Audio noise-distortion!

For about 1 month I have been experiencing audio distortion on all channels on Fios. Voices, music and sound effects have a scratchy, clipped sound most of the time. This happens through HDMI on both my Fios boxes, through an A/V receiver, or connected directly to the tv. Verizon has replaced my cable box, all the inside wiring, the splitter, and the ONT, but the distortion is still there. There must be some kind of transmission error that leads to this but Verizon techs say they have no idea. Anyone else having this problem? Any solution?

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BacchusNYC

The firmware upgrade yesterday seems to have fixed things. It also took the hidden audio passthrough option and unhid it. It's now under audio settings "audio passthrough". Interesting as changing these settings in the hidden menu didn't fix it so it's a deeper fix than just those menu options. I never thought i'd say this but THANK YOU VERIZON!

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MArbia

I have been experiencing the same issue. I noticed this issue a few weeks ago. Lately the issue is only in the rear speakers and only happens some of the time. I am sure calling fios will not result in a resolution.

clem21

Good to know I'm not the only person with this issue. Fios techs think I'm crazy. It seems like they have either excessively compressed the audio, or are sending out a very hot audio signal. As the signal is digital, any clipping results in massive noise, unlike analog. Wish there was something to do about it as it makes watching TV very difficult!

ChadCMulligan

Same here, driving me crazy, distortion only with audio via cable box, all other inputs are fine. Adjusted audio settings to no avail. I dread calling them about this since it will likely be a wasted hour and service call.

clem21

No joy, new box, ONT, splitter, wire, still have audio distortion. Was told by Verizon their signal is "compliant" and nothing else can be done. Wonder why it was fine for years, now not so. Could it be related to the new 4K rollout?

clem21

So still no resolution to the problem. It's definitely something going on with the signal from Verizon as it is audible on all channels, and both my boxes. You can even hear it on my kitchen tv, which is being fed by the analog outputs of the cable box. Tried an HDMI splitter in line with the HDMI feed from the cable box today and thet didn't change anything either, and that is a re-clocking splitter. So the distortion must be baked in before it gets to the house.

Are you listening VERIZON?

Please do something about this.

[Deleted User]

Hi clem53,

Your issue has been escalated to a Verizon agent. Please check your Private Message Inbox for a message from Verizon_Support. You can find your Inbox by clicking on your username at the top right corner of this page. Please direct all correspondence concerning your issue to the agents who will be assisting you privately.

Jrebysa80

Hello. I am experiencing same issue for the past 1-2 months. I have a 5.1 audio setup with a Pioneer Elite receiver. I have had Verizon Fios for 2 years and never had a problem until now. My rear speakers sound distorted during certain programs. One of the worst offenders is Grey's Anatomy - it sounds like static from the surround sound speakers. What happened Fios?? You used to work fine! Nothing has changed on my end. I have tried resetting all of my equipment but nothing has fixed it. Please help!!!

Nilsa_VZ

We apologize for this inconvenience. This has been referred internally to our engineering team who is working on figuring out what the issue is.

We will keep you updated.

Thank you.

jonnyl1

I'm having the exact same issue described above and its driving me nuts! At first I just noticed it on my TV that has surround sound, so I figured it was a problem with Sonos. But since then I realized its happening on all of my TVs, the rest of which I just use the built-in speakers. On the TV with surround sound, the buzzing coming out of the rear speakers makes watching ABC (507) unbearable. I've had about 8 different technicians come out to try to fix this same problem. First they replaced my DVR, which didn't help. They've since replaced all of my splitters, replaced my ONT and it's power supply, removed (and restored) the grounding on the ONT's power supply, connected a grounding cable directly to the first splitter and physically moved the ONT further away from my electrical panel (thinking it was interference) - all to no avail. However, my most recent technician (today) thinks he's narrowed down the cause (which is outside of my house) and has piqued the interest of some other engineering groups within Verizon who are now looking into it. Anyone else with the same experience should post the details here - the more customer cases this issue has the more attention it will get. Wishing us all luck!

Here are some videos I recorded that demonstrate the buzzing. This is on a Samsung TV using just the built-in speakers:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/2trt0if05rctqpx/verizon%20audio1.mov?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ux7y68jbj9tw9hl/verizon%20audio2.mov?dl=0

Nilsa_VZ

Thank you jonnyl,

I have sent these over to the network team for further investigation.

We apologize for this inconvenience. The team is troubleshooting this and will let us know their findings.

