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Thisismybestname
Contributor I
October 5, 2022
Answered

playbar audio crackling and muted

  • October 5, 2022
  • 7 replies
  • 1316 views

Recently my Playbar and paired play 3 surround speakers have stopped working correctly when using certain apps through my Apple TV. Hulu works fine. Netflix works fine. However other apps such as Disney plus and YouTube tv play the audio distorted crackling and muted. Stranger yet is certain channels on YouTube tv the audio is fine but other channels the audio issues persist. When switching hdmi inputs to a ps5 the audio is fine. Any help would be great

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Best answer by Airgetlam

Oh, perhaps one more thing to check, since we’re talking about an optical connection. You may want to look the settings in the audio section of the Apple TV, to ensure it’s not set to “Auto”, but instead “Dolby Digital 5.1”.

There’s a slight possibility that it’s changing the type of signal it’s sending based on the content. Normally, an ARC connection would adjust that, but as you’re using a PLAYBAR, that means an optical connection, which only goes from the TV to the Sonos, and no information goes from the Sonos to the TV set. So you have to be more careful about what is sent to the TV, and actually what the TV might be altering data to. On the TV, pass through is optimal, on the Apple TV, Dolby Digital 5.1 is the best.

7 replies

Airgetlam
Airgetlam
October 5, 2022

Not sure there’s a ton of help from the Sonos side. The Sonos system knows that the sound is coming from the TV set, but it has no idea where it originates. So it has no idea which apps are in use, etc, on your Apple TV.

A couple of random suggestions would be to make sure both the Apple TV in use is current with the software running it, as well as the TV set. But Sonos itself knows nothing about whether Hulu is playing, or Disney Plus is playing. 

Bruce
    Airgetlam
    AirgetlamAnswer
    October 5, 2022

    Oh, perhaps one more thing to check, since we’re talking about an optical connection. You may want to look the settings in the audio section of the Apple TV, to ensure it’s not set to “Auto”, but instead “Dolby Digital 5.1”.

    There’s a slight possibility that it’s changing the type of signal it’s sending based on the content. Normally, an ARC connection would adjust that, but as you’re using a PLAYBAR, that means an optical connection, which only goes from the TV to the Sonos, and no information goes from the Sonos to the TV set. So you have to be more careful about what is sent to the TV, and actually what the TV might be altering data to. On the TV, pass through is optimal, on the Apple TV, Dolby Digital 5.1 is the best.

    Bruce
      Keithmac
      Virtuoso
      October 6, 2022

      I have an Nvidia Shield Pro, and Playbar.

      I have "scratchy" audio on YouTube but fine on Netflix.

      It's come about over last month so maybe to do with how YouTube encode audio?.

      Not had time to look into it but at least you are not the only one!.

      I'm on S1.

        dw_bk
        Lyricist I
        October 10, 2022

        I’m having a very similar issue with crackling/stuttering sound though my setup is a bit different: Beam (1st generation) paired with two Play 1s.  Beam is connected via ARC.

        On my PS5, the crackling sound is constant.

        On my AppleTV, the sound is fine through most apps, but will be there in some apps, but oddly not all the time.  So far I’ve noticed Prime and Peacock are affected, but only with certain content (usually movies).

        dw_bk
        Lyricist I
        October 10, 2022

        As a follow up, I followed the advice above (thank you!) and manually switched the audio on my AppleTV from Auto to Dolby 5.1 and it resolved the issue.  I also manually selected Dolby on my PS5 which also corrected the issue.

          Doge
          Lyricist I
          December 23, 2022

          for me is not working, same issue and not appear each time that i use the system

          what is clear this coming from a couple of months.

          for year I didn’t have this issue.

           

          any suggestion?

          Ken_Griffiths
          Ken_Griffiths
          December 23, 2022

          for me is not working, same issue and not appear each time that i use the system

          what is clear this coming from a couple of months.

          for year I didn’t have this issue.

           

          any suggestion?

          What source is it, as the above posts refer to both Apple TV and Nvidia Shield.. Can you perhaps provide the settings you have in place on your source device and the connected TV too.

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