling/popping and as soon as I changed to another non-local HD channel....basically not MPEG-4 it went away. This happened on both settops.


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## Stuart Sweet (Jun 19, 2006)

I guess I'm lucky that I'm only getting it on one channel.


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## thekochs (Oct 7, 2006)

lamontcranston said:


> I guess I'm lucky that I'm only getting it on one channel.


 Or that you've only heard. 

Anyway, like the others I've told....DirecTV can't fix a problem they don't know about. Please go to their website and under support send them an e:mail describing the audio crackling problem. The more of us that send this in the faster the next download may have a fix. 

Thanks !


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## pappys (Jul 27, 2006)

thekochs said:


> Hmmmm......I was wondering if the "delay" caused an issue since it sounds like D* has an issue with lip sync. I was just wondering if this exrta NATIVE "delay" caused more problems in audio. Personally, I believe to leave Native ON to passthrough the image and let my PJ or TV do the scaling. I personally call on settop box makers here is Atlanta (eg. Scientific Atlanta and Motorola/BCS) and they choose components by cost not quality. These boxes are made to be cheap....so my theory is who has the better scaling/de-interlace devices....a $2,000 TV or a $200 settop box.
> 
> Anyway, question......what is the reason for the delay on the Native mode ?
> 
> Thanks.


kochs, I think you were reading too deeply into my comment, sorry. I only meant that my wife would not like to have each channel press wait the time for the box to find the correct output display (i.e. 480, 720, 1080) and switch them continuously between channels. That takes more time that leaving the box in 1080 (for me) and then living with the results.

Maybe I should test her on it.

Ok, tonight: Watched several shows. It seems to me that the issue occurs MOSTLY during the switch from/to a local commercial to/from the national feed. Every local affiliate is given time during shows to show local ads, be it car ads, local news, etc. It is very easy to see this if your local news comes on and it pops as their ad starts or ends. Sometimes they wrap the news around 2 local commercials, but I think I have it down to that. I don't really notice it during the actual broadcast. If I did in the past, I don't remember, but I didn't notice it during the show on Heroes, or Christine, the Class, etc.


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## Stuart Sweet (Jun 19, 2006)

As far as cracks or pops going from commercials to programs, I wonder if D* is really the culprit here. From what I've been told, it's necessary at a lot of stations to physically flip a switch to go from upsampled SD (as most commercials are) to HD. I was surprised to find out from someone who knows that this happens even in very large markets like LA and Chicago. I'd be interested to see if the pops are there in OTA broadcasts. It's also possible they are there but something in DirecTV's compression/decompression is making them more noticeable. 

Personally I'll ignore a little cracking or popping in commercial breaks or even a stray pop in regular programming. The one incident I alluded to earlier, that was really annoying, but it was only one incident and hasn't happened since.


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## spidey (Sep 1, 2006)

last night one receiver got to the point the audio on all channels was bad. reset unti still bad so shut off TV and rcvr for the evening all ok this AM. I didnt have antenna or any other input to verify it wasnt TV issue since it is a brand new Westinghouse LCD TV. Anybody else see audio bad on all channels???


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## immax45 (Oct 2, 2006)

thekochs said:


> I'm a little confused.....your HR10-250 gets local HD channels ? I ask because the HR10-250 does not support HD locals MPEG-4 broadcasts....HR20 does.
> 
> How long does the noise last ? How frequent ? How often have you heard lately ? Is the audio still understandable thru the noise ? I'm just trying to pin down some commonality of the problems. So far it looks like folks have a catastrophic noise issue that full sentences, etc. are garbled then there are others thru digital HMDI or SPDIF audio (with or without Receivers) that have intermitant crackling/popping.
> 
> Thanks !


Sorry, I really was not clear. I have both a new HR20 and an old HR10. The 10 frustrated me because it did not pass the 5.1DD through the HDMI cable, easily remedied with an optical cable (but after paying $500 for the 10, it was a little hard to swallow another $70 for an optical cable). I get all of my locals OTA when it's not windy, except Fox which I never get. Since it's always windy when my wife watches her shows  and most of the sports I enjoy are on Fox, I got the 20 (and after a $20 credit for the missed appointment by the installer, DTV ended up giving me $18 to take the unit off their hands).

