Audio over-driven - crackling

[Jim HTPC]

I have a Series 3 HD Tivo box with 2 cablecards using Comcast cable.

Over the past 3-6 months I noticed certain channel's audio appears to be over-driven where the TVs speakers crackle. I thought it was happening on just content, but it happens on commercials too.

My TV is the new Samsung 55A950 LCD tv and I'm using an HDMI cable from the TIVO box to the TV.

To help troubleshoot; I also get the crackling using my home theater processor using SPDIF out of the TIVO box. So it's not an HDMI issue, nor the TV.

I suspect it's comcast compressing the heck out of the their analog programming. The HD channels sound fine. Looks are a different story.

I noticed FX is the worst. It ruined the last season of The Shield and Sons of Anarchy.

I've sent an e-mail to FX to see if they can make an inquiry to Comcast as speaking to comcast is like speaking to my 4 month old son. I get lots of sounds but no intelligent conversation.

So to me the only 2 things that could be is a) TIVO box, b) Comcast cable.

Does anyone else have this problem? I'm located in South Florida (comcast).

Thanks.

[Dominick]

Hi - any resolution for this problem? I have something similar happening...I have a Series 2 Tivo w/ Comcast Digital Cable in NJ. Every once in a while when watching live TV there is a loud chirping sound, followed by distorted audio on the right channel only. And it only seems to happen to a few select TV channels, most notably 2 (CBS), 4 (NBC), 49 (Comedy Central) and 64 (YES). If I power off the converter box and restart it the problem goes away, but of course most of what I watch is recorded so there's obviously nothing that can be done about it in that case. I replaced my digital converter box but still have the problem.

If I had to guess I'd say there's a problem with how the Comcast signal interacts with the converter box - perhaps a signal surge of some sort. I say this because my receiver and speakers are in good working order when used with any other source material (CD, DVD) and all audio/video/speaker connections are clean and tight.

Of course I dread trying to explain this to Comcast because I'm confident they'll tell me there's no problem with their signal, or that my non-Comcast TiVo somehow is to blame. That may in fact be the case but I want to hear that from someone other than them.

Thanks in advance for any info you might share.

Regards,

Dominick

[NJ_HB]

Both of you could dis-connect the TiVo and run the cable directly into the TV and see if the problem persists.
If you call the cable co. without doing that they may blame TiVo and/or charge you for a service call in the event they have to come out.