Hathway single-channel audio?

[sqvare]

Any Hathway users out there notice that several TV channels are putting out sound on either the left or right audio channel only? I've noticed this on:

Star World, Zee Cafe, Australia NW, Sony Pix, World Movies, CNN, Star Plus -> no right channel audio
AXN -> very low left-channel audio

Lots of other channels have single-channel audio, too, usually the left. :annoyed:

I'm trying to find out if this is a local issue or everywhere.

I've sent them several mails asking them if they intend to rectify this or not, but they stubbornly refuse to respond at all. I could just change to DTH, but Hathway's reliability is good, and their package subscription is very flexible and with 2 TVs they work out much cheaper than DTH. But not replying to or even acknowledging customer's queries is just plain rude! Am holding off renewing my annual subscription until I find out about this... or it's DTH for me.

 

[NetFreak]

Is this a set top box that works out of local cables?

 

[sqvare]

Is this a set top box that works out of local cables?

Yeah, Hathway has agreements with local cable guys, where Hathway supplies the STB and (notional, usually unreachable) helpdesk support, and the cable guys do the installation, maintenance, and subscription collection. And verbal-abuse processing

I actually get cable TV and internet connectivity over the same physical cable, till it's de-muxed (?) on our terrace into two cables for connection to my 2 STBs and cable modem.

 

[NetFreak]

I have the same box. Will check out audio in channels.

 

[sud98]

I used hathway till a few months back and didn't find this issue.

 

[IndianEars]

sqvare, Where are you located ?

City and locality, preferably identifying the specific Hathway Headend. You can know the specific Hathway headend, by asking your cable operator. eg Hathway headend is located at : xxxxxxx

I will then pass it on to the Hathway head office, whom I am reasonably confident, will get it resolved.

 

[sqvare]

sqvare, Where are you located ?

City and locality, preferably identifying the specific Hathway Headend. You can know the specific Hathway headend, by asking your cable operator. eg Hathway headend is located at : xxxxxxx

I will then pass it on to the Hathway head office, whom I am reasonably confident, will get it resolved.

Thanks, IndianEars! I've sent e-mails to the helpdesk and someone named Firoz answered once asking for my STB & smartcard nos, then vanished without a trace

I am in Mahim, Mumbai, and the headend is at Trade World, Kamala Mills Compound, Lower Parel. My local Hathway-affiliated cable operator is Creative Cable.

 

[sqvare]

After a couple more stinker e-mails (actually the same one sent again in a big font), still no reply! I poked at the local cable guys who represent Hathway, till they promised to take it up with the bigwigs at the Mumbai head-end. My annual subscription was due at end-February, but the local rep (quite commendably) didn't even show up to collect, since the issue was still open.

Then, last week, I noticed that they'd fixed it! And today, the guy showed up to take his cheque, so the matter is now happily closed and this thread may be laid to rest.

BTW, this matter took so long to resolve because I was the only nitpicker to complain about this, and the Hathway guys probably believed that I was just some random crank, till something made them actually check

 

[niv]

on the similar lines, The signal we get from hathway is not 'stereo', it's mono only.

I was told we get very few channels like IP TV (# 300) and Zing or something only in stereo mode.
BTW, This is in Hyderabad.

My cable wala told, Hathway is working on improvements.. This is the story from one year I guess...

 

[sqvare]

on the similar lines, The signal we get from hathway is not 'stereo', it's mono only.

I was told we get very few channels like IP TV (# 300) and Zing or something only in stereo mode.
BTW, This is in Hyderabad.

My cable wala told, Hathway is working on improvements.. This is the story from one year I guess...

You're quite right. But then, I've heard that the original 2 discrete stereo channels are usually downsampled then downmixed to single-channel mono for distribution because of the lower bandwidth required, and duplicated to 2 channels again at the headend. This is an issue not just with Hathway, but with several service providers, including, I'm told, the DTH ones like SunDirect and TataSky.

You can witness the woes of more stereo-starved unhappy people if you search on the Indian Broadband Forum. Service providers tend to respond to complaints about interruptions in service, not quality of service. I was outright ignored for 10 months.

So I didn't think demanding true stereo would bear any fruit in my lifetime! But I was ticked because when piping cable TV audio through my HT, the right side of my room was quiet Being the nitpicky type, I could not let this pass But if using just the TV speakers, it's not that noticeable, which is probably why no one else complained...

 

[IndianEars]

sqvre said:

Then, last week, I noticed that they'd fixed it! And today, the guy showed up to take his cheque, so the matter is now happily closed and this thread may be laid to rest.

GREAT to know its been addressed and resolved.

IMHO, Hathway is one of the more professional Cable companies in India.

I genuinely believe that the Cablewallah is FAR more responsive to his customers than ANY DTH service..

I cant Ever Imagine a DTH guy taking channel specific against based on consumer feedback....

Any +ve DTH experiences out there ?