Why is OTA audio so crappy?

[jsirota]

2 weeks into the HR10-250 ...

Why is OTA audio so crappy? It's a lot quieter and has a lot less "depth" than the satellite channels. Anything I can do about this? Anyone else notice the difference?

[Jim Abbett]

Check you SAP and other audio settings on your TV.

My Hitachi sounds like crap with the setting on while watching HD programming. Turning it off fixxes it.

[jsirota]

I just tried everything I could think of while watching the Superbowl.

Watching it OTA in HD, the video is fantastic but the background noise totally drowns out the announcers. It's pretty much unwatchable (unlistenable). The audio is fantastic over the satellite, but the video sucks.

I tried switching from HDMI to component, tried futzing with the TV's bass/treble/surround controls ... BTW, there's no Dolby Digital happening here, it's disabled on the Tivo. I don't have anything that can decode the Dolby.

We've noticed the same sort of problem in normal OTA broadcasts, but of course in most TV series there isn't so much background noise, so it's at least watchable, although inferior. The Superbowl right now is basically unwatchable if you want to hear the announcers.

This is enough to make me want to try to return the whole thing. Am I really the only one with this problem? Is it my box? My TV? I have no other way of watching OTA HD broadcasts (TV is really just a monitor, no tuner) so I don't know how to prove where the problem is.

Do the rest of you notice an audio difference between satellite and OTA?

[Jim Abbett]

I had the exact same problem you described. Very low volume on the announcer's mics or actor's conversation on HD programs like the various CSI series'.

I changed the audio setting on the TV and it fixxed it. Look for SAP, SRS(I think) or similar acronymed(sp?) setting in your tv's audio set-up and turn it off. It should fix it.

[jsirota]

SAP is "second audio program" -- as in, alternate languages. We're not listening to that. I don't know what SRS is, etc ... but I can't find anything to turn off other than "surround sound", which does improve with it off, but it's still TERRIBLE compared to the sound over satellite.

[ebonovic]

What happening is that you are getting the full 5.1 setup... and either your local broadcaster or something is screwing it up, and the "center" channel is getting drowned out.

It has been a problem before on other broadcasts.

One of the only ways I know around it, is to take it out of stereo mode, and drop down to 2ch mode

[jsirota]

Thanks, that actually makes sense. So, if I don't have Dolby Digital 5.1 enabled on the HR10-250, then is it the Tivo box that's messing this up? If I enable 5.1, then I get no audio at all on my TV (and I don't have another way to get the audio other than the TV's speakers.)

Edit -- update -- thanks to the hints, I did a bunch more reading on the web, and it seems that this isn't all that uncommon. If you disable DD5.1 on the Tivo box (which I have to do, since I have no DD receiver), then the "conversion" or whatever happens to regular stereo audio seems to lose the information in the center channel.

Is the only fix to get a DD audio receiver? Man, this conversion to HDTV is just getting more expensive ...

[RunnerFL]

Is the only fix to get a DD audio receiver? Man, this conversion to HDTV is just getting more expensive ...


I'm not sure if it's the only fix, but it sure is the best one... You can find DD receivers fairly inexpensive these days. Once you do go DD you'll wonder why you hadn't sooner.

2 of my local OTA channels even broadcast in 6.1 Digital, and yes ABC is one of them so last night while watching the SB I felt like I was there in the crowd.