Weird audio w/622 and HD broadcasts

[SteveinDanville]

I've had this problem for a while, but finally decided it's driving me crazy... I run my 622's audio through an optical cable to my Yamaha HTR-5280, and HDMI direct to my plasma. When all the VOOM channels came over in the HD package, and when the local stations here in the San Francisco Bay area started broadcasting in HD, I started experiencing a terrible soundfield effect. Network shows come through in beautiful 5.1 sound, but the local programming and many of the VOOM channels have a weird 5-channel stereo effect with an obvious delay from front to back that makes it sound as if my family room is actually a huge concert hall. No distinct center channel effect, just echo-y sound coming from all five speakers. I have no delay dialed into my soundstage, yet this is how the sound comes through! Is this an uplink problem? I'm frustrated, because it will actually change when a network show goes to commercial (local, not national). Is this happening with anybody else?

[Ron Barry]

Hmmm.. I have not noticed it. MY understanding is that E* just passes on the DD so I am not sure. Is there a specific program and channel where you see this effect or is it random?

[Curmudgeon]

I've had this problem for a while, but finally decided it's driving me crazy... I run my 622's audio through an optical cable to my Yamaha HTR-5280, and HDMI direct to my plasma. When all the VOOM channels came over in the HD package, and when the local stations here in the San Francisco Bay area started broadcasting in HD, I started experiencing a terrible soundfield effect. Network shows come through in beautiful 5.1 sound, but the local programming and many of the VOOM channels have a weird 5-channel stereo effect with an obvious delay from front to back that makes it sound as if my family room is actually a huge concert hall. No distinct center channel effect, just echo-y sound coming from all five speakers. I have no delay dialed into my soundstage, yet this is how the sound comes through! Is this an uplink problem? I'm frustrated, because it will actually change when a network show goes to commercial (local, not national). Is this happening with anybody else?

It happens with the "effects" you have set up on your Yammy...local and most sat audio signals are NOT DD 5.1....they are likely -at best-plain vanilla stereo. Your receiver misinterprets those signals and does the echo-y concert hall thing.
You'll have to manually change from the DD5.1 effects (general, theater, spectacle, etc) to something like the pro-logic normal effect.

[SteveinDanville]

It happens with the "effects" you have set up on your Yammy...local and most sat audio signals are NOT DD 5.1....they are likely -at best-plain vanilla stereo. Your receiver misinterprets those signals and does the echo-y concert hall thing.
You'll have to manually change from the DD5.1 effects (general, theater, spectacle, etc) to something like the pro-logic normal effect.

I have my Yamaha set up to automatically detect a DD or DTS audio input and decode it accordingly. Yes, when a network show in DD5.1 goes to commercial, that's typically when the echo-y soundfield thing happens, along with some of the VOOM channels. Interestingly enough, the front panel on my Yamaha still says "DD5.1". When I set it to something simple like "Mono", there is still a little effect. None of this was happening before; it truly must be as you claim.