# Sound skipping for 1 second on most recordings



## NT09 (Nov 30, 2009)

I just finished hooking up my tivo HD and need to say I'm a little disappointed.
Every recording I make, the sound intermittently cuts out for 1/2 - 1 second during the entire recording. Sometimes it wont happen for 10 minutes, sometimes it happens every 5 seconds for a minute or two.

Any ideas?

Updated to latest rev on software


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## ThAbtO (Apr 6, 2000)

What is the signal strength on the channel it recorded from? Ideal signal strength is about 80&#37; and above.


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## NT09 (Nov 30, 2009)

94


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## NT09 (Nov 30, 2009)

Looked at this problem a little deeper this afternoon. The audio skip is in the same spot on the recording. The original show does not have any audio problems, so it must happen during the recording itself?


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## NT09 (Nov 30, 2009)

178 reads and nobody has any ideas?
Guess I'll return it to the store and maybe try another one or just ditch it. 
Tivo technical support was useless


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## steve614 (May 1, 2006)

NT09 said:


> 178 reads and nobody has any ideas?


Speaking for myself, if I don't know a solution to a problem, I usually don't post.
No need for speculation.
*However, in this case, I speculate that your problem is signal related.
You don't give any details like how you're getting your TV signal (OTA, cable, FIOS), or how your system is hooked up (Tivo straight to TV , Tivo to A/V reciever to TV, what type of outputs you're using, etc.).
The check if your problem is signal related is to bypass the Tivo and put the signal straight to your TV to make sure the problem is isolated to the Tivo.
*There is a slight possibility you got a Tivo with a faulty hard drive. The units are supposedly tested, but that doesn't mean that something can't happen to hard drive after it leaves the factory.
*Even more remote, you could very well have defective hardware. That's not unheard of.

If you exchange the Tivo and experience the same problem with the new unit, I would again suggest the problem is with the signal or how you have your components hooked up.


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## HazelW (Dec 6, 2007)

Happens on my two HDs at random times. It could be the TiVo, or it could be the cable provider (Comcast) or it could be the network. My last guess would be the TiVo because sit happens on both, but if you have compared it to live digital (same program, channel, time) than it could be.


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## jrm01 (Oct 17, 2003)

If you have the TiVo connected directly to the TV (not thru a receiver) make sure the Audio Settings (under Settings menu) is set to DD > PCM.


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## NT09 (Nov 30, 2009)

Thanks for the responses, after reading my previous post, I didnt mean for it to sound like Im an &#37;^$&#%^....... just frustrated.

Basic cox cable (not digital, no cards) goes directly into TIVO, through receiver into TV. I have tried taking the audio out of the TIVO directly to the TV (not through receiver) with no improvement. If I rewind the program, the skip occurs in the exact same spot. I would assume this is a recording problem with TIVO. I don't hear any skips during the live broadcast, so it seems like the signal coming in is skip free. I have tried the PCM option and it doesn't seem to help.

I posted just to make sure this wasn't something I did, but it looks like more and more its something with TIVO. Video out is great, no skips or hangups or anything like that.

Well, maybe Ill try to exchange and see if the problem goes away.


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## NT09 (Nov 30, 2009)

Well, new development......................... audio is skipping even during live tv. I watched the same channel in another room and no skipping, so it must be the TIVO unit. 

Interesting that the live tv out of the tivo is actually a couple of seconds behind, I assume this is due to video/audio processing in the tivo processing before releasing the signal to the tv.


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## Karl Childers (Sep 29, 2009)

I would recommend performing a KS54 and running S.M.A.R.T. tests on the hard drive.


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## steve614 (May 1, 2006)

NT09 said:


> I assume this [delay] is due to video/audio processing in the tivo processing before releasing the signal to the tv.


I would say this is correct. What the Tivo outputs has already been written to the hard drive, even live TV. The delay is the Tivo decoding the signal to be written to the hard drive, and then remuxing off the hard drive for output.


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## surfmonkey89 (Mar 8, 2002)

So what's the solution?


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## NT09 (Nov 30, 2009)

Ran the HD tests.....nothing found, nothing changed. Ill exchange early next week and post up if the new one is doing the same thing.


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## NT09 (Nov 30, 2009)

Exchanged for another one.............................no problems now


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## n64ra (Jan 29, 2009)

i've got the exact same problem but my tivo is about a year old

guess i'll try a KS54 and running S.M.A.R.T. tests on the hard drive - are those options from the tivo menu?

my setup is tivo straight to the tv, but my signal strength is 60&#37;.


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## n64ra (Jan 29, 2009)

update: tried the SMART tests and other KS. They all passed so it must be the low signal which is around 60&#37;?


