How do you like your TiVo, with bleeps & bloops or without?
This isn't one of our polls but it's a worth question: TiVo users, do you leave your unit's distinctive bleeps and bloops on, or turn them off? Our friends at TV Squad want to know, claiming that once they turned off the menu's audio cues the DVR seemed hollow and lonely. So let us know if you keep the sounds on, Sex & the City style, even if it's just to lord them over your cable DVR owning friends, stuck timeshifting in silence.























w/o
Mine are off. I think they're annoying.
Without. Definitely.
It is always weird how on TV shows/movies you hear the bloop-bleeps. Obviously they want you to know that it is TIVO, and they are 'with it'. I can't imagine anyone leaving those on. It would be hard not to laugh if I went over someone's house and they had them on.
They're a lot of fun, and very distinctive. They're also the first thing I turn off when I'm configuring a TiVo.
off
The "bloop bloop" is the best thing about TiVo.
Then you should get a stand alone device that makes the "bloop bloop" sound and save money by not having TiVo. Apparently, you don't care if you have the DVR function, if you do away with that and the guide subscription from TiVo, that's $12.95 you could be saving a month!
Umm, wow, way to be snarky and over react.
He said they best thing for him is the sounds. He didn't say the ONLY thing he likes is the sounds.
I leave them on, but I turn the volume on them down to the minimum; the default level is too loud.
Me too. Sound on, but at the lowest volume.
I also keep suggestions on.
same here. I like to have them on for some reason. I get kinda annoyed by the silence from my cable co DVR when I use that.
Still using a default STB here. Flame away...
My roommate turned his off, but I agree with the writers that it leaves your unit hollow if there aren't any sounds.
Def keep them on. Audio cues and feed back is one of the things I wish my cable company DVR had.
I don't have Tivo anymore. We use Windows Vista Media Center. I continue to make the beeps, boops, and bongs on my own, much to my wife's chagrin.
The slightly sluggish interface causes me to leave them on. It's audible feedback that it actually heard me and is doing something. After using it for a while, it's kind of creepy when it doesn't make any sound.
On. It's not just reassuring (and useful when the unit gets laggy, as it sometimes does) but it lets me look away from the screen while still operating the TiVo.
I like the sounds, but when you have Dolby Digital output selected, it turns them off anyway while you are watching most things. I ended up turning them off because I hated the inconsistency.
Is that why sometimes I hear it, sometimes I don't! I've wondered what that was about.
Thanks!
For those of you that don't have a Tivo, but felt compelled to respond anyway, why?
Assuming your question was to me since i mentioned a cable dvr. I actually have both, but I could see how my statement was misleading.
I could also see how people who previously owned a tivo would also want to weigh in.
i turn my DVR noise cues off. but. sadly because i have directv... it is until 2010 that we won't have a serious option of Tivo again. right now the only tivo i have being used in my house is an old hd tivo model in our kids room, and it ain't even in HD.
That annoying sound is turned off on all 4 of my TiVo's
Wife hates the sound, so the Living Room and the Master Bedroom are off but the Den and son's room Tivo's are set to low volume.
John G
On. If not, why not lease a lovely comcast motorola dvr? ;-)
I leave them on, but only hear them some of the time, since my only video source is over the air ATSC, and I always use my stereo amplifier for my sound output, which is connected to the optical output. The TiVo doesn't overlay sounds on dolby digital output, so much of what I watch misses out on the beeps. I keep wondering if an upgraded software load on the tivo will recover that functionality.
Doesn't make bloops and blips with digital output selected, so I just make the bloopity bloop noises for the girlfriend since she hates it without the bloops.
Would not be a TiVo without the bloop bloop. Love it, and miss it on my TW dvr.
ON.... it lets me know if I have succesfully pushed the button on my remote. YES, I know their is a LED that flashes when you succesfully pushed a button. But I CAN'T see my TiVo as it's in the closet. (I use a RF remote extender).
Thus.. the beeps let me know... :) I love my sound!
TGC
On.
Off.
On, as long as I'm not watching Dolby Digital content.
I keep the sound on. On an unrelated note, I have to say I _HATE_ the advertising on the TiVo menus.
On. It's how I can tell when the kids are bouncing on the remote too fast.
bleep bloop ftw!
On, but at the lowest volume setting.
I like them, of course my problems with the cable co supplied DVR have absolutely nothing to do with a lack of cute sounds.
More important question...
Do you own a TiVo or other, and do you regularly watch live TV?
I find that TiVo owners watch almost no live TV, and cable co box users watch mostly live TV only using the DVR when there are simultaneous shows.
That's the best part about TiVo! Without that "bloop-bloop" sounds, it'd just be another DVR.
Very annoying to have on. I don't need no stinkin' "bloop-bloop" sounds. But the my Tivo Series 3 HD rocks. Keeps getting better too with Amazon and Netflix thrown in. With my 1Tb external hooked up, I'm good for the summer.
Jon,
http://www.macmynd.com
Good lord, OFF. If I wanted annoying sounds to be coming at me when I watched TV I would have mother-in-law on speaker phone when I watched television.
OFF.
The sound effects, and the cartoonish icon for that matter don't fit in too well with my otherwise very sophisticated, and high-tech feeling home theater.
I've always enjoyed the recording-reliability, and feature set of the Tivo, but the cartoon look never appealed to me. The new SEARCH-BETA screen is awesome, and the HD Look is impressive. Tivo needs to remake their entire interface in this same image.
On! Love the badop>badop>badop!
on, love those goofy sounds for some reason
On I didn't know you could turn the sounds off but I like the sounds anyways they grow on you.
On.
It is hollow without the bloops.
I've mistakenly had it on mute a few times, and it did seem lacking.
Although, I'd like to have it automatically drop the volume after 10pm so it doesn't wake up the wife while she's asleep next to me.
Am i crazy or am i wrong in saying that i don't have an option to turn them on because i run dolby digital over hdmi? I have grown to like having the sound effects off but was not aware that i had the option of turning them on again. Is this the case?
My thoughts exactly. I like the beeps and boops but you can't have them on w/ HDMI.
On. My girl friend imitates those sounds when we're watching tv at my house...because I'm Tivo-less.
Definitely on. It isn't Tivo without the quirky sounds!
On. My wife prefers the bloop bloops. I prefer boobs.
On. Most definitely.