KABC-DT (ch 87) no center channel audio for Orange Bowl?

Dirac · 01-03-2006, 09:31 PM

Anyone else getting this? My DD decoder shows DD 3/2, but I get no center speaker audio during the actual game broadcast. Getting center audio during the commercials. Maybe it's the ABC-HD feed? I don't have rear speakers connected so I can't check that.

jmbladen · 01-04-2006, 06:48 AM

Same problem on WABC feed. This is nothing new for me. It happens on almost all live HD events on ABC. I do fine when the audio is not Dolby Digital and on most non-live programing like prime time drama/comedy in HD. All sports have seen this problem.

This has been the case since I first got the HD box in July '05.

Chuck_IV · 01-04-2006, 10:23 AM

I "think" this is because the audio is mis-tagged as being DD5.1 but really isn't, thus your receiver is treating it as 5.1 and why there is no center channel. I used to get this on WABC-HD and still do on occassion, however jmbladen, I didn't notice it during the Orange Bowl.

When I do, I just change to standard audio instead of the 5.1 and it sounds fine. Annoying tho as this has been going on for a while now.

jmbladen · 01-04-2006, 10:42 AM

That sounds reasonable. I have a denon av reciever and changing the output to non-dd from the HD tivo indeed resolves the prob. it is usually too much of a pain to bother, however. I don't watch enough ABC programing to care very much. Can't explain why I had the audio issue with the game last night and you did not.

Cheers,
Jeff Bladen

memnoch · 01-04-2006, 10:45 AM

True. Its a stereo mix, but its encoded as a 5.1 stream instead of a 2.0. CBS seems to do this quite a bit in primetime. Even if you watch their SD news on the HD feed, its being encoded as 5.1 as if the techs are too lazy to change the settings on the encoder.