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## bkdtv (Jan 9, 2003)

n64ra said:


> update: tried the SMART tests and other KS. They all passed so it must be the low signal which is around 60%?


That's almost certainly the cause.

Have your cable company upgrade/replace your wiring and/or install an amplifier. If you have a semi competant cable company, I suggest you call them first.

If you have the TiVo connected directly to the TV (not thru a receiver) with HDMI, also make sure the audio output is set to PCM as described in the TiVo Owners' FAQ.

The most common causes of audio dropouts are:


Inadequate or unstable signal due to problems with cable coax or splitters (shoot for a signal level in the 80s or better);

 Audio output set to Dolby Digital with a HDMI connection to TV; many TVs exhibits dropouts with Dolby Digital signals from a DVR, and require the Settings -> Audio -> Dolby Digital -> PCM setting to eliminate dropouts;

 loose eSATA connection to a My DVR Expander;

 failing My DVR Expander, which is common after 12-18 months; or

 failing internal hard drive, uncommon in first two years, but more common after 3+ years.


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## n64ra (Jan 29, 2009)

bkdtv said:


> That's almost certainly the cause.
> 
> Have your cable company upgrade/replace your wiring and/or install an amplifier. If you have a semi competant cable company, I suggest you call them first.


Whoa, maybe I have the wrong idea. Is the Tivo signal strength regarding the strength of the cable or the strength of the internet connection?


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## SpiritualPoet (Jan 14, 2007)

FWIW: I have Charter Communications (cable). Recently, some channels have bad lip synchronization. This may go on for a day or so until someone reports it to Charter. It is an internal problem with the Charter office. It has never been a problem with my TiVo machine. It may be a signal problem unique to one channel, but rarely is it across multiple channels. I'm not suggesting this is the problem with the person who began this thread. I am suggesting that anyone who has cable service regardless of provider be sure to check multiple channels and check with the cable provider prior to determining that the problem is with a TiVo recorder or with in-home wiring or equipment.


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## rocko (Oct 29, 2002)

n64ra said:


> Whoa, maybe I have the wrong idea. Is the Tivo signal strength regarding the strength of the cable or the strength of the internet connection?


It depends. When you reported 60-something percent, where did you get the number?


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## n64ra (Jan 29, 2009)

rocko said:


> It depends. When you reported 60-something percent, where did you get the number?


From the Network Connection screen, which I assumed was the internet connection. That could cause the 1 second sound skip?

How do I check the cable connection strength?

http://i366.photobucket.com/albums/oo108/n64ra/tivo.jpg


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## ThAbtO (Apr 6, 2000)

That screen is for the wireless network connection and does not affect the video.

Go to Messages & Settings / Settings / Channels / Signal strength

There you can check the signal strength on each of the channels when you go through them.


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## n64ra (Jan 29, 2009)

Thanks, man. I'm confused how that works. Intead of showing strength of channels for 1,2,3 etc. It shows strength of channels for 0, then 23-1635, 23-1636, etc. I can't type in channel 52 to see its strength, for example. This is just hooked up to regular cable (ch 2 - 77) so I can't even see a channel 1635.


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## NT09 (Nov 30, 2009)

Well, my one second skip has returned. After my earlier post, it did have a slight issue with skipping, I just hadnt heard it yet. So Im back to square one. I assume its my analog cable coming in. Its not even channel specific, one show will be fine, the next one will have skipping. I might upgrade to digital soon, maybe that will make a difference.


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## ZeoTiVo (Jan 2, 2004)

steve614 said:


> Speaking for myself, if I don't know a solution to a problem, I usually don't post.
> No need for speculation.
> *However, in this case, I speculate that your problem is signal related.


Bingo - I just saw the thread but have the same problem on a TiVo HD that has not had this problem before in a year or so of operation. It is only on certain channels I think, but have not tried to track it down yet as it is, for me, infrequent enough to not diagnose yet. Since I am fairly sure it is signal related then if I do figure out the details I forsee calls to confused folks at cable company. 

PS - I am on analog cable


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## runwaydolllll (Jan 7, 2010)

I have the same problem. The Tivo HD that I have is brand new, newly purchased. I'm on analog cable as well. I checked the signal strength and it was 100%. Any solutions will be appreciated.


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## n64ra (Jan 29, 2009)

Can anyone explain what channel signal strength means for 23-1635, 23-1636 channel numbers when I'm on analog?


