HELP! SA8300HD - choppy audio only w. DVR

rode2005

I'm going nuts trying to troubleshoot a problem I've been having. Any help would be truly appreciated.
I'm a Comcast subscriber with the above unit. I have my Sony RP LCD connected directly from the SA8300 via HDMI. I am using optical audio (lighttube) for my audio since my Sony surround sound processor does not have HDMI,

On live TV, I have no audio problems. When using the DVR for playback, however, I're recently been getting audio choppiness (occasional cutoff) that's occurring more and more often with time. I returned the DVR last week for a brand new one - the new one is doing the same!

The video is fine - only the audio on DVR playback only is choppy. When the audio cuts (for only a fraction of a second at a time), the display on the SOny surround sound drops the Dolby digital designator and and soon as the sound comes back the display shows dolby.

For what it's worth, the problem seems limited to Fox HD - I don't watch a lot of other channels. I have, however, done some "test recordings' of other HD channels and I don't experience the problem.

I figure that if it were restricted to FOX HD - as it seems to be - why would live viewing audio be fine, however, DVR viewing has the problem?

I've set my SA for Dolby Digital audio - I even played around with switching it to HDMI. The problem occurs at all audio settings on DVR playback.

I figure it's too bizarre to be a problem with the box since the one I"m using now was brand new just 2 days ago and the one that I replaced with less than 1 week old (brand new to start with). It seems that the likelihood of two bad new boxes is quite low.

Any help (ideas, troubleshooting tips, etc.) would truly be appreciated.
BTW - I did try another optical audio cable - same problem.

]I'm bewildered why the problem would only occur on DVR playback when the wiring configuration is, of course, the same for live and DVR playback.

rode2005

The problem is still unresolved. I did Google "American Idol + Comcast + DVR" and I encountered numerous pages of tagged links detailing lots of issues Comcast subscribers are experiencing with their DVRs and, most notable, while watching Fox's American Idol (the show I seem to be having all my problems with). The detailed problems seem to have a common thread of people not being able to fast forward while playing back American Idol (I've not noticed that problem). However, I do share the often posted problem of the recording cutting off the final minute or so of the program when recorded (this seems isolated to American Idol).

It seems that a lot of people are on a rant re: Comcast and this issue. One poster in one of the referred to sites (on a Google search) did report a similar audio drop off problem.

So... it would seem that my problem is not with my connections, but, rather, with COmcast and whatever they're doing to the American Idol broadcasts. Does this make sense? Is it, likely: (1) something Comcast is doing (intentionally)? (2) something Fox is doing? (maybe sort of like a DRM thing) (3) poor quality of the SA8300 box (though, again, my problem seems to be restricted to American Idol programming). Any suggestions as to what I should do? It seems that complaining to Comcast will lead them to the easy tact of blaming it on Fox, etc., etc.

Is anyone else in here experiencing any kinds of problems DVR'ing American Idol????

Many thanks!

shadi

your original post was pretty much an exact description of what i've been going through with my dvr recently, only I have direct tv. which brings up the most interesting point, comcast may be right, I only have audio playback issues (i.e. not matching with the picture, choppiness, weird sounds and cut off) when I am watching FOX HD shows. I am very curious as to what causes this issue only when using dvr playback. hopefully someone will see this and enlighten us. good luck, i'm close to dropping a couple shows I enjoy just because of the issue.

BAZ-man

I wonder if it is a scaling issue. Fox is 720p. My Comcast box only outputs 1 setting, 1080 or 720, not autoswitching so Fox HD comes into my panel as 1080. Therefor, I wonder if there may be some timing sequences that might screw up the audio segments? But video is encoded at a much higher rate than the embedded audio. It should not be how that particular show is compressed to put it on the disk as it is recorded 'as-is', according to my friend who help design the box. Maybe it is a test of some new anti-piracy (e.g. Anti U-tube) stuff??? Oh I like rumors.

Fuljahar

have a few questions and problems with what i'm trying to do. .... to this |W|
if that doesn't help sorry lol i tried to do it with ASCII text to keep it
simple. ... HDMI only, same results) and the audio will get REALLY choppy ...
order and sometimes in different orders WITH my DVR recording at ...