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On which channels do you have audio dropouts?

195K views 933 replies 267 participants last post by  Rich 
#1 ·
Seems like a good time to get a list of which HD MPEG-4 channels are still giving problems.

So, it's fairly well known that there are problems with the SAT feed that gives us audio dropouts on all MPEG-4 receivers with Dolby 5.1.
These dropouts have nothing to do with the hardware on our end, regardless of what DirecTV customer service may try to tell you.

If you have more than a random dropout every so often, then please post what channel is doing this and maybe the time/program you were watching, along with how many there were.

Things that will affect how bad these may be are whether you have Dolby set, and whether you're using your TV speakers, or running through an Audio Video Receiver. Some AVRs react much worse to these errors in the SAT feed than other AVRs, but the true source of the problem looks to be from the MPEG-2 to MPEG-4 conversion process on the uplink.

The goal here is to gather useful data to point DirecTV to where they need to focus, much like rubbing a dog's nose in something to get his attention.

Please leave the rants,*****ing, etc. to one of the other threads, as "we know" it is frustrating but posting it here will only get in the way of "mining the data" and could become counter productive to the goal of this thread.

DirecTV has asked us to post which Audio Video Receiver we're using, as this affects the frequency and duration of the dropouts
 
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#3 ·
Many.
The ones I can think of right off the top of my head are:
Conus
206
209
218
245
248
282
355
547
Locals
2
11
13

It is definitely worse on the programs that are live for me.
 
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#4 ·
OK this looks like it's starting out on the right track.

Local HD channels are run through different uplinks, so maybe it would be helpful to list them separately from the nationals.

Perhaps this would work:

CONUS
xxx
xxx
xxx

Locals in [your market]
xx
xx
xx

For those that don't have these, there is no need to post it.

I know not all of the channels I watch and at the times I'm watching have audio dropouts.

Sometimes there may only be one in the show, so this I would call random and not worth posting.

Those that do have these know well they aren't random and can be very annoying.

These are the channels to post about.

Thanks,
 
#10 ·
CNN HD
SyFy HD
Food HD
TNT HD
MSNBC HD
ESPN HD
Versus HD (Although I usually only watch during hockey season)
Discovery HD
Science HD

I'm pretty sure that I have seen it on all of those and that is the majority of my viewing. The only possible addition would be the HBO HD channels, but memory fails on that at the moment.

The channels above are problems on my living room setup, which consists of a HR24-200 outputting HDMI to an Onkyo TX-SR806 AV Receiver and then via HDMI to a Sony KDS-60A2000.
 
#11 ·
242 USA
244 Syfy
245 TNT
265 A&E

Probably more, but those are the ones I can think of off hand. Optical out to a harmon/kardon AVR 247.
 
#13 ·
bjamin82 said:
Every Channel that is HD. Including shows recorded on DVR. There are even drops on VOD.
BKC said:
Every HD channel I tune to.

Finally did it huh Stuart? lol
These posts are completely useless to everybody.

Without giving channels you're simply wasting everyone time, which in the end will have anyone from DirecTV turning away from reading this thread and so you're only prolonging the problem.

Don't BE THE PROBLEM,

but instead become PART OF THE SOLUTION to the problem.
 
#14 ·
veryoldschool said:
These posts are completely useless to everybody.

Without giving channels you're simply wasting everyone time, which in the end will have anyone from DirecTV turning away from reading this thread and so you're only prolonging the problem.

Don't BE THE PROBLEM,

but instead become PART OF THE SOLUTION to the problem.
wth? I'm being completely serious. EVERY HD channel I tune into has audio dropouts. Do you want a list of 50 or so channels? I don't watch SD so I have no idea about those.
 
#15 ·
Nationals
206 ESPNHD
209 ESPN2 HD
229 HGTVHD
242 USAHD
245 TNTHD
247 TBSHD

Locals
2- FOX

With DD on, I recieve on average 3 per hour.

With DD turned off, I still get some audio drops, but have also noticed some pixelation in place of the audio drop at the time off the hour that I would usually expect get an audio drop.

Watched a 2 hour Pay Per View movie, DD on, with no audio dropouts.
I can't watch 2 hours of any regular movie/show without several audio dropouts, so why none on a PPV movie?
 
