SKY Q - sound interference on surround sound system

ablelocks

I've contacted SKY support and also posted in the SKY forum, but throwing this out here to see if anyone else has any ideas - it may be something i can solve without having to arrange another engineer call out....

SKY Q box, connected to an Onkyo Receiver and surround sound system, which is connected to the TV. Sound quality is generally good except for a double crackling sound which often, but not always, occurs when changing channels, but only on changing between HD channels.

the sound interference also occurs in recordings going from fast-forward to play - so press ff, then press play, then interference, then normal sound...

It's like a loud, quick, double tap sound and can be heard on all 5 speakers

The receiver is working perfectly with all other devices (xbox one, apple tv, chromecast, PC, Bluray Player) and worked perfectly with the older Sky+ HDbox.

I've done a reset on the SKY Q box, but no joy.

It's probably unrelated, but I'm also experiencing sound drop outs - picture is fine, but sound drops for upto 40 seconds or so...seems to be random across channels

any ideas, comments or solutions greatly appreciated...

ablelocks

actually, just discovered this (but relating to the SKY HUB) on the SKY site - could a ferrite clip be the answer?

ablelocks

AV Receiver is an onkyo TX-NR609

I changed the HDMI cable, but no change.

Crackling sound is something like when you tap a microphone twice to see if it's on.

It does not seem to occur when settings changed from Dolby to Normal on the SKY Q box. Which defeats the purpose of having HD sound so I won't be doing that.

The sound drop outs only seem to occur in the first minute of watching a channel or recording, or after fast-forwarding thru an adbreak.

SKY are sending out an engineer, but I'm not entirely sure that a replacement box is going to solve it. It must be something to do with the HDMI interface or control.

I've gone into the settings of the Onkyo but there doesn't seem to be any obvious change to make. The firmware is uptodate too.

JoeA3

If you connect the sky box directly to the tv do you hear the noise through the tv speakers?

ablelocks

JoeA3 wrote: »

If you connect the sky box directly to the tv do you hear the noise through the tv speakers?

will try that this evening, thanks.

ablelocks

When the sky box is connected directly to the TV, there is no sound on HD channels, but there is on the non-HD channels.

suggests there is a problem with the SKY Q box, doesn't it

JoeA3

I'm not too familiar with the Sky Q box but the regular Sky HD box has Audio settings in the settings menus. Where you can set what audio is sent over HDMI (stereo or DD) or via optical. I'd suggest trawling through the box settings and making sure it all looks correct.

ablelocks

JoeA3 wrote: »

I'm not too familiar with the Sky Q box but the regular Sky HD box has Audio settings in the settings menus. Where you can set what audio is sent over HDMI (stereo or DD) or via optical. I'd suggest trawling through the box settings and making sure it all looks correct.

settings are correct - dd through the hdmi. on the nomal setting the sound quality is poor so that's not an option anyway.

looks like the issue is be with the receiver - after checking with richersounds (great customer service from them again) it turns out the onkyo needs a repair under warranty (or possibly an upgrade replacement at a big discount! yippee!)

thanks

ablelocks

I got the receiver replaced under the trade in programme, but am still experiencing similar issues with the new box.

the loud crackling sound is still an issue - it's not as frequent as on the other receiver but still there - random across the HD channels. Onkyo say this is a Sky issue, Sky say it's an Onkyo issue.

this crackling sound occurs on both HDMI input and on Optical.

there is also a very loud "click-pop" sound from inside the receiver, which Onkyo say is the sounds that the internal relays make as they open and close between different sound output types - to me they are quite loud? Onkyo says these sounds are normal. These sounds are only heard on HDMI, not on Optical.

I am disputing this with Onkyo and have asked for an exchange - but I don't think I'm going to get any satisfactory resolution from them.

Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions?

Mister Gooey

It's the sound source from Sky changing back and forth from Dolby sound as you change channels

rednik

Mister Gooey wrote: »

It's the sound source from Sky changing back and forth from Dolby sound as you change channels

That's what it was for me. I had an Onkyo 705 around 10 years ago and it would pop on changing channels, the problem also existed with three different Denon AVRs and an Anthem MRX510. I recently upgraded to a Anthem MRX520 and the issue is gone.