My crackling noise is pretty random, lasts for 5-30 seconds and is more like static. Only happens on the MPEG4 locals on the HR20. It happened a lot on Sunday (sports), but I can't recall it happening at all with CBS last night and we watched for almost 2 hrs. On Sunday, I would estimate that during 2 hours of actual football viewing, total crackling noise was 10-15 minutes. We exclusively record shows and watch them delayed to avoid commercials, so I can't speak to whether it only happens on recordings or live tv. I hope that helps, thanks for the effort.


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## thekochs (Oct 7, 2006)

Well, I spent alot of time last night watching channels and looking for noise, etc. What I found was noise crackling and dropouts with ABC local HD. The other channels, including ABC SD or ABC HD OTA were fine. Also, very strange but if I recorded the ABC local HD program and saw noise and/or drop-outs during the realtime airing of the show then wnet back and watched the recording the noise and drops were gone !!!! Wow ! So, I'm no expert but I'm guessing either ABC local HD, it's encoding, D* pickup, etc. of the MPEG-4 local HD is the problem.

Also, my box is now freezing during DVR playback....it seems the video keeps going but the picture freezes on a frame. I have to exit out of the menu, enter back into the playing movie to see again. Any links on this ? Is this HR20 a bad box or is the HR20 just not a good design/solid as of yet ?


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## pdawg17 (Jul 17, 2006)

I have an HR10-250 and I have been getting "static" popping out of my speakers with SD D* channels ONLY (the opposite as most of you)...and to clarify, it happens during a program - not when switching from commercials or anything like that...I can even hear it a little when on the HR10's menu...DD channels (including OTA) is fine...I don't mean to confuse the situation but this is what is happening with me...

It started about a month ago and lasted for a couple of weeks...now starting today it is happening again...I cannot connect my speakers to the tv (to troubleshoot) as I have a Panny 9UK (no speakers)...


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## thekochs (Oct 7, 2006)

pdawg17 said:


> I have an HR10-250 and I have been getting "static" popping out of my speakers with SD D* channels ONLY (the opposite as most of you)...and to clarify, it happens during a program - not when switching from commercials or anything like that...I can even hear it a little when on the HR10's menu...DD channels (including OTA) is fine...I don't mean to confuse the situation but this is what is happening with me...
> 
> It started about a month ago and lasted for a couple of weeks...now starting today it is happening again...I cannot connect my speakers to the tv (to troubleshoot) as I have a Panny 9UK (no speakers)...


Out of curiosity how is the audio hooked up ? Is it digital audio to e Receiver thru opitcal SP-DIF/TosLink by chance ?


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## vlj9r (Nov 23, 2005)

thekochs said:


> I have both a HR20 and H20 (brand new) with the Oct 4th updates. My outputs are SP-DIF to my Yamaha/ Amp/Receiver. I have setting on settops to Dolby 5.1. For the local HD channels I hear alot of crackling noise. I've been playing around with this......going back and forth with my HR20 and H20 in the same room. The audio crackling happens on both receivers on HD local channels.....in either Dolby 5.1 or PCM setting. On my H20 where I do get OTA channels the crackling is still there. As soon as I tune into a HD channel like HBO or HDNet or other channel the sound is crystal clear. My previous HR10-250 and Sony HD300 were crystal clear....no other changes.
> 
> Has anyone seen this ?
> 
> DirecTV Apps needs to look at this....something is most definitely wrong with their audio decoding.


I hear the crackling thru the speakers of my Sony KDSR60XBR1.

One more annoying thing to deal with from DTV.


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## pdawg17 (Jul 17, 2006)

thekochs said:


> Out of curiosity how is the audio hooked up ? Is it digital audio to e Receiver thru opitcal SP-DIF/TosLink by chance ?


Actually, I can reproduce it with either the TosLink or red/whites...


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## thekochs (Oct 7, 2006)

vlj9r said:


> I hear the crackling thru the speakers of my Sony KDSR60XBR1.


I assume HR20 ? How do you have this audio hooked up ? Red/White RCA or Digital TosLink/SP-DIF ? Which channels....ABC only....or others ?


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## pappys (Jul 27, 2006)

thekochs said:


> Well, I spent alot of time last night watching channels and looking for noise, etc. What I found was noise crackling and dropouts with ABC local HD. The other channels, including ABC SD or ABC HD OTA were fine. Also, very strange but if I recorded the ABC local HD program and saw noise and/or drop-outs during the realtime airing of the show then wnet back and watched the recording the noise and drops were gone !!!! Wow ! So, I'm no expert but I'm guessing either ABC local HD, it's encoding, D* pickup, etc. of the MPEG-4 local HD is the problem.
> 
> Also, my box is now freezing during DVR playback....it seems the video keeps going but the picture freezes on a frame. I have to exit out of the menu, enter back into the playing movie to see again. Any links on this ? Is this HR20 a bad box or is the HR20 just not a good design/solid as of yet ?