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## jscooper (Dec 25, 2009)

HI,

Stumbled on this post during an evening of frustrated searches for "sound cuts out". Don't know if it'll help, but here's my experience. Perhaps the cause and a workable solution can be found:

We have a new S3, basic cable (no box, no decoders, just a line coming into the house split in a couple places for different TVs). Coax into the tivo, RCA jacks out then into the TV. No HMDI, no wide-screen, just a plain ol' tube TV. We got the HD tivo so we could record without tapes and stream netflix.

Noticed sound problems almost immediately: the sound just drops out for a a second or so then comes back. Live TV or recorded, makes no difference. Rewind/replay makes no difference. Some channels more than others -- ch9 in syracuse (ABC) is worst, but also happens on PBS and other channels at times.

Finally called support. Could not tell them my signal strength since without a box or cable card it can't detect it. They suggested either an amplifier or a attenuator. Can't find anyone who sells attenuators so I tried the amplifier first. Plus, tech support said with two splitters between the tivo and the incoming line, it was most likely a weak signal problem, not a strong one. Installed it first near where the line comes into the house: no effect. Moved it to just before it goes into the tivo: no effect.

Before I order attenuators online which I probably won't be able to return, I have to ask: has ANYONE actually resolved this issue? and, if so, how? If we can't get it fixed I'm going to have to return the box and beg/threaten/whatever tivo to get me out of the contract.

One other thing I did try was to increase the default recording quality to "high". The day I first hooked it up I took it down to "medium" figuring what's the point of having it record high quality on a 19" tv? A few days ago I brought everything back up to High and it seemed to help for a few days; then Sunday it came back.

Thanks; I'll be glad to fill in any more details if anyone thinks they're relevant.

Jeff


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## NT09 (Nov 30, 2009)

I have the exact same problem as you (I started this thread). I rarely have audio skip on live tv, but it does happen every once in a while. I have cable coming directly from wall into tivo and can see the channel strength just fine using tivo. Every time I look its above 90&#37;........................ sorry I don't have an answer for you. This has been posted over a month, nobody seems to have a solution.


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## jscooper (Dec 25, 2009)

I have something of an update: Removed the cable booster. Also, the two splitters that the signal went through on the way to the tivo were 3-way splitters, but each only used to split in two so the third "out" jack on each was open. I replaced these with two-way splitters and (crossing fingers) so far a significant improvement. Did get one sound dropout during a live show Sunday but it was during a commercial. Other stuff recorded over the weekend seems ok. Not sure if it's luck or if those open jacks were doing something.


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## Ziggy86 (Jun 23, 2004)

I have the same issue.


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## n64ra (Jan 29, 2009)

how come jscooper couldn't tell thechannel signal strength but NT09 could when you are both wall to tivo?


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## mshrake (Mar 9, 2008)

I have the sound problem also. 

My Tivo also drops channels. Both tuners will only show a black screen and will not record. I have to go in to the Cablecard settings and test channels before it will re-tune.


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## jscooper (Dec 25, 2009)

n64ra said:


> how come jscooper couldn't tell thechannel signal strength but NT09 could when you are both wall to tivo?


I believe it's because I have no cablecards. Those are needed for Tivo to figure out the signal strength of cable connections. Antenna connections can be checked without anything extra though.


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## jscooper (Dec 25, 2009)

Yet another update. The problem (dropping sound) resurfaced after a couple of days. I have since reconnected the two original 3-way splitters BUT this time noticed that the three outputs were marked with how much the signal dropped from each. Two were -7db and one was -3.5. To connect other sets in the house, I needed two splitters on the way from the wall to the tivo. When reconnecting them, I made sure that the path followed to the Tivo only ran through the -3.5 connections. This way, the signal dropped a total of -7 instead of -14 which is what it had been before. This of course is a guess since I can't check signal strength with my setup (no cablecards). But I can say that since doing this about a three weeks ago I have had NO sound dropouts. Zero.


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## n64ra (Jan 29, 2009)

jscooper, so the signal booster didn't do anything to improve your sound quality?


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## Shrewsky (Nov 27, 2009)

I am also having this problem. I have a Series 3 HD which I bought a little over two months ago with a lifetime contract so I paid oodles for this frustration. 

I have Time Warner cable, analog only (basic service) and no cable box or cards. I do have a splitter that splits my signal between my Tivo and a second input on my TV so that I can watch something else while Tivo is recording 2 other programs. 

The audio drop happens during live and recorded programs but not on non-Tivo TV and not on my Humax Tivo hooked up to another TV. 

