Audio drop-outs on Discovery Channel

[AndrueCope]

I've been experiencing audio drop-outs when playing back recordings from Discovery HD. The drop outs last a fraction of a second and the frequency is random. They appear to be somewhat programme specific (Gold Rush:White Water is a particular problem). It's definitely only affecting recordings made on Discovery HD. No other channels. I never watch anything live.

I've contacted Discovery Channel direct three times now but never received a response. Could someone here attempt to escalate this?

Thanks.

[oldfella]

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@AndrueCope wrote:

I've been experiencing audio drop-outs when playing back recordings from Discovery HD. The drop outs last a fraction of a second and the frequency is random. They appear to be somewhat programme specific (Gold Rush:White Water is a particular problem). It's definitely only affecting recordings made on Discovery HD. No other channels. I never watch anything live.

I've contacted Discovery Channel direct three times now but never received a response. Could someone here attempt to escalate this?

Thanks.

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Have you tried contacting Viewer relations @AndrueCope ?

viewerR@sky.uk

[AndrueCope]

I'll give Viewer Relations a try, thanks.

It's irritating. It seems to come and go with gaps of several months between it. I suspect an issue with their source material but am surprised no-one else has noticed.

[dlake]

I'm getting the same on the same channel. Making 'Wheeler Dealers' almost impossible to watch.

[AndrueCope]

If you set your box audio output to 'Normal' the drop-outs are barely noticeable. Luckily most of what I watch is on the 'documentary' channels so losing surround sound is not the end of the world. For what it's worth the problem does affect live broadcasts (I confirmed it last night) and that also showed that it affects adverts as well as the actual programming. The problem doesn't exist with the SD channels but that's probably because they don't support Dolby Digital.

I've emailed Viewer Relations so I'll just have to wait now.

[dlc]

I'm having same issue particularly on Expedition X and Expedition Unknown really annoying I've done software update on box but it seems to be only on discovery plus 

[krg22]

Same here with Discovery channel audio dropping out on programmes I have recorded. If I look for the same programme on catch up and download it that way it's fine. Dont have an answer. Never happens on any other channel.

[Crossword]

I have exactly the same problem which only affects Discovery HD recordings. I'm not going to turn off dolby so will download from catchup.

This is another issue like constantly buffering Paramount +  and Sky Go stuck on updating that Sky don't seem to be addressing.

[AndrueCope]

The issue doesn't seem to affect catch-up and I'm wondering if that's because it doesn't support DD. Anyway I've come to the conclusion that there's not much DD material on Sky anyway. If you watch a lot of movies there might be more but I couldn't find any of my recorded programmes flagged as DD.

I'm exchanging emails with Viewer Relations and they appear keen to find out what the problem is so if you haven't contacted them yet it might be worth adding your voices. What I've found so far can be summarised as:

The drop-outs only affect recent programming. I did some testing this morning watching an old Wheeler Dealers episode (one of the Ant Anstead era) and it seemed fine. I also remember that only the last Expedition Unknown suffered from drop-outs. So that suggests it's a change they made sometime after the 7th of April. That could explain why I initially thought it was programme specific - perhaps I had some older recordings still to watch.

[krg22]

Thanks. I notice the issue watching Gold Rush White Water, the latest series. 

[diesel71]

Also seeing this and found this thread when searching for an issue. So annoying.

[AndrueCope]

Viewer Relations appear now to be suggesting that it's a fault with my equipment. They directed me to a page on their help site - one I already knew about. I think that's probably because I mentioned I was watching on a Samsung TV. The fact I said I normally played sound via my Onkyo receiver apparently escaped them.

Oh well. I've said that doesn't help me so we'll see where we go from there. For now though I've just disabled DD output on the box. I can barely here the problem then.

[Crossword]

I too have a Samsung tv and Onkyo receiver which have been in use for quite a while without this issue.  ( my tv is not the model noted as affected by Sky)

Only since early April has this been an issue so Sky shouldn't blame viewers equipment but look to their software.

[dlake]

Samsung TV and Yamaha receiver but the BSkyB Q box is connected directly to the receiver and then only the picture passed through to the TV. Glad this seems to be gathering a bit of momentum. They'll, surely, have to do something about it if more people start shouting.

[diesel71]

Sony TV and soundbar but also nothing has changed since it was working fine for months if not years.