Bumping an ancient thread. I've been living with this exact situation and it's so tiring. I found this thread via a search but unfortunately changing the HDMI-192K parameter setting did nothing. I still get a terrible snap when starting a movie from my HTPC, usually when the codec is changing from a Dolby variant to DTS.
Stan, if you're out there - is there anything we can do? The sound is brutal and i'm tired of apologizing to my guests AND my speakers.
I would think a small amount of chirp is normal before a DTS decoder detects the bitstream, but in your case it seems more than a chirp.
I think in general every manufacturer handles the problem of switching between bitstreams somewhat differently. My understanding is that in digital, the incoming bitstream is constantly monitored so the decoders will know whether the appropriate decoding is PCM, AC-3 (2.0, 5.1 etc) or DTS of various flavors.
When the processors DSP's first receive or detect a change in the encoded material they immediately mute the volume controllers and the correct bitstream detection routines are enabled. You sure don't want to hear what comes out your speakers while this nonsense is going on - it can be very damaging to the speakers in some cases.
But there's a tradeoff (as there always is in electronics). A manufacturer is perfectly capable of holding the mute long enough and combine it with a soft volume increase, but then everyone would be complaining they had to wait too long until their decoders locked onto the signal. Alternately, if the volume controller is un-muted too quickly you will get a digital chirp. So, while some manufacturers equipment seems to take forever for a "mode" change, others hedge their bets and you get that digital chirp.
I wonder if that's the problem?
brucek