Possible solution to perceived audio problem.

Y

yorkietyke

I too noticed the difference in audio levels in the latest update and, after a bit of head scratching have come up with a solution which may be of interest to some forum members.

Prior to update 1.02.07 my connections were HDMI from Hummy to TV. Optical audio from Hummy to amp, resulting in a less than satisfactory situation after the update.

Now connections are HDMI from Hummy to TV. Digital coax from TV (audio out) to amp. I can now set the SD volume on the Hummy to the same (percieved) level as the fixed level HD audio then use the amp for fine adjustment.

She who must be obeyed is much happier, therefore so am I.

Both SD and HD audio are fine!

TV, Philips 32PFL7404H
Amp, Sony DAV-IS10
 
Does your TV pass through DD5.1 or multichannel PCM? If I did this on my TV I would loose the (few) programs with 5.1 audio as it decodes the 5.1 - but outputs a downmixed 2 channel on its audio out IIRC (Its a Toshiba).

Nice fix though!
 
I guess you could keep the direct optical link between the Hummy and the amp for those occasions.
 
Had a play with the volume last night - even better you don't need the optical at all on my setup. The volume is variable on SD and fixed on HD both using the HDMI through the amp - so you can set a perceived level for SD. I never use the TV's own speakers at all but do sometimes use the TV tuner with audio to the amp. This I've tweaked down on the amp's settings as it was a bit loud.

I think that's virtually the same as yorkietyke I just didn't read the paragraph right.
 
adrenalize said:
Does your TV pass through DD5.1 or multichannel PCM? If I did this on my TV I would loose the (few) programs with 5.1 audio as it decodes the 5.1 - but outputs a downmixed 2 channel on its audio out IIRC (Its a Toshiba).

Nice fix though!
Click to expand...

Yes the TV does pass through DD5.1.
I have the amp set to Dolby Pro Logic II as default for SD broadcast. If HD / Multi channel is broadcasting, the amp automatically decodes it. 5.1 works fine.

The optical lead is not used at all now and is disconnected, but still available for use if all goes pear shaped !
 
@yorkietyke & adrenalize - are you saying you've got setups that result in the same - or very close - volume levels for both SD & HD programmes? If so, can you explain it as I don't understand your setups.

My HDR is connected to my Sony A/V amp via HDMI and the amp to the Sony TV also via HDMI.
 
Generally yes! With the brief bit of watching I've done since the latest firmware the levels don't seem too bad overall with the Humax box volume on 20 - but the HD channels do seem a bit quieter than SD. I try to mainly compare voice/speech.

My setup is Humax HDR > Yamaha RX-V1065 Amp > Toshiba TV using HDMI. I have the TV volume turned all the way down and just use the amp.

When on a HD channel changing the Humax volume does nothing, but on an SD channel it does change the output over HDMI so you can tweak it down a bit compared to the fixed HD volume - I think mine is on 17. I then only use the amp's volume.

My amp also works like yorkietyke's in that if it is fed a non-multichannel signal (including analogue or Dolby Digital 2 channel) I can select an "effect" so I have Dolby Pro-Logic selected to feed the voice to the center speaker. On the odd programme on BBC HD or CH4 that are in 5.1 the amp outputs the respective multichannel audio as it should be.

It is still noticeable that some TV channels differ greatly in volume to others - the adverts seems especially loud compared the programmes on some.
 
Ah, so the volume control on the Humax doesn't alter the level on HD channels, only SD? I didn't know that. Now your and yorkietyke's previous posts make sense.

Thanks, I'll tweak mine tonight.

adrenalize said:
It is still noticeable that some TV channels differ greatly in volume to others - the adverts seems especially loud compared the programmes on some.
Click to expand...

That's always been the case - adverts are what the mute and FF buttons are for :p
 
Ah, so the volume control on the Humax doesn't alter the level on HD channels, only SD? I didn't know that. Now your and yorkietyke's previous posts make sense.



Hi parish
Sorry my description wasn't as clear as it should have been.
adrenalize has achieved the same, or very near the same, result as I have.
My amp has HDMI out to the TV but does not have a HDMI input facility, so I am fortunate to be able to use the digital coax audio outlet from the TV to the amp.
The TV speakers are automatically muted when the amp is on (enabled by Philips "easylink" which is similar to the Sony Bravia facility)

Good luck with the tweak, let us all know if it works for you.
 
yorkietyke said:
Sorry my description wasn't as clear as it should have been.
adrenalize has achieved the same, or very near the same, result as I have.
My amp has HDMI out to the TV but does not have a HDMI input facility, so I am fortunate to be able to use the digital coax audio outlet from the TV to the amp.
The TV speakers are automatically muted when the amp is on (enabled by Philips "easylink" which is similar to the Sony Bravia facility)

Good luck with the tweak, let us all know if it works for you.
Click to expand...

Your explanation was clear, it was just that I didn't know about the volume control on the Humax not affecting HD.

Yes, it works just fine. Turned the volume on the Humax down to 17 and now SD and HD channels are roughly the same volume.

My setup is similar to yours in that I have an optical digital audio connection from the TV to the amp as one, or both, of them don't support the Audio Return Channel over HDMI. This doesn't really make any difference but it's just connected for the odd occasion when I'm recording two programmes and want to watch a third (on a different mux) so use the TV tuner - I still get the sound through the AV speakers.
 
This doesn't work for me, I have HDMI to TV and then stereo phono connection to an amp (don't have surround sound). In this scenario, HD is much quieter and the Humax volume control affects HD as well as SD and hence the fix of turning it down does not work.
 
Unfortunately the "trick" only works if the audio output is set to multichannel. You could try setting it to multichannel and seeing if your TV is capable of decoding the signal it gets.
 
adrenalize said:
Unfortunately the "trick" only works if the audio output is set to multichannel. You could try setting it to multichannel and seeing if your TV is capable of decoding the signal it gets.
Click to expand...

I've tried this and the sound still worked but the volume problem remained.
 
It's a shame that Humax won't sort out these dreadful audio problems with the HDR Fox T2. I have a Sony TV receiving both SD and HD, and have no problems with the audio levels whatsoever.
 
I updated my HDR today to the 1.02.07 update. Now on most channels there is a lisp on speach (s's sound more like sshh's).
Has anyone else had this probem? Having watched a couple of programs it seems worse in adverts. This was never a problem before.
Any ideas
 
I recorded Human Planet before the latest update - but watched it after updating and there was occasional distortion on the odd words with lots of sibilance in them - I haven't noticed it on anything else yet. Will email Humax if I hear it on anything else.
 
adrenalize said:
I recorded Human Planet before the latest update - but watched it after updating and there was occasional distortion on the odd words with lots of sibilance in them - I haven't noticed it on anything else yet. Will email Humax if I hear it on anything else.
Click to expand...

I will be emailing Humax it has made mine almost unusable. It is worse on things I recorded before my update. I am going to try reinstalling the previous version to see if I can get it into a usable state.

I have reinstalled the previous version and all sounds as it should. So email to Humax is on its way
 
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