Sound disappears for five to ten seconds every channel every show

[DND1]

The sound disappears occasionally on every tv, every show, every channel... goes out for five seconds or more.

I spoke to a Verizon representative about this and didn't realize until now how STUPID his answer was ....

"You need to switch from HDMI cables to composite RGB cables".

Yes, he told me changing the VIDEO cable will somehow help the AUDIO.  He even sent out RGB cables which are useless to fix the problem.

I just signed up for FIOS a week ago and am having many annoying issues that no one seems to know the answer to.  It is looking like I will take Cablevision up on their offer to switch me back.

[Anthony_VZ]

Does this happen on every box in the house or just one? There can be HDMI sync issues (which HDMI also carries audio) and if thats the problem, then yes you would need to switch from HDMI to component (RGB for video) and composite (red/white for audio).

[Hubrisnxs]

There is a special setup menu that you can enter, that is NOT part of the regular set to box menu settings. To get there:

Power off the Set top box.

Hit Select

Hit Menu

You will see a white screen and an all text menu called USER SETTINGS. Use the arrow keys to move around.

Scroll down to a line that says "ADDITIONAL HDMI SETTINGS" and hit a right arrow to get into the next level of the menu

There is a sound setting called AUDIO OUTPUT It says AUTO Scroll to it and change it to PASSTHROUGH .

Exit out of the menus, power the unit off and power it on again

If this solution does not correct the issue, you might want to go online and view the relevant manufacturer thread in the "HDTV Forums" at http://www.avsforum.com  Often times manufacturers provide firmware updates to solve issues like this. In the mean time your best work around really is to switch to the Component Video connection instead of HDMI.     the video is not what's important, the fact that you aren't using digital audio through the hdmi is what helps.   the problem doesn't usually present itself on red and white stereo audio or on optical audio. 

[FIOSMD]

This is **bleep** you are all getting from Verizon. The truth is that there system it's no longer stable. This it's because of poor planning and implementation.The problems ares with everything from bad firmware on the STBs, the lack of the STBs being able up keep up with the it's digital stream, bad headend equipment and ports, to over subscription on the network, there is never a valid reason for a vod server to give a unavailable message or to be down for maintenance at all while online, they are virtual and updated when individually offline. NEVER A REASON FOR VOD THE BE UNAVAILABLE PERIOD! Verizon it's not addressing the problems with diligence because of cost. Untill customers refuse you pay for services that do not work they will not do what is required to fix the problems because it involves things like replacing millions if STBs.

[FIOSMD]

The above problems also cause audio drops and frozen or lost picture for anywhere from a cushions of seconds to a minute our more. Sometimes changing channels our even rebooting the STB is required. Make no mistake about it this happens because bad equipment and software with bad network engineering.

[FIOSMD]

An example of the technical incompetence in verizon tech support starts with even asking a HD customer to use composit cables which are Yellow with red and white for audio and only gives you low quality standard definition.

[Hubrisnxs]

Red and white for audio was one suggestion, and OPTICAL audio cable was a 2nd suggestion.  optical audio provides high end audio and surround sound.    it's also typically the preferred cable for audiophiles and enthusiasts.

[ktspillane]

I have been having similar issues for the past few months.  They changed the box out, but that did not fix the problem.