No audio from non-HD Freesat channels

E

esmonde

New Member
My Humax Foxsat HDR satellite receiver has suddenly stopped outputting audio on all but my HD channels. Non-HD video is fine but it has no sound output. I had not fiddled about with connections and cables so I’m really puzzled. Playback is to an LG 49UM7100PLB 49 Inch TV. I hope someone can suggest a reason for this weird behaviour.

I hadn’t been using it much but about a week ago I began getting picture but no sound on my non-HD channels. I’m outputting the sound through a Yamaha RX-V375 receiver and had been controlling my devices using the Logitech Harmony Hub with a Companion Remote. Other devices on the Harmony Hub, such as my Apple TV seem to be working fine.


I’ve tried using the Humax with the Yamaha receiver but without the Harmony Hub and I still have the same problem.

I’ve looked at the Menu system on the Foxsat but can’t see any setting that might explain this strange behaviour. I hope someone can help point me towards a solution. Thanks!
 
Just a guess based on HDR-FOX experience rather than Foxsat, but with the HDR-FOX the volume is controlled locally for stereo and externally for multi-channel. As you are talking about using an AV amp I presume you want multi-channel, but the StDef services don't carry multi-channel and output as stereo. That means the volume level is controlled by the volume setting of the HDR-FOX, and if that has been made 0 there will be no output.
 
Black Hole said:
Just a guess based on HDR-FOX experience rather than Foxsat, but with the HDR-FOX the volume is controlled locally for stereo and externally for multi-channel. As you are talking about using an AV amp I presume you want multi-channel, but the StDef services don't carry multi-channel and output as stereo. That means the volume level is controlled by the volume setting of the HDR-FOX, and if that has been made 0 there will be no output.
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Even if that isn't the answer, kudos to you for seeing the possibility and negative kudos to the people who leave these loopholes. Ugh!
 
MikeSh said:
negative kudos to the people who leave these loopholes.
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Don't knock them. Trying to accommodate the requirements of different classes of user almost invariably produces trip hazards (rather than loop-holes). Sophisticated users have to accept responsibility for their sophistication.

If it turns out to be the case, this particular trip hazard is the result of there being multiple pathways to control the volume (including buttons on the unit itself which can be touched without noticing) and the user having gotten inured to using only one of those pathways.

Where I would criticise is if the audio output format defaults to Multi-channel, when Stereo would be the safer default.
 
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Black Hole said:
Just a guess based on HDR-FOX experience rather than Foxsat, but with the HDR-FOX the volume is controlled locally for stereo and externally for multi-channel. As you are talking about using an AV amp I presume you want multi-channel, but the StDef services don't carry multi-channel and output as stereo. That means the volume level is controlled by the volume setting of the HDR-FOX, and if that has been made 0 there will be no output.
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Thanks very much for your help. I am using a Yamaha amp but not in a multi-channel system. My audio is just to two decent home HiFi speakers. And, as I said, all this was working fine before on all the Foxsat channels. I didn’t change the cabling, but I did possibly press the wrong button or button combination on the Yamaha receiver. But other devices like my Apple TV and my Yamaha Tuner are working fine.

It’s just the bizarre loss of audio on Standard Definition channels, whose video is fine. I’ve tried all the obvious things like re-starts, modem/router reboots, reading manuals, and checking ‘Settings’ and ‘Menus’ and can’t see what I might have done wrong. But everything is pointing to some kind of setting or buttons press at the root of the issue.
 
Yes, but what you haven't said is whether you have tried increasing the volume on the Foxsat instead of relying on the controls for the amp/TV. I'm looking for a reason the HiDef and StDef services behave differently, and the audio handling is a likely reason.

You can remove that difference entirely if you (presuming Foxsat is similar to HDR-FOX) go into menu > settings > preferences > audio > digital audio output (or something similar) and set Stereo instead of Multi-channel.

But you'll still have to raise the Foxsat's volume.
 
If all else fails, read the manual:
Menu, Settings, TV Setup and then Audio and/or Dolby Digital.
 
