Topic '[TV] Optimum doesn't support Dolby 5.1? WTF?' in forum 'OptimumOnline' - dslreports.com

Re: [TV] Optimum doesn't support Dolby 5.1? WTF?

Wed, 27 Nov 2019 09:00:44 EDT

michaelbog posted : Just wanted to touch base here on something. I have Altice One, and run a 5.1 Samsung setup in my living room, connected to my Samsung TV. I notice the jump from surround sound to stereo during commercial breaks - however that only happens for about 1ms when I suddenly hear everything in stereo across all my speakers - and then my receiver figures it out and converts to a Matrix-based stereo surround. When it jumps back from commercial to the show/movie - my receiver seamlessly continues on running surround sound. No muting necessary.

So it's totally possible that a decent receiver is all you need really. I say decent because the Samsung HT-J5500 is far from a high-end receiver. And it seems to handle the job perfectly fine.

Re: [TV] Optimum doesn't support Dolby 5.1? WTF?

Tue, 26 Nov 2019 18:02:11 EDT

dbreen000 posted :

said by Anon8d7d3 :

Try the Altice One. I know you want your own router and all that, but you might be able to avoid this problem.

That's not an option unless I can replace the firmware with OpenWRT. I doubt that's a possibility and if it was, I doubt Altice would be pleased.

Re: [TV] Optimum doesn't support Dolby 5.1? WTF?

Tue, 26 Nov 2019 17:56:26 EDT

dtv757 posted : Since this topic talks about audio
..does optimum support Dolby Atmos ?

Re: [TV] Optimum doesn't support Dolby 5.1? WTF?

Tue, 26 Nov 2019 17:44:41 EDT

anon posted :

said by dbreen000:

said by Anon8d7d3 :

said by Anonb57a1 :

Altice won't spend the money to hire a good outsourced engineer to fix this, it saves money just ignoring the problem!.. Cablevision would have had this fixed quickly..

This is such a minor problem. Plus, OP never mentioned about dropping Optimum because of this. Put those 2 things together, and what incentive is there to bother with this?

It's a pain in the ass! I basically have to skip 5.1 on any channel that has commercials. And I would drop Optimum in a heartbeat if there was another option.

Try the Altice One. I know you want your own router and all that, but you might be able to avoid this problem.

Re: [TV] Optimum doesn't support Dolby 5.1? WTF?

Tue, 26 Nov 2019 17:06:21 EDT

dbreen000 posted :

said by Anon8d7d3 :

said by Anonb57a1 :

Altice won't spend the money to hire a good outsourced engineer to fix this, it saves money just ignoring the problem!.. Cablevision would have had this fixed quickly..

This is such a minor problem. Plus, OP never mentioned about dropping Optimum because of this. Put those 2 things together, and what incentive is there to bother with this?

It's a pain in the ass! I basically have to skip 5.1 on any channel that has commercials. And I would drop Optimum in a heartbeat if there was another option.

Re: [TV] Optimum doesn't support Dolby 5.1? WTF?

Tue, 26 Nov 2019 17:00:14 EDT

anon posted :

said by Anonb57a1 :

Altice won't spend the money to hire a good outsourced engineer to fix this, it saves money just ignoring the problem!.. Cablevision would have had this fixed quickly..

This is such a minor problem. Plus, OP never mentioned about dropping Optimum because of this. Put those 2 things together, and what incentive is there to bother with this?

Re: [TV] Optimum doesn't support Dolby 5.1? WTF?

Tue, 26 Nov 2019 16:54:22 EDT

dbreen000 posted :

said by TheLeak3r:

said by dbreen000:

It really seems like a single programmer could make the necessary firmware changes in about a day.

Then they break 5 other things.

Not if I did it.

Re: [TV] Optimum doesn't support Dolby 5.1? WTF?

Tue, 26 Nov 2019 13:35:17 EDT

EliteData posted : its actually not a problem with Altice, its some of commercials that are at a different sample rate versus the program content.

Re: [TV] Optimum doesn't support Dolby 5.1? WTF?

Tue, 26 Nov 2019 12:35:04 EDT

TheLeak3r posted :

said by dbreen000:

It really seems like a single programmer could make the necessary firmware changes in about a day.

