Problem Rogers Explorer 8642 HD PVR Randomly loses audio fluctuations driving you nuts- read this!

These are the type of problems that numerous people are experiencing incluing the writer>

Explorer 8642 HD PVR and it randomly loses audio.  Just like in your case, if I turn my TV off and on, the sound comes back.  Here's what I've done to try to resolve this problem:

- hard reboot (unplugged terminal for 5 minutes)

- factory reset

- changed audio settings from variable to fixed * from narrow to normal

- tried different HDMI cables

- tried different HDMI ports on TV

None of this has worked.  I'm going to swap the HDMI cable with a component cable to see if that makes a difference.  At first I thought the terminal was defective but since the sound comes back after I power off and then power on the TV, I'm wondering if the problem is poor signal strength as someone else mentioned in this thread.

 If you're able to figure out what the problem is please let us know and I'll do the same.

Source

The writer has found a solution: 

Receiver Software Configuration

It appears that the receiver must be configured to use optical audio while using HDMI for video.

This resolved my audio fluctuation problem I hope it solves yours.

My equipment 

1. Sony str dn840 , 
2. Sharp Aquos 52 inch, 
3. Next Box 3.0 PVR model 9865 (6-20-2013)

Steps:

1. HDMI cable from back of PVR to Sony HDMI input
2. Optical cable back of PVR to input (assignable input on Sony)
3. Open Sony software change settings as below
4. Change input settings to optical (from PVR)