Shaw HD: Audio frequently cuts out

[Super_Geo]

Anyone else run into the issue where audio will cut out for 2-3 seconds with Shaw HD... it will happen repeatedly (maybe 3-4 times in a 30 minute program).

Annoying as fuck... just checking to see if other people are running into this as well for more ammo before I call Shaw.

[SilverGS]

Yup this happens to me all the time as well.

[Shogged]

i get it all the time, what quadrant of the city are you in?

[helrazr]

Me too, NE quadrant of the city. Lately, (as of the past 3 or 4 days) PVR'ed shows have some nasty squelching going on too.

[ExtraSlow]

This has been a problem for me ever since I got digital cable.

[s_havinga]

happens to me too, only on my TV with the HD PVR, my cable box at my other TV never does it. for me its more like once an hour or 2 though

[kenny]

Shaw knows about it but they either can't do anything about it, or just don't want to bother doing anything about it. Scream loud enough and you'll get a credit on your bill based on what I've read on forums.

[Xtrema]

I'm sick of it. If it weren't for HD Sport programs, I think I can drop all cable TV together.

[ZorroAMG]

I notice it most prevalently on ABC HD.....

Dunno if the actual station is more the issue?

[GoChris]

I have it too...they don't seem to care. I'm in the SE

[ronaldo]

same problem here in the NW. I had a tech out to my place recently and he claims EVERY provider has the same problem

[Mar]

I'm downtown and have never seen that. Though I watch television for 1-2 hours a week so it might happen outside my viewing schedule. But seriously, I've never seen it once.

It works on bandwidth so if you got a pile of computers running or just a really low internet package with low bandwidth, then that's expected. I'm on Extreme-I and don't download torrents.

[johnny0214]

From the digital home forums apparently audio drop outs have been unresolved for a long time. Here is the link to the specific thread: http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=73915. Other provider threads from the same forum report audio drop outs as well.

[88CRX]

I get it all the damn time.

Fuck.

I'd call to complain but that's an even bigger hassle.

[kenny]

While all providers have intermittent issues, the audio drop out problem on Shaw is by far the worst. It is easily repeatable, I can choose any HD recording and would be willing to bet anything that the audio will cut out at least once during playback.

I'm so used to it now I don't even care (the free PPV credits may have something to do with that) :)

[black_2.5RS]

Happened all the time for me. I complained every month and got a credit - which was fine for the first couple of months but I got pissed and sold the PVR.
Not worth it until they fix it.

[88CRX]

Does it only do it on the pvr recordings? Don't want live tv anymore lol.

[kevie88]

Mine does it every 20 minutes or so. Tuscany (NW)

[GoChris]

Originally posted by kenny
While all providers have intermittent issues, the audio drop out problem on Shaw is by far the worst. It is easily repeatable, I can choose any HD recording and would be willing to bet anything that the audio will cut out at least once during playback.

I'm so used to it now I don't even care (the free PPV credits may have something to do with that) :)

ya same, I can pretty much guarantee that each and every recording will cut out at least once. :banghead:

[danno]

i only complain when i'm watching ufc. normlly get the ppv for at least half off

[bundi]

Originally posted by Mar
I'm downtown and have never seen that. Though I watch television for 1-2 hours a week so it might happen outside my viewing schedule. But seriously, I've never seen it once.

It works on bandwidth so if you got a pile of computers running or just a really low internet package with low bandwidth, then that's expected. I'm on Extreme-I and don't download torrents.

It's possible to get Shaw HD without having their High speed internet, so your internet package doesn't have anything to do with it.

But I see where you are coming from... it could possibly be a problem with QoS on Shaw's end as both high speed internet and HD TV are packets of data on the same network. The business model for High speed internet is based on the average user only using an average of 10% of their total available bandwidth. With the popularity of Bittorrent and other Peer to Peer methods of transfer.. many people are using much more than 10% of their speed on average (Downloading torrents while sleeping etc.)

Still, DOCSIS 2 supports 38Mbit/s per channel, so that should still give plenty of *potential* bandwidth left over for Digital TV signal... this again goes back to the possibility of a QoS issue though.

That being said.. Shaw has been upgrading equipment to DOCSIS 3 standards for a while now, which may be partially to blame.

As for Lethbridge, I haven't experienced any constant problems with audio on HD signal first hand, nor have I heard of any problems from friends/family using it.

Might be worth it to do a search on DSL reports, there are Shaw employees on the forums over there that might be able to give an inside answer as to wtf is going on.

[2002civic]

happens to me all the time and they never want to do anything

[toyboy88]

+1 especially notice it on recordings off the HDPVR

[Ripper]

I live downtown and it still happens to me, but has gotten a lot better since I first got Shaw HD.