Black Hole said:
Yes, but what you haven't said is whether you have tried increasing the volume on the Foxsat instead of relying on the controls for the amp/TV. I'm looking for a reason the HiDef and StDef services behave differently, and the audio handling is a likely reason.

You can remove that difference entirely if you (presuming Foxsat is similar to HDR-FOX) go into menu > settings > preferences > audio > digital audio output (or something similar) and set Stereo instead of Multi-channel.

But you'll still have to raise the Foxsat's volume.
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Thank you! Thank you!. I hadn't tried the Foxsat volume, as you guessed. I increased the volume and got some sound and then the Yamaha picked it up too so I seem to be back where I started. I don't ever remember using the Foxsat volume recently but I'm guessing I must have accidentally pulled the volume fully down at some stage and ended up with those mute SD channels. This is such a relief as I just could not figure out what was going on and thought the problem might be in some way related to the Harmony Hub. I'll check out your further advice about the 'digital audio output' and see if I can make that permanent change. Thank you so much, and to all who joined in.
 
esmonde said:
Thank you! Thank you!. I hadn't tried the Foxsat volume, as you guessed. I increased the volume and got some sound and then the Yamaha picked it up too so I seem to be back where I started. I don't ever remember using the Foxsat volume recently but I'm guessing I must have accidentally pulled the volume fully down at some stage and ended up with those mute SD channels. This is such a relief as I just could not figure out what was going on and thought the problem might be in some way related to the Harmony Hub. I'll check out your further advice about the 'digital audio output' and see if I can make that permanent change. Thank you so much, and to all who joined in.
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FWIW I checked 'menu > settings > preferences > audio >' as you suggested and there is no 'digital audio' option - just 'Mono' or 'Stereo'.
 
esmonde said:
FWIW I checked 'menu > settings > preferences > audio >' as you suggested and there is no 'digital audio' option - just 'Mono' or 'Stereo'.
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That is odd, because unless there is some difference in how the StDef and HiDef audio is output then the HiDef services should have been silent too.

Here's how it works (on HDR-FOX, and in many ways the Foxsat is the predecessor of the HDR-FOX... just for DVB-S rather than DVB-T):
  • Stereo PCM audio data is output with the receiver's volume setting baked in, so for a digital signal which ranges -32,768 to +32,767, at half volume the data will only range -16,384 to +16,384 (ignoring the logarithmic scale, for the pedantic), or with a zero setting for volume the output data will be zero..

  • Multi-Channel / Dolby Digital audio data is output as extracted from the broadcast stream unaltered, along with a side-channel telling the equipment downstream what volume is being demanded by the receiver. The equipment downstream might or might not react to the side-channel.
StDef is only ever stereo, never multi-channel. Multi-channel is only possible for HiDef services.
 
I'm afraid I'm not techie enough to trade much info with you on this. Maybe I did mislead you in my earlier response when I included 'Preferences' in that 'Menu' list. My Humax does not show a 'Preferences' option (see attached). Just 'menu/TV setup/Audio as shown, and the only options there are mono and stereo. Could there be some other named menu system that has the options you suggest should be there?
 

Attachments

  • HumaxTVSetup.jpg
    HumaxTVSetup.jpg
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For the Foxsat-HDR

Dolby Digital = ON means bitsteam out for HD channels (and PCM stereo for SD).
Dolby Digital = OFF means the -HDR downmixes Dolby from HD channels into stereo PCM and that is output.

As the -HDR is connected to an AVR you will want the Dolby ON for the HD channels that broadcast some programmes in 5.1 surround.
Set the Humax volume control so that, when channel surfing between HD and SD stations, both are roughly the same volume.

My -HDR (on pass-through my Onkyo AVR to the TV when I'm watching via the built in speakers) is clever enough to downmix HD channels to PCM so the Humax volume control works on both HD and SD channels.

I occasionally get caught out with the Humax volume setting being low/zero. I use it to semi-mute the background programme while selecting recordings to watch / delete afterwards. Then the following day, after switching to standby at night :speechless:

The stereo/mono control I suspect was for some sort of scart/rca to very old (mono) TV compatibility reasons?
 
Thanks very much to Rodders53, Black Hole, and prpr for your help with this and apologies for my delayed reply.
 
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