DVR 522 Audio Sync - Dish is not aware of the issue!!

[LanMan]

I just called Dish and they are only aware of an issue with the audio being out of sync when a timer kicks off in the background. I am experiencing the audio sync issue VERY often and not when timers are kicking off in the background. It happens when I am watching a pre-recorded program and I skip forward or when I do nothing at all the audio drops out for a second and comes back out of sync! A reboot makes the issue go away for a while only to return later.

In other words they are not working on a fix for this issue!!!

If you are experiencing audio sync problems PLEASE help all of us by calling 1-800-333-DISH and asking tech support to open an "Uncommon Trend Report". If they receive enough of them they will realize home common the issue really is. I have 4 friends that have received their 522's in the last 2 weeks and everyone of them experience the audio sync issue daily.

Please call them as soon as possible, you will have to be in front of your receiver for the boot strap version and other information.

Thank you for your help,

Dan

[OakIsle]

I had a new 522 installed Friday morning, Feb. 11th. I noticed audio problems that night but thought the problem was I had not had the programming updated at that time. I called Dish on Saturday to get my onscreen programming updated, and after a few misses, they finally got the 522 to download. That however did not resolve the out of sync issues.

I also have a new problem with my 522 that I haven't seen listed here. I have white dots running about 1" from the right side of my screen from top to bottom. They appear on two different tv's I have hooked to the new 522. They only appear on tuner 1. Whether I am in single or dual mode, only tuner 1 has the dots. I have 2 other 508's in my home and neither on of those have those dots. I called DISH and tech support said they have no reports of problems that match mine. DISH is sending someone to my home tomorrow to resolve the issue.
I will call DISH back again today to make sure they are aware of my audio problems also.

[Strunked]

I used to have the audio sync problem on my 522 on a daily basis. Ever since I got the software update with the NBR I have only had the problem maybe one or two times. That update seemed to fix it for me.

[David M]

Same problem here, audio goes out of sync, skip back will fix the problem for a while but it appears to be another software bug.

[deckard7]

I think it's good to file official complaints and reports about the 522 because the squeeky wheel does get the grease, but after talking to several Dish Network customer service/tech support (as well as installers), I've found that there are two types of employees:

The ones who, for sales purposes and trying to maintain a good reputation for Dish Network, will purposely act totally ignorant of the 522's bugs as if they have never heard of anyone having any problems with the DVR.

Then there are those who will freely admit that audio synch/drop-outs & video piexlation/freeze-ups are common with the 522 DVR. These are the employees who say, "Oh, yeah, my 522 does the same things as yours, but the next software update should fix all the bugs."

Who knows? Maybe the DN Quality Control Dept who is responsible for refining the 522 is unaware of some of these problems? It certainly is taking them a long time to address these issues. Let the complaining begin!
:flaiming :soapbox: :rant:

[chaddux]

Low-level tech support may not be aware of it but it is a very well known issue with the software engineering department. I don't know why they can't fix it but they are aware it is still present.

[llunken777]

All of us who are having these video audio problems with our 522 need to relentlessly flood Dish support with phone calls until the problem is resolved. Eventually they will have to do something. No wonder they wanted $99 and 1 or 2 year lease agreement up front to trap us into having keeping the faulty units. I refused to sign the lease agreement so they waive the normal lease contract to a month-to-month basis. I have a replacement 522 RA to be delivered this week hopefully this one will work.

[LanMan]

Just make sure that you don't just call in and talk to a CSR, insist that they open an "Uncommon Trend Report".

Dan

[OakIsle]

On Tuesday Feb. 15th I had my 522 changed out for a new one. The white dots that ran in a straight line from the top of the screen to the bottom disappeared.
I then put the new unit to the test regarding the audio sync problems. For a couple of hours I periodically paused and skipped forwards and backwards to see if I could get the unit off track. I must have tried doing that about 25 times. The unit was rock solid for at least one night. Most of my testing was on a pre-recorded movie.
I don't know what to think yet. My previous unit got off track everytime I paused it on a pre-recorded show.
Prior to the service tech leaving he made sure the unit downloaded the programming. Everything downloaded except the networks schedule starting 3 hours and beyond. This happened when my first 522 was installed and DN instructed me to test my switches to see if after doing that the unit would download the rest. It worked the first time so I tried it again. I tested the switches and it came up with a red box error on Port 3. Instead of getting 4 OK green boxes, I received 2 green boxes on the left side and 1 red x and 1 OK green box on the right side. I ran the test a second time and received 4 OK's the second time. Anyone ever get failed switch results that corrected themselves the 2nd time around?
Anyway, I will let you know if my new 522 develops any problems.

[LanMan]

Make sure that you call 1-800-333-DISH and ask tech support to open an "Uncommon Trend Report".

Dan

[OakIsle]

The audio sync issue is back. I called DISH this evening. The tech owns a 522 and said he has not had a problem yet. The tech however, has heard of the problem. He said DISH is working on it. I told him to open an"Uncommon Trend Report". He said DISH feels it is a software problem and they are working "feverishly" on fixing it. He thought he might not have the audio sync problem because he has not updated his software. Hmmm....
Anyway, I will let you know what I hear from DISH. I will be calling them every other day till this is resolved.

