I need help resolving a no audio problem I just discovered on my 990. I want to use a TOSLINK connection to connect my new Series 3 Tivo using the Optical Digital output. Here's what I discovered. The audio will work fine using this connection until... When I select the TIVO main menu I still have audio because I can hear the beeps from the menu system as I navigate the Tivo menu system. The minute I return back to TV by pressing the "Live TV" button the audio disappears. I've tried a different TOSLINK cable and I've tried multiple OPTICAL ports on the back of my 990. The solutions I've found is one of the following four: 1.)Power the unit on and off, 2.)choose a different input and go back to Tivo input, 3.) go to input selection of Tivo {from Outlaw Input Configuration menu} and change the audio input from current Optical input # and return to the Optical input # I'm currently using the TIVO with, & 4.)unplug the TOSLINK cable from either the Outlaw or the Tivo and plug it back in.

I have updated the firmware of my 990 to the one before the LFE no audio problem I remember being described if you turn your Sub's volume level too low. Before I go messing around re-flashing my 990 I'd like to know if anybody has any ideas for me or if the lastest firmware addresses this issue. Thanks in advance. By the way I've had my 990 almost a year now and I never experienced any no audio problems using TOSLINK with my DVD player or any other source for that matter.

When the audio disappears, what does the 990's front panel display show? If the little "Digital" indicator is flashing then the 990 is unable to lot on to the digital audio bitstream, but if the indicator is illuminated then the 990 recognizes a digital input and simply isn't doing anything.

While I'm pestering you with questions, does the 990's front panel indicate "PCM" (near the top left) when in the Tivo menu but not when in normal viewing or playback modes?

When the audio works (by the way all tv channels audio seems to be flawless until I return from Tivo menu system) PCM is displayed on the 990 front panel and stays illumined when I press Menu (audio is still functioning properly in menu.) As soon as I press Live TV button from the TIVO main menu the display returns to TV, audio goes out, & PCM icon disappears. "Digital" icon is steady throughout this process even after audio has dropped. Hope this sheds some light because I'm out of ideas.

So you are always outputting PCM, it sounds like. Interesting - I'd have thought it would have used Dolby Digital at least some of the time, and was wondering if it was failing to flip between modes. Below is a quote that I found here :

What if you try making two changes on your Tivo to see what effect they have on the 990? First, try turning the menu sound effects off (Audio Settings | Sound Effects Volume). Second (and this may be a worthwhile change in general, particularly for HD content that is will come through in Dolby 5.1 on at least some programs), try changing the audio format from PCM to bitstream. It's not clear to me how, but I think it's under "Audio Settings" and "Dolby Digital."

You found what I was looking for!!! What actually fixed the problem was I changed audio setting in the Tivo Menu from Dolby Digital to Dolby Digital =>PCM. Once I made this adjustment everything works fine. I played with the volume setting of the menu and I can turn it off if I want but right now I've got the volume turned to low and when I return to Live TV - WOLA! I have sound the way I should. I never knew my TIVO had this adjustment, I thought for sure the problem was with a setting on the Outlaw. I can't thank you enough gonk!

Glad we got it working, Cisco!

I was having the same issue myself, and i know about the settings for the DD -> PCM within the Tivo box. My issue is this however:

The 990 only outputs a dolby pro logic signal, i can not use the DD 5.1 signal. Once i change the tivo back to just DD, 5.1 works fine till i change the channel or watch something recorded. Then i am back to no audio till i unplug the connection or change the tivo back to DD -> PCM.

The 990 will detect and decode whatever format the digital signal happens to be - Dolby 2.0, Dolby 5.1, PCM, or whatever. It sounds like something really odd is happening with the Tivo's output. Unless somebody has a good explanation for just what the Tivo's output is doing under these different scenarios, I may have to track down a Tivo manual to figure out what they're doing with the digital output.

Hi,

I'm bumping this to the top as I am having similar issues with my new 990 and I am wondering if anyone has found anything on this issue yet.

My Tivo S3 is set to Dolby Digital output. After powering up the 990, every channel on Live TV plays fine, Dolby Digital and PCM. As soon as I try to access any recorded PCM encoded program, the audio for all PCM encoded programming is gone (both Live and Recorded).

I can surf around in Live TV or recorded programs. The only items that play audio at this point are Dolby Digital encoded programs(They don't have to be 5.1, even digital channels with DD 2.0 play just fine).

The LED display is normal for Dolby Digital material but when I change to a non DD encoded program, digital glows steady but no PCM, no Dolby mode, no LFE, no speaker labels at all.

A power cycle or changing inputs provides a fix until I try to play a PCM encoded recording.

As far as something weird on the TiVo side...This TiVo unit in this configuration worked fine with my 970.

I've been through the TiVo manuals and searched on the TiVo community forums to no avail... I can't find anyone else having this issue. Except for us.

I opened a ticket and am working this with Scott as well.

Quick update:

I found a couple of people on the TiVo community forums having the same exact issue that I am.

I did some further testing:

With my 970, I have no problem playing ANY recording or live TV audio stream, PCM or Dolby Digital.

I borrowed a friends Denon AVR-987 receiver and it does not exhibit this problem either.

When the issue happens with the 990, changing inputs at ANY point in the recorded or live program fixes the issue and restores audio.

I have reported this to Outlaw CS. I think this likely points to an issue with the 990 locking on to the signal rather than an issue with how the TiVo outputs.

