I caught up with this thread and feel everyone's frustration, but finally found a workaround that has worked 100% for me, and hopefully for all of you.
Seems the HDMI is needed from the DVR to get hi def picture, but audio is obviously lacking and drops out continually and randomly, very annoying!! Here's what I did to solve it.
Most DVR's from cable or satellite companies also have a set of RCA or Component Outputs (red & white for audio, yellow for video). FIRST, TURN OFF YOUR TV SPEAKERS, THEY PROBABLY SUCK ANYWAY COMPARED TO YOUR SURROUND SYSTEM. (This workaround will work if you have a home theater receiver/surround system.) Keep the HDMI cable running directly to your tv's HDMI input so you can retain the hi def picture. Next, get a set of RCA cables and run them off the DVR component outputs to either Video 1, or Video 2 on your Receiver/Amp. Make sure to connect the yellow(video) as well as the red & white connectors. The reason for this is that even though you don't think you need the yellow video send, sometimes from what I've heard is that part of the data information for surround sound is carried to the receiver over that yellow video cable. If you don't plug that in you might not get full surround sound. Ok, when you're watching a hi def and that annoying dropout occurs on the audio, switch your receiver to where you plugged in the RCA cables (Video 1 or 2). You should eliminate the dropout and still get surround! Even though this is not "digital" audio and is more like "analog" audio, the dropout is gone! This has worked for me, no more missing sound on my tv shows!
If your Video 1 and 2 are full and not available, but your hdtv has audio outputs and enough inputs, here's what you can do. Hook up components (VCR,DVD players directly to your tv's inputs, then audio L & R outputs of tv to auxilery input of Receiver/Amp. This way your VCR/DVD is sent directly to tv and it's audio to the receiver's aux input. This will free up Video 1 and/or 2 inputs of the receiver to hook in the component (RCA) wires from the cable/satellite DVR box.
This way, VCR,DVD, and DVR audio all are sent to the receiver's aux inputs, and if the dropout happens from the dvr, just change the receiver to Video 1 (or 2) to eliminate it. The audio signal from the HDMI cable meets a dead end, and you're eliminating the dropout! Best of luck to all!