Surround sound not working on all speakers. Any ideas why?
 

So my Koss receiver surround sound speakers work fine with the PS2, and Xbox, but when I am watching Tivo, I only get sound from the center speaker, and a loud hissing noise (well not terribly loud, but loud enough to bother someone watching tv) coming from the other 4 speakers.

It just started doing this today. I thought it might be a connection, but why would the speakers work on the consoles, and not the Tivo?

Any suggestions on how to fix it?

How is your TiVo connected to your receiver?

Connected via optical cable. I have an optical splitter for my Xbox, and PS2. The receiver only has one optical slot.

Have you swapped the connections around between the TiVo, Xbox and PS2 to eliminate the switch as the source of the problem?

How is your Tivo hooked up to your receiver? (since that's the one with the audio problem)

It's hooked up to the splitter. I think the problem might be the splitter. Like a bad connection or something.

Do your receiver and DVD player have digital coaxial connections as an option?

The receiver and the DVD player are the same unit, but yes there is one coaxial connection.

I noticed that I only have my problem when I am watching something I previously had recorded with Tivo. If I watch something live, or listen to music on the music channels, there is a slight hissing but sound does come through all the speakers.

Does this mean I have a bad Tivo box? I tried switching cables, and no matter what cable I used, the problem remained. So I know it's not the cable. I thought it was the splitter for awhile, but it seems to work fine with the consoles. I even switched which connections (there are 4) on the splitter the consoles and Tivo were connected to, and the whatever one the Tivo was plugged into, that is the one that gave me problems.

Sometimes if I mess with the splitter, the sound will work. Most of the time, though it's giving me the problem.

Is this a DirecTiVo, A TiVo/DVD, or what?

RichC

DirecTivo R10

You have enabled dolby digital on the TiVo, yes? You need to enable it in one of the menus.

Keep in mind that 99% of the shows in DirecTV aren't in DD.

I agree that it's likely a setup/menu selection issue of some sort. Digital bitstreams are all or nothing; you don't just get one channel unless there's only one channel to get.

It's also possible the problem's in the TiVo, but you should be able to answer that easily by just connecting it directly to the receiver.

RichC

Yes I do. Even if it wasn't in DD, I should still get sound throught the speakers right? Then again, both movies I had problems with surround sound were from the 80's. But I also had it when watching the Apprentice.

I am hoping it's with the splitter. I wish I had more optical input/outputs. Can anyone recommend a cheap but good optical splitter in case I need a new one?

Do a quick test to see if it is the splitter. Go to a recording that gives you a problem, then temporarily run the optical cable straight from the TiVo to your receiver.

Unless the programs your are watching (tivoed)are encoded with Dolby surround you won't get any sound out of the rears and if they are mono you will only get sound out of the center. Your PS2 games must be surround encoded. I also agree with Jeremy about hooking up the Tivo direct to your reciever. What movies from the 80's did you watch and on what channel?

They were Gremlins 2 (which I think was early 90's now that I remember) and Used Cars which was 1980 I believe. Most likely both were on Cinemax.

I don't get sound out of the left and right speakers either, not just the rears.

I'll try the direct to Tivo approach and see if that helps. If not, can I still hook up my Tivo to the receiver and get surround via the composite cables? I'd like to save the only optical input for the Xbox if I had to make a choice.

Does your Tivo have a an audio setting thats set for stereo? If there is and its set for mono that would explain alot.