I've been successfully using my 990 with my Tivo Series 3 since Gonk helped me with this back in February. Maybe I'm missing something in your thread but I had the same problem your describing when I had my Tivo output as Dolby Digital. Once you change the output setting from Dolby Digital on the Tivo3 to PCM it eliminated ALL audio dropouts from the Now Playing menu.

Palmer you state in your second paragraph that your Tivo3 is set to Dolby Digital, this is what needs to be changed to PCM. I bet once you correct this feature you'll be good to go. Hope that helps.

Hi Cisco,

This is not a solution for me as I record and watch a ton of material encoded in DD. Unless I am mistaken, if I select PCM, everything gets downmixed and I get no more Dolby Digital soundtracks. I'd much rather have th 990 decode as it is supposed to.

I'm not home right now to double check my 990 with my Series 3 but if I'm not mistaken I have my Outlaw set on Neo:6 Cinema Surround Sound and everthing I have recorded comes through nicely in surround sound-filling the whole listening area with high fidelity sound like when I watch a DVD. I have this year's Grammy's recorded on it and I play it when I want to demo my system. I couldn't imagine it sounding any better. Let me know how you make out changing your surround sound settings on your Outlaw so you have the Outlaw process the signal rather than forcing Dolby which causes the audio dropouts. Maybe Gonk could explain this better than me but I couldn't be happier with my Series 3 / 990 combination in PCM format.

I hear you, and I understand what you are saying.

Here's my dilemma:

Let's say I've recorded the Sopranos in HD, which is broadcast with a DD 5.1 soundtrack. What is the material difference between:

a) Having the TiVo output the DD 5.1 soundtrack and having the 990 apply PLIIx-M processing.

b) Having the Tivo output PCM and having the Outlaw apply PL-IIx-M processing to the PCM stream.

Here's what I think the answer is:

Dolby Digital has discrete channels of information and provides a separate signal for each speaker depending on the Dolby Digital mode (Most commonly seen as 2.0 and 5.1 in cable broadcasts).

PCM from the TiVo provides a matrixed signal. In this scenario, the TiVo is either processing the DD 5.1 signal and downmixing to stereo OR simply taking the PCM soundtrack from the broadcaster and passing it to the 990 instead of the DD signal. This requires the processor to create the surround channels using a scheme like Neo:6 or PLIIx.

I know that Neo:6 and PL-IIx can both do a very good job creating a 5.1 or 7.1 surround field from two channel input but I really do want my 990 to be able to work as my 970 did and lock on to signals and decode them properly regardless of the format.

Thanks for your input and I will be taking a listen to some soundtracks output by the TiVo in both DD and PCM to see what difference I can discern (if any).

I'll post my impressions here in case anyone's interested.

I'm interested in your listening observations after performing your tests; I never tried experimenting with both because of the inherent dropouts in DD. Let me know how you make out.

I tested my 990 today with multiple recorded shows. If I set the TiVo to PCM, everything is output as PCM, even the shows broadcast in Dolby Digital.

The 990 has no problem locking on to these two- channel signals and applying Dolby processing to them.

I selected "Planet Earth" for my DD test as it is broadcast in Dolby Digital 5.1 and has some really stunning surround effects. I left the 990 set to PL-IIx-Movie and played the same sequences with the TiVo alternately set to Dolby Digital and PCM mode.

When I set the Tivo to output in PCM, surround detail was greatly diminished. Most of the localized, individual sounds that were distinct and directional in Dolby Digital were lost in the general soundfield.

Shows broadcast in PCM (or DD 2.0) showed no difference in quality or surround effects with the Tivo set to DD or PCM. This is as I expected as the 990 is applying processing to the same two channel signal.

While the 990 had no problem outputting sound for ANY recording while the TiVo was set to PCM, this is not a solution for me. A large percentage of my recordings are of shows with DD 5.1 soundtracks and I definitely prefer to hear those soundtracks when they are being decoded directly by the 990.

As I said, I don't think this is an issue with the TiVo as I was not able to duplicate the problem with a 970 or a Denon Surround receiver.

TP

Same issue here for last year+. I got my series 3 in October of 2006 and saw this issue in the beginning. I am wondering if anyone found a fix.

I have had a ticket open with Outlaw for some time now but have not heard anything in a while. I'll ping and see where they are.

I'll post the resolution in this thread once I get a final answer from Outlaw.

Tony.

Hi all,

Just a brief resurrection of this thread as it appears that the issue may be resolved.

It appears my problem is resolved but TWO things have changed since my last test so I am not sure which is responsible.

1) The Tivo was updated with new software. The new version is: 9.1-01.2.648.

2) I changed my service from Astound to Comcast and Comcast installed two new cable cards (same make and model as the RCN cable cards).

I am inclined to believe that the Tivo update is responsible because programs recorded BEFORE the update (which exhibited the problem) play fine now with the Tivo set to Dolby Digital mode.

What's really puzzling to me is how my 970 had no problem with the previous version of Tivo software set to output in DD.

I suppose I'll have to chalk that up to different processor platforms having different responses to signal streams.

Okay, so here's my question: Is anyone who was experiencing this issue (Sfox7076, scofow or Cisco) willing to test this out and tell me if the Dolby Digital issue is resolved for you with the new Tivo code? I'm just curious...


Again, the rev on my S3 is: 9.1-01.2.648