Dr. Cool said:
Confirmed: I'm yet having audio dropouts with OTA local channels even after the update to 5.12, including PBS which is 1080i. Not with live programming, only with recorded or delayed shows. If I rewind after a dropout, it doesn't repeat itself. Meaning that: (1) it's not a problem with my receiver (otherwise it would happen with live shows too) (2) it's not a problem with my TOSLINK cable (otherwise it would happen with all other channels and in all modes) (3) it's not a broadcast signal problem (otherwise it would repeat itself after rewinding and it would happen when watching live programming) (4) it's caused by a DVR bug (only logical explanation). I also suspect that the audio dropouts do not happen with the analog outputs, only with the optical/Dolby Digital output, although I need to test that yet. Furthermore, the problem started with FW 5.11, since I'm 100% sure that the problem didn't exist with 4.49 and previous FWs. Audio was flawless until about one month ago. Finally, it doesn't look like the stream of data is interrupted -- my receiver has speaker relays that "click" when there is an interruption due to signal loss or cable disconnection. These dropouts happen without producing the clicks or changes in the stream status panel, so it looks more like the sound is muted at the 622 or there is a mismatch between audio and video streams that leads to lack of sound during the audio glitches, without affecting the continuity of the streams.
My DVR got 5.12 yesterday afternoon. I hoped this would fix the major audio issue clearly introduced by 5.11. On my ViP622, all worked fine until 5.11 was installed, regardless of the software version.
I also have major audio dropouts on recorded and delayed programming mainly on local channels (in Bay Area, FOX-2, ABC-7, CBS-5 and NBC-11) which makes the show unwatchable (not sure why but the drop is more frequent on newscasts, 10PM or 11PM news).
I did some tests last night and watched the same channel (FOX-2) on both tuners in the same time, one on channel 2 and the other on channel 6XXX (whatever the number was) and both had the same issues. I am not sure if the broadcast on Channel 2 KTVU is just linked to channel 6XXX or they broadcast from different transponders (didn't have a chance to research this yet) but they both come with the problem. Sometimes there is a slight difference between the two, the audio drops more on one than on the other, and sometimes it may even drop more or less depending on how many times I skip back and re-watch the scene. Very strange indeed.
You say that the audio may not drop in the same place if you rewind, I have noticed that there may be inconsistencies but the audio drop doesn't go away entirely.
Last night I watched a time delayed, paused for about 10 min "So you think you can dance" and the audio didn't drop (I assume this was a national, at least West Coast, feed) but the second the show ended and the broadcast was changed to the local feed, the audio started to drop continuously.
Occasionally I notice the audio dropping on other HD/SD channels but this HD local channels issue introduced by 5.11 (and not fixed by 5.12) is really disturbing, making the show unwatchable when recorded or time delayed.
Sorry for the long post...