SOUND OFF: Are DIRECTV 4K Genie Mini audio drops any better for you?

So, DIRECTV 4K is great. You’re just not going to get anything better without buying a UHD Blu-ray player (and most of you don’t seem interested in that.) It beats Netflix and Amazon’s streaming options, hands down.

If you want 4K from DIRECTV, you’ll need the DIRECTV C61K 4K Genie Mini Client. Connected to an HR54 or HS17 DVR, it’s the only way to see 4K from DIRECTV. While this client box is fast, relatively small, and simple to use, many users have complained of audio drops.

What I mean by “audio drops” is that every so often the sound will just drop out, even on non-4K sources. It’s gone for a few seconds and then it comes back. This mostly happens on live TV, and the generally accepted solution if it bothers you is to watch a few seconds behind live. So it’s not a big deal…

…except after a few months it does become kind of a drag. The problem seems to be even worse on DIRECTV 4K Ready smart TVs.

I’ve had a C61K client for over a year now and at least as far as I can see, the problem has gotten a lot better in the last month with the release of client software 0x8B6. I have still heard an occasional audio drop, but I think there have been whole days of watching TV when I didn’t hear even one. That’s a stark change from several months ago.

Unfortunately DIRECTV does not allow you to download client software manually so there’s no way to get this version if you don’t already have it. To check, while watching live TV press {MENU} then scroll down to Settings&Help, Press {SELECT}, make sure Settings is highlighted, press {SELECT} again. You’ll see both the client and server software versions. If you don’t, unfortunately you’ll have to wait and see.

Has this version helped the audio drop problem for you? Or do you still have it, or did it go away for you as well? Let me know and I’ll pass this information along to some friends in DIRECTV’s engineering department.

About the Author

Stuart Sweet
Stuart Sweet is the editor-in-chief of The Solid Signal Blog and a "master plumber" at Signal Group, LLC. He is the author of over 10,000 articles and longform tutorials including many posted here. Reach him by clicking on "Contact the Editor" at the bottom of this page.