Why do I get a popping sound from my speakers when using a HDMI cable connected to my receiver for HD audio?

Question

Why do I get a popping sound from my speakers when using a HDMI cable connected to my receiver for HD audio?

Answer 1

Its the cable that has the issue not the receiver get it replaced.

Edit: Since when is this a Onkyo reciever? He never provided a model number. On Denon and other equipment I have seen (for myself) this same issue where a better cable has fixed the issue.

Answer 2

Sounds like you have an Onkyo or Yamaha reciever.  This popping is a known problem with these recievers and happens when the reciever switches audio formats Say stereo to dolby digital or dolby digital to DTS or DTS-HD.  It is a very commmon problem.  Some updates are known but you need an ethernet connection to update the reciever.

EDIT******

Guys it's not the cable that is the problem.  Go to AVS.com and do a simple search on popping sound.  There are prelevant amongst owners of Onkyo recievers.  Check the Onkyo 705 or Onkyo 805 threads and they have hundreds upon hundreds of posts discussing this very issue.  New cables will not fix this issue and reps from Onkyo themselves have discussed with owners and AVS.com that the reason for the popping sound is the fact that audio has to go through different audio processing chips and that is what is making the "pop" sound.

I own the Denon 3808ci, no popping sound and also the Onkyo 805 and have the pop, I have tried various cables and hook ups and have hooked up many home theaters in my day and everyone that is not ver 1.8 compliant has this popping issue.

The other big issue with Onkyo is the lip synch issue, because the video signal has to go through three different processing chips and so the sound and picture don't line up.  This was acknowledged by Onkyo who in the ver 1.8 and through updates has fixed this very issue.

I wish some of you would keep current on home theater technologies before telling a person to buy new cables.  It is completely the recievers fault.

There is also something called the DTS-MA "bomb" that occurs while bitstreaming audio on Bluray on ceratin discs, that I am sure you would attribute to cables also huh?  Sheesh.  Let's stay abreast of this new technology folks.

Answer 3

Your cable is bad.  Buying cheap HDMI cables might seem like a good idea, but some cables can't support the bandwidth necessary to push high-definition audio and video signals.  With a bad HDMI cable the audio will be the first thing to go.