Official SA 8300HD DVR Users Thread

[Mark Strube]

In the month of September HDNet Movies is playing Blade Runner: The Director's Cut... that'd be enough for me to get the HD package!!

A problem I've noticed with my DVR - I regularily record Nothing But Trailers from HDNet... great to demo the home theater with, and I love movie trailers! Lots of times there will be audio dropouts in the recording playback... I figured it was just a signal problem. This time I decided to watch the show live (non-buffered) as it was being recorded. Not a single problem. Then, in the playback, during similar parts of the same trailers as the problems were last time... audio dropouts. Does even the 8300HD not have enough processor power to keep up with certain scenes using high bitrate or something? It's clearly a recorder issue since it didn't do any of this on live playback.

[Paul S.]

In the month of September HDNet Movies is playing Blade Runner: The Director's Cut... that'd be enough for me to get the HD package!!

A problem I've noticed with my DVR - I regularily record Nothing But Trailers from HDNet... great to demo the home theater with, and I love movie trailers! Lots of times there will be audio dropouts in the recording playback... I figured it was just a signal problem. This time I decided to watch the show live (non-buffered) as it was being recorded. Not a single problem. Then, in the playback, during similar parts of the same trailers as the problems were last time... audio dropouts. Does even the 8300HD not have enough processor power to keep up with certain scenes using high bitrate or something? It's clearly a recorder issue since it didn't do any of this on live playback.

I've talked about that before and got written off. I understand what you see/hear.

[Mark Strube]

Something else interesting... on the same recording, it doesn't ALWAYS drop out. Sometimes it plays thru perfectly. Sometimes it doesn't... but when it doesn't, it's always around the same point in the given recording. And I want to be clear - this wasn't present during live playback, so there's something up with the recorder or playback.

(It especially likes to drop out at the opening of the trailer for the new Zorro movie. [there's 2 trailers - I'm referring to the one that opens with a ringing bell] That part also happens to be full of fade ins & fade outs, and some killer DD5.1 FX. It always seems to like to drop out when there's "a lot" going on, if that makes any sense. But of course, when I watched it live, not one problem.)

[Steely]

Does the 8300HD come with any cables such as component?  I can't use HDMI as my HTPC will be using that.

[mhz40]

A while back, I received a fairly cheap set of componet cables with the box.  They were eventually replaced with some mid-grade units from BB for around $30.  Not sure if they are included anymore...

[Mark Strube]

Every HD box I've gotten from TWC came with free component cables. Cheap, but worked great. However I have gone thru 2 defective cables from them. (One didn't work, the other had a fine line thru the picture all the time.) I since only use mid-grade cables from eBay, and have a couple extra pairs of TWC's wires laying around.

[Mrtanner]

Something else interesting... on the same recording, it doesn't ALWAYS drop out. Sometimes it plays thru perfectly. Sometimes it doesn't... but when it doesn't, it's always around the same point in the given recording. And I want to be clear - this wasn't present during live playback, so there's something up with the recorder or playback.

(It especially likes to drop out at the opening of the trailer for the new Zorro movie.

It could be your receiver taking a second or two to switch between 2-channel and DD 5.1.

I'm not familiar with the trailers program, but my theory is this.  You have a narrator, or some studio chatter going on that is not in 5.1 - Then the trailer starts and the audio switches to DD 5.1  Your receiver may take a second to recognize this switch resulting in a drop-out.

If my theory is correct, if you experience the drop out, after the sound comes on, you should be able to quickly back up to the start of the trailer (but no further) and play it without the drop-out because your receiver is already in DD 5.1 mode.

[Mark Strube]

No... the entire program is in 5.1. In fact, everything on HDNet, even if it's not in true 5.1 audio, is upconverted.

Also, your theory would not explain why the drop-outs aren't present when watching live... and if you rewind something, that kills the sound signal, so the receiver would have to switch again anyways. (And if the program was switching sound modes for different trailers, which it doesn't, it would have about 5 seconds lead-in since they include the green "approved for all audiences" screen before each trailer.)

[kevbeck122]

Finally got one.. they had around 10 in stock today

I like it for the most part... SD analog looks worse, though, than the 3510.  Only other issue I have with it is that I wish I could use the 5.1 audio from the HDMI cable and output it to my receiver using the optical out on my TV.  That way I could also watch OTA in 5.1 without disconnecting cables.  I'm assuming it has to do with that firmware upgrade to allow for the audio menu, because people in other TWC markets have had success with what I'm trying to do.

[Mark Strube]

SD analog looks worse, though, than the 3510.

What settings are you using on the box? I've found if I just let it upscale everything to 1080i it does a much better job than my tv.

[kevbeck122]

The SD digital channels look closer to DVD quality now.  The 3510 softens the picture up, but the 8300 seems to make everything more sharp, so I see more fuzz in the analog channels.

Right now I have SD channels set for 480p and the HD channels in 720p and 1080i.  I didn't see any difference when I set it to output only 1080i.

[Carmmond]

I have a question that has I can't find in all the postings in this thread. I gust got our first HD DVR (8300) and can't get into the setup menus per instructions in the owners manual (press GUIDE and INFO). Can anyone tell me what I need to push to get into all the menus? Maybe we could make a sticky post of all the commands for new owners of this box?

[mhz40]

I have a question that has I can't find in all the postings in this thread. I gust got our first HD DVR (8300) and can't get into the setup menus per instructions in the owners manual (press GUIDE and INFO). Can anyone tell me what I need to push to get into all the menus? Maybe we could make a sticky post of all the commands for new owners of this box?

Are you confusing Settings and Diagnostics?  To get into Settings, you select 'Settings'... followed by 'A', or the 'More Settings' option on the remote.  The manual does not tell you how to get into diagnostics by design.  There are no 'setup' options in the diagnostics pages.

[kevbeck122]

I'm assuming the manual is going by Scientific Atlanta's own software, but TWC boxes here use Pioneer's software... which probably doesn't have the easy initial setup.  Just go into settings and press A like mhz40 said, and you'll be able to setup everything there.

[MathWiz579]

Just got my 8300 box yesterday due to my HD in the 8000 becoming FUBAR (2nd box this has happened to).

Very pleased with everything thus far.  One question that I am still not clear about after reading through this thread... if I hook up using HDMI, can I still use the digital audio out to go to my receiver?