Arc Audio Drops - Nvidia Shield/LG OLED

  • 4 January 2022
  • 6 replies
  • 694 views
L
Badge +2

Afternoon

Throwing this out there to see whether any one can assist before ditching my Shield - which I don’t want to do. Config: NVidia Shield 2019 Pro → LG OLED 65B8 → Sonos Arc. This previously was the same setup with a Playbar, using Optical.

Playback from the Shield on Plex/Neflix/Prime etc suffers intermittent audio drops of milisecs. No pattern, could be once per 10 mins, or once per 30 mins, or five in one min. I have reached out to all three manufacturers who all point the blame at one of the others. I have changed out HDMI cables etc to no avail. I have also tested with another Shield with the same annoying issues. This does not happen with Fire devices or Roku.

I want to use the Shield as I have some content with Atmos TrueHD so ideally want to stick with it. I will need to replace the TV with an eARC capable unit, or purchase an HDfury Arcana to faciliate that, but don’t want to until I can be sure that it is not the Shield that is causing the issue. Regardless, other than the audio drop issue, the Shield is a decent bit of kit.

I see others have had the same issue, whether with LG, Samsung etc. I considered trying an Apple TV device - replacing the Shield, but that isn’t ideal due to the above mentioned reason. Anyone had this issue and actually fixed it or found a work around?

Its a shame that the Arcana can’t be purchased on sale/return so that I could briefly test and see whether removing the TV solves the issue.

Regards

6 replies

L
Badge +2

I should add, under configuration: Sonos Arc (wireless) with Sub and 2 x Play 1 (all wireless).

J

I have a similar but not identical setup.  Same Sonos HT setup except Arc is wired (don’t believe that is relevant).

LG OLED TV, from 2016.

NVidia Shield 2019 Pro

Important (?) difference - my audio bypasses the TV because I have an HDFury Arcana.

I haven’t noticed any drops when playing from my Shield, but if they were momentary and infrequent I don’t know how aware I would be.

L
Badge +2

You would notice - they are a complete outage albeit under one second. How do you find the Arcana? Are you feeding the TV sounds back to it (ARC) so that the Sonos plays sound from the TV itself?

Interesting to know whether it is worth the investment; I only intended to purchase one for the TrueHD option but it might sort out my issue, though it will cost £175 to do so.

J

I don’t play anything from the TV itself and watch hardly any live OTA TV.  I watch live BBC via iPlayer, Netflix, Amazon, BT Sport etc, all off the Shield.  I have an Amazon Fire Stick 4K too, which I have kept because it has Now TV, which the Shield doesn’t have.

I have been very happy with the Arcana.  My TV is from the year before LG TVs could handle Atmos, so that is main reason for getting Arcana for me.  It also fixed lip sync issues when the sound from HDMI sources passed through the TV.

I have an HDMI switch to feed the various devices to the Arcana.

L
Badge +2

John, what was your reason for purchasing the Arcana? Was that to play Dolby TrueHD etc? Did you have your LG connected to the Arc prior to getting the Arcana?

J

John, what was your reason for purchasing the Arcana? Was that to play Dolby TrueHD etc? Did you have your LG connected to the Arc prior to getting the Arcana?

To get Dolby Atmos, mainly.  My TV was incapable of outputting Dolby Atmos, whether from external devices or internal apps.

My TV also output audio with a lag; bypassing the TV with the audio also cured this.

Yes, I was using the TV with the Arc before the Arcana - but with a lag and no Atmos.

Reply


Terms & ConditionsCookie settings