HD200 garbled sound only when running through AVR

[Remo]

I've had this setup since forever:

PC running SageTV 9.1.5.683
HD200
Yamaha AVR
Panasonic Plasma TV

The PC and the HD200 both connect to the AVR, which in turn connects to the TV, all with HDMI cables.

Recently I started to have issues with videos on the PC, not recordings done by SageTV, having sound dropouts. The video part plays fine but I'll get constant 1-2 second drops in the sound. It happens enough to make the videos unwatchable, maybe a dozen times in a minute.

We can switch over and play it directly from the PC without issue so it's not the file itself (the file I was using tonight was an MKV/MPEG4).

So tonight I did some troubleshooting. I ran a different HDMI cable, connected to different HDMI ports and connected directly to the TV, bypassing the AVR.

What I found is if the HD200 is run through the AVR, on any port, I have the problem. If it's connected directly to the TV I don't.

I have a spare HD200 and connected that up and the problem disappeared.

So I'm left with a mystery:

1. HD200 #1 drops sound if run through the AVR
2. Same HD200 works fine if connected directly to the TV
3. HD200 #2 works when connected to AVR

Nothing has changed for several years (except the SageTV version and that not recently), same equipment, same configuration and this issue only recently started.

Why would one HD200 suddenly develop an issue with my AVR?

Yet a second HD200 is fine with the AVR?

[wnjj]

My feeling is it’s just electronics aging out plus random differences to start with. As electronic components age the specs drift a little to the point where certain combinations just start having issues. For example, if the HD200 voltage output levels drop a little and the AVR expects slightly higher levels than the TV, the communication starts to fail with that specific pair. I don’t know the specifics of audio over HDMI but any digital signal can suffer from the above.

[JustFred]

In my experience, the wall-wart (power supply) for many of these devices gets flaky long before the HD200 box itself. Swapping power supplies between the HD200s might point you in the right direction.

Are both HD200's configured for the same type of HDMI audio output (bitstream vs. PCM)?

[Remo]

Justfred: you may be on to something. It also did something yesterday it's never done, just shutdown for no apparent reason. I'd be scrolling through a list and boom, shutdown. I unplugged/plugged it from the surge protector and it hasn't done it since. I thought it had just become loose but now I'm wondering. If I start having issues again that's the first thing I'll try, swapping power supplies.

Wnjj: The problem one has been running 24/7 for years, sitting in a rack sandwiched between two other devices....a warm environment. So I suppose it's possible it's finally wearing out. I know that with some devices, most famously the Xbox, a soldered connection would come loose from the heat. Maybe that sort of thing is happening here.

Thank you both for your replies.