#17 ·
BKC said:
wth? I'm being completely serious. EVERY HD channel I tune into has audio dropouts. Do you want a list of 50 or so channels? I don't watch SD so I have no idea about those.
Since with the channels I watch, they are few and far between, I'd ask you, and others, not to list the DirecTV HD channel lineup, but instead list the channels you watch that these are most frequent on.

I too must have maybe 50 HD channels I watch and simply don't have them to any great degree other than my one local NBC, which seems hopeless as most of it is on their end, and DirecTV can't do anything about it.

And to the others that are posting, Thank you.
You are doing exactly what is the goal of the thread.
 
#18 ·
Speed
ESPN
ESPN2
USA
FX
HGTV
NGO
Science channel
SYFY
Discovery
Showtime

Just to name a few off the top of my head. It would be easier to name the ones I don't have audio drops on. That would be NBC, ABC, FOX distant networks out of NY. I might get one now and then from those three but not many.

All of these started last October.

Edit to add the free Showtime they gave me to shut me up. lol
 
#19 ·
242 USA Network (a majority of my evening viewing and recording) 5-7 p.m. M-F when NCIS is on. I record every episode. When played back, they always have a few drop outs. So does every other series I record on USA network.

245 TNT: Bones recordings always seem to have a few dropouts per hour.

356 MSNBC, Morning Joe recorded every day M-F 5-8 a.m. Central. Again, some drop outs, not as frequent as USA network.

202 CNN, a few at various times, not nearly as many as USA network.

284 Science Channel, Almost no drop outs at all.

562 MGM no drop outs at all.

Most VOD: no drop outs, no matter what channel they were taken from.

One word of caution. Since my viewing is so skewed, there could be awful drop outs on channels I don't watch often, and I wouldn't notice them.

Since I record a LOT of USA network, I'm reporting a lot of drop outs there.

Also keep in mind, that 99% of the time, I'm watching recordings,no matter what program I'm viewing, not live.
 
#20 ·
If anybody is watching the Mets-Braves game on ESPN, there was just a drop in the bottom of the 1st inning when Alex Gonzalez was batting. I'm posting this about 1 minute after the dropout.

ETA: I re-wound it and found exactly where the dropout was. It's when Oral Hershiser says the word "velocity" and the count is 1-1. You can't really hear the word because it drops out. I turned off Dolby Digital and it doesn't completely eliminate the dropout, but it's not nearly as bad.
 
#22 ·
CNNHD

About wasting time...How exactly is this list any different then the same channels others have been reporting in other threads for nearly a year now? DirecTV shold already know which channels have problems and if they don't shame on them.
 
#23 ·
I decided to try something. I recorded Penn & Teller Bull**** first on the east coast feed and then the west coast feed. I used two different HR24-500's, one for each feed. When I played them back one was via the local recording, the other was via MRV. I was listening to the audio via TOSLINK to an Onkyo TX-NR901 with Dolby Digital 5.1 enabled.

Now here's the interesting thing, both recordings had a total of 5 dropouts and all of them were at the same point in the program, east and west feeds. The times were about 1:36, 3:58, 20:47, 22:16 and 23:40 and the audio dropped at exactly the same point.

OK, so does that mean that the problem was with the source at Showtime or is there something about the audio data stream that has something in it that's freaking out the hardware at DirecTV?
 
#24 ·
Cartoon network - HD. 3-6 second audio drop outs (static/hissing) have been occurring on and off for 2-3 months on this channel for us.

Funny thing is, we upgraded to MRV about 3 weeks ago and the tech replaced my dish, the switches, and I received two new receivers. Yet the audio drop out problem continues with the new receivers.....and the problem continues on my old receivers they didn't swap out.

It's definitely a DIRECTV problem. :(
 
#25 ·
RAD said:
I decided to try something. I recorded Penn & Teller Bull**** first on the east coast feed and then the west coast feed. I used two different HR24-500's, one for each feed. When I played them back one was via the local recording, the other was via MRV. I was listening to the audio via TOSLINK to an Onkyo TX-NR901 with Dolby Digital 5.1 enabled.

Now here's the interesting thing, both recordings had a total of 5 dropouts and all of them were at the same point in the program, east and west feeds. The times were about 1:36, 3:58, 20:47, 22:16 and 23:40 and the audio dropped at exactly the same point.

OK, so does that mean that the problem was with the source at Showtime or is there something about the audio data stream that has something in it that's freaking out the hardware at DirecTV?
When did you record the Showtime West HD feed? If it was Thursday night/early Friday, I can compare mine.
 
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