Then they break 5 other things.

Re: [TV] Optimum doesn't support Dolby 5.1? WTF?

Tue, 26 Nov 2019 11:52:44 EDT

dbreen000 posted : It really seems like a single programmer could make the necessary firmware changes in about a day.

Re: [TV] Optimum doesn't support Dolby 5.1? WTF?

Tue, 26 Nov 2019 11:18:57 EDT

DocDrew posted :

said by Anonb57a1 :

Altice won't spend the money to hire a good outsourced engineer to fix this, it saves money just ignoring the problem!.. Cablevision would have had this fixed quickly..

This model box dates back to 2012. The problem does too, I'm pretty sure. Cablevision had at least 3 years with it an ignored it too.

Re: [TV] Optimum doesn't support Dolby 5.1? WTF?

Tue, 26 Nov 2019 11:13:10 EDT

anon posted : Altice won't spend the money to hire a good outsourced engineer to fix this, it saves money just ignoring the problem!.. Cablevision would have had this fixed quickly..

Re: [TV] Optimum doesn't support Dolby 5.1? WTF?

Tue, 26 Nov 2019 10:40:01 EDT

EliteData posted :

said by dbreen000:

said by majortom1029:

Isnt there the fixed and variable setting in the settings for the samsung box? have you tried changing that to fixed?

Yes, but once you turn on 5.1 that setting has no effect.

that setting and "narrow/wide" has no effect on the digital output, it only affects the analog 2 channel output from the cable box.

Re: [TV] Optimum doesn't support Dolby 5.1? WTF?

Tue, 26 Nov 2019 10:37:35 EDT

EliteData posted : yeah, i can afford a "sound system" but i prefer to use this cheap decoder and home-made setup instead, because im mainly watching the premiums anyway and im only listening to the center channel, its difficult to just monitor a single channel on an integrated DD5.1 "sound system" the way you want.
i get the sound i want with this simple home-made setup, 2 full range speakers measured 30Hz to 16Khz and a 25W RMS amp.
there is much content which is just simply better when utilizing only the center channel.
at least i look at it this way since this cheap decoder does not indicate what you are actually listening to, "mickey mouse" sounding content is PCM 2.0, severely slowed down content is DD 5.1.
what is really annoying to me is the SD premiums *used* to be at DD 5.1 but Altice recently changed them to PCM 2.0.

Re: [TV] Optimum doesn't support Dolby 5.1? WTF?

Tue, 26 Nov 2019 09:28:00 EDT

batterup posted :

said by Comp625:

I'm an AV enthusiast here with my own decked out 5.1 set up, still rocking an old Win7 WMC HTPC with a cablecard tuner coupled with HD Homerun Prime.

You da man. I use cable cards and a PCs for TV and own my modem for internets. I pay $6.50 plus tax to rent equipment.

Re: [TV] Optimum doesn't support Dolby 5.1? WTF?

Tue, 26 Nov 2019 06:49:05 EDT

dbreen000 posted : Ahhhh! So this is why people spend $300+ for an integrated 5.1 system!

Unfortunately, don't have cash for that right now. Guess I'll just have to struggle along and keep tweaking this Mickey Mouse monstrosity I'm creating.

Re: [TV] Optimum doesn't support Dolby 5.1? WTF?

Tue, 26 Nov 2019 06:42:41 EDT

dbreen000 posted :

said by majortom1029:

Isnt there the fixed and variable setting in the settings for the samsung box? have you tried changing that to fixed?

Yes, but once you turn on 5.1 that setting has no effect.

Re: [TV] Optimum doesn't support Dolby 5.1? WTF?

