[NFLnut]

I have an HR20-700 which, aside from all of the programming bugs, has been fine until today. I have had it hooked up via HDMI with no problems for about a year-and-a-half.

Today however, I turned on the TV and the audio is screwy. The only way I can describe it is it sounds almost like "superheterodyne" or an off-frequency. My wife started laughing because she said "everyone sounded like Mickey Mouse."

Has anyone reported anything like this here (I ran a search but couldn't find anything)? I ruled out the cable. I tried a new cable and it worked the same. Unfortunately, I don't have any other HDMI sources to rule out the TV, but I did try switching it to the second HDMI input and it still had the probelm, so I'm leaning to the HR20 screwing up. I currently have the HR20 connected via Component and the audio is fine, but it is obvious the HDMI function is screwed.

 

[AirRocker]

May be too obvious of a solution... but have you tried rebooting?

 

[rahlquist]

I have an HR20-700 which, aside from all of the programming bugs, has been fine until today. I have had it hooked up via HDMI with no problems for about a year-and-a-half.

Today however, I turned on the TV and the audio is screwy. The only way I can describe it is it sounds almost like "superheterodyne" or an off-frequency. My wife started laughing because she said "everyone sounded like Mickey Mouse."

Has anyone reported anything like this here (I ran a search but couldn't find anything)? I ruled out the cable. I tried a new cable and it worked the same. Unfortunately, I don't have any other HDMI sources to rule out the TV, but I did try switching it to the second HDMI input and it still had the probelm, so I'm leaning to the HR20 screwing up. I currently have the HR20 connected via Component and the audio is fine, but it is obvious the HDMI function is screwed.

Sounds like potentially you have a cheap component failing, likely a electrolytic capacitor. If youve got the protection plan, likely now is the time to exercise it after watching all the recorded shows.....

 

[NFLnut]

I've rebooted about eight times in various iterations .. via eSATA, via the internal drive (that was confirmed as impossible since an earlier CE killed my internal drive), with the ethernet connected, without, etc. I also tried turning Dolby Digital on AND off. Everything gives me the screwy audio via HDMI.

 

[NFLnut]

Sounds like potentially you have a cheap component failing, likely a electrolytic capacitor. If youve got the protection plan, likely now is the time to exercise it after watching all the recorded shows.....

You DO mean on the HR20 and not the TV?

Also .. if the HR20 is screwed, wouldn't they just replace it even though I don't have the protection plan (it's leased).

 

[AirRocker]

You DO mean on the HR20 and not the TV?

Also .. if the HR20 is screwed, wouldn't they just replace it (it's leased).

Without the protection plan, you will pay $19.9x for shipping...

 

[rudeney]

Without the protection plan, you will pay $19.9x for shipping...

Unless they require an on-site visit to "verify" that it's actuall defective - then $79.9x.

 

[NFLnut]

Unless they require an on-site visit to "verify" that it's actuall defective - then $79.9x.

How do they come up with $79.95 ?

I thought shipping was normally $19.95 like Air Rocker said.

 

[hasan]

How do they come up with $79.95 ?

I thought shipping was normally $19.95 like Air Rocker said.

If they require an on-site visit by a tech to confirm the problem, then you will be charged for a service call which is $79.95. If, on the other hand, they just send you a replacement, then the lower figure will apply.

 

[cbeckner80]

I had a problem with my HR20-700 yesterday also. It's connected via HDMI and It was doing what it used to do when i had a Tos-link connected. There were audio drop outs. I turned it off and turned it back on and it was fine.

Grimlens?

 

[rudeney]

If they require an on-site visit by a tech to confirm the problem, then you will be charged for a service call which is $79.95. If, on the other hand, they just send you a replacement, then the lower figure will apply.

Recently, there have been some complains on the forum that CSR's were not doing the $20 swap, but requiring the $80 service call. This was happening sometimes even when the symptoms clearly indicated a defective receiver. I can understand why D* would do that. They probably have stacks of returned receivers that have nothing wrong with them. Of course some symptoms like, "I plug it in and smoke comes out of it" would almost always be a defective receiver, but lock-ups, HDMI issues, and blank recordings are often not hardware defects. Some of that could be issues with the signaling or with HDCP or even bugs in the latest firmware upgrades, and swapping a receiver is likely not going to fix it.

 

[bakers12]

Can you hook up a stereo or something to the DVR's audio jacks or HDMI? If the sound is still bad, you'll know for sure the DVR is faulty.

Unfortunately, it won't tell you anything if the sound improves. Can you hook up another device (DVD, PC, etc.) to the TV using HDMI? This could rule out the TV.

 

[NFLnut]

Can you hook up a stereo or something to the DVR's audio jacks or HDMI? If the sound is still bad, you'll know for sure the DVR is faulty.

Unfortunately, it won't tell you anything if the sound improves. Can you hook up another device (DVD, PC, etc.) to the TV using HDMI? This could rule out the TV.

No. I don't have anything else that I can hook up to the HDMI output. However, the HDMI audio improved (went back to normal) the next day. The folowing day, it was bad again. So, something is obviously failing, but it isn't completely gone yet.

As to charging to replace the DVR .. I guess I just don't get it. When I PURCHASED all four of my DirecTiVos, I understood that if anything failed, it was MY responsibility (thus I replaced about 6 hard drives .. no biggie), but now that I LEASE this (crappy) DVR, they should replace it at NO CHARGE!