SBS Audio Squeak Problem

[cak]

Hi all,

For about the last couple of weeks l have been getting a high pitched audio squeak on both SBS and SBS Viceland channels which has made watching them just about impossible. It appears SBS have made some changes recently and they are now broadcasting contents with alternate audio tracks for hearing impaired people which l believe is causing the issue with the audio squeak. I have found a fix that will get rid of the squeak however it is not perfect as the setting you need to change does not get saved as the default after making the change. What does that mean, well a couple of button pushes and no more squeak on SBS or SBS Viceland but if you change to a different channel and then back to SBS you will need to change the Alternate Audio setting again. I am not sure if it is possible to get this change to become the default setting and would be keen to hear if anyone knows how to do that?

Below is the settings that need to be changed to fix the squeak.

Hit the info button while on SBS or SBS Viceland channels
Scroll down to the speaker icon on the right hand side of the info dialog box and hit select to access the Alternate Audio Settings
Once in the Alternate Audio Settings you need to change from Language Unknown (aus) to English-MPEG1
Squeak gone..

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I hope this helps anyone that is having the same issue and if someone finds out how to make the MPEG-1 the default setting please let me know.

[chrismclennan]

Thank you, incredibly helpful!

[Nippy]

My ears are bad and dont hear the squeak unless I really focus on it. On the other hand the squeak has been driving my wife nuts!

Thank You from me and THANK YOU from my wife!

[simonshead]

It took me about a month to figure this out myself, it's that time of the year when it gets cold that I develop very bad antenna problems losing channels, and I got sidetracked chasing ghosts trying to improve reception. I thought this was a related problem.

Anyway... installing a new relocated antenna aside, I can sort of live with having to change to the alternate setting to stop the annoying screeching if I'm watching it live. The problem is, when you want to record a program on these two HD channels (#30 and #31), the TiVo changes the current channel and starts recording the squeaky mpeg4? audio stream. If you catch it early enough, you can manually change it to the mpeg1 stream, and the rest of the show will be recorded with usable audio. It sort of makes a joke of setting a season pass to something as an unattended recording as you are only going to get the BAD audio. If you catch it in the middle of the show and change it to mpeg1, the first half of your recording will still have the screech. I must not be receiving HD on World Movies & Food (#32, #33) as they're fine when ever I watch it.

I don't know why SBS couldn't have made the standard audio the default. I think they changed it so they could have alternative audio as well -- some shows now also have spoken word dialogue over the top of the standard soundtrack for visually impaired viewers, and that data is being decoded as squeaks even if the narration isn't there. I watched a couple of shows and thought the narration was intentionally part of the program until the penny dropped. It seemed to have been activated by itself without intervention by me. Seeing that 99% of the population aren't visually challenged and don't need these features enabled, I'm at a loss as to why they would make this stream the default and enable narration. I'm going to try and speak to someone at SBS in the technical section to sort out what is going on. They seem to have a few contact numbers for antenna problems and reception difficulties on their website.

Otherwise, I'm not sure what other solution we can devise for the TiVo OS.

Here is a short example of the audio defect, and narration on the main audio channel. There was no alternative audio on this program.

[simonshead]

Here is the SBS webpage describing their Audio Description trial and what is due for the future: https://www.sbs.com.au/aboutus/audio...ption-services. I have been in contact with them and it appears we are the first to report such a problem. Has anyone else had experience with their TV tuner or other PVR exhibiting glitches due to their experiments? I should add I haven't noticed it misbehave on my Fetch box from Optus. The more people that chime in , the better chance we have of solving it. Any contribution is appreciated and welcome. It appears it will go live and be a permanent fixture by the end of the month.

[edcba]

Here is the SBS webpage describing their Audio Description trial and what is due for the future: https://www.sbs.com.au/aboutus/audio...ption-services. I have been in contact with them and it appears we are the first to report such a problem. Has anyone else had experience with their TV tuner or other PVR exhibiting glitches due to their experiments? I should add I haven't noticed it misbehave on my Fetch box from Optus. The more people that chime in , the better chance we have of solving it. Any contribution is appreciated and welcome. It appears it will go live and be a permanent fixture by the end of the month.

Is there a way to turn off Audio Description on the TiVo? It's now added to the Who do you think you are? series, and the extra voice-overs are unnecessary for nonhandicapped viewers.

[Random01]

Having a spare Tivo-or-two always laying about for testing, ( here on the bench in the Lab ) - I'd be happy to run one into SBS for them to evaluate and see for themselves this issue first hand.

Who have you been speaking to at SBS so far? ( I'm hoping that it's someone down here in Melbourne, as that's where I'm located... )

Let me know -

[simonshead]

Is there a way to turn off Audio Description on the TiVo? It's now added to the Who do you think you are? series, and the extra voice-overs are unnecessary for nonhandicapped viewers.

The procedure is laid out in the very first post of this thread. We haven't got a permanent way to address this yet.

Below is the settings that need to be changed to fix the squeak.

Hit the info button while on SBS or SBS Viceland channels
Scroll down to the speaker icon on the right hand side of the info dialog box and hit select to access the Alternate Audio Settings
Once in the Alternate Audio Settings you need to change from Language Unknown (aus) to English-MPEG1
Squeak gone..

Name: Unknown-5.jpg Views: 38 Size: 24.7 KB

Name: Unknown-4.jpg Views: 37 Size: 25.8 KB

I hope this helps anyone that is having the same issue and if someone finds out how to make the MPEG-1 the default setting please let me know.

[simonshead]

audiodescription@sbs.com.au I was unable to contact them on the phone, it went to a voicemail system which allowed me to replay their waiting messages, but not leave one. SMH.

I've sent a couple of emails, outlining our specific problems -- firstly that the description channel is selected by default, and secondly, there is an associated unwanted squeal.

Despite explaining it was an issue with a PVR, and that the system was being operated by a bunch of technical geeks capable of resurrecting the system from the dead, they replied with a predictable tech-support response -- assume-all-users-are-idiots. They suggested that it was probably an issue with our TVs automatically selecting the wrong stream, and promptly attached instructions for various manufacturers instructions on how to select an option on their TV. The second issue was completely ignored, suggesting they have had no other reports of this issue, and therefore no canned response to give me. I raised the squeaking a second time but it was also ignored.

It's been escalated internally at OzTivo but I'm not sure if anyone is working on it. Perhaps it is a quirk of the codec the TiVo uses, or it is misinterpreting a language flag being broadcast etc. All just supposition and clutching at straws for answers by me. It has been suggested that it could be possible to modify the kernel to detect one of these channels has been selected, and to internally send codes to change the audio stream. Again, I don't know if that has been worked on.

I'm surprised there hasn't been more noise made by more users in the forum about this issue, it appears to me to be a major one worthy of immediate attention. Perhaps because there is only a handful of people making a fuss about it, it doesn't make it onto the list of issues for attention.