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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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#28 ·
RAD said:
West coast recording was midnight 00:00CDT on 7/30, east coast was 21:00CDT on 7/29, three hours earlier.
I recorded that west feed. I just did a quick run through (skipping to around times you noted) and had the same drop points. I'm connected via HDMI from a HR24-100 through a Yamaha RX-V465 with DD on. Luckily, the Yamaha handles drops very well with a very very quick drop.
 
#29 ·
RAD said:
West coast recording was midnight 00:00CDT on 7/30, east coast was 21:00CDT on 7/29, three hours earlier.
I watch Penn & Teller too, and this week there was a problem that I don't normally see. I was using it to check the fix in the HR24.
If you got the same glitches on both east [what I watched] and west airing, it kind of sounds like it was from Showtime.
Not wanting to let DirecTV off the hook, but if they're given garbage, then that is all they can give us.
 
#30 ·
Just about all that I watch. I obviously don't watch them all.

Watched a couple USA (Royal Pains) and Food network shows today and they were horrible. Loaded with dropouts. Get it occasionally on nbc, cbs, abc & fox (NY).
 
#31 ·
veryoldschool said:
I watch Penn & Teller too, and this week there was a problem that I don't normally see. I was using it to check the fix in the HR24.
If you got the same glitches on both east [what I watched] and west airing, it kind of sounds like it was from Showtime.
Not wanting to let DirecTV off the hook, but if they're given garbage, then that is all they can give us.
That may be the case. But I've heard the drops on Showtime West for as long as I can remember. So if it's a case of Showtime being the source of the problem then I'd have to guess that it's been a problem with Showtime all along and that all MSO's are having the same issue then.
 
#32 ·
TBlazer07 said:
Just about all that I watch. I obviously don't watch them all.

Watched a couple USA (Royal Pains) and Food network shows today and they were horrible. Loaded with dropouts. Get it occasionally on nbc, cbs, abc & fox (NY).
A couple questions (since Royal Pains, among several others are on USA and represent a large portion of my viewing.)

1. Were these live, or recordings. I watch almost only recordings.

2. What is "horrible". How about a rough estimation of frequency like 3 or 4 per half hour or hour or whatever. The rate (even roughly approximated) is a lot more informative than a conclusion (like "horrible").

From USA network viewers, (me included), I get the impression that this may be one of the worst offenders, but it would help if we could compare approximate frequency for a give show. I record:

Royal Pains
Burn Notice
White Collar
Covert Affairs
NCIS re-runs

Lie to Me (Fox 17 LIL)

TNT:

Leverage
Memphis Beat
The Closer
Rizzoli & Isles

A&E:

The Glades

History HD:

Chasing Mummies

CNN-HD :

Fareed Zakaria's Global Public Square (Sunday's only)

I also record M-F, Morning Joe (MSNBC-HD, he Dan Patrick Show, (on 334 HD) and Mike and Mike in the Morning (209?), but I rarely watch the entirety of each show. I wouldn't rely on any observations of frequency on any of these, as I frequently just sample a few minutes here and there.

I'll make up a chart of these programs so I can note the drop out frequency as we watch the recordings. I can then report the frequency of the drop outs for each one. A caveat, however: I use 30 sec SKIP on commercials, so if there is a drop out in a commercial, I'm going to miss that count.
 
#33 ·
hasan said:
I record:

Royal Pains
Burn Notice
White Collar
Covert Affairs
Lie to Me (Fox 17 LIL)

TNT:
Leverage
Memphis Beat
Rizzoli & Isles

A&E:
The Glades

I'll make up a chart of these programs so I can note the drop out frequency as we watch the recordings. I can then report the frequency of the drop outs for each one. A caveat, however: I use 30 sec SKIP on commercials, so if there is a drop out in a commercial, I'm going to miss that count.
This would be interesting as the ones I left in your list, I record too.
 
#34 ·
All HD channels. I've given up watching anything and listening through the stereo. I like my HR20-700 but this is not cool.
 
#36 ·
hasan said:
A couple questions (since Royal Pains, among several others are on USA and represent a large portion of my viewing.)

1. Were these live, or recordings. I watch almost only recordings.

2. What is "horrible". How about a rough estimation of frequency like 3 or 4 per half hour or hour or whatever. The rate (even roughly approximated) is a lot more informative than a conclusion (like "horrible").