[OakIsle]

Well, I have had the new 522 for 12 days. I have had an audio sync problem on recorded shows since day 2 (when I pause or go back), but last night it started dropping audio during playback. The audio goes silent for about 1 second and then returns out of sync with the picture. If I go back and replay it, the problem occurs everytime. This is obviously a recording problem with the 522.
Have you heard of many others with this issue? It's very annoying. Although I thought it was happening with live t.v., I think now it is only with pre-recorded shows. I will continue to call tech support in order to get this corrected. If you hear of a fix otherwise, please let me know.

[CopyChief]

I've talked to Dish and e-mailed them several times, although I haven't done in the Uncommon Trend Report. They seem to know about it, but I haven't seen any results.

Ironically, the audio sync, even on Live TV, seems worst on the Dish info channel. It's also particularly bad on CNN and CNN/HN, even on live TV.

Last night, watching something that was recorded from a local network feed, I had several dropped audio but luckily it never went out of sync. I must say that's rare.

[LanMan]

I still experience the problem nightly, some nights are worse than others.

If you are experiencing the audio sync problems PLEASE help all of us by calling 1-800-333-DISH and asking tech support to open an "Uncommon Trend Report".

Again, they are aware of an audio issue when a timer fires off in the background but that is not what we are experiencing.

Thank again for your help.

Dan

[one918]

Wow, I have an Dish install scheduled for 03/01 was going to switch from DirecTV. May postpone it for a while now.

[its2loud]

Definitely beware of low level tech support. They are basically there to just weed out the customers who will take anything for an answer. I called the other day to complain about local channel info in the program guide not being updated. It only showed about an hour worth of info. The first rep I got on the phone tried to tell me the 522 only shows about an hours worth of local channel info at a time. What a crock of S--t! I told him that wasn't true and asked to be transfered to high level tech support were they were able to solve my problem. Don't ever believe the first thing these people tell. we must fight for the truth!!

[OakIsle]

Just an update on my 2nd 522 changed out on Feb. 15th. The 1st one installed on Feb 11th failed the day after installation as did this one. The audio sync problem occurs whenever I pause, skip back or go forward on pre-recorded shows. I get tired of seeing people speak and then hearing them talk a half second later.

This is very aggravating. Anyone have any news on this issue?

[LanMan]

I have experienced very few nights where I do not have any of the audio sync issues.

[rabiddbstalk]

I had this problem with my first 522 I installed last summer. It also seemed to be over heating as the colors would wash out when it was recording two programs at once. I put it on a shelf by itself and that helped some. I finally had the thing replaced with a refurb and it has been much better. At first it did it some what but lately it hasn't done it at all. I really don't know what the problem is - hardware or software.

[CopyChief]

I talked to Dish last week about all these 522 issues, and received a response that they are aware of the problems and the software to fix it all should be out on March 15. The CSR kind of chuckled and said the engineers might be unrealistic, but it should be out soon. Specifically, they're looking to fix audio drops and sync problems. I know we've heard this before, but I'm interested to see what happens.

[OakIsle]

It does need to be fixed now. Not later.

Unlike my 501's or 508's I have had, the 522 reacts differently when you press pause. As soon as I hit the pause button the screen freezes but the audio continues for up to a second. I then ask myself whether I should hit the pause button again or hit the play button to return to viewing as to better my chances of not having the audio sync issue.

The continued audio after the screen freezes is very pronounced.

It would be nice if they could get the 522 as bullet proof as my other units have been.

[llunken777]

I talked to Dish last week about all these 522 issues, and received a response that they are aware of the problems and the software to fix it all should be out on March 15. The CSR kind of chuckled and said the engineers might be unrealistic, but it= should be out soon. Specifically, they're looking to fix audio drops and sync problems. I know we've heard this before, but I'm interested to see what happens.

I called Dish last night and the tech told me that March 15th was the original release date for the fix, which has obviously come and gone. But he said that means they are very close to a fix.

[maximum]

Hopefully they are taking their time to make sure the fix doesn't cause any new problems. If that's what is taking so long, I'm willing to wait.

Dish, take your time and do it right. :computer:

[OakIsle]

Software update? My 522 is worse than before.

I've been getting more dropouts and audio sync problems than ever before. I find it's happening on pre-recorded shows rather than live tv, however it's dropping the audio, going out of sync and digitizing so much so that my wife turned off the show she wanted to watch because of it.

I watch a lot of shows on the Fox network so I notice the most problems with their shows. Has anyone else noticed more problems on one network vs. another?

This is VERY annoying. My 501 is bullet proof. Never an issue no matter how many times I hit the back button or pause it.

[Jacob S]

I have noticed some improvement with the DVR functionality on the 522 lately.

[LanMan]

I have noticed very little improvement if any since the software upgrade. The audio sync still happens nightly to me and the 5 friends of mine that have the 522. I called Dish and they immediately admitted that people are still experiencing the problem and they were told to make sure that they filled out an "Uncommon trend report" for all people that called in that still have the problem.

I would recommend that everyone call Dish again and let them know they are still experiencing the audio sync issue and have them fillout an "Uncommon trend report".


Dan