Sound glitches on OTA HD, how to fix?

[Kirby]

When I get a transmission error on an HD OTA channel, my sound from Sage will give a loud CHIRP to my B&K receiver, and then audio drops by about 30-40dB, and will gradually come back to normal over the next minute or 2. I am wondering if this is just normal for HTPC's or not, because it doesnt happen on devices like Dish receivers, they will just have a loss of sound for a second, and then back to normal.

I would really like to get rid of this issue, and not sure whether its related to my sound card (Auzentech HDA X-Mystique 7.1 Gold), my sound decoder choice (ac3filter, the full version) or what? I do have onboard sound on this PC from the Nvidia 4 chipset that I could try the digital output there. My older M-Audio Revo 7.1 broke (I stepped on the coaxial cable by accident and tore the SPDIF off the card, ooooops!) and the only other card I have is a Creative Audigy 2 ZS (which doesnt have SPDIF output).

Maybe I should just get another Revo 7.1, since it was always a good card before I rendered it useless. What do some of you audio experts suggest I do/try?

[flashbacck]

Do you have autogain set in the ac3filter control panel?

[Kirby]

I'm not totally sure, I will check it.

[msmith8228]

What audio renderer are you using -- If you are using the "Default Waveout Device" reports that I have come across indicate this legacy device for Win 9X may be less tolerant of audio dropouts and does not work well under Win XP or Win 2000.

If this is the case then try to switch to either the "Default Direct Sound Device" or your sound card specific "Direct Sound: Your Sound Card".

I am assuming that you are using SPDIF out to your receiver (COAX or Fiber optic).

MJS

[Kirby]

I have my renderer set to DS: Soundcard. And yes, using SPDIF output to my receiver. When I get home I am going to check the auto-gain setting, I have a feeling that it is enabled.

[Kirby]

Originally Posted by flashbacck

Do you have autogain set in the ac3filter control panel?

It is enabled. I will try it without it being turned on. Also I noticed that I have AC3filter 0.70b. I am going to download and install the latest 1.x version. Not sure how I ended up with the old one.

Well, I dont know why, but its fixed. All I did was install the new version of AC3filter, and set it up for AC3 and DTS pass through (old version didnt have DTS) and auto-gain control is turned on, as it was in the old version. Just played a recording that had a few glitches, and now instead of the loud CHIRP and silence after, I had a 1-2 second loss of audio, and then back to 100% normal. Much better!