Stereo audio: Terrestrial vs NTL

[altis]

Just to emphasise - I only put this forward as a possibility. I'm not saying that this is even likely to be the cause.

Anyone with access to an STB and a dual-channel oscilloscope could prove this one in an instant. Simply tune the STB to a mono channel, eg World Service(?), and then look at the two audio outputs. If they are in phase then this is not the problem but, if not, your uncle's name is Robert!

I have a 'scope (two, in fact) but we no longer have an STB - otherwise I would have checked this out by now - sorry.

I have the scopes but have yet to find a box affected I've swopped the phase on the audio out of a box and the sound does indeed get duller.

[Tristan]

Proppin', are you able to test Bromley boxes?

Originally Posted by Tristan

Proppin', are you able to test Bromley boxes?

Yes. Any particular model?

[themelon]

My ntl box has far better sound quality than my old Sky box and my Freeview boxes...........again its just luck of the draw i guess!!

[asdf]

Also it's down to personal preference, hell I know some people who think that tape sounds better than CD and someone that thinks their clapped out old car feels better than my nice comfy new-ish one.

Thankfully not everyone thinks the same in this world

Personally, I've not noticed a BIG difference in the quality between ntl and Sky but then I've never had ntl through anything other than my computer TV card which claims to do stereo and a set of Creative labs 4.1 speakers.

[mertle]

I think I know why. At the moment Scart and coax is only feeding a mono sound signal. I thought it was the scart leads provided until I used other scarts that do transmit nicam signal from my video to the telly.

I never new the problem before as it is only recently I have gone to nicam with telly/video. I had always fed the jacks to the prologic stereo. Which works fine so there is a stereo signal there.

I think the box is seperating the signal to the jacks. With the coax and Scart combining the left/right channels to make it mono.

Its not a quality issue it just sending mono through the scart.

I have found this with my box settings.

When you check the setting we are supposed to have three scart feed options.

Composite, RGB and S-video. At the moment S-video is not available.

I wondering if this would get round the issue.

If you get a scart lead which has a the facility to feed the left and right channel jacks will you redirect the sound to the video/telly.

[and®ew]

Originally Posted by Swipe

I'm a bit baffled by this and I'm sure there'll be someone on here who will be able to explain this. I am in an ex-cwc area and have a PACE 2000 box connected to my TV via scart. I am confused as to why the stereo audio quality is far superior on terrestrial channels (via aerial on the roof) than through my STB. When I switch to say BBC1 on terrestrial I get an On Screen Display (OSD) telling me that the audio is Nicam Stereo, however when I switch to AV1 (cable) I get no OSD. The audio setup on my TV is set to Dolby Pro Logic.

So if terrestrial audio is broadcast in Nicam Stereo what kind of stereo is broadcast via NTL on the PACE 2000 box? Whatever it is it's inferior to terrestrial. Is there a specific setting which I can set my TV to in its audio setup to obtain a better sound, as I stated its set to Dolby Pro Logic at present. Other audio effects options I have are Dolby 3 Stereo, Pro Logic Phantom, Panorama, Pseudo Surround and off.

I await your feedback

As far as i know ( and this was 18 months ago ) NTL digital doesnt carry the nicam flag.

Originally Posted by and®ew

As far as i know ( and this was 18 months ago ) NTL digital doesnt carry the nicam flag.

Yep, thats what was said in the first two replies of this thread.

[Dee V. Bee]

Originally Posted by and®ew

As far as i know ( and this was 18 months ago ) NTL digital doesnt carry the nicam flag.

There is no such thing as a NICAM flag....

[and®ew]

Originally Posted by Dee V. Bee

There is no such thing as a NICAM flag....

"C4 is the "Reserve sound switching flag". It is used to notify the receiver that if NICAM is lost then it can switch to the FM mono sound signal which is transmitted for users without NICAM. "

http://www.doc.ic.ac.uk/~nd/surprise...nal/vol2/aps2/


well thats your opinion, however my opinions are backed up with facts.

Originally Posted by and®ew

"C4 is the "Reserve sound switching flag". It is used to notify the receiver that if NICAM is lost then it can switch to the FM mono sound signal which is transmitted for users without NICAM. "

http://www.doc.ic.ac.uk/~nd/surprise...nal/vol2/aps2/


well thats your opinion, however my opinions are backed up with facts.

So theres a little known and irrelevant flag within the nicam data itself. If theres no nicam then theres no flag.
Theres no nicam as the first two answers at the start of the thread stated.