Audio drop-outs on Discovery Channel

[Area255]

Interesting that this issue is not apparent at all on my Mini Box, only the main SkyQ box. 

[xenon81]

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@Martyn.Wells wrote:

I'm not so sure that this is a priority issue for Sky, as it only appears to impact Sky Q customers, a retired service they have no interest in fixing,

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Sky Q isn't retired yet. It's still available to buy and receiving software updates, new apps etc.

https://www.sky.com/tv/sky-q

[lindzmac]

The drop out seemed to improve for a few days but an absolute nightmare last night. When is SKY going to take heed and act like a company are interested in customer satisfaction.

[Daveinbolly]

Same issue here, and glad I decided to look it up to find plenty of other frustrated customers, as it just doesn't make sense and despite being a tech guy, couldn't think why the issue would be so specific to ceertain content.

Wheeler Dealers is a prime example, with random loss of sound for just long enough to make some commentary....disconnected from what's going on, leaving you guessing what a sentence actually was.
I'm sure I've noted it on other shows too, Gold Rush comes to mind.

Setup:

Samsung OLED TV
Sky Q STB
Sony STR-DN1050 AV receiver
TV is connected via HDMI with passthrough.

I've not noted this issue with any other broadcasts, and seems isolated to Sky channels only

If I was paying for some free/cheapo service I'd be inclined to try and overlook it, but as we all know, the service is not cheap, and for that I expect it to be trouble free - either that or offer customers a rate reduction whilst you sort it out. We're not getting a 100% smooth service, but still paying 100% of our bills.

Sky, please sort it out once and for all.

[Daniel-F · Accepted solution]

Hi all,

Just to update on this case, investigation teams have so far been unable to replicate the issue on the Discovery Channel and over the last week we have only seen one full example outlined in the request I made in July which was the following:

1. Version of Discovery+ channel you are watching (HD, SD variation OR In app broadcast)
2. Date / Time of the audio drop out
3. How is sound put out in your home set up? IE Sound bar, TV speakers
4. What sound settings are you using on Sky Q? IE Dolby Digital or normal?
5. If you are using the dolby settings and set this to normal, does the drop out stop?
6. How frequent are the drop outs during live broadcast?
7. Does the drop out occur just on the show or also in adverts?

That being said, we would appreciate any fresh examples users have of this issue & should we get multiple we can look to escalate this again 🙂

Thanks,

[Dazmini1971]

Doesn't make sense, so all of your customers who have reported an issue in this forum all using different makes of equipment and yet experience the same problem but your back office team can't replicate the issue, what are they using a old Amstrad Sky box & TV from the 90's? 

[Antigua79]

 Not to mention that the non-answer above has been marked as an answer, giving the impression that the issue is solved, which it very much isn't. It's time to leave Sky and move on. This one issue of audio dropping *across the board* in my case is an absolute discrace. 

[Area255]

Is really bad on Discovery this afternoon! I just videoed an example but cannot attach here. 

[SJ+Crinan]

I am glad to see I am not the only person having this issue.  It definetly seems to be an issue with the Discovery Plus HD channel.  I have not tried the non HD +1 channel and might try it as a solution.

1. Discovery HD
2. Any program at any time of day
3. Samsung TV sound direct speakers
4. Dolby Digital turned off
5. Normal live tv and recordings getting slight sound stuttering picture is fine
6. Happens on live broadcast, only on Discovery HD all other channels fine
7. Show and adverts, every few minutes lasting a second or so

[Mark2308]

I've been experiencing exactly the same issue. Sound drops out on discovery every 10 seconds or so even on adverts.  Connected through soundbar via HDMI cable. 

[andyDGla76]

This is happening right now.  Went to watch discovery HD for Alaska Homestead rescue and have actually picked something else to watch as it's so bad.

seems to be a wide spread issue and needs to be resolved.

I've switched off my sound bar, switched of the Dolby setting and nothing makes a difference!!!

[Antigua79]

After much trial and error, I have found that if I'm taking audio from the OPTICAL OUTPUT of my sky Q box, the only thing that fixed the dropouts was to switch the HDMI AUDIO OUTPUT to "Normal." This allows me to get full multichannel audio and no dropouts (so far). 
It's counter intuitive as the setting for the audio output that I'm NOT using is the one that fixed the problem. Logic would suggest (but I can't guarantee logic with sky q!) that if you're sending audio via HDMI, switching the OPTICAL OUTPUT to normal may fix the issue.  

[Area255]

Nice idea. I had both Optical and HDMI connections. I have removed the optical link, and set the HDMI to normal. I'll see how it goes.

[Antigua79]

@Area255 what I meant was; if you're using HDMI, keep that switched to Dolby, and switch OPTICAL to normal. It's counter intuitive, but was the only thing that would work for me. 

[Area255]

Gotcha. I'm leaving the optical disconnected and on normal with HDMI set to Dolby Digital +