We will keep you posted on their findings.

clem21

Over a week now and still no response from Fios on this issue. Also found the Fios One box only outputs Dolby Digital via HDMI. Cannot be changed in the service menu to LPCM as this only passes stereo. Pass thru option does nothing, so you never get the actual sound from anything you watch as I used to from the older boxes.

Barkey1

Yes i have same problem

CaliGirl02

I have been having this same issue for two months now - continuous buzzing sound from cable on Frontier Fios formerly Verizon Fios. Not one tech support person has fixed the problem nor did the one who came in person! And no one seems to care enough to investigate and fix it. It was ok for five years and then started two months ago. It’s with Frontier Fios not with my TVs, both under five years old. As soon as this coronavirus quarantine is over I’ll be switching carriers!! Ridiculous.

bgriscavage@gmail.com

Yeah, for me some channels have hotter audio than others. I also got a lot of distortion on some audio, to the point that I just replaced the tv thinking I had a blown speaker. The distortion went away, but the audio levels from channel to channel, and among various inputs, still varies quite a bit. I now am thinking about a sound bar to improve the dialog audio so my wife doesn’t turn up the volume and damage the new tv. Anyone recommend a sound bar for my Visio tv to improve dialog audio?

clem21

@BonG1 wrote:
Yeah, for me some channels have hotter audio than others. I also got a lot of distortion on some audio, to the point that I just replaced the tv thinking I had a blown speaker. The distortion went away, but the audio levels from channel to channel, and among various inputs, still varies quite a bit. I now am thinking about a sound bar to improve the dialog audio so my wife doesn’t turn up the volume and damage the new tv. Anyone recommend a sound bar for my Visio tv to improve dialog audio?

Have you tried: Menu>Settings>Audio and Video>Audio>Dynamic Range, set it to heavy and it will help the channel to channel volume issues and bring up the dialog levels.

23Smiles

We just became @Fios customers 7 hours ago. First night trying to watch TV and can not due to distorted sound - ours gets "digitized" and sound is garbled - acc completely impossible to watch anything. Not only is it thru the cable box; the wifi signal messed up our @Netflix and @Disney+ too.

Know it is not the TV as that worked perfectly well before our 2pm Fios appointment. Tried to use live chat feature via @MyFios app to address this with a representative, was given a 10 minute approximate wait and gave up 2 hours later. All in all this has to be the worst new user experience ever! Hours of frustration later and we still can't do a simple thing like watch our TV! Now to read this thread....I am deeply concerned we made a mistake leaving our previous cable provider.

clem21

@23Smiles wrote:
We just became @Fios customers 7 hours ago. First night trying to watch TV and can not due to distorted sound - ours gets "digitized" and sound is garbled - acc completely impossible to watch anything. Not only is it thru the cable box; the wifi signal messed up our @Netflix and @Disney+ too.
Know it is not the TV as that worked perfectly well before our 2pm Fios appointment. Tried to use live chat feature via @MyFios app to address this with a representative, was given a 10 minute approximate wait and gave up 2 hours later. All in all this has to be the worst new user experience ever! Hours of frustration later and we still can't do a simple thing like watch our TV! Now to read this thread....I am deeply concerned we made a mistake leaving our previous cable provider.

First try going to menu on Fios box>settings >audio and video >audio >dynamic range. Set it to none, see if it's better. If not, try heavy. If that doesnt help, contact support.

Here is the preferred list of ways to contact Verizon:

1. @VerizonSupport via Twitter (this is the same team that handles vzdirect on dslreports.com)

2. Fios Facebook page

3. Chat

4. Community (once the customer has exhausted the other 3 options, the moderators will escalate it internally to @VerizonSupport)

5. dslreports.com or YouTube

6. 800 number should always be the last resort

BacchusNYC

Same thing here. New TV. Tried every possible setting. There's no rhyme or reason but when it happens it's almost as if the speakers are clipping on normal volume. Very frustrating Verizon. Sound is pretty integral to the entire TV experience. Please fix this!!

clem21

@JPV wrote:
Same thing here. New TV. Tried every possible setting. There's no rhyme or reason but when it happens it's almost as if the speakers are clipping on normal volume. Very frustrating Verizon. Sound is pretty integral to the entire TV experience. Please fix this!!

Just out of curiosity, how are you getting audio? Is the fios box hooked up directly to the TV via HDMI and the audio is from there, or are you using optical from the Fios box? Are you using the TV speakers, or a soundbar hooked up to the TV? Do you have Dolby Digital enabled or PCM audio or just stereo?

BacchusNYC