[mazdavirgin]

Originally posted by Mar
I'm downtown and have never seen that. Though I watch television for 1-2 hours a week so it might happen outside my viewing schedule. But seriously, I've never seen it once.

It works on bandwidth so if you got a pile of computers running or just a really low internet package with low bandwidth, then that's expected. I'm on Extreme-I and don't download torrents.

Wrong... The pipe is not shared between TV and Internet. You can hammer the torrents as hard as you want too and you will never touch the bandwidth of the digital cable spectrum. Same goes with the digital phone. This isn't telus we are talking about there is NO sharing of the RF spectrum.

Either way guys call up Shaw and get a month or two free. Sadly though the issue is that the content providers are the ones encoding the stream with audio drop outs. It is not the cable providers fault but the distributors. Annoying yes and Shaw is actively trying to resolve the issue with the distributors. There is also an issue with other play back audio drop outs which are caused by the current Motorola firmware. If this is the issue you are experiencing rewinding and replaying that part of the stream will fix the audio drop. Again a fix is dependent on Motorola... :\ Additionally if you are using HDMI try using another connection method and seeing if it improves your audio as not all TV's and Motorola boxes play nice...

[Grogador]

Originally posted by bundi
zzz

Different frequencies, digital cable does not run over DOCSIS, there's no way for it to be a bandwidth issue on Shaw's end. FYI digital video channels are QAM-stuffed into a single 6MHz analog 'channel', either multiple SD channels (upto 6 with 256-QAM, iirc) or HD channels (1, maybe 2 if highly compressed, I think). Your DOCSIS cablemodem would again use a single 6MHz channel to provide 38Mbits, or multiple bonded 6MHz channels for DOCSIS 3.0. Shaw's HFC plant was initially built to 450, then 600, and is currently built for 850MHz, so about 140 of these 6MHz channels, once you substract the low-frequency return/upstream path. It's also definitely not a backend network issue, as their ATM fiber loop is provisioned to provided guaranteed bandwidth to certain services...

Could be an issue with the quality of the signal arriving at your house, as the audio on digital channels will be the first thing to drop out if the signal is too weak, or the SNR is too low. The video would freeze or break into little black squares soon after. If your higher *analog* channels (like uhh 48 or 82 or... damnit, they swapped em all around now I think) are fuzzy, that's definitely what it is. If you use Radio Shack splitters, Radio Shack RG59, attempted to attach/crimp the F-connectors yourself, or have your coax run through a Monster "power bar", well that's probably it :D

You can also try... with your digital box on, turn it off and immediately hit select (or was it menu?)... this will get you into the diagnostic menus, which can provide information on signal quality and bit error rate. It's been too long, I can't remember exactly where...

Of course the service tech will say "everyone has this problem"... unless it's something obvious like above, intermittent SNR issues are a bitch and a half to resolve. Could be faulty wiring inside, could be a piece of hardline outside that got bent the wee tiniest little bit, could be a tap full of water somewhere on the pole... Anything that's enough to turn one 0 into a 1, or vice-versa. The senior phone techs have digital meters that can measure BER now, but you still have to be in the right spot at the right time, or kicking the right connector.

HD boxes are more likely to have this issue than SD boxes, because they have a 2-way splitter on the input which introduces an immediate 3dB loss. The length of wiring and arrangement of splitters will also greatly affect how much signal each outlet in your house gets. And if you live in a loop-wired apartment... just give up now.

[Grogador]

Originally posted by mazdavirgin
Either way guys call up Shaw and get a month or two free. Sadly though the issue is that the content providers are the ones encoding the stream with audio drop outs. It is not the cable providers fault but the distributors. Annoying yes and Shaw is actively trying to resolve the issue with the distributors. There is also an issue with other play back audio drop outs which are caused by the current Motorola firmware. If this is the issue you are experiencing rewinding and replaying that part of the stream will fix the audio drop. Again a fix is dependent on Motorola... :\ Additionally if you are using HDMI try using another connection method and seeing if it improves your audio as not all TV's and Motorola boxes play nice...

If it is a provider issue, ignore everything that I wrote :D If your upper analogs are fuzzy, it's low/poor signal... Good advice on the box/connection as well. Make sure you have the latest revision of your PVR, or have Shaw replace it if still under warranty. This was the 6412-III (version three, III) back in my day.

[bundi]

^^ Wow, I didn't really think that they'd be separate frequencies... but yeah that makes a hell of a lot of sense!

