Fox Movie Channel's Stereo Sound is in Reverse (1 Viewer)

[Ken Garrison]

I noticed on some of the movies I watch on that channel that whatever happens to the right of the screen, I hear it on the left. And Vice Versa. I have my Directv system hooked up the way it's supposed to be and all the other channels I watch are correct, except for the Oldies station on 825, which is ALSO reverse. All of you, please send an email to Fox Movie Channel telling them that their sound is reversed and would like it corrected.

 

[Gary Kellerman]

I do not get DIRECT TV. I am not familiar with their set-up which might involve retransmission of FOX MOVIE and the oldie music channel you mention. The problem may be the fault of DIRECT TV if there is a retransmission device involved whose wires are crossed. I would contact DIRECT TV. They should take the responsibility to iron out this problem. I hope they do not act like some of the cable companies who think "they know it all" and there is nothing wrong with anything. Good luck.

 

[MickeS]

Interesting that it's happening for you on Fox Moviechannel. There was a thread earlier, "FOX New York and Ally MacBeal Audio", where the same thing happened. I wonder if it's just a coincidence that they're both Fox channels?

 

[Ken Garrison]

I just watched Tora Tora Tora on that channel. When the planes flew by, the sound went in the opposite direction. I said "I can't take this anymore!!" and got up and reversed my wiring temporarly. This problem needs to be resolved.

 

[Dave Kalloch]

I've had this problem in the Boston area on the local Fox and UPN channels(AT&T Cable)

 

[Ken Garrison]

Why can't they get their connections RIGHT!!!!! It also bugs me when people wear their headphones backwards. Some headphones are only comfortable ONE WAY. And people STILL wear them backwards. Last year, I let my cousin use my MP3 player and my headphones. I told her "You got them on the wrong ears!" So, she switched them and she noticed the BASS was a lot fuller because they fit more comfortably now. It bugs me after I listen to Roy Orbison Only the Lonely with the back up singers "Dum dum dum dumby doo wah" coming out the the right speaker originally, then on 825 Solid Golden Oldies Station on Directv, the "Dum dum dum dumby doo wah" is coming out of the left speaker. Let's do what we can and tell these networks that the stereo sound is in the WRONG DIRECTION!! It's simple folks. White to WHITE and Red to RED!!!

 

[Brian Glaeske]

My local cable company had it wrong too and FX had the + and - of one channel reversed.

I called the Cable company and they said it was the local fox affiliates problem who said it was cable's problem. I finally got an engineer at the affiliate and told him that I verified against OTA and cable. It was fixed soon after that.

Brian G.

 

[Ken Garrison]

Another thing that bothers me is them damn commercials with the voices coming out of the rears. WTF? Guess they're having a PHASE connections wrong when showing those.

 

[NickSo]

people STILL wear them backwards

This reminds me of a guy i keep seeing wearing his bike helmet backwards! Not just those round ones, but those really aerodynamic ones that're really long at the back...

 

[Gary Kellerman]

Ken; You are right about the "voices coming out of the rear" problem. This does involve phase problems. In this case, the negative is hooked to the positive or vica versa on one channel. Some years back, I worked with an engineer from the cable company involving HBO having this problem. I used my home theater set-up to ADVISE HIM if it was right. It took nearly an hour for him to get it right. This incident showed me how well a passive matrix dynaquad circuit could be used for surround sound and phase analysis.
What really got to me however was that the engineer in charge of the FRONT END of the cable system said I was the only one to call about the problem. There were many times that I WAS THE ONLY ONE TO CALL about other problems. The only time these outfits attempt to fix something is if somebody calls to complain. There appears not to be any routine checks and adjustments of the audio sent out by the cable companies and perhaps in your case, DIRECT TV.

 

[Ken Garrison]

What really got to me however was that the engineer in charge of the FRONT END of the cable system said I was the only one to call about the problem. There were many times that I WAS THE ONLY ONE TO CALL about other problems. The only time these outfits attempt to fix something is if somebody calls to complain.

They must be Joe-6-Packs. They don't care how it's hooked up. Just as long as they can hear it. Another problem I've seens is when I was watching this one program, you could NOT hear the guy talking. But you can hear the audience laughing. That's it. I'm thinking that's a grounding problem. Usually, audio is a common ground. When you take the ground off the destination where it's going to, the voices disappear and you'll only hear the right and left information, which will be out of phase.

 

[MickeS]

Yep, that happened to me too. I posted this in "After Hours" a while ago, but here it is again.

On about 10 channels, the sound would only come out of the left speaker. I call the cable company (Cox) up, and they insist on sending a guy out (of course thay have the damn 3 hour window, why can't they just set an appoinment like other companies... oh well).

The guy comes out, measures everything and it all checks out, but the sound on those channels is still only in the left speaker. After explaning to him that I have checked all connections, even replaced my receiver and VCR with another receover and VCR, he decides to give me new audio cables, and hope that fixes things. It doesn't of course, so he puts in a "service request", which basically was a way of saying "I don't know what's going on, maybe some guy above me does".