Tue, 26 Nov 2019 06:40:06 EDT

dbreen000 posted :

said by EliteData:

hey, i have the same exact issue as you do.
are you also using the small cheap 5.1 decoder box ?
the issue is with the decoder box, it does not automatically change to the correct sample rate resulting in the issues you are having.
the content is at DD5.1 but the "injected commercials" are at PCM2.1 (and different sample rates).
in my situation, i have to kill the bitstream and then enable it for the decoder to switch to the correct sample rate, which is what youre doing by muting and un-muting.
im using an SA8300HD:
optical output > 5.1 decoder > PC with "stereotool" > amp > speakers (i use the center channel only from the decoder)
the only solution is to purchase a more expensive "brand name" 5.1 decoder box and im not doing that.
ive learned to live with this issue, simply "pausing" the SA8300HD and "unpausing" it, is enough to interrupt the bitstream and cause a reset to the sample rate detection on the decoder to correct the issue.
additionally, you may hear "clicking" and "popping" if the decoder is decoding PCM 2.1 through DD 5.1 (it may successfully decode PCM2.1 using DD5.1 but with clicks and pops).
the solution is to switch the audio in the cable box settings to "other" for the channel that is only using PCM 2.1.

Yup. This seems like it's exactly what's going on. This is actually the second decoder box I've tried. The first had no volume control, so I had to walk around the room and adjust one knob for the front l/r speakers, another knob in the back of the room for rear l/r, then back to the front of the room to adjust the center/sw volume! So, I bought a more expensive box with a volume control, but the damn pre-amps are REALLY wimpy.

*sigh*... So my next project is going to be to run the output of the box through a 12 channel 2+2 mixing console I have to increase the signal strength.

I've never actually seen a "brand name" decoder box. They all seem to be generic "Made in China" boxes.

Re: [TV] Optimum doesn't support Dolby 5.1? WTF?

Tue, 26 Nov 2019 06:11:24 EDT

majortom1029 posted : Isnt there the fixed and variable setting in the settings for the samsung box? have you tried changing that to fixed?

Re: [TV] Optimum doesn't support Dolby 5.1? WTF?

Tue, 26 Nov 2019 05:23:39 EDT

TheLeak3r posted :

said by dtv757:

TheLeak3r

Do u or others have any feedback here ?

I actually referred OP here to get some real feedback regarding the audio issue ...

Nope sorry. I have a my 3D Samsung Smart TV from 2016 and Samsug Cablebox connected via HDMI. Basic kinda guy here.

Re: [TV] Optimum doesn't support Dolby 5.1? WTF?

Tue, 26 Nov 2019 02:03:05 EDT

EliteData posted : hey, i have the same exact issue as you do.
are you also using the small cheap 5.1 decoder box ?
the issue is with the decoder box, it does not automatically change to the correct sample rate resulting in the issues you are having.
the content is at DD5.1 but the "injected commercials" are at PCM2.1 (and different sample rates).
in my situation, i have to kill the bitstream and then enable it for the decoder to switch to the correct sample rate, which is what youre doing by muting and un-muting.
im using an SA8300HD:
optical output > 5.1 decoder > PC with "stereotool" > amp > speakers (i use the center channel only from the decoder)
the only solution is to purchase a more expensive "brand name" 5.1 decoder box and im not doing that.
ive learned to live with this issue, simply "pausing" the SA8300HD and "unpausing" it, is enough to interrupt the bitstream and cause a reset to the sample rate detection on the decoder to correct the issue.
additionally, you may hear "clicking" and "popping" if the decoder is decoding PCM 2.1 through DD 5.1 (it may successfully decode PCM2.1 using DD5.1 but with clicks and pops).
the solution is to switch the audio in the cable box settings to "other" for the channel that is only using PCM 2.1.

Re: [TV] Optimum doesn't support Dolby 5.1? WTF?

Tue, 26 Nov 2019 00:16:15 EDT

dbreen000 posted :

said by Comp625:

I'm an AV enthusiast here with my own decked out 5.1 set up, still rocking an old Win7 WMC HTPC with a cablecard tuner coupled with HD Homerun Prime.

Is your problem only happening with "local" commercials (i.e. a commercial for a local restaurant plays and overrides whatever commercial is playing on the national feed)? If so, there isn't much you can do to my knowledge besides complain to Optimum. Optimum isn't correctly flagging that specific commercial (or commercial feed) to output at 5.1 and/or they're running the local commercial/commercial feed at a higher volume level altogether.

1. Can you program your receiver to default to Dolby ProLogic II (codec that simulates 5.1 from stereo sources)? That may help level out the volume.

2. Have you calibrated each of your speaker's levels (i.e. using Audyssey or some similar computational calibration)? While I agree the volume differential can be wide, it shouldn't be thattt dramatic.

