# Bought the wharfdale set top box and have sound problems!



## MarkH (Nov 22, 2002)

Bought the recommended WHarfedale LPDV832B from argos the other day and now have sound sync problems, does anybody know if there is an easy cure?


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## Pete77 (Aug 1, 2006)

MarkH said:


> Bought the recommended WHarfedale LPDV832B from argos the other day and now have sound sync problems, does anybody know if there is an easy cure?


I believe attaching a brick and dropping it out of a window from a great height has been known to achieve permanent resolution of any future sound problems with these units.

I would recommend picking up a secondhand Netgem IPlayer+ or BT IPlayer+ with the final version 4.6.23 software release instead.


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## MarkH (Nov 22, 2002)

Just to let everyone know, I have cured the sound synchronisation problem, I changed the setting in configuration, I turned off scan for encrypted channels!


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## MarkH (Nov 22, 2002)

Pete out of interest is it easy to upgrade the software on these units, if it came with earlier software?


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## Pete77 (Aug 1, 2006)

MarkH said:


> Pete out of interest is it easy to upgrade the software on these units, if it came with earlier software?


You have to have the box manually scan for the software update when it is being broadcast on the Freeview engineering channel or leave the auto firmware update option enabled on the box I believe.

Of course manually catching the update is very difficult as the update schedule is only for the next 2 weeks ahead so leaving the auto firmware update option enabled is in theory preferable. Except this can mess up Tivo recordings if the box then then wants OK or whatever pressed after the firmware update is complete before resuming normal operation.

Catch 22.....

See www.dtg.org.uk/retailer/download_schedule.pl for the software updating schedule for all Freeview boxes.

Well done on working out the stuttering sound problem is caused by scanning for the encrypted channels though. This should provide a fix for many Whardedale Freeview STB users.


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## MarkH (Nov 22, 2002)

Thanks pete, the box still cuts out sound for two seconds, every so often, but after that happened I was getting bad sound sync problems which has now gone!


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## rgmward (May 16, 2006)

Hi,

I also have a software verson 0.3 of the Wharfedale unit from argos.

the problems i had were that the sound was cutting out every 30 minutes for 3 seconds, and after about 1 week of this, the sound and picture were no longer in sync.

I tried the 'do not scan for encrypted channels' fix, rebooting, etc, but no joy.

As a last resort, I called the 'technical support' line. they asked me to try a diffent scart cable (both ways around) and do a full first time installation of the box. I nodded appreciatively, (I'd already tried the obvious). He then told me to take it back to Argos for a refund if it was still a problem as the box was obviously fauly, and they were aware of some people having this problem.

now... here was my dilema. I bought my box back in December. I also decided that once i had it set up and it appeared to be working, I threw away the receipt - £25 was not worth the hassle of filing!).

anyway, I took it back to Argos anyway, as it is exclusive to them, and they were happy to replace or refund. The replacement unit was not the new Wharfedale, but the Acoustic Solutions DV600B, which i did not know if it would work, so took the £17.99 refund i was offered, and took the latest Wharfedale LPDV832B box. same software version as my old one, but no sound cut outs. so, I am very happy. Another £7 invested, but if you still have your receipt, you should get all the money back that you paid. (BTW, the £17.99 figure is the lowest price they charged for the unit over the last 12 months).

hope this helps anyone with the problem. 

As the new one has the same software version, I guess there will still be some dodgy sound problems around, but lightening can not strike twice in the same place can it???

Good luck

Robert.


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## AMc (Mar 22, 2002)

rgmward said:


> As the new one has the same software version, I guess there will still be some dodgy sound problems around, but lightening can not strike twice in the same place can it???


 Mine drops sound now and again but I can live with it. Plenty of other people report it being too frequent to be tollerated. I don't think there were any software updates broadcast (but I disabled mine from checking  ) so I guess we're all using the same software.
My GUESS is that the quality of the hardware is a bit variable - they can't be doing much more than a quick switch on check for quality control for a £20-25 box and the sound drop out doesn't show up fast/frequently enough to be noticed at the factory.


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## MarkH (Nov 22, 2002)

Thanks guys haven't taken the unit back and got a refund although I thought the picture quality was excellent so may leave it a couple of months get another one and see if they have cured the problem.

Just wondering if anyone has tried the HD model and if this model has the same problem, would there be any benefit from the HD since there are few if any HD freeview channels?


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## Pete77 (Aug 1, 2006)

MarkH said:


> Just wondering if anyone has tried the HD model and if this model has the same problem, would there be any benefit from the HD since there are few if any HD freeview channels?


There are no HD Freeview channels as yet.

They may be some using MPEG4 in due course but that will new equipment.


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## MarkH (Nov 22, 2002)

So is the hd freeview box of any benefit now?


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## Pete77 (Aug 1, 2006)

MarkH said:


> So is the hd freeview box of any benefit now?


Its not HD as we know it though Jim.

That is to say this box merely tries to upscale SD output for HD televisions rather than decoding broadcasts that are in an HD resolution to start with.

Most HDTVs have a built in upscaler anyway and it is doubtful that a cheap Freeview box such as this will have a better upscaler than your HDTV..............


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## AMc (Mar 22, 2002)

One advantage of the HDMI version of the Wharfedale is if you have an AV amp with HDMI you can plug the STB into the amp to switch inputs and only have a single HDMI connection between the amp and the screen (or HDMI distribution system). Almost no AV amps support RGB SCART.

Another advantage is that the HDMI output from the Wharfedale is a digital signal bypassing the STB's built in analogue video decoder. So if you have an HD TV with an HDMI input but no Freeview tuner you can get a digital signal path into screen's video processing rather than decoding to 576i analogue in the STB and then encoding to a 720p progressive signal in the TV. In theory it should look better.

In practice, how good a £30 HDMI Freeview box is debatable. The SCART version I have produces a significantly better picture than the OnDigital Philips it replaced or the Pace cable box I used before...YMMV.

Of course both the HDMI output and the availability of true HD on Freeview are academic with a standard definition series 1 Tivo.


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