HDMI Audio Drops with DirecTV DVR

[ICBM99]

I did not have these issues prior to me getting the UMC. Heck I didn't even have them with v5. So I believe that the issues I'm experiencing are directly related to the UMC v6 firmware.

[LCSeminole]

Apr 21, 2010 15:45:50 GMT -5 ICBM99 said:

I did not have these issues prior to me getting the UMC. Heck I didn't even have them with v5. So I believe that the issues I'm experiencing are directly related to the UMC v6 firmware.

I'm more inclined to lean in this direction as well given the variables.

[RSavage]

Apr 21, 2010 15:00:11 GMT -5 roadrunner said:

Until Dish Net and DirecTV fix the drop out problems inherent in their service, I don't think we will ever know how much of the blame it attributable to the UMC-1.

Not too difficult here. I don't use DirectTV or Dish Net but have audio loss episodes REGULARLY. This problem was exceedingly rare with v5 but VERY common with v6.

As I've stated before, these aren't 'drop-outs'. These are steady state losses of audio that do not resolve spontaneously. As a result, it's not too much of a stretch to assign credit for this issue.

R

[ICBM99]

Ok so I had my first Center channel drop last night. It was while watching Death Race BD. I had kept my BD player on "Decode" so it was sending Multi PCM, and when I jumped to the scene I was last watching I had no center channel. My wife was nagging at me to come to bed so I didn't really get the chance to play with it, but cycling inputs got the center channel back. Pause, FF/RWD did not.

[jmilton]

Apr 22, 2010 8:48:15 GMT -5 ICBM99 said:

Ok so I had my first Center channel drop last night. It was while watching Death Race BD. I had kept my BD player on "Decode" so it was sending Multi PCM, and when I jumped to the scene I was last watching I had no center channel. My wife was nagging at me to come to bed so I didn't really get the chance to play with it, but cycling inputs got the center channel back. Pause, FF/RWD did not.

Really bites, doesn't it? Wait till you get your first "volume jump"...

[johnnyg]

Apr 22, 2010 8:48:15 GMT -5 ICBM99 said:

Ok so I had my first Center channel drop last night. It was while watching Death Race BD. I had kept my BD player on "Decode" so it was sending Multi PCM, and when I jumped to the scene I was last watching I had no center channel. My wife was nagging at me to come to bed so I didn't really get the chance to play with it, but cycling inputs got the center channel back. Pause, FF/RWD did not.

I'm sure someone will come along soon and state how it is actually a DirecTV problem and not the UMC-1, even though it happened with your BD player.

[monkeypimp]

Apr 22, 2010 10:25:31 GMT -5 @johnnyg said:

Apr 22, 2010 8:48:15 GMT -5 ICBM99 said:

Ok so I had my first Center channel drop last night. It was while watching Death Race BD. I had kept my BD player on "Decode" so it was sending Multi PCM, and when I jumped to the scene I was last watching I had no center channel. My wife was nagging at me to come to bed so I didn't really get the chance to play with it, but cycling inputs got the center channel back. Pause, FF/RWD did not.

I'm sure someone will come along soon and state how it is actually a DirecTV problem and not the UMC-1, even though it happened with your BD player.

I think it is a UMC problem but I will say Directv doesn't help the problem.

[agehring]

Apr 22, 2010 11:02:29 GMT -5 monkeypimp said:

I think it is a UMC problem but I will say Directv doesn't help the problem.

In my experience, some of it is the channel too.

Our local channels (4/7/9) rarely suffer from the drops. Maybe one every two hours or so.

Last night I was watching NatGEO, and I was getting them at the beginning and end of (what seemed) EVERY commercial. (e.g; two different (serial) commercials = 4 "drops")

[monkeypimp]

I have also noticed that if it does it while the show is playing and there is no ff/rw/skip and the audio drops and I rewind it will do it over and over in exactly the same spot consistently. Something in the audio stream is tripping up the UMC and the UMC can't recover.

[RSavage]

Apr 22, 2010 15:26:19 GMT -5 monkeypimp said:

I have also noticed that if it does it while the show is playing and there is no ff/rw/skip and the audio drops and I rewind it will do it over and over in exactly the same spot consistently. Something in the audio stream is tripping up the UMC and the UMC can't recover.

I've seen this one as well.

R

[monkeypimp]

Apr 22, 2010 19:44:14 GMT -5 RSavage said:

Apr 22, 2010 15:26:19 GMT -5 monkeypimp said:

I have also noticed that if it does it while the show is playing and there is no ff/rw/skip and the audio drops and I rewind it will do it over and over in exactly the same spot consistently. Something in the audio stream is tripping up the UMC and the UMC can't recover.

I've seen this one as well.

R

I switched to an Optical cable for the time being and all the audio drops have stopped. For me it is purely an HDMI problem I guess......but now that I have said it I plan on having an Optical drop within minutes.

[Woodpecker]

I still have the V5 firmware with a Time Warner HD DVR box connected via optical. I've only had a handful of audio dropouts in the past several months. Only my Oppo is connected via HDMI and without any audio drops. I can only imagine the headaches most of you are experiencing with Dish & Direct TV via HDMI. It wouldn't hurt my feelings at all if HDMI went away.

[Chris]

Apr 23, 2010 7:39:49 GMT -5 monkeypimp said:

I switched to an Optical cable for the time being and all the audio drops have stopped. For me it is purely an HDMI problem I guess......but now that I have said it I plan on having an Optical drop within minutes.

If this is consistent and verifiable could it lead one to think the drop out issue is linked to the HDCP copy protection overhead that is part of the HDMI spec? Might make pinpointing the firmware code for this easier? I don't think this (HDCP) exists or is different on optical audio? Just speculating here?

-CB

[regulator]

My UMC is doing this too. The problem lies with the UMC, not Direct TV. At least in my case and system, I never had problems with DTV until I put the UMC into the mix. Audio drops and hums are now present. I also supposedly have V6.

[monkeypimp]

Apr 23, 2010 11:35:24 GMT -5 Chris said:

Apr 23, 2010 7:39:49 GMT -5 monkeypimp said:

I switched to an Optical cable for the time being and all the audio drops have stopped. For me it is purely an HDMI problem I guess......but now that I have said it I plan on having an Optical drop within minutes.

If this is consistent and verifiable could it lead one to think the drop out issue is linked to the HDCP copy protection overhead that is part of the HDMI spec? Might make pinpointing the firmware code for this easier? I don't think this (HDCP) exists or is different on optical audio? Just speculating here?

-CB

Well I have not had a drop yet while watching a show, ff, rw, etc...but I have had no audio when I switched inputs from my turntable to Directv and then I inputs and back to Dtv and it came back on.

So i am still having no audio but not while watching shows as of yet.

[topcat]

Apr 23, 2010 11:53:59 GMT -5 regulator said:

My UMC is doing this too. The problem lies with the UMC, not Direct TV. At least in my case and system, I never had problems with DTV until I put the UMC into the mix. Audio drops and hums are now present. I also supposedly have V6.

I too have audio drops with DTV but that is with the UMC-1 NOT being used in the system. No doubt I would still have dropouts with the UMC-1 in the system. As to whether there is a problem with the UMC-1 causing dropouts I cannot say. I have not upgraded to V6 of the FW. This is what I experience with my system...yours might be different.