# Sound Effects drops



## peter888chan (Feb 16, 2010)

I have my Sound Effects volume set to low. So when there are keypresses on the remote, I hear a beep.

I noticed that it disappears sometimes. Going into the settings shows it still set to Low. I can try to toggle it and it still doesn't come back (audio from shows is fine). I have to reboot the unit for it to come back.

I finally noticed a pattern - I would hear a screeching noise, and whenever I hear that, then the sound effects goes away.

Anyone else get this?


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## ThAbtO (Apr 6, 2000)

I have had that happen and when it does, its faster to put Tivo into standby for a few seconds and then wake it back up.


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## jim8650 (Jun 16, 2016)

it has happened to me as well, though not very often and I have used the standby approach as well


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## Old Hickory (Jan 13, 2011)

peter888chan said:


> I have my Sound Effects volume set to low. So when there are keypresses on the remote, I hear a beep.
> 
> I noticed that it disappears sometimes. Going into the settings shows it still set to Low. I can try to toggle it and it still doesn't come back (audio from shows is fine). I have to reboot the unit for it to come back.
> 
> ...


I'm bumping this thread with hopes that someone has discovered a fix to the above issue (sound effects drop). For me, this has become a too often occurrence.


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## au_en_bear (Nov 11, 2003)

I have the same issue although I can't say that I have ever heard the screeching noise mentioned above. I do notice every couple of weeks that it is gone and I have to reboot to get it back.


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## dlfl (Jul 6, 2006)

I've had occasional temporary loss of beeps on all three TiVo models I've owned: S2D2, HD and Roamio basic. I've never rebooted because the beeps return after some time and a few clicks navigating menus.


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## Mikeguy (Jul 28, 2005)

Old Hickory said:


> I'm bumping this thread with hopes that someone has discovered a fix to the above issue (sound effects drop). For me, this has become a too often occurrence.


As suggested above, you could try going into and then out of Standby (a new suggestion to me--thanks!).

For me, when it's happened, I've gone into the Audio settings, set to Dolby (I'm regularly set to PCM), go back to television, and then repeat, this time re-setting to PCM--sound effects are back.


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## Old Hickory (Jan 13, 2011)

Mikeguy said:


> As suggested above, you could try going into and then out of Standby (a new suggestion to me--thanks!).
> 
> For me, when it's happened, I've gone into the Audio settings, set to Dolby (I'm regularly set to PCM), go back to television, and then repeat, this time re-setting to PCM--sound effects are back.


Yea well, I was hoping for a real fix and not initiating a Stand By or your audio re-set every time it happens. :rage:


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## Mikeguy (Jul 28, 2005)

Old Hickory said:


> Yea well, I was hoping for a real fix and not initiating a Stand By or your audio re-set every time it happens. :rage:


Absolutely. Has only happened to me every now-and-again.


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## LYKUNO (Jan 7, 2014)

I had the problem with the sound effects not working, and as mentioned above, discovered that if the Audio was set to Dolby and not PCM, I wouldn't hear the sound effects. Since I have an expensive sound bar and subwoofers on my main TV, I didn't want to miss the Dolby, so opted to live without the sound effects. My smaller TVs I left set to PCM.

Then yesterday in the thread about the "hide left column" option bug, it mentioned that there was a new software version available now (20.7.1.RC2) that fixed that bug, and I believe it also fixed the problem with the sound effects not working when in Dolby mode. My main TV is set to Dolby, and the sound effects are now working fine. So check out that thread to get the link to have the update prioritized for your TiVo unit(s) for the fix.


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## ThAbtO (Apr 6, 2000)

My Roamio updated to 20.7.1 yesterday and I didn't use the Priority page. It is being rolled out this month.


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## Old Hickory (Jan 13, 2011)

LYKUNO said:


> I had the problem with the sound effects not working, and as mentioned above, discovered that if the Audio was set to Dolby and not PCM, I wouldn't hear the sound effects. Since I have an expensive sound bar and subwoofers on my main TV, I didn't want to miss the Dolby, so opted to live without the sound effects. My smaller TVs I left set to PCM.
> 
> Then yesterday in the thread about the "hide left column" option bug, it mentioned that there was a new software version available now (20.7.1.RC2) that fixed that bug, and I believe it also fixed the problem with the sound effects not working when in Dolby mode. My main TV is set to Dolby, and the sound effects are now working fine. So check out that thread to get the link to have the update prioritized for your TiVo unit(s) for the fix.


Thanks. I actually switched the sound effects volume to low and the drop-off has not occurred. But a software update and fix was always what was needed.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

LYKUNO said:


> I had the problem with the sound effects not working, and as mentioned above, discovered that if the Audio was set to Dolby and not PCM, I wouldn't hear the sound effects. Since I have an expensive sound bar and subwoofers on my main TV, I didn't want to miss the Dolby, so opted to live without the sound effects. My smaller TVs I left set to PCM.
> 
> Then yesterday in the thread about the "hide left column" option bug, it mentioned that there was a new software version available now (20.7.1.RC2) that fixed that bug, and I believe it also fixed the problem with the sound effects not working when in Dolby mode. My main TV is set to Dolby, and the sound effects are now working fine. So check out that thread to get the link to have the update prioritized for your TiVo unit(s) for the fix.