3. Hate to suggest this but have you looked into a Live TV streaming service? AT&T Now (used to be DirecTV Now) is the only one that offers 5.1 with live TV. Mathematically, you'll end up paying the same amount of money as you do for traditional cable TV today. They offer a short trial so perhaps you can give that a shot and see if commercials are poorly fed or not.

I believe it very well may be local commercials. Unfortunately, I'm not using a full-fledged receiver. I found myself with a bunch of powered speakers and, being tight on cash, I bought a stand-alone decoder box.

Re: [TV] Optimum doesn't support Dolby 5.1? WTF?

Mon, 25 Nov 2019 23:54:34 EDT

Comp625 posted : I'm an AV enthusiast here with my own decked out 5.1 set up, still rocking an old Win7 WMC HTPC with a cablecard tuner coupled with HD Homerun Prime.

Is your problem only happening with "local" commercials (i.e. a commercial for a local restaurant plays and overrides whatever commercial is playing on the national feed)? If so, there isn't much you can do to my knowledge besides complain to Optimum. Optimum isn't correctly flagging that specific commercial (or commercial feed) to output at 5.1 and/or they're running the local commercial/commercial feed at a higher volume level altogether.

1. Can you program your receiver to default to Dolby ProLogic II (codec that simulates 5.1 from stereo sources)? That may help level out the volume.

2. Have you calibrated each of your speaker's levels (i.e. using Audyssey or some similar computational calibration)? While I agree the volume differential can be wide, it shouldn't be thattt dramatic.

3. Hate to suggest this but have you looked into a Live TV streaming service? AT&T Now (used to be DirecTV Now) is the only one that offers 5.1 with live TV. Mathematically, you'll end up paying the same amount of money as you do for traditional cable TV today. They offer a short trial so perhaps you can give that a shot and see if commercials are poorly fed or not.

Re: [TV] Optimum doesn't support Dolby 5.1? WTF?

Mon, 25 Nov 2019 23:26:28 EDT

dbreen000 posted :

said by DocDrew:

said by dbreen000:

I'm going from cable box to TV, optical out to decoder box to 6 powered speakers.

That's an issue right there. See if you can swap the box for one with an optical out.

Optimum wants $80 to replace my box and it MUST be installed by one of their techs. That's not going to happen. NOBODY touches my network or media set-up except me. They also said it probably wouldn't fix it.

And I doubt having the TV in the loop for audio is relevant. When I set my TV to 5.1 mode, ALL audio options become disabled. It switches to digital audio pass-through. It just sends the audio straight to the optical out without even looking at it.

Re: [TV] Optimum doesn't support Dolby 5.1? WTF?

Mon, 25 Nov 2019 23:14:16 EDT

dbreen000 posted : Just to clarify...

The Dolby 5.1 works fine, until a commercial that's encoded in stereo comes along and then I've got screaming demons coming out of my speakers. Then mute/unmute fixes it. It's normally just a repeating annoyance, but when you fall asleep with the TV on, you wake up a bit later thinking it's Armageddon.

Optimum told me they know all about it, they just don't consider it to be their problem.

Re: [TV] Optimum doesn't support Dolby 5.1? WTF?

Mon, 25 Nov 2019 23:09:27 EDT

DocDrew posted :

said by dbreen000:

I'm going from cable box to TV, optical out to decoder box to 6 powered speakers.

That's an issue right there. See if you can swap the box for one with an optical out.

Re: [TV] Optimum doesn't support Dolby 5.1? WTF?

Mon, 25 Nov 2019 22:43:54 EDT

dbreen000 posted :

said by WK2:

said by dbreen000:

STB is a Samsung SMT-C5320. Connected to TV with HDMI.

Maybe if you have an audio receiver, have an optical cable link right into the STB? (If applicable).

Nope. STB only has stereo audio output, no optical. Have to piggy-back over HDMI to get a 5.1 signal.

Re: [TV] Optimum doesn't support Dolby 5.1? WTF?

Mon, 25 Nov 2019 22:40:45 EDT

WK2 posted :

said by dbreen000:

STB is a Samsung SMT-C5320. Connected to TV with HDMI.

