[Jake B]

I am sure there is an easy answer to this, but I have not had any time to investigate as of yet...

Last weekend I started noticing missing audio when I was watching a DVD. It would intermittently cut out the audio for a split second, but it happened very frequently, making it impossible to enjoy the flick.

I tried a couple of other DVDs, but the problem was the same, so it wasn't the DVDs. I am using an optical cable from my DVD player to my receiver, and figure it to be the cause, but have not had the chance to check it out.

Am I right in my assumption?? Is this a common occurrence with optical cables?? If so, I can't afford to keep replacing them....

Any advice or help would be greatly appreciated!

[Dean_S]

You should try another cable first but it could be the player going bad. I saw similar symptoms recently on a friends Bravo player and it was the player in this case.

[Jake B]

I am hoping it's not the player, since it's only a year old...and right now, I don't have a spare optical cable...

[Jeff Gatie]

Quote:

I am hoping it's not the player, since it's only a year old...and right now, I don't have a spare optical cable...

First make sure the cable is seated correctly and is not bent/broken. That could be an easy fix (i.e. seat it correctly at the DVD/Receiver or replace the cable). Next, make sure the DVD's you are playing are pristine in condition. Rental DVD's or DVD's that are not well cared for may have scratches or are dirty and that can cause audio dropouts. The other cause may be a bad DVD player or bad DAC's in your receiver. These are more expensive to fix.

[Jake B]

The receiver is an Onkyo SR701 and it's 10 months old, so I REALLY hope it's not that! Besides, wouldn't it be affecting all input components? (Which it isn't)

The DVDs are my own, recently purchased and opened, and as I am a fanatic about keeping them clean and protected, I feel confident that was not the issue.

I tend to think it is the cable, but like I said, I don't want to by another just to test it. I'm thinking I may just hook it up with the composite cables and use it that way, if it works.

[Bob McElfresh]

I have heard of several cases of a intermitent drop out - but with a coaxial-digital connection.

In each case, the cable was a generic RCA cable and not a video or coaxial-digital cable.

I second Jeff's suggestion: pull the cable and re-seat it at each end. Then try again.

If this does not work, change to a coaxial-digital cable instead. Just make sure it is a video cable (with yellow markings) rather than a red/white cable.