Hopper With Sling, Optical Audio Cutting Out

[Skytrooper]

Upgraded my old Hoppers 2 days ago for the new ones with Sling. What a nightmare. Every time I change a channel or when using the DVR to Fast Forward or Rewind the optical audio to my 7.1 Sony Receiver cuts out. When this occurs, the HDMI Audio to the TV speakers are OK. Never had this issue with the old Hoppers.
Last night, my wife while watching TV there was no sound. Her first response was to turn the volume up. Still no sound, so she changed channels. KABOOM. Everyone in the room jumped and the cat ran and hid. The protector light on my receiver lit up and saved my speakers. I hope.
Talked to Dish Tech Support and they said since you have a picture and HDMI Audio our obligations to the customer were met. I guess Optical Audio don't count for us customers who have older receivers.
I regret upgrading to these new Hoppers. If I would of known this issue had been around for a while, I would of never upgraded. I used to like my old Hoppers. By the looks of things this has been going on for a while and no solution has been found.
If there is not going to be a solution to this problem my only hope is someone helps me to buy out of this 2 year contract.
I am very angry about this and the damage it could of caused to my expensive 7.1 Surround Sound System.

 

[mitchflorida]

I have the exact same problem. Ironically they fixed it with the last Sling version, but it just came back in the most recent software update.

Someone in software engineering dept. is clueless. The only "work-around" is to fast forward or rewind a couple of times until the sound comes back.


Good luck reporting it to technical support . . neinacrowd:

 

[dishfan82]

I too am having the same issue . I turned off my surround sound and am using the tv speakers. For sound. It's too annoying to flip back and forth to get sound . I talked to online support and they just have me go through the same trouble shooting steps again and again. Rep online says it can't be a software issue because I'd be doing it for surround sound and tv speakers. He blamed my optical cable . I doubt it's that because there's more than one report on this.

 

[mitchflorida]

It has to be their software because it was working fine until they updated it a few days ago.

When you talk to tech support, ask to be transferred to advanced tech support and they will make a ticket for you and they can follow up.

I was told a couple of hundred people had already complained about it.

Tell the rep that HDMI works fine, only problem is with optical.

 

[ZachS@DISH]

It has to be their software because it was working fine until they updated it a few days ago.

When you talk to tech support, ask to be transferred to advanced tech support and they will make a ticket for you and they can follow up.

I was told a couple of hundred people had already complained about it.

Tell the rep that HDMI works fine, only problem is with optical.

We are aware of this issue. Technical Problem Reports (TPRs) are no longer needed.

 

[Rdeejr]

I have a hopper with sling being shipped today and use the optical cable. I don't want to use the tv speakers. Should I wait to install the hopper?

 

[ZachS@DISH]

I have a hopper with sling being shipped today and use the optical cable. I don't want to use the tv speakers. Should I wait to install the hopper?

The Hopper would need to be sent back within 10 days of receiving your Hopper with Sling. I would install it when you get it. This issue was addressed in S315 but it appears there are still some receivers that are experiencing this.

 

[mitchflorida]

I have noticed that there is only a problem with HD content, no audio dropout with SD programming.

 

[comfortably_numb]

I am having this issue as well. Any time I fast forward or rewind, the optical audio disappears completely. Very frustrating!

 

[peggy97850]

All 3 of my receivers are doing it, was told it was taken care of . . . Need another update ASAP!

 

[Rdeejr]

Just upgraded to hopper with sling three days ago. No problem with optical sound. Everything works.

 

[blpcards]

I had a Hopper installed 4 days ago with a software version of S316 and I have issues with the optical audio. Sometimes sound, sometimes quiet. HDMI audio connected trough the TV works fine. With tech supposedly correcting this issue with the newest updates does this indicate some manufacturing defect with some models of the Hopper? Or is this issue still being reviewed for a future update to correct this very annoying issue?

 

[lucky86]

I would say it's a software issue

 

[comfortably_numb]

I had the same issue. My work-around was to run the HDMI signal from the Hopper to my HDTV, then use my HDTV's coaxial audio output to my audio receiver (since the Hopper doesn't have a coaxial audio output). This stopped the drop-out's for me.

 

[mitchflorida]

It is a software glitch. It only happens on optical audio and HD content. Dish has known about this for several months and can't be bothered fixing it, because most people use HDMI connections, not optical. FYI, the Joey never cuts out with optical, just the Hopper.

 

[Skytrooper]

numb, I can do the same thing with my optical out from my TV, but I lose surround sound. I looked at the back of my Hopper the other day and was going to try coaxial output from the Hopper, but it dosen't have a coax out. I am getting very tired of this. As I stated before, I had no issues with my old Hopper.

 

[mitchflorida]

I had the same issue. My work-around was to run the HDMI signal from the Hopper to my HDTV, then use my HDTV's coaxial audio output to my audio receiver (since the Hopper doesn't have a coaxial audio output). This stopped the drop-out's for me.

I would like to try the same thing. Does the HDTV coax audio cable output full 5.1 Dolby stereo sound?

 

[comfortably_numb]

I would like to try the same thing. Does the HDTV coax audio cable output full 5.1 Dolby stereo sound?

It does for me; I had a setting in my TV menu to pass through the "raw" digital audio signal from whichever input is selected. The only drawback is that the TV has to be on and the TV has to have Hopper HDMI input selected. So you can't listen to audio with the TV off. Other than that, the work-around seems to work great.

 

[mitchflorida]

Using the TV coax audio output has pretty much solved my problem for now. I have been messing around with the Hopper optical for months and this is big improvement.

 

[Skytrooper]

My 6 year old Sony only has an Optical Out. Are you guys sure the Coaxial Audio Out is passing 5.1 Audio? My Sony down converts it to 2 Channel on the Optical. Maybe newer sets allow this.