Maybe if you have an audio receiver, have an optical cable link right into the STB? (If applicable).

Re: [TV] Optimum doesn't support Dolby 5.1? WTF?

Mon, 25 Nov 2019 22:12:36 EDT

dbreen000 posted :

said by batterup:

said by dbreen000:

said by limegrass69:

Is there a receiver involved or are you going straight into a TV?

I'm going from cable box to TV, optical out to decoder box to 6 powered speakers.

What STB and wiring to the TV do you have?

STB is a Samsung SMT-C5320. Connected to TV with HDMI.

Re: [TV] Optimum doesn't support Dolby 5.1? WTF?

Mon, 25 Nov 2019 22:09:15 EDT

batterup posted :

said by dbreen000:

said by limegrass69:

Is there a receiver involved or are you going straight into a TV?

I'm going from cable box to TV, optical out to decoder box to 6 powered speakers.

What STB and wiring to the TV do you have?

Re: [TV] Optimum doesn't support Dolby 5.1? WTF?

Mon, 25 Nov 2019 21:57:24 EDT

dbreen000 posted :

said by limegrass69:

Is there a receiver involved or are you going straight into a TV?

I'm going from cable box to TV, optical out to decoder box to 6 powered speakers.

Re: [TV] Optimum doesn't support Dolby 5.1? WTF?

Mon, 25 Nov 2019 21:54:36 EDT

limegrass69 posted : Is there a receiver involved or are you going straight into a TV?

Re: [TV] Optimum doesn't support Dolby 5.1? WTF?

Mon, 25 Nov 2019 21:28:53 EDT

dbreen000 posted :

Maybe you have a lousy television?

That would mean BOTH televisions I've tried it on suck. I've even tried two different decoders.

Besides, Optimum completely acknowledged the problem and said there's nothing they can do and they have no future plans to even try to fix it.

Re: [TV] Optimum doesn't support Dolby 5.1? WTF?

Mon, 25 Nov 2019 21:27:01 EDT

dtv757 posted : TheLeak3r

Do u or others have any feedback here ?

I actually referred OP here to get some real feedback regarding the audio issue ...

Re: [TV] Optimum doesn't support Dolby 5.1? WTF?

Mon, 25 Nov 2019 21:18:13 EDT

anon posted :

said by dbreen000:

Well, I've been having major audio problems using Dolby 5.1 with Optimum. After some research I've concluded that the problem occurs when a commercial comes on that is only encoded in stereo. The audio becomes unsynced with the video and either sounds like a demon screeching or the audio massively slows down. I can fix it by muting then unmuting the audio on the cable box.

According to Optimum, they can't do a damn thing about it because that's just the way they get the signal. It seems to me that since I can fix it by muting/unmuting there ought to be a rather simple update to the cable box's firmware that would solve this.

Dolby 5.1 isn't exactly new technology. Why is this an issue in 2019?

Maybe you have a lousy television?

Re: [TV] Optimum doesn't support Dolby 5.1? WTF?

Mon, 25 Nov 2019 20:51:00 EDT

dbreen000 posted : No. And I definitely don't want it. I'll manage my own router thank you very much.

Re: [TV] Optimum doesn't support Dolby 5.1? WTF?

Mon, 25 Nov 2019 20:48:07 EDT

batterup posted :

said by dbreen000:

Dolby 5.1 isn't exactly new technology. Why is this an issue in 2019?

Do you have "Altice One"?

[TV] Optimum doesn't support Dolby 5.1? WTF?

Mon, 25 Nov 2019 20:44:27 EDT

dbreen000 posted : Well, I've been having major audio problems using Dolby 5.1 with Optimum. After some research I've concluded that the problem occurs when a commercial comes on that is only encoded in stereo. The audio becomes unsynced with the video and either sounds like a demon screeching or the audio massively slows down. I can fix it by muting then unmuting the audio on the cable box.

According to Optimum, they can't do a damn thing about it because that's just the way they get the signal. It seems to me that since I can fix it by muting/unmuting there ought to be a rather simple update to the cable box's firmware that would solve this.

Dolby 5.1 isn't exactly new technology. Why is this an issue in 2019?