Lost a ton of volume moving to Ignite?

[PVC]

So just moved from Digital cable to Ignite.  Have my setop box connected via an AVR (Anthem AVM60).

I have lost about 20db of volume, in the sense that I need to turn my AVR to say -20db to get the same amount of volume I did with digital cable at 40.

Any ideas? Is there a volume setting I'm missing somewhere?

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[-G-]

@PVC  The only audio settings for the Ignite set-top box are in Settings / Device Settings / Audio"

On your old Digital TV set-top box, did you happen to change the "audio range" to Narrow and could that be why its output levels were different?  On Ignite, is the audio level different on another channel or is it consistent on all channels?  Do you hear any difference in volume if your change HDMI Audio Output to Stereo (PCM)?

[PVC]

I would say it's generally consistent across channels. The 4K music video channel is probably the worse.

Doesn't make a difference if I switch to Stereo or Expert mode.

Is there some sort of gain/volume setting on the box itself, e.g., similar say to an Android TV box that has its own volume? When I hit volume up on the rogers remote it wants to try and use the TV volume.

[57]

Are you using the same input on the AVR for Ignite as before? Some AVRs allow you to vary the volume by input, thereby equalizing the volume across a number of devices that may have different output volumes. I know that on my Denon, I've adjusted each of the many inputs to equalize the volume on DVD, BD, Phone, Tape, VCR, PVR, TV, etc.  I'm not sure if this is possible in your Anthem, but it should be somewhere under user settings and even if you don't need to equalize with other equipment, you may be able to boost the volume of the Ignite input.

Are you seeing (hearing) the same thing on recordings as on live TV. For example, recordings are presented to the Ignite box as improperly encoded DD5.1 with only the LF & RF channels active. This would make for a lower volume than live or OD programming.  For recordings, to get surround sound you'd need to set the Ignite box to "stereo" to allow the AVR to decode the incoming signal using say DPLII to provide surround sound.

[Bplayer]

These are the volume level settings for normal listening on my Sony 7.1.2 AVR:

25 Ignite (live or recorded)
25 Netflix (ARC to AVR)
18 YouTube (ARC to AVR)
23 BluRay Player
25 Android Media Player
18 FM Radio
16 Chromecast of TuneIn from phone

None of these put any load on my AVR and it is easy to adjust the levels when I initially select a source. Bottom line is no issue here with the Ignite box.

[Smithmann]

Late to the party here but I have the same problem. Switched from Bell to Ignite and the sound and volume are brutal. Used to listen to the TV at between 10 and 15 but now I have to put it to about 50 to be able to hear it. 

What's worse is the underlying distortion. I had assumed that it's the tv speakers breaking up but I can still hear it through my amp, although it;'s not nearly as bad. In fact it's only listenable, barely, by connecting to the amp via bluetooth. 

What kind of system is this anyway that there are no audio outputs on the set-top box?

[57]

Something may be amiss with your system.  Per post 2 of this thread, have you tried setting the output to "stereo"?  Have you unplugged/replugged the HDMI cable a few times in case it's not making a good connection?  

How are you currently connected to your AVR (without bluetooth) - "Through" your TV via optical out? Or HDMI direct to the AVR's input and then HDMI to the TV from the AVR?  What's the make/model of the TV and AVR?

There's lots of equipment today that only has HDMI. 

[Smithmann]

I've done a tone of things. I'm doing more. 

There is no audio equipment that only has hdmi. I have zero interest in "home theatre". My audio equipment is for music, not movies. I only want to be able to hear the tv sans distortion. I don't want to be forced to listen to my tv through my home audio system.

In any case, thanks for your suggestions.  I'll try them, plus other things, and repost. Thanks again!

[Smithmann]

Let me ask this though? I assume that, in general, people are able to listen to their tvs at 10-15 % volume without underlying distortion (the distortion is subtle, but it's there). If so, and my attempted "fixes" don't fix anything, I'll contact Rogers.

[-G-]

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@Smithmann wrote:
Let me ask this though? I assume that, in general, people are able to listen to their tvs at 10-15 % volume without underlying distortion (the distortion is subtle, but it's there). If so, and my attempted "fixes" don't fix anything, I'll contact Rogers.

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Yes, I am getting normal audio levels from my Ignite set-top boxes.  I do not need to crank up the volume on my TV or audio gear.

[Biollw]

With my denon avr: ignite live TV....32 : ignite recorded/on demand....55

Be prepared when I switch from recorded show to live.

[Bplayer]

My Sony AVR is typically set at 25 and there is virtually no difference between Live and recorded playback. Ignite Audio is set to Expert, and although there is no centre channel with recorded program I prefer this to the sound setting of DolbyDigital or Neural:X with Ignite set to PCM.

[Smithmann]

Thanks for all the comments!

I don't have an AVR, I have an audio amplifier (NAD M10). My amp is for music, not tv. If i'm watching a concert or, occasionally, hockey, I'll listen through the amp. But I don't want to have to listen through my amp and speakers just to watch the news. 

It sounds finish through the amp, but I have to turn the tv up way too loud just to listen to the tv (plus there's an audible deep, low-end, rumble/crackle). Through the amp the sound still isn't that clean. I'm concerned that the actual audio signal is degraded in the first place. Maybe I'll call Rogers and get them to switch out the set-top box.

Also, I stripped everything down to the bare essentials. I literally had the Rogers modem connected directly to to the coaxial cable coming in through the balcony and had nothing else connected but the set-top box to the tv (I tried it both through the ethernet cable and through wifi (same difference)).

[Bplayer]

@SmithmannWhat is the Audio setting in the TV Box. The options for HDMI Audio Output are Expert, Stereo, and Auto Detect. Have you tried a different setting?

[TADII]

I recently had the same issue where there was extremely low volume for recordings, Netflix etc but live tv was just fine. Changed the audio setting to Stereo and everything is all good now

[JChada]

Same with us. Took a while to figure out. Put your ear to your Center Channel speaker. No audio, right? Yeah. That’s why. It appears recordings are downgraded which results in loss of center channel despite the receiver showing e.g. 5.1 Dolby Digital, 7.1, etc. “Live TV” is OK but recordings are ham-stringed. Apparently it’s to mitigate piracy of high quality recordings. Nice approach (sarcasm) as it’s a brute approach which affects paying customers more than any nefarious “pirate” who wants to post recordings of “Canadian Family Feud” or “Breakaway” online…

I’d like to see this fixed.

[JChada]

Yes. That is the most annoying part! This needs to be fixed and is at Rogers’ end. It’s due to loss of audio channels (namely Center frequencies). It’s NOT your audio systems. Don’t waste your time messing with your settings or trying to troubleshoot your amp / receivers.

[57]

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@JChada wrote:
...Don’t waste your time messing with your settings...

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Actually, there is something you can do. You can set the audio output of the IgniteTV box to "stereo" instead and use DPLII in the AVR to properly decode the signals for surround sound (and centre channel) on recordings and on the channels that are DD2.0 originally.  See my post on the topic and several other posts of mine that follow:

https://communityforums.rogers.com/t5/Archived-Posts/IgniteTV-Surround-Sound/m-p/472720/highlight/tr...

My audio levels are identical to what I had with Legacy Digital Cable.