# Weirdness of recording on my cable box **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 14, 2024, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdness-of-recording-on-my-cable-box/1011626 "2024-12-14T00:47:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2024, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdness-of-recording-on-my-cable-box/1011626/1 "2024-12-14T00:47:18Z")
I have a standard cable box that has the occasional glitch but 99% of the time works just fine. Lately, though, there’s a glitch I can’t explain. The Ovation channel runs marathons of a half-hour show called _The Art of_. I have it set up to record some episodes. When I run them, I see the last few seconds of the previous show and I hear them. The sound comes through properly but cuts off the second that _The Art of_ starts. The sound says off for the whole of the program. This has been going on for months, as I keep coming back to try again and again. No other program ever shows this behavior. I can’t imagine that a national network like Ovation has been sending out a show with no sound for months. I also can’t imagine how this one program can not record sound on my cable box. Any ideas? ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2024, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdness-of-recording-on-my-cable-box/1011626/2 "2024-12-14T03:37:08Z")
I don’t know what your audio setup is, but maybe the sound is going to a speaker that isn’t working. E.g., maybe it’s going to the centre speaker of a surround sound system, but you don’t have a centre speaker attached. Try fiddling with the settings on your audio system to see if that helps. For example you could switch it from surround to stereo to make it not use the centre channel. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2024, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdness-of-recording-on-my-cable-box/1011626/3 "2024-12-14T03:58:44Z")
It’s playing out of the television speakers, so a direct connection. And the ending of the previous episode of the same program comes out perfectly fine until the new program starts. To be clear, on a 30-minute recording, minute 1 has sound but minutes 2-30 do not. I can try running the sound out of my stereo, though. See if that makes a difference. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2024, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdness-of-recording-on-my-cable-box/1011626/4 "2024-12-14T13:38:04Z")
Do you ever watch the show as it’s being recorded? Can you hear anything then? ETA: And just to be clear, you said you record a marathon of the show, so what you’re hearing at the beginning of the episode is the end of another episode _of the same show_, right? Yeah that’s weird. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2024, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdness-of-recording-on-my-cable-box/1011626/5 "2024-12-14T18:37:55Z")
No, it’s just set up to record and I pay no attention until it’s recorded. Watching live is a good idea though. I should try that. Yes, the ending of the previous show is an episode of _The Art Of_, which segues into a new episode. That’s what makes the experience so utterly inexplicable. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2024, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdness-of-recording-on-my-cable-box/1011626/6 "2024-12-14T19:28:16Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > That’s what makes the experience so utterly inexplicable. Yeah. I’m pretty sure I understand what you are saying, and I’m totally stumped. I have Dish. I can set up my timers to run long. If you have this option, try setting it up to record an episode, then run long for 30 minutes. Or start early? See if that can somehow catch the audio. See where I’m going with this? Long shot, but I got nuthin as to the cause.