Having connected a new Toshiba 24D3433D 24" tv to an old Humax 9300T I am dissapointed with the sound quality and have some questions please:

If I connect via hdmi there is better sound quality, not sure if any difference picture quality, but I cannot control the volume using the humax handset. I have read on here that this is normal and I wil only be able to use the tv remote to control the sound. Is this true of any tv using hdmi?

If I connect using SCART I can control as normal, but the sound quailty is poor. Would a different make tv have better sound quality (while using SCART)?

But using hdmi, there seems to be a slight out of sync between picture and sound. Is this an advantage of sticking to SCART?

Is there anything I can do to improve the sound quality and be able to control the volume using humax handset? How would a sound bar work? what would I control that with?

I think you will find that you aren't actually controlling the TV volume via SCART but are simply lowering the output level from the PVR, an adjustment which may have no effect when using HDMI.

SCART is probably best avoided because it involves an unnecessary digital-to-analogue-to-digital conversion process which may degrade the AV quality.

The more recent Humax PVRs have univeral remotes that allow the TV volume to be controlled directly, but it's fiddly because you have to press the TV button on the remote to switch to TV mode, adjust the volume then press PVR to switch back to PVR mode.


Try adjusting the lip sync settings (audio delay) on the PVR to 100ms.

All TVs can control the volume of their speakers regardless of how the peripheral device is connected. Would be pretty useless if they couldn't. But in the scenario you are describing the TV is NOT altering it's volume level, the Humax is altering it's output level. ie the buttons on the Humax remote are having no effect at all on the TV's volume setting. So in that instance it makes no difference what TV you have, if the Humax is unable to vary the volume level of it's HDMI output then that is nothing to do with the TV.


Pretty much every modern LCD TV has crap sound. Basically with the trend for ultra thin TVs there is simply not the room to include decent speakers and give them the room they need to give of their best.

Though there is no inherent reason why SCART should be worse than HDMI. That suggests a fault, either with the TV, the Humax or more likely the cable. Have you tried swapping the SCART lead for a different one? Or even reverse it, ie the end that is now in the TV you plug into the Humax and vice versa. If it is a fully wired SCART that would work and use different internal wires between the two. If there is a wiring fault in the SCART that may sort it. If the TV has more than one SCART try all of them.


As posted above there should be a Lip Sync or Audio Delay setting on either TV or Humax or both. You may have to experiment to find the exact amount of audio delay required.


You can get soundbars with HDMI inputs. They would give better sound than the TV speakers almost certainly. But you would have exactly the same volume control issue. As I posted above the Humax volume control seems to only vary the level of it's SCART output so would be just as incapable of controlling the volume of it's HDMI output if that were connected via a soundbar instead of directly to the TV.

The Humax 9300T on HDMI does not have any ability to change the volume. The OSD shows the volume bar changing, but this has no effect. This appears to be how it is rather than any technical reason.

Modern tvs have crap sound, so you need a soundbar or surround system.
Plenty of recommendations in this forum.

To improve the sound quality via scart, use the Humax controller to turn the volume to full, 100%, then leave it there and adjust via the TV controller. Though that is the same as the fixed-level of the HDMI connection.
Note that the default level of the Humax via scart is 50%, ie. after doing a factory-settings in the menu.

Thank you all for your replies. I've tried the suggestions and nothing much helped.

I have improved the sound quality problem by using some PC speakers.

I still have a lip sync problem which is worse when watching recordings back.

Try adjusting the lip sync settings (audio delay) on the PVR to 100ms.

I cannot find anywhere where I can adjust the audio delay on my PVR. How would I do this?

Is this lip sync problem common on new tvs, or is it because I have an older model PVR with a new tv.

By the way its not a fault with the PVR, as it works fine with my old tv still. May go back to a CRT tv!

I'm not sure the Humax 9300 has lip synch/audio delay from a quick read of the manual. So might have to look through the settings on the TV.

The lip synch is due to the image processing that a LCD TV has to do to get a picture up on screen. This takes very slightly longer than the audio processing, hence the audio leading the picture. For something like using the TV's built in tuner there would be a delay built into the audio to compensate. For external sources the delay is either provided by the source device or manually set on the TV. Entirely a function of the TV, nothing to do with what external device you use.

There is no real reason why the Humax should have a different audio delay watching live TV or playing back a recording. The same audio and video circuits are used to feed the TV whether watching live or playing back a recording. The Humax records the raw data from the broadcast without any processing so in theory the same digital data is thrown at the output when playing back the recording as if you were watching the programme live. Unless of course you are not watching live TV via the Humax but via the TV's tuner, which would have a different delay.

CRT TVs don't suffer from this image processing delay to anything like the same extent of LCD TVs.

I find pressing pause, then play often helps a resync.
I don't recall the 9300 having lip sync setting.
Does it only occur on certain programmes?

It occurs sporadically. It isn't constant. It seems to come and go, be in sync for a while and then go out of sync again and never seems to be 100% in sync.

I have searched through every setting on the tv and there is nothing that looks like audio delay. Am I missing something. Could it be called something else?

I have the option of returning this tv. Do you think its something pertaining to this make, this model, or will I find the same issue with any LCD tv when watching via my humax?

All LCD TVs have the same issue over synching audio and video. It is inherent in the beast. Just seems that some makes give you more tools to play with to overcome the issue than others.

I couldn't find any manual for that TV on the Toshiba website. Nearest I could find was a D1433D model. Quick scan through that and couldn't see any lip synch option or anything remotely similar.

I know from personal experience that many LG models have lip synch settings. Pretty sure the same applies to the Samsung's I've looked at and would be very surprised if Sony and Panasonic lacked that option.

Toshiba are obviously relying on the source device having lip synch settings or perhaps they have some sort of fixed delay for everything that they think does the job?

And don't think it is in anyway unique to the Humax. Anything you plug into the TV will have exactly the same issue. It is the TV that has the problem not the peripheral device.

My HDR 2000T remote control controls the TV volume without me even bothering to press the TV button on the remote control. It's also a replacement handset and I haven't even bothered using the code to sync it with the TV.

And this is supposed to be progress!! gone are the days when you can watch and listen to the same thing at the same time!

So, on tvs that do have the ability to adjust the lip sync, is it automatic, or do you have to have to keep adjusting it, because its not consistant, it can be ok with one programme and really bad on another, and even change during the same programme.