Also, one of the guys at work has a new box, it's Black, didn't see what brand it was... but definitely different than the ole 6412/6416 style.

[FiveFreshFish]

Originally posted by bundi
Also, one of the guys at work has a new box, it's Black, didn't see what brand it was... but definitely different than the ole 6412/6416 style.

Brand is Pace. Uses the same old Atlas remote though.

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=67

[Grogador]

Cooool, about time they moved away from the Motorola shite. The hardware is meh and it takes them ages to fix problems in their crap firmware.

Do the new Pace ones have the audio dropout issue as well?

[RickDaTuner]

I'm out in Canmore and get the same issue, between HD video being less than DVD quality, and the dropping audio, I often wonder if its worth the 180/mth to receive mediocre service.

HD often feel likes like up scaled DVD resolution, so many artifacts in the picture. granted its not as a bad as standard DEF on a HD TV, but its still there.
Its bugs me sometimes that I can watch TV on a CRT with what seems to be greater clarity (at times) than its HD counter parts viewed with a Plasma/LCD TV ...

Maybe I just expect to much from Shaw:dunno:

[im2fst4u]

Originally posted by FiveFreshFish


Brand is Pace. Uses the same old Atlas remote though.

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=67

I have the new Pace PVR and IMO it is JUNK! (or is it the Shaw service?)
I have only had it for about 2 weeks now and we rarely watch TV in the room where it is located but when we do, it freezes, audio goes out, it takes on average 5 seconds or more to load a HD channel. I plan on returning it and trying another one, maybe I received a bad one from the factory?

Our Star Choice HD in the theater has never given us one problem in the year we have owned it. Motorola did something right with the DSR505 although no HDMI output!
Pace has yet to prove itself.

[mazdavirgin]

Originally posted by im2fst4u
I have the new Pace PVR and IMO it is JUNK! (or is it the Shaw service?)
I have only had it for about 2 weeks now and we rarely watch TV in the room where it is located but when we do, it freezes, audio goes out, it takes on average 5 seconds or more to load a HD channel. I plan on returning it and trying another one, maybe I received a bad one from the factory?

Our Star Choice HD in the theater has never given us one problem in the year we have owned it. Motorola did something right with the DSR505 although no HDMI output!
Pace has yet to prove itself.

The Pace boxes are notorious at the moment for dropping packets due to them not being able to keep up with the decoding of the stream. This results in macro blocking, graphics artifacting and the ever so famous audio drop out. Pace is getting better and they are actively working at resolving the issues. They hope to have a fix out that will crush those bugs once and for all... Sadly though at the moment you are better served by using a Motorola DCT.

Your Starchoice box uses the exact same feeds for input as the Shaw service so if you are satisfied with Starchoice then it really is the Pace box at fault in this case.

PS: I would strongly recommend anyone experience any type of video issues to try not using HDMI. HDMI works wonderfully when it works but it causes LOTS of issues when it sort of works. That is the problem when all the tv manufacturers implement a standard differently.

PS2: The black box you refer to is a Pace Aspen.


Originally posted by RickDaTuner
I'm out in Canmore and get the same issue, between HD video being less than DVD quality, and the dropping audio, I often wonder if its worth the 180/mth to receive mediocre service.

HD often feel likes like up scaled DVD resolution, so many artifacts in the picture. granted its not as a bad as standard DEF on a HD TV, but its still there.
Its bugs me sometimes that I can watch TV on a CRT with what seems to be greater clarity (at times) than its HD counter parts viewed with a Plasma/LCD TV ...

Maybe I just expect to much from Shaw:dunno:

The thing to keep in mind is that just because a channel is HD doesn't mean the content at the moment is HD. What the broadcast studios do is they have some HD content and then when they have gaps in their schedule they upscale SD to HD. Not exactly honest but not really a problem with Shaw. If your HD is always crappy then perhaps you should try changing out your video connection especially if you are using HDMI or try to schedule a service call so a tech can come out and make sure there are no issues with your setup.

[RickDaTuner]

Originally posted by mazdavirgin
The thing to keep in mind is that just because a channel is HD doesn't mean the content at the moment is HD. What the broadcast studios do is they have some HD content and then when they have gaps in their schedule they upscale SD to HD. Not exactly honest but not really a problem with Shaw. If your HD is always crappy then perhaps you should try changing out your video connection especially if you are using HDMI or try to schedule a service call so a tech can come out and make sure there are no issues with your setup.

