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Center Channel Drops Out at Transition
smaster121
Newbie
‎02-27-2012 01:29 PM

I have a problem that I believe is a FiOS issue. It is either in the STB or the audio stream.

Simply put, the center channel is omitted on some programs or commercials. On some programs the center channel is missing entirely but the commercials are fine. Sometimes the commercials will drop the center channel but the programs are fine. When one channel is acting up another can be fine. Some programs seem to exhibit the problem more than others although I do not have statistics to back that up.  When the problem occurs I can 'work-around' it by switching the amplfier from Dolby Digital to simple 'stereo'. I can then hear the entire program although not in 5.1 separation. The problem occurs when watching the program directly or from a DVR recording.

Last night during the  Academy Awards the center channel was very low but audible. When switched to stereo there was distortion and a background whistle.

I feed audio from the STB to an Onkyo A/V receiver through the optical connection. Video is straight to the TV through the HDMI signal. (Don't ask why, I don't know, I did it that way for some reason way back when and it has been that way ever since.)

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Re: Center Channel Drops Out at Transition
jocatman
Newbie
‎11-23-2012 09:33 AM

Did you ever get a resolution to this?  I am currently having the exact same issue.

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Re: Center Channel Drops Out at Transition
blueribb
Contributor - Level 1
‎01-30-2013 03:21 PM

There is a fix for this if either of you still have this issue. It requires accessing a hidden menu and changing an hdmi audio setting.

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Re: Center Channel Drops Out at Transition
bmwtaxi
Newbie
‎01-30-2013 10:23 PM

What is the fix? I'm having the same problem.

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Re: Center Channel Drops Out at Transition
blueribb
Contributor - Level 1
‎01-31-2013 06:45 AM

To enter the hidden settings menu:

Press power, then OK, then MENU (don't pause between presses). Once in the white menu, navigate to additional hdmi options and press enter. Then select Audio and AUTO. (mine was set to passthrough). My center channel audio was back again. I found this fix mentioned here but quite some time ago. It seems that firmware updates can cause this to happen. I just received an update about 10 days ago.

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Re: Center Channel Drops Out at Transition
blueribb
Contributor - Level 1
‎02-04-2013 04:13 PM

It turns out that my suggestion did not fix the problem for me this time. Tonight's NBC news HD was mostly silent and I had to switch to the SD channel to hear the remainder of the news. I tried every audio setting in both DVR menus and none fixed the problem for me this time.

Anyone else having this issue ?

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