Another guy comes out a few days later, he doesn't know what it is either. I go through the same thing, no fix. He puts in another service request, another guy comes out a few days later, same result. Guess what he does? Yeah, he puts in another service request. It's now been over 2 months since I first called about it.

This time though, the service request went to a guy that actually seemed to know what he was doing. He came out, I explained the situation to him, and he made a phone call to the "command central" or something.

It turns out that the problem wasn't in my house, not in my neighborhood, or in my part of town. Apparently every Cox Cable customer in Tucson had this problem, because there was a control in the command central that was set incorrectly. I'm guessing that most people don't get the sound through speakers set as far apart as mine, but from their TV-speakers or something, and that's why it hadn't been discovered before. A few minutes after the guy made the phone call to the command central, the audio was fully functioning again...

I thought it was amazing that nobody else had complained, but maybe people don't care much.

/Mike

 

[Ken Garrison]

I know this word is not approved in HTF, but I can't hold it much longer. IDIOTS!!!! Well, glad they FINALLY got the audio working on your cable company, MickeS. Fox Movie Channel ain't that serious. But, I find it a real PITA to get up, change my cables around so the air planes I see flying left, will sound like they are flying left, and not the opposite direction.

 

[Gord Lacey]

I had a problem with a local station (Global in Edmonton). I usually noticed the audio was reversed while watching "The Simpsons" because they have one or two directional audio sequences every episode. It took me about 5 or 6 months to be damn sure it was there problem and not my setup at home. I eventually taped the episode on 3 different VCRs in the house and played them back on each one. Finall, armed with my proof, I called the broadcaster and asked to speak to an audio engineer. I finally convinced him I wasn't insane, I had my stereo hooked up properly and there really was a problem. He looked into it and called me back to say everything was fine on their end, then he called the cable company and spoke to a tech there. It turned out I was right and the problem was a crossed wire at the cable company. So, 5 or 6 months after I first noticed the problem (but 2 weeks after I reported it), it was fixed.

Gord

 

[Ken Garrison]

Well, Fox Movie Channel still hasn't fixed the audio problem yet and has contacted me about. This might work if ALL OF US on HTF email them and tell them, "Hey, the planes on my screen are going to the left, but the sound is going to the right! FIX IT" Everytime there's a movie I really wanna see on FMC, I get up and switch my cables around, and try to remember to switch them back. So, if you guys don't mind doing so, please contact FMC and Directv about the stereo reverse problem.

 

[Ken Garrison]

I just fired an email to directv. Here's what I said.

I just wanna let you know that the stereo sound on FOX MOVIE CHANNEL is reversed. My connections on all my stereos ARE CORRECT. All of the other programming is correct and accurate. So, please don't blame my audio. It's either on YOUR end or FMCs. So, check the connections at Directv and make sure the Red's on Red and White's on White. I can't stand hearing the airplanes going left when I see them going right on my TV screen.

OH, and the stereo sound on 825 Oldies is reversed. If there are ANY MUSIC stations with the audio in the wrong places, FIX IT PLEASE. On the original recording of Roy Orbison Only the Lonley, the back up singers are singing outta the right speaker. Well, with the way you guys have it connected, the back up singers are coming out of the left.

Also, I ain't seeing enough letterbox movies available on Pay-Per-View. We need more. Quit trying to satify the stupid Joe-6-Packs out there. MOST OF US PREFER LETTERBOX. Also, please contact Starz, HBO, Cinemax and all other channels that show movies and tell them the customers WANT WIDESCREEN. Non of that Pan and Scan bullshit. I won't subscribe to any of them crumby movie channels until they broadcast in widescreen.

Please forward this email to anybody you need to to get my point acrossed. I'm a directv customer and I want to view the video and hear the audio the WAY it's supposed to be. I won't pay a lot of money for them movie channels and only get to see 55% of the picture. That's why I want letterbox. I want to get my money's worth. And we want the sound corrected on Oldies station and Fox Movie Channel, please.

KC Garrison

Yeah, some of it's pretty demanding. Well, I'm a customer and what to be satisfied.

 

[Gary Kellerman]

Ken; I think you did the right thing firing off a letter to DIRECT TV. I really believe that the problem with the reversed audio does lie with them. Note Mr. Eatons post over the cable company problem he had with reversed channels. Me thinks that alot of subscribers and cable operators need some RED PILLS from Morpheus.

 

[Ken Garrison]

I just gotta reply back from them.

Dear KC Garrison,

Thank you for your comments. We strive to provide a selection of
widescreen (letterbox) movies that meets the demand. However, many of
our customers still prefer the "pan and scan" format. Our objective will
always be to offer customers a variety of programming selections.
Please continue to visit DIRECTV.com for the latest news and information
about our services.

We will also forward your comments to our programming department, and
they do look at your suggestions, and will consider them for future
approval.

James
DIRECTV Customer Service



So WHAT is many of their customers prefer Pan and Scan. Widescreen is better. If we had a vote and 40% was in favor of widescreen and 60% was in favor of Pan and Scan, Widescreen still gets the vote. Know why? It's better. If Joe-6-Packs out there don't like it, they can go KMA for all I care. Anyway, I hope they fix the problem with the stereo and shit. And we want more letterbox programming too.