There is no problem with sound effects not being with DD.. That has always been the case. Even fifteen years ago, my DirecTV TiVos would have no sound effects when on a channel with DD. To have sound effects it needs to decode the DD audio first, then insert the sounds. Which happens when the TiVo is set for pcm output. But to have it output DD with the sound effects, the TiVo would need to re-encode the audio to DD. Which it does not do.

If you have sound effects with the output set for DD, it is not outputting DD. It is outputting PCM audio.


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## LYKUNO (Jan 7, 2014)

Yep, you're absolutely right! The sound effects are definitely gone when I have the audio set to Dolby Digital. I checked the settings and it was back on PCM. Anyway, I've learned to live with the lack of sound effects (though the wife still would prefer to have them!).


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

LYKUNO said:


> Yep, you're absolutely right! The sound effects are definitely gone when I have the audio set to Dolby Digital. I checked the settings and it was back on PCM. Anyway, I've learned to live with the lack of sound effects (though the wife still would prefer to have them!).


They will still be there when there is no video. I have noticed with 20.7.1 it takes a little longer to switch to PCM when going into some menus.


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## Romasurus (Aug 31, 2014)

As reported by peter888chan on 11/23/2016, 
"I have my Sound Effects volume set to low. So when there are key presses on the remote, I hear a beep.
I noticed that it disappears sometimes. Going into the settings shows it still set to Low. I can try to toggle it and it still doesn't come back (audio from shows is fine). I have to reboot the unit for it to come back.
I finally noticed a pattern - I would hear a screeching noise, and whenever I hear that, then the sound effects goes away."
02/19/2019 - I am having this same problem. It occurs every 2 weeks or so and the only recourse I can find is rebooting the ROAMIO. It is very annoying. I have had this TIVO for 5 years and it has always had this problem. I am sure that the TIVO is doing automatic up dates. Is there a fix for this?


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

What software version are you running?


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## skypros (May 19, 2015)

I have had this problem also.
I use to reboot to correct the problem.... But all you have to do is:
settings & messages
audio & video settings
dolby audio
SWITCH IT to use DOLBY AUDIO
and then SWITCH IT BACK to PCM only.

Much easier the above way (and much faster)
Too bad we have do deal with the problem....... But it is what it is.



Romasurus said:


> I finally noticed a pattern - I would hear a screeching noise, and whenever I hear that, then the sound effects goes away."
> 02/19/2019 - I am having this same problem. It occurs every 2 weeks or so and the only recourse I can find is rebooting the ROAMIO. It is very annoying. I have had this TIVO for 5 years and it has always had this problem.


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## ThAbtO (Apr 6, 2000)

Romasurus said:


> I have to reboot the unit for it to come back.


It would be easier for your and your currently recordings if you were just to put it into standby, then wake it back up after the screen goes blank (about a minute.) Anything recording will still continue.


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## TwinCityTVHound (Jan 10, 2002)

My Roamio just started this behavior. Like the OP, I hear a blast of noise and then the sound effects are gone. 

It usually happens when I'm scrolling through a list of items, with each one making a bloop-click. Don't know if that's a clue. 

The noise is quite loud. I'm a little concerned about blowing my speakers.


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## ThAbtO (Apr 6, 2000)

TwinCityTVHound said:


> My Roamio just started this behavior. Like the OP, I hear a blast of noise and then the sound effects are gone.
> 
> It usually happens when I'm scrolling through a list of items, with each one making a bloop-click. Don't know if that's a clue.
> 
> The noise is quite loud. I'm a little concerned about blowing my speakers.


Its a Tivo software issue and there is no fix for it. The best remedy is to put the Tivo into Standby, wait until the screen blanks out and then wake it back up with the Tivo button. The alternative is to restart the Tivo, but that would interrupt recordings.


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## TwinCityTVHound (Jan 10, 2002)

ThAbtO said:


> Its a Tivo software issue and there is no fix for it. The best remedy is to put the Tivo into Standby, wait until the screen blanks out and then wake it back up with the Tivo button. The alternative is to restart the Tivo, but that would interrupt recordings.


OK - will do. Thanks for the info.


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## KevTech (Apr 15, 2014)

Apparently this is normal on Bolt if you have sound set to Dolby.

https://support.tivo.com/articles/T...ects-with-Dolby-Digital-Audio-Troubleshooting


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

KevTech said:


> Apparently this is normal on Bolt if you have sound set to Dolby.
> 
> https://support.tivo.com/articles/T...ects-with-Dolby-Digital-Audio-Troubleshooting


Yep. DD == no beeps. On my TE4 system once I lose sound effects I can kill the video window but it takes a cold start to get them back. There is one other way to get PCM: view the logs. With TE4 it doesn't switch to PCM by killing the video, it just stops sending any audio. I'm using a Roamio, but it doesn't matter.


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