I run HDMI from the receiver to My plasma, I also use the digital coax to run audio to my home theater. I guess my real issue is in their labeling, Between bluray HD and broad cast HD, there is really is no comparison

[mazdavirgin]

Originally posted by RickDaTuner


I run HDMI from the receiver to My plasma, I also use the digital coax to run audio to my home theater. I guess my real issue is in their labeling, Between bluray HD and broad cast HD, there is really is no comparison

Well that is going to be the case no matter where you go and which provider you use sadly. Video technology is always going to be higher end when you use physical media. I mean there is a reason your blue ray disk takes forever to start up and doesn't let you skip the previews. It is buffering up the data from the disk. Blue ray is encoded at a higher resolution simply because well that chunk of plastic can hold >50gigs of data. All cable providers at the moment broadcast in a maximum of 1080i. Going any higher is simply not economical/viable. The bandwidth requirements are simply too high. Give it a couple years and cable will catch up with blue ray :)

[ZMan2k2]

Originally posted by mazdavirgin


The Pace boxes are notorious at the moment for dropping packets due to them not being able to keep up with the decoding of the stream. This results in macro blocking, graphics artifacting and the ever so famous audio drop out. Pace is getting better and they are actively working at resolving the issues. They hope to have a fix out that will crush those bugs once and for all... Sadly though at the moment you are better served by using a Motorola DCT.

Your Starchoice box uses the exact same feeds for input as the Shaw service so if you are satisfied with Starchoice then it really is the Pace box at fault in this case.

PS: I would strongly recommend anyone experience any type of video issues to try not using HDMI. HDMI works wonderfully when it works but it causes LOTS of issues when it sort of works. That is the problem when all the tv manufacturers implement a standard differently.

PS2: The black box you refer to is a Pace Aspen.



The thing to keep in mind is that just because a channel is HD doesn't mean the content at the moment is HD. What the broadcast studios do is they have some HD content and then when they have gaps in their schedule they upscale SD to HD. Not exactly honest but not really a problem with Shaw. If your HD is always crappy then perhaps you should try changing out your video connection especially if you are using HDMI or try to schedule a service call so a tech can come out and make sure there are no issues with your setup.

I'd recommend changing the connection as well. I was using HDMI and had a ton of dropouts and video problems as well. I was getting ready to send the HDPVR back to Shaw in pieces, but I had one tech on the phone who recommended I switch from HDMI to componant. I tried it, with S/PDIF for my audio, and the drop outs have gotten to be less. I may get one in a recorded show, and it still happens occasionally on broadcast TV, but the frequency has really gone down compared to when I was connected with HDMI. And I don't think it was the HDMI cable, as I tried 3 different cables with similar results. My biggest change came from changing the A/V to componant and S/PDIF.

[heavyD]

Originally posted by RickDaTuner
Maybe I just expect to much from Shaw:dunno:

Bingo. Shaw TV programming is a total disgrace as far as I'm concerned (Internet is okay). It took them 1/4 of the season to get Sportsnet Flames HD games on the proper channels as they didn't even show some of them when they were available. They still can't get NFL Sunday Ticket right. I have extremely low expectations of Shaw and their incompetence never ceased to amaze me.

[malbadon]

there is a MASSIVE thread going on for years on this over at digitalhome.ca
It's not your box, its not your cable, it's not the magnetic field caused by the tinfoil in your pantry. Too many different people, too many different types of hd boxes, too many cities, too much randomness about it (I don't get drop-outs, my friends had like 5 different boxes now trying to solve it).

If I recall the general impression from that digitalhome.ca thread is that its a firmware problem or something. Something Shaw needs a third party to fix, and for whatever reason it just ain't gettin fixed.

[luv2ride_bikes]

Originally posted by heavyD


Bingo. Shaw TV programming is a total disgrace as far as I'm concerned (Internet is okay). It took them 1/4 of the season to get Sportsnet Flames HD games on the proper channels as they didn't even show some of them when they were available. They still can't get NFL Sunday Ticket right. I have extremely low expectations of Shaw and their incompetence never ceased to amaze me.
There is nothing wrong with Shaw. Their CS blows away the competition. Their internet speeds are faster than Telus. I find their HD PQ really good. I have friends with Bell TV, and I don't notice a difference in PQ. The audio dropouts are annoying, but they have gotten better the past few weeks. Maybe all the problems you are experiancing are to do with the setup of your equipment.

Something tells me you probably wouldn't be very happy with any provider you get.

[Mitsu3000gt]

I'm in the SW. We have 4 HD PVR's, and the 2 older ones do it sometimes, as well as sometimes they "lag" and then all of a sudden your last 20 remote control inputs happen really quick haha. It isn't nearly as big of a problem as it used to be though, so I just assumed a firmware update fixed the issue. I think its the boxes, not necessarily the Shaw signal.