I had watched most of the weekend and ruled out Fox as being a problem for the audio crackling. I do know ABC is a culprit. I don't know about NBC or CBS anymore.

Also, my box froze the other nite watching the shining on ppv during pvr playback, ust like you mentioned. Audio kept going but the video stopped. Once I stopped it and re-entered the program, I was fine.


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## thekochs (Oct 7, 2006)

So it is sounding like the audio crackling/noise is either a ABC or DirecTV encoding issue not the sound card in the box ? Earl ?


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## dervari (Dec 1, 2005)

I don't think it's an ABC issue. I heard it for the first time during "The Unit" on CBS last night.


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## Jon D (Oct 12, 2006)

I had the crackeling all through CSI:Miami Monday night. Heard it through both the HDMI to the TV AND the fiber to the receiver. Sounds like an encoding/decoding issue.


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## thekochs (Oct 7, 2006)

Jon D said:


> I had the crackeling all through CSI:Miami Monday night. Heard it through both the HDMI to the TV AND the fiber to the receiver. Sounds like an encoding/decoding issue.


The HDMI to the TV and the fiber are both compressed digital audio. Other posters have said they don't hear this on analog RCA.....just FYI. My concern is that if this is true then it might be a HR20 sound card issue internal....not a encode/decode and/or firmware and/or lip sync artifact issue. I'm hoping somebody has a way to try both analog and digital audio and reproduce with some consistancy.

Obviously, have to check after new firmware update....however there is no acknowledgement by D* or Earl that audio noise is a known firmware/encode/decode bug.


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## pattcap (Sep 24, 2006)

dervari said:


> I don't think it's an ABC issue. I heard it for the first time during "The Unit" on CBS last night.


Using HDMI to the TV, but use Optical out to the stereo for 5.1.

I notice it mostly on the Local HD channels, I am in Atlanta, but I don't record much off the other HD channels.

The best way for me to describe it....it seem to come at somewhat regular intervals, like 3 to 5 min after I stop Fast Forwarding (Oops, I forgot, that doesn't work right now) 30-second slipping.
So 3-5 min after it starts playing is when it happens.

It seems like there is a Hiccup in the playback that results in digital audio corruption, and it takes 2-4 seconds for the audio decoder to get back on track.

Note, with my Hughes Direct Tivo I used the optical out. upon the resumption of play, there was about a 2 second audio delay as the optical output had to "catch up" or something like that.

My guess is that sometimes the whole thing starts to fall behind or something, maybe it gets a bad "bit" and that messes it up. Then it adjusts its self and you always miss a critical line or comment in the show....


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## thekochs (Oct 7, 2006)

pattcap said:


> Using HDMI to the TV, but use Optical out to the stereo for 5.1.
> 
> I notice it mostly on the Local HD channels, I am in Atlanta, but I don't record much off the other HD channels.
> 
> ...


I hear it on* live *TV...HD locals.....in Atlanta too. The playback audio anomoly I hear is a dropout. The live problem is a crackling/static noise.


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## dervari (Dec 1, 2005)

Getting crackling noises during Jericho tonight. Also, 5.1 processor keeps doing Dialog Normalization.


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## pattcap (Sep 24, 2006)

dervari said:


> Getting crackling noises during Jericho tonight. Also, 5.1 processor keeps doing Dialog Normalization.


It was wicked bad watching Jericho for me last night too, on 5.1 optical through the stereo

It must have been the broadcast and or something along the conversion route


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## thekochs (Oct 7, 2006)

pattcap said:


> It was wicked bad watching Jericho for me last night too, on 5.1 optical through the stereo
> 
> It must have been the broadcast and or something along the conversion route


Curous, Native ON or OFF ? As an experiment next time you have a program that has alot of this noise go ahead and toggle Native to opposite setting and see if it helps. I know this is hard because who knows if the noise just doesn't appear going forward or if this really helps.


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## Flores (Nov 25, 2006)

I'm having the audio drop out and chirping noise on my HR20 as well...

on channel 74, watching apolo 13, Switching from DD to PCM gets me the drop outs and chirping.

Offdly enough, watching locals via the dish (Houston market) doesnt have this problem. 

