Contributor
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29 Messages
Xfinity 4k box STILL broadcasts only 2 channels of audio in a 5 channel wrapper
It's unacceptable that Xfinity continues to ignore endless reports that their 4k boxes can't process audio correctly. This has been going on for years, and all Xfinity does is string people along with canned replies before finally admitting it's a known problem.
I'm at the point where I'm going to drop Xfinity entirely and go to any one of your competitors who understand basic audio engineering. So tired of this.
user_89ccc8
Contributor
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29 Messages
2 days ago
See here for one of the many other times this has been reported: https://forums.xfinity.com/conversations/x1/xg1v4a-outputs-sound-as-stereo-but-in-a-51-wrapper/65a08e6a8f01ac51ddb91aa2
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user_89ccc8
Contributor
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29 Messages
2 days ago
It's bad when even Google's AI understands the problem better than Xfinity's engineers.
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user_89ccc8
Contributor
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29 Messages
1 day ago
Here: I'll give you the full version, but you need to promise you'll send it to one of your engineers, as they will confirm it for you.
Various programming contains differing audio formats, from mono (really old programming), stereo, Dolby Surround (usually 5 channels), to Dolby Atmos (usually at least 7 channels).
All the Xfinity box needs to do is pass the native format through. That's it--no matter what format it is. But what your 4k boxes do is reprocess the native audio by putting in a carrier signal envelope that claims it has 5 channels worth of audio every single time, even (and especially) when there is no center channel audio in the native signal, as with stereo audio programming.
If it just passed the stereo signal through in it's native 2-channel carrier signal, AV equipment would recognize it and use Dolby ProLogic Surround processing to generate the correct center dialog and surround channels. But since the Xfinity box is lying about the audio format, it tells the receiver the decoding has already happened, and that all five channels (front left, right, center, and surrounds) are ready to go. So the AV receiver or soundbar passes them straight through--even though three of the channels are completely silent.
And no, "Expert Mode" in the Xfinity audio settings doesn't behave any differently. It certainly should, but it doesn't.
The only workaround (and it's a lousy one), is to force the audio settings in the Xfinity box to only pass Stereo audio. This allows the AV processor to correctly see there are only two channels of audio, and to let Dolby ProLogic correctly process the signal. But the catch is you have to remember to turn the stereo setting back off every single time so that actual premium content can pass true surround audio through correctly. Otherwise it gets squished down to just stereo. Given that these settings also change the streaming apps (Netflix, Hulu, etc.), I'm constantly having to go in and out of Xfinity audio settings to try to make it work correctly.
None of which would be necessary if your equipment worked correctly!
As I and others have reported to you many, many times.
Please forward this to someone--anyone--there who actually understands how audio works.
The TLDR version? The way XG1V4A boxes process audio is broken, as your own engineers have previously admitted.
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BIslander
Problem Solver
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419 Messages
1 day ago
@user_89ccc8 I'm one of those who reported this about a year ago, as you can see from the link posted earlier, and got a reply from advanced tech support that it's a known issue. Not surprised that it hasn't been fixed. The XG1v4 is old tech. I've never seen a new box, all refurbs, and I suspect they are trying to move away from them altogether.
Meanwhile, what do you watch where this happens? While my XG1v4 box does it too, I can't recall the last time it came up for me. I seem to recall running into it mostly (only?) with stereo sources on 3rd party apps through Xfinity. The small number of stereo cable shows that I see seem to play stereo audio as stereo. I rarely use the apps because my X1 doesn't do Dolby Vision and other platforms like my TV, Roku, and Fire Cube work better/faster than those on the X1.
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Tek
Problem Solver
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898 Messages
1 day ago
Set the audio to Expert Mode and it will only export the audio of the content. Fixed all my issues.
Setting it to Auto makes it just wrap everyone in 5.1 even when it's not.
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BIslander
Problem Solver
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419 Messages
24 hours ago
It's been a year since I looked into this rigorously, and I recall it primarily effected stereo content from 3rd party apps, not regular cablecast content.
I tested an old Perry Mason on MeTV tonight. It shows a stereo input in Expert mode and 5.1 with the only actual sound in the LR channels in Auto Detect (DD+). So, with that kind of regular cable content Expert is the way to go, as @Tek said.
Then I went to the YouTube app on X1 and played a stereo clip (most everything on YouTube is 2.0) and it shows a 5.1 input with sound only in LR in both Expert and Auto Detect.
My conclusion a year ago and again tonight is that this is a problem with stereo content originating from 3rd party apps. Of course, it shouldn't happen with any sources. But, Expert mode fixes it unless you watch stereo content on an app, which I don't.
Also, Expert mode does not seem to be pass through. It does does something, although we don't know what. That's not unusual. My Fire Cube 3 doesn't do pass through. LG OLEDs even have a Pass Through setting that, despite the label, change the source audio to Dolby MAT when using eARC to a receiver.
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BIslander
Problem Solver
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419 Messages
11 hours ago
@user_89ccc8 Hi. Asking again what content you've found where Expert traps stereo in a 5.1 wrapper. For Tek and me, Expert does stereo correctly with cable channels. My XG1v4 does not work properly with stereo from apps.
If you can provide any examples of cable channel content where it's not working right on your box, I will try them myself. Thanks.
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