Poor audio from DTV

Can anyone do me the service of explaining why the audio output from these set-top boxes is so poor?
I have spent time with (and returned!!) both a Panasonic and Nokia box because when comparing the sound quality directly with the terrestrial analogue signal (via kit below) it simply is terrible. Via humble old analogue there is space, depth and a wide frequency bandwidth, via the set-top boxes the sound sits squarely to the center channel with the surrounds etc barely joining in, there seems to be severe compression of the frequency bandwidth as there is no bite to the tops and the whole sound stage simply recesses to the back of the speaker enclosures. This is something of a dissapointment as i cannot live with the HUGELY inferior sound quality regardless of the gains in picture quality and number of channels.
Signal strength is 9/10 across the board.


Steve.

 

hi steve ,i agree,i have digi tv with telewest,i cant recieve analogue were i live,bad signal area,nicam is much better than whatever they use on digi tv,i have never really found out what sound tyey use on telewest.the only time i enjoy the sound is when c5 have a movie on,they seem to be the only channel that broadcast a movie with dolby surround,bbc, itv,never have dolby,why i dont know,i suppose we,ll have to wait for 5.1 on digi tv,rgrds pat

 

I think Steve that many of us would agree with your decription of DTT sound.

I find that it just doesn't have the same punch as NICAM derived sound and I'm inclined to agree it's a compression thing.

The Hits was quite good when it was on test, but some of the radio stations must be in mono - or near enough!

I guess at the end of the day what DTT desperately needs is more bandwidth - and that won't come until the analogue good bye, which is a long way away.

I have been experimenting with sound systems for a long time and have used all the big names - and a few small ones - in my professional career.

My main system, which is Sky Digital, also has variable sound quality depending on who the broadcaster is, and it feeds a Sony 5:1/DTS home cinema system. (which is set to stereo when not watching DVDs)

At the present time my DTT system is going to fairly basic Eltax speakers, also with a sub woofer, but I have substituted KEF, Marantz and others with the same results.

I suppose I am just spoiled with the comparison between a well set up DTS system and old regular DTT...

 

Anyone else had a problem with crackling sound???

I have a panny stb. had it for a couple of weeks now but only got the aerial fully setup and aligned recently. Had the crackling for a while but put it down to poor signal quality. Initally only had 5 or 6 for many channels. Now I have 9 for most channels but can still notice the crackling. This is when listeniong just through the TV speakers (not even a proper hi-fi!)

I am thinking of taking it back but wondering if I should try and get a different make. If so any recomendations.