As I know the HDMI set in the bedroom (which has also been suffering the exact same audio dropouts and chirps/pops) only supports PCM, I'm begining to think there are some issues with the PCM audio on my box.

Anyone else have a way to test this?

Also, I tried switching native to off, no availe. same ole issue.

this is with both monitors set to 1080i (main system is component + optical to a sony, bedroom system is an Akai LCD flat panel with an HDMI input.)


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## mgcsooner (Dec 18, 2004)

Yes I was getting some sever snapping/popping sounds as loud or louder than the audio track on MPEG4 locals---bad case on WFAA and FPX locally here in Metroplex. Sound was on TOS link feed and HDMI --reran buffer through and began at the same place--maybe some kind of an MPEG4 decoding hiccup? Does not seem to be hardware at all.


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## Steady Teddy (Jan 23, 2007)

It looks like I'm a bit late on this topic but, being a new member, I found this thread through a search because I've been having this problem around the same time this thread was started.

I wouldn't describe the noise as "crackling" but rather a *loud* popping. I also have a Yamaha AV receiver (DSP-A1) but the popping only occurs if I switch from a SD channel to ANY and ALL DD 5.1 channels, whether it be OTA or Sat.

The popping occurs on both my HR20 & HR10-250. Both receivers are hooked up via toslink to my Yamaha. I also have Comcast basic but the QAM tuner in my Panny 600U & Sony XBR3 can _occasionally_ pick up local digital. There is no popping noise when switching back and forth from SD to digital when watching Comcast so I know the problem is not originating from the receiver.

For me, the popping noise started after the *first* HR10-250 6.3 update. But it also starting happening in the HR20 shortly after. Two different software updates for two different pieces of hardware causing the same problem?

I was hoping that perhaps this problem would have been fixed with an update by now but it's still there in both the HR20 & HR10-250. I still have to leave the audio settings to PCM out, otherwise I'll need a new set of speakers.

Native on or off makes no difference.

Am I the only one still with this problem?


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## thekochs (Oct 7, 2006)

Mine has reduced alot but I also changed from DD to 7 speaker stereo on my Amp....got tired of waiting for this to get addressed. I have Yamaha YX-V650 amp.....Toslink to it.


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## JamesTPDI (Jan 4, 2007)

I still have this problem. Anytime the HR20 goes to DD5.1 I get a big pop (makes you jump) in my JVC Amp connected by Tosslink. The LG plasma thru HDMI does not get the pop.

A secondary sign of Tosslink audio problems (ox11b) is when running networked music sometimes at the end of a song the Tosslink will stop output and the HDMI continues. Pause and unpause and the Tosslink output is back.


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## sarfdawg (Jan 21, 2007)

I was experiencing some popping, maybe once a week. Then it turned into once a day. Now it is happening more than once an hour, and it is louder than ever. In fact, the popping now is so loud that it is tripping my audio receiver (Sony) into "protector" mode. 

I have the HR20 connected to the Sony receiver via optical.

Any thoughts anyone, particularly now that it has gotten far worse?

Thanks!
Jack


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## jrodfoo (Apr 9, 2007)

That's odd, I just got my HR20-100S back on April 14th, Had some audio crackling, robotic sounding on the Local HD channels, since the past update that was released on april 21st, Haven't had any audio issues like that since the update, luckily. I'll keep an eye on it.


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## buckeyeb (Feb 18, 2007)

I too had the audio popping issue on HD channels only. I tried HDMI and component cables, Native on and off, and replayed the same scene and found the audio issues did not always happen at the same moment.

I had Directv send a refurb unit and now everything works great. 

My suggestion is that if you have been able to rule out cabling, audio equipment, and recption that you give replacement a try. Good luck!


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## sarfdawg (Jan 21, 2007)

buckeyeb said:


> I too had the audio popping issue on HD channels only. I tried HDMI and component cables, Native on and off, and replayed the same scene and found the audio issues did not always happen at the same moment.
> 
> I had Directv send a refurb unit and now everything works great.
> 
> My suggestion is that if you have been able to rule out cabling, audio equipment, and recption that you give replacement a try. Good luck!


Thanks! I have a tech coming out today, but I fear it's going to be like taking a car to a mechanic and trying to make the car "make that noise." If it doesn't happen while he's there, it's going to be hard to diagnose.

I had thought of canceling the service call, but I'd rather be safe than sorry. Replacing an audio receiver when the HR20 could be the problem is not very appealing...


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