I also have a problem with a gray screen. Sometimes I'm watching live TV through the Tivo and it goes to gray, sometimes it is during a recording and I lose the recording. This started happening a week after I bought the unit and is happening more and more. I've called Tivo and then TWC. At first Tivo told me to check the signal strength through Settings > Channel > Signal Strength Cable. The signal was less than 60. They told me to call TWC and tell them I needed a signal amplifier. I did, they came and looked at me like I was stupid (not a very nice technician) when I told him the signal was less than 60. He said you have analog and that is a digital monitor. He said my signal strength was very good. I sometimes wonder if it fluxuates. Can anyone tell me how I can check my signal strength myself?

So red faced I called Tivo again. Several times over the last two months. I've been told by different reps to turn on my Tivo automatic recording of suggestions, unplug my Tivo and allow it to reboot once per week and, basically, live with it because they won't exchange my machine. It has gotten to the point where I don't trust my new Tivo and I use my old one to backup record my most important shows. They told me this is a known issue with the tuner and they are working on it but had no estimated fix date and would not tell me how long they have been working on it. From various posts it appears it has been years. The fix (if they every have one) will be fed automatically to all machines.

I am also having a problem with the fast forward (2 clicks) jumping back and forth and jumping way ahead in the program. 

Not sure if all these issue are related. Not sure how many people are having this combination of issues. I'm also going to post it on the forum where people are talking about the gray screen.

If anyone has a fix for this, even in the future, please post here for us so I can start using my giant expensive paperweight again.


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## jscooper (Dec 25, 2009)

n64ra said:


> jscooper, so the signal booster didn't do anything to improve your sound quality?


Correct. It seemed to do nothing. Without the ability to check the signal strength of an analog cable feed, there was no way to be sure, though, whether it truly had no effect, had too much of an affect and caused dropouts anyway, or not enough of an effect to fix anything.


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## jscooper (Dec 25, 2009)

Shrewsky said:


> I have Time Warner cable, analog only (basic service) and no cable box or cards. I do have a splitter that splits my signal between my Tivo and a second input on my TV so that I can watch something else while Tivo is recording 2 other programs.


Just as a test, try skipping the splitter and go back to only feeding your TV through the tivo for a while. Then you'll know if the splitter is the issue as it was in my case.


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## Impulses (Jan 25, 2006)

I'm suffering for this issue as well and I've had a single two-way splitter between the wall and the TiVo HD since I bought it, and I don't recall having the issue when I first got it... Hell I had a S2 TiVo for years that never suffered this issue (it's HDD eventually died tho, I aim to replace it soon since it still has a lifetime sub).

At first I thought it might be some sorta fragmentation issue and I emptied my TiVo entirely rebooted a couple of times, and then started recording again... It _seemed_ to help but the problem resurfaced. I usually delete stuff from the Recently Deleted folder and I figured that might be causing the issue as well so I've started leaving everything I delete in there and letting the TiVo auto-delete it... Again, it seemed to help at first but the audio skips are happening again.

To reiterate what others have said... It's pretty random and it seems to happen across a variety of shows/channels. Also, when it happens more than once or twice on the same show (can happen as much as a dozen times) it'll screw with the Closed Captioning pretty severely... The occasional audio skip I can deal with but I've got a family member who can't watch her shows w/o CC. 

It's almost as if the entire audio track (along w/the CC) gets corrupted or something... Video doesn't seem to be affected, 'least not as severely, but if you try to FF or RW thru the affected spots of the recording you'll see your cursor skip all over the place (as if it can't find the spot it's scanning), so it's obviously something that happens at the time of recording.

Has anyone found a solution for this? Could it really be some sorta cable provider or signal issue or is something actually wrong w/our TiVos?


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## Impulses (Jan 25, 2006)

Oh yeah, I'm using a 32" Vizio HDTV btw, and the TiVo is hooked up directly to it via HDMI... As I said before, there's a single splitter between the wall and the TiVo (which has never given me trouble before), and I don't have any CableCards (which seems to be a constant, at 'least thru most of this thread).


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## Impulses (Jan 25, 2006)

There's a related thread here, seems to be the exact same issues... Tho no cause has been found.

I don't know if this problem is quite SO random for everyone else, but it's just bizarre for me... To give you an idea, I recorded Chuck tonight at 9PM (8PM EST I think) on NBC... Shock full of audio dropouts and buggy behavior when FF'ing, from start to finish.

Now, at 10PM (9 EST) I started recording two hours of L&O, also on NBC; WHILE also recording 24 (10PM) AND Damages (11PM)... As far as I can tell both hours of L&O, 24, and Damages were all completely hiccup free... I watched Damages already and didn't notice any audio dropout whatsoever... If it happened at all during L&O or 24 it wasn't severe enough to cause the FF/RW skipping behavior.