From USA network viewers, (me included), I get the impression that this may be one of the worst offenders, but it would help if we could compare approximate frequency for a give show. I record:

Royal Pains
Burn Notice
White Collar
Covert Affairs
NCIS re-runs

Lie to Me (Fox 17 LIL)

TNT:

Leverage
Memphis Beat
The Closer
Rizzoli & Isles

A&E:

The Glades

History HD:

Chasing Mummies

CNN-HD :

Fareed Zakaria's Global Public Square (Sunday's only)

I also record M-F, Morning Joe (MSNBC-HD, he Dan Patrick Show, (on 334 HD) and Mike and Mike in the Morning (209?), but I rarely watch the entirety of each show. I wouldn't rely on any observations of frequency on any of these, as I frequently just sample a few minutes here and there.

I'll make up a chart of these programs so I can note the drop out frequency as we watch the recordings. I can then report the frequency of the drop outs for each one. A caveat, however: I use 30 sec SKIP on commercials, so if there is a drop out in a commercial, I'm going to miss that count.
All my receivers are "H" models, so obviously I don't do any recording.
I hear the audio dropouts during the programs and on commercials.
I average 3 to 4 dropouts per hour and yes some of our watching includes the USAHD network, to include NCIS, Burn Notice, White Collar, Covert Affairs and Royal Pains.
Occasionally some of the audio dropouts can be associated with a slight picture stutter or some pixelation.
Also, lately, I've noticed I'll get some pixelation (without an audio drop) at least once every hour or two. Has anyone else noticed this lately?
 
#38 ·
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.
EVERY CHANNEL... I'm not being an ass... I am serious... EVERY CHANNEL. So if you would like, I will print out every HD channel D* has in a post, but since we are all very aware of EVERY HD Channel D* has, that would be a WASTE OF MY TIME.
 
#39 ·
bjamin82 said:
EVERY CHANNEL... I'm not being an ass... I am serious... EVERY CHANNEL. So if you would like, I will print out every HD channel D* has in a post, but since we are all very aware of EVERY HD Channel D* has, that would be a WASTE OF MY TIME.
I tried to tell him the same thing but he doesn't want to hear it because it doesn't match what happens on his. I too have them on every HD channel I tune to. Looks like it happens to more than just you and I too.
 
#40 ·
Here is my complete list of HD channels that I hear audio drops outs on. I hope this helps... :lol:


A&E HD
ABC Family HD
Animal Planet HD
BET HD
Big Ten Network HD
Biography HD
Bravo HD
Cartoon Network
CBS College Sports Network HD
Cinemax HD East
Cinemax HD West
CMT HD
CNBC HD+
CNN HD
Comedy Central HD
Crime & Investigation HD
Discovery Channel HD
Disney Channel HD
Disney XD HD
Encore East HD
ESPN HD
ESPN2 HD
ESPNews HD
ESPNU HD
Food Network HD
Fox Business Network HD
Fox News Channel HD
Fuel TV HD
FX HD
Golf Channel HD
Hallmark Channel HD
Hallmark Movie Channel HD
HBO HD East
HBO HD West
HBO2 East HD
HBO Zone HD
HD Theater
HDNet
HDNet Movies
HGTV-HD
History Channel HD
Lifetime HD
MGM HD
MLB Channel HD
MSNBC HD
MTV HD
National Geographic Channel HD
NBA.TV HD
NFL Network HD
NHL Network HD
Nick HD
Palladia
Planet Green HD
Showtime 2 HD
Showtime Beyond HD
Showtime Extreme HD
Showtime HD
Showtime HD West
Showtime Next HD
Showtime Showcase HD
Showtime Women HD
Smithsonian Channel HD
Speed Channel HD
Spike HD
Starz Cinema HD
Starz Comedy HD
Starz Edge HD
Starz HD East
Starz HD West
Starz Kids & Family HD
Starz in Black HD
Syfy HD
TBS in HD
Telefutura HD West
Tennis Channel HD
The 101 HD
The Science Channel HD
The Weather Channel HD
TLC HD
TMC HD
TMC Xtra HD East
TNT HD
Travel Channel HD
Universal HD
Univision HD East
USA Network HD
Versus HD
VH1 HD
WGN America HD
YES HD
ABC HD East
ABC HD West
CBS HD East
CBS HD West
FOX HD East
FOX HD West
NBC HD East
NBC HD West
Altitude HD
CSN Bay Area HD
CSN California HD
CSN Chicago HD
CSN Mid-Atlantic HD
CSN New England HD
FS Arizona HD
FS Detroit HD
FS Florida HD
FS Midwest HD
FS North HD
FSN Northwest HD
FSN Pittsburgh HD
FSN Rocky Mountain HD
FS South HD
FS Southwest HD
FS West HD
Madison Square Garden HD
MASN HD
MSG PLUS HD
NESN HD
Prime Ticket HD
SportsNet New York HD
SportSouth HD
SportsTime Ohio HD
Sun Sports HD
FS Cincinnati HD
FS Ohio HD
 
#45 ·
bjamin82 said:
Within a given week, yup... between my wife, the babysitter, the baseball package so all RSN...

