buffering/then audio drop out Game of Thronees

[Whart]

this is the first time i experienced any buffering on Vudu, after having changed my ISP to Verizon FIOS. ( this occurred watching the Fincher remake of Girl with the Dragon YouknowWhat). I wrote to Vudu support and then supplied the requisite trace route, and other details. That was a couple days ago and surprisingly, I have yet to hear back from Vudu tech support. (They have usually been responsive, and I had many problems before I switched to FIOS).

Tonight, I bought the first season of Game of Thrones in HDX. (Yes, i already saw it on HBO, but wanted my wife to catch up, so we can enjoy the second season, now imminent, together). Constant audio drop-out, even when I down-rez'd to HD. I checked the Internet connection - the player is hardwired using a MOCA adapter and a very short run of Cat5e to the port. I changed the optical cable on the player to audio processor run- no change. Both of the first two episodes have exhibited this problem. I alerted VuDu tech via email on the same ticket I used for the buffering problem.
I don't know if the two problems are related, you would figure that if the Internet signal was that finky, i would have had video problems on Game of Thrones, but the video signal was flawless.
Perhaps a tech reading this will help me sooner than Vudu tech. Have any other users experienced any audio problems on Game of Thrones? Thanks in advance.

[Guest]

Re: buffering/then audio drop out Game of Thronees

this is the first time i experienced any buffering on Vudu, after having changed my ISP to Verizon FIOS. ( this occurred watching the Fincher remake of Girl with the Dragon YouknowWhat). I wrote to Vudu support and then supplied the requisite trace route, and other details. That was a couple days ago and surprisingly, I have yet to hear back from Vudu tech support. (They have usually been responsive, and I had many problems before I switched to FIOS).

Tonight, I bought the first season of Game of Thrones in HDX. (Yes, i already saw it on HBO, but wanted my wife to catch up, so we can enjoy the second season, now imminent, together). Constant audio drop-out, even when I down-rez'd to HD. I checked the Internet connection - the player is hardwired using a MOCA adapter and a very short run of Cat5e to the port. I changed the optical cable on the player to audio processor run- no change. Both of the first two episodes have exhibited this problem. I alerted VuDu tech via email on the same ticket I used for the buffering problem.
I don't know if the two problems are related, you would figure that if the Internet signal was that finky, i would have had video problems on Game of Thrones, but the video signal was flawless.
Perhaps a tech reading this will help me sooner than Vudu tech. Have any other users experienced any audio problems on Game of Thrones? Thanks in advance.

That is strange, i watched the series in surround sound and didn't have any audio drop out. Does the audio drop out always happen at the same point in the show, or does it seem to happen randomly?

-Edit: We'll have one our agents contact you shortly for more information. Our apologies for the delay.

[Whart]

Re: buffering/then audio drop out Game of Thronees

Dan, thanks. I have been in touch with support. I am trying to eliminate variables. The sonics on the soundtrack are very dynamic. I am using pretty high end audio stuff on both systems- the little system where i experienced the audio problem runs an older Meridian audio processor; the big system runs a later McIntosh audio processor. So far, it seems that the problem is confined to Game of Thrones, other stuff on Vudu and from other streaming services doesn't seem to present a problem, and I played the same portions of Game on the big system without a problem (although that is not determinative for two reasons- the problem is intermittant, and is not always confined to the same part of the same program material within Games- believe me, i know almost every word of dialog now, having tested and retested things for the last couple days- also, i didn't sit through entire episodes on the big system, so maybe the finkiness, by fluke, didn't occur when i was 'testing'. Maybe it has something to do with how the program audio is encoded? FWIW, the players in both systems are identical. I will try to swap out the Meridian and see what happens, the Mc is rack mounted, so it is sort of a pain to drag it out of the big system, and given that i have already been able to play it through the Mc, at least 'test portions' without a problem, it may be isolated to the Meridian. But, and again, this is weird, no other program, on Vudu or otherwise, has presented this problem on the Meridian.

[Whart]

Re: buffering/then audio drop out Game of Thronees

Haven't heard back from support though I emailed them using the problem 'ticket' assigned to the issue. Here's what I think- at least on the audio drop-ou (I still have no answer for the video buffering problem but it has so far not recurred). I think there may be a transcoding problem between DD+ from Vudu and my older Meridian processor which is only DD. For some reason, this has only so far exhibited itself on Game of Thrones. But, if I set the media player (an LG BD 670) to output the audio as a PCM stream, no drop out. Of course, then i have to use pro logic, which is even more antiquated, and doesn't give the degree of backchannel separation or the open sound quality that DD does.
The Meridian is old, and not upgradeable, and indeed, i understand that even the current Meridian decoders (which can exceed the price of a cheap small car) are not certified for DD+.
I gather there is nothing I can adjust on Vudu to convert the signal to mere DD, so I'm forced to choose between drop out or PCM/Pro Logic, unless I buy a new decoder.... (Not interested in a cheap receiver/processor but I have been looking).

[jeffpn]

Re: buffering/then audio drop out Game of Thronees

Get a new Blu Ray player (mine cost $100) and configure it to process the audio, instead of the receiver. (I found out about this by accident, when my receiver always said MultiChannel for any movie, regardless of how the movie, Blu Ray or streaming, was encoded.) Make sure the Blu Ray player can process DD+. I imagine most current ones will.

[Whart]

Re: buffering/then audio drop out Game of Thronees

JeffPN: yes, I thought of that- doing the audio processing at the player rather than at the processor- but, that raises another set up complications, if i plug the analog outputs from the player directly into the basic power amp, i then cannot plug any other source into the amp- ie the audio processor acts as a switching facility for multiple sources. I then have to add a switching arrangement for that; frankly, it might be simpler to just change processors, even if it is not one at the level of a Meridian. (FWIW, my other processor, an older McIntosh, has no problem with the Game of Thrones). But, I like the idea of a player that can process the new audio format. The thing I don't like, coming from serious audio stuff (and video), is that most of the newer equipment is at the level of cheesy consumer electronics. Very little higher end stuff for audio processing or players, except at the stratospheric level, and sound tracks for movies are not worth spending 10k to 20k dollars on processing or players.
the LG player is close to junk, though, but i had the same experience with Panasonic and Roku- all cheap stuff.

[jeffpn]

Re: buffering/then audio drop out Game of Thronees

Actually, I wasn't aware that my Blu Ray WAS properly decoding DD+ until I talked my wife into letting me get a new receiver! But I'm now a happy camper!!