Based on that, it can't possibly be a cable provider issue, imo... There's no way my cable would be acting up on the one channel for an entire hour then stop entirely for the two following hours. It's almost like there's a file system issue going on w/the TiVo (where the space for certain recordings is just bugged) but I'm no expert on it's inner workings...


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## Shrewsky (Nov 27, 2009)

During a recent call to Time Warner (southern Maine), they took responsibility for the problem. They said the signal strength going to my house was excellent (between 80 and 89) but there was a problem with the signal quality that was causing my Tivo to freeze, pixelate, have audio drop outs and skip during rewind/fast forward. TWC said the problem is in the head-end which is the local cable station that receives and retransmits the signal. 

From this I believe the problem belongs to both TWC and Tivo. I think the new Tivo tuners are too sensitive to signal fluctuations and the TWC signal quality is fluctuating. I have no problems with my Series 2. Not a one. 

BTW TWC credited my entire cable TV related charge on my bill for February. They do not know when they will have the problem fixed (evidently it is widespread) and I am to call in March for another credit if he problem persists. I can't see them giving a credit for a problem that only affects my Tivo and not my non-Tivo TV watching if it didn't originate with them.


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## jhill1977 (Feb 19, 2007)

Same symptoms here. Comcast analog cable in New Hampshire. Audio skips randomly, gray screen, "black" recordings, and erratic REW/FF behavior during recorded shows. I have a Tivo Series 3 in the living room with cable cards, and it has been flawless. Called TiVO who explained they WERE aware of the GRAY screen issue, but suggested my audio skipping and REW/FF bugs were related to signal quality. FWIW, I had a Series 2 TiVO for years on with NO issues.

JH


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## Lannister80 (Oct 6, 2005)

NT09 said:


> The original show does not have any audio problems, so it must happen during the recording itself?


How do you know the original show doesn't have audio problems? My audio on Comcast drops out pretty frequently for a second or two here and there. I've seen it happen "live" via clear QAM and also on TiVo recordings.


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## n64ra (Jan 29, 2009)

I have found a solution to this problem (for me at least). I restart the Tivo every 24 hours. With this method, I have not had a sound problem in over two months! I must admit there have been a few days where I forgot to restart so it is possible I could do it every 48 hours. I'm scared to see what happens if I go on vacation for a week.


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## notsosubtle (Sep 5, 2010)

I've been having the same audio skipping and erratic fwd/rwd problems. It has been doing it for about a week, but it has been at least a month or more since the last time it did it.

It only does it when I record not when I watch live tv. I have a TWC cable card, hdmi hookup and the line is new and not split where it enters the house. I've had the tivo since June 2008. The tuning adapter I have to get the digital cable IS NOT hooked up at the moment, so it's basically analog through the cable card I guess. Which I suppose could be the problem. 

The odd thing is it only seems to skip during programing and not during commercials. At least this is the case at the moment. I'm watching Versus while I'm recording now and it doesn't skip during commercials. The commercials aren't local, or there are at least some commercials that are national that the audio doesn't skip in. Now last night I was recording and watching Disney channel it skipped the whole time, but their commercials aren't really commercials.

I also had problems with shows I recorded on TNT and USA earlier in the week. 

I'm not able to check the signal strength since I am recording, but when I last checked in the spring it was good. I had problems with the tuning adapter TWC provides and it is part of why they rewired the house. I'll hook the tuning adapter back up tonight and record with it and see if the problem is still there. I'm unable to transfer Versus programing to my laptop if the tuning adapter is hooked up. It's very weird the restrictions with and without the tuning adapter, but that's another issue.

I've also restarted both yesterday and today to no help. I'd like this to be something other than a hard drive problem, and I will run the tests tomorrow, but it's getting annoying.

And now the program has gone a good 3 minutes with no skips, the longest stretch in about an hour of recording the program.


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## Wil (Sep 27, 2002)

Just to add another data point: I also have the problem, occasionally, when playing back non-Tivo material via pyTivo (which is actually re-encoding the show as I watch). When I play the same file on the same TV via VLC or other players, no audio skips.

Lots of anecdotal apparent factors from playing around, but nothing conclusive or even consistent:

* Audio skips seem to be more likely when hard disk is full
* Less likely when 2nd tuner is tuned to empty channel
* Happen in bunches, then longtime no skips


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## petekrueger (Oct 19, 2015)

Discovered an interesting setting that stopped the skipping for me. I had switched TVs to a full 1080p set, and so updated my Tivo, and then had to switch back to the old set. This is when the skipping started. I found that when I changed my video setting from 1080p back to 1080i, the skipping stopped! Might be worth a try for some.


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