Sound level problem

[fbures]

I have a setup that has been in use for years:
2 Colossus cards connected to 2 Rogers Cable boxes via Component and SPDIF connections. Boxes are controlled via two USB-UIRT's.

Couple of month ago a problem appeared:

Each of the two Colossus cards records with vastly different sound levels. I thought that one of the Rogers boxes somehow got misconfigured so I went into the Setup Video Sources, Color Calibration and compared the sound levels of the two cards in real time. The levels were identical.

The same applies to Watch Live TV where both Colossus cards generate the same normal sound level. Yet, one of the cards (the same one all the time) still _records_ with considerably higher sound level.

I am at the end of my wits. Any suggestion would be highly appreciated.

Thanks
Frank

[wayner]

It sounds like you have, but just to be sure - have you tried manually turning up the volume to max on your Rogers boxes? You wouldn't think it matters with digital outputs but in my experience it does - I use spdif and HD-PVRs with Rogers SA3250HD and SA4250HD so likely a very similar setup to you.

[JustFred]

"Divide and Conquer"

Temporarily try swapping the connection between both STBs & capture cards. See whether the problem follows the STB, or Colossus. That should give you an idea where to start troubleshooting.

[fbures]

The problem is that logically it does not make any sense. If one of the STB/Colossus combinations was indeed the problem I should be able to hear the difference between them while watching live TV. However, live TV sound output levels are identical from both STB/Colossus sources.

The problem only exhibits itself during recording so it seems to me it has to be a SW problem. AFAIK, the STB/Colossus does not know, whether the signal is being watched in real time or whether it is being recorded.

Cheers
Frank

[wnjj]

Originally Posted by fbures

The problem is that logically it does not make any sense. If one of the STB/Colossus combinations was indeed the problem I should be able to hear the difference between them while watching live TV. However, live TV sound output levels are identical from both STB/Colossus sources.

The problem only exhibits itself during recording so it seems to me it has to be a SW problem. AFAIK, the STB/Colossus does not know, whether the signal is being watched in real time or whether it is being recorded.

Cheers
Frank

Live TV on Sage is just a recording that is also being played back so there should be no difference there either. Rather the watching live TV, what happens if you start a recording then wait several minutes before watching the recording from the recordings list while it’s still in progress? This should be similar to live TV but perhaps live TV mode does something slightly different. It’s one step away from letting it complete before watching a “recording”.

[KryptoNyte]

I will add to what wnjj mentioned, if that is the problem - the Hauppauge tuners occasional need a tuning delay set in the properties file. You would be looking for "delay_to_wait_after_tuning" for that tuner. The settings are in milliseconds as I recall, so 5000 = 5 seconds.