Come on guys... even the D* channel 101 has audio issues.. the excuse of "we just re broadcast what we get" is bull. Its been 9 months a least.
I wasn't disputing they didn't happen on every channel...I was shocked someone watches every channel. ;)
 
#46 ·
OK, now we have the whole DirecTV HD channel line up listed and now maybe we can move on to more productive posts.

Someone asked if I had any updates and I said I had sent a message but not heard a reply.

Today's reply in part:
Actually I have been following the thread all along and you've been handling it great even after getting harassed here and there. The issue does have a great deal of attention internally and work is being done on certain sources / markets to clean things up. However some programs or live events will still have bad Dolby packets coming into us.

Your thoughts on the subject of if it's a box issue are correct. The problem was not introduced in a download back in November as so many insist it was. We are still looking into the HR24 though. Drives failing and signal issues can result in audio problems but you will normally have other video / trickplay issues.

What we are very interested in is how different AVRs respond to the Dolby frames since it's clear there's differences. So if you can just ask them what make and model their AVR is that would be great.
As you can see they are reading these threads and trying to resolve the problem.

Besides the HD channels, would you all add what AVR you're using or if this is just your TV.
 
#47 ·
I hear the issue on H21-100, H21-200, HR24-500, HR23-700 and HR22-100, basically all the STB's that I have. On the H21's I use MRV to playback from a HD DVR so at least we know that it's in the data that's being recorded on the harddrive and not in the audio decode on the HD DVR.

The AVR's are Sony STR-DA50ES, Onkyo TX-NR901 and Denon AVR_891. I can eliminate the AVR from the equation since even through the TV's audio speakers I can hear a slight breakup in the audio at the point where the AVR's experience their dropout.

I see there's another showing ot Bull**** on Showtime east/west tomorrow night. I have scheduled to record those showings again to see if the audio breakup happens again at the same spots where the broke up on prior recordings. Maybe you can get your DirecTV contact to also monitor things at their broadcast center to see if it's coming from Showtime as you said in your response or if the signal is clean there and being corupted within DirecTV's infrastructure.
 
#48 ·
HR20-100 digital optical audio cable to JVC RX-7010VBK

SciHD, Morgan Freeman's Through the Wormhole
TNTHD, Rizzoli and Isles, The Closer, Saving Grace
DSCHD, Sharkbite Beach
SyFyHD, Warehouse 13, Eureka
USAHD, Covert Affairs, Psych
NGCHD, Man-Made
TBSHD, My Boys

NOTE: Pretty much every show I have watched since the start of this thread (about 2-3 hours/day) has had at least 1 audio drop-out. I would say on average 2-4 per 1 hour show.
 
#49 ·
veryoldschool said:
OK, now we have the whole DirecTV HD channel line up listed and now maybe we can move on to more productive posts.

Someone asked if I had any updates and I said I had sent a message but not heard a reply.

Today's reply in part:

As you can see they are reading these threads and trying to resolve the problem.

Besides the HD channels, would you all add what AVR you're using or if this is just your TV.
I'm connected via HDMI from a HR24-100 through a Yamaha RX-V465 with DD on. Luckily, the Yamaha handles drops very well with a very very quick drop. I'll try and post a video this week. Basically, the Yamaha front display shows 3 to 6 squares representing each speaker that's outputting. When there's a drop, the squares flash very quickly...literally a half second.
 
#50 ·
sigma1914 said:
I'm connected via HDMI from a HR24-100 through a Yamaha RX-V465 with DD on. Luckily, the Yamaha handles drops very well with a very very quick drop. I'll try and post a video this week. Basically, the Yamaha front display shows 3 to 6 squares representing each speaker that's outputting. When there's a drop, the squares flash very quickly...literally a half second.
This is much like my Sony STR-DE898, where its DD5.1 blue light will blink and then scroll the type of Dolby it picked up again on the front panel display.
I've used a loaner Sony STR-DH710 that doesn't have a light for DD5.1, so only the display shows its status and this model is much less sensitive and only trips on longer/larger dropouts, which ends up being that I can hear dropouts that the AVR doesn't indicate.
 
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