Hubrisnxs wrote:
Verizon has a couple dvr models, all of them have the same firmware, so kinda an odd situation, but can you rememberr what the model number was on each of them?
they have the 6416, the 7216 and the 7232
Also keep in mind, when I linked that thread, that it was not only for people with HDMI connections, and that it was more specifically for TOS LINK users that were having HD audio drops, and it had a mixture of different video cables being used. component, and hdmi alike.
so it may still provide decent information.
I had the 7216 previously. And a 6416 before that. It croaked in me though. I now have the 7232. I was watching Fri night's playback of HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher and the audio dropped constantly. To the point where it was unacceptable.
My receiver (a Sony STR-DE845) has a mode called A.F.D. or Auto Format Decode. What ever encoding was used on the broadcast, A.F.D. "will present the sound exactly as it was encoded ". That's quoted directly from the manual. There is also a mode where you can select a sound field to create a '"customized" field. When I change the setting on the reciever from A.F.D. (Auto Format Decode) to the selective mode, everything works fine.
When working properly, A.F.D will switch back and forth from 5.1 to 2-channels when a show goes to a commercial break or if the format should change depending on the encoding. I haven't seen that many commercials encoded in 5.1 that I recall. If a broadcast is not encoded in 5.1 at all, A.F.D. will automatically use the 2-channel mode with the sub-woofer. I haven't monitored the system enough to determine if the problems lies in the 2-channel encoding as oppsed to the 5.1. What I do know is that if I turn off A.F.D. and go with the selective Mode and use Normal Surround as the mode (there are a host of other modes like Cinema, Concert Hall etc.), there are no issues. With this setting mutlichannel broadcasts will play exactly as they were encoded. 2-channel broadcasts are decoded with Dolby Pro Logic to create surround. So even though a show like Bill Maher's that is not encoded in 5.1, Normal Surround mode will create a surround field using Pro Logic and put some of the audio through the center channel speaker even though that's not how it was originally created. In A.F.D. mode, it would just automatically switch to 2-channel.
The previously mentioned recorded episode of Real Time I was trying to watch played just fine if I switched to the a selective mode. Whenever I switched back to A.F.D. the problem came back. If I left it alone, eventually the sound would be restored. But that was after maybe 5-10 minutes of play time. If I backed up the DVR to where the sound dropped, while leaving the receiver in A.F.D mode, it would go out again at that same spot. Which suggests that it occured during the original airing. I stopped the playback and switched to some live broadcast and there was not sound issue. But I should qualify that statement by saying there was not sound problem on the specific channel I happened to switch to at that specific time.
A.F.D. has been working flawlessly with my DVD players and previous DVRs (Time Warner's model and the FIOS 6416 model after switching to Verizon). Also it's still bulletproof when it comes to the DVD player. It's just after I got the 7216 and 7232 all my problems started with the DVR. The problem appears to be with the encoding and how it's decoded in the receiver. It doesn't matter if I use Component or HDMI cables. Some channels never have any problems and some constantly do. I shouldn't have to switch modes as a work around.
Why can't these geniuses figure this out? I'm so tired of hearing "we're sorry for the inconvenience sir...I understand your frustration." All I keep getting is excuses and the same troubleshooting approach repeatedly. Excuses don't solve problems, action does.
