Beam (Gen 2) disorted / metallic sound w/ TV (eARC) and Night Sound Mode

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Ken_Griffiths

Hi Ken,

i have also recorded what I hear on my Beam. Note that this recording was done in direct proximity to the sidewards pointing speakers in the beam, not in the middle of the room.

Thus the effect is very clearly audible.

find it here:

http://sndup.net/rvwz

First ten seconds - no night sound. Then after 10s, nightsound enabled - which in this case seems to not make that much of a difference.


It shows as „Dolby Multichannel PCM 2.0“ in the Sonos app.

Pretty akward that your beam reports a different audio format playing back the same video.

 

Looking at the original Video Stats, it seems audio is „Opus 251“ which translates into being stereo (2channel) VBR.

 

Also, can you confirm you directly connect the TV to Beam, 1:1 with the Beam HDMI cable?


 

Cheers,

Kai

 

The recording via  the iPad Pro was done directly in the middle of the beam about 6 inches away from the front of it.. but will listen out again to the side speakers.

  • PCM stereo format to the Arc was from the LG TV’s own built in YouTube App and that TV is directly connected to the Arc (eARC connection)
  • The Dolby Digital Plus 2.0 to the Beam was from a Nvidia Shield via Feintech VAX04101A extractor which I use with that TV but the Beam uses eARC connection to that extractor too - so maybe that’s the reason for the differences in codec. (Sorry it’s the best I can do with each of the HT setups I have here, without moving the devices about, which would be a lot of hassle for me).

Maybe others here will chime in and perhaps help test this on their HT setup too, but not hearing the metallic sound so far here.

K
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@Ken_Griffiths 
P.S.: I cannot hear any distortion in your recording. Maybe worth doing the recording in direct proximity to the sidewards pointing speakers again.

K
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Hi Ken,

i have also recorded what I hear on my Beam. Note that this recording was done in direct proximity to the sidewards pointing speakers in the beam, not in the middle of the room.

Thus the effect is very clearly audible.

find it here:

http://sndup.net/rvwz

First ten seconds - no night sound. Then after 10s, nightsound enabled - which in this case seems to not make that much of a difference.


It shows as „Dolby Multichannel PCM 2.0“ in the Sonos app.

Pretty akward that your beam reports a different audio format playing back the same video.

 

Looking at the original Video Stats, it seems audio is „Opus 251“ which translates into being stereo (2channel) VBR.

 

Also, can you confirm you directly connect the TV to Beam, 1:1 with the Beam HDMI cable?


 

Cheers,

Kai

Ken_Griffiths

I’ve not used SndUp before, but I have uploaded a recording of what I hear from the Beam when playing the start of that YT TJATOMICA Superman video, which I just recorded using iPad Pro mic - here is the link (hope it works)…

http://sndup.net/p3fs

(extract from beginning until Superman takes off/launches).

I don’t hear a metallic sound but maybe it’s a frequency I’m not noticing. See if you hear it.

It’s probably not the best recording but at least shows what I’m listening/hearing here, which seems fine and ties in with what I hear when it’s played on the iPad too.

Ken_Griffiths

The above post was referring to my living room TV with the Arc.

If I play it on the Beam in the Dining Room I get ‘Dolby Digital Plus 2.0’ but both sound similar/same, as far as I can tell.

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Ken_Griffiths

Ok the audio format I’m seeing is ‘stereo PCM’ when I play the TJATOMICA YT Supernan video with the YouTube App on my TV

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Ken_Griffiths

I’ll check the audio and let you know what audio format the Sonos App shows when playing the YT Superman video. My LG TV’s are both set to ‘pass-through’, just to confirm that.

In the uploaded audio recording I can hear what was described as a circular saw, but what might have helped would have been to post a link to the actual video and to then listen to that on other devices to see how it sounds, just in case it’s a noise recorded in the source audio itself.

if there is an issue just with the Beam, I would have thought the sound mentioned would be present on a good many audio sources such as movies/shows on Netflix, or Amazon etc; and it perhaps might help if it’s able to be shown that the audio issue is only present on the Beam and not present on other playback devices belonging to other device manufacturers. As I say the Spider-Man YT video sounds the same on an iPad and headphones as my Beam, particularly when playing it back at higher volume levels.

Anyhow if there are more examples please post those too as I will happily continue to try to test things here with my Home setup.

I will report back on the audio format the App shows when I return home. I’m out and about at the moment.

K
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Update: in my LG i have a setting 

Sound / Advanced Settings / Digital Sound Output

 

If I set this to „pass through“ the issue is there.
The Sonos app is showing audio to be of format: „Dolbly Multichannel PCM 2.0“.

 

if I set this to „PCM“, the issue is not/hardly noticable. Sonos app is reporting audio to be „Stereo PCM“ on this case.

 

@Ken_Griffiths: what is the audio format being reported as in the Sonos app when you do your tests?

 

 

K
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@Shnakey : i can confirm I can reproduce the issue with the Superman YouTube video you posted.

I have to add though that while clearly noticeable, there is other material that exposes the issue more prominently. I hope I find some time myself to search for additional material.

 

@Ken : I posted a recording of the issue here in this forum. You can check what it sounds like there.

I posted the links, quoting myself (second recording of the issue):

“

I have captured it very clearly on the sidewards pointing speaker this time:

http://sndup.net/vnwz

…

“

Im that recoding the issue is less prominent in second 0..5, very obvious 5..10.


I think the issue could be described also a low pitch circular saw in the background -or- a swarm of metal cicadas -or- as others said, a robot army.

Can you hear it in the recording?

 

That said, if you cannot reproduce it in your setup - it will be interesting to identify any differences in setup.

Mine is: Beam directly connected to LG TV via eARC HDMI. Lg audio configured as pass-through.

 

 

Ken_Griffiths

Similar testing done to my post above, but using the Beam (gen2) and same YT video - (screenshots attached again).

Again I did the same testing, but went the extra mile by toggling on/off ‘night-sound’ and ‘speech enhancement’ aswell as Trueplay …and even toggled off/on the surrounds and sub.

It still sounds the same to me - I just can’t even think what the metallic sound would be that you’re hearing, but I get that the background traffic/noise on that YT video is not brilliant - I tried a few other YT videos too.

So I’m not hearing/noticing the issue, or anything unusual, that would have perhaps come to my attention.

I still think some better video examples might perhaps help and again I’m happy to test those too. 

Note that YT video sounds the same/similar on my Beam as when I listen to it both on my iPad speakers or via headphones connected to the iPad. So I’m not noticing anything unusual coming from the standalone Beam.

Send me a suggestion of another video source to test - ideally Netflix, or Amazon Movies and perhaps others with a Beam will chime in here and help test these things too.

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Ken_Griffiths

During the advert break, the Wife let me do a first initial test (see screenshots taken - merged) - my first reaction was just how much I would definitely miss Surrounds and even more-so the Sub audio output.

So I cast the posted YT video to my TV YouTube App and just to say this is the first test with the Sonos Arc - I will do the Beam (gen2) a little later.

I can’t say I’m noticing an issue - I switched off surrounds/sub and tried it with Trueplay on and off. (Better sound with it ‘on’ in my case).

I replayed the video (especially the beginning several times) and sounds like a recording of background traffic - I didn’t notice a metallic sound at all - I later played the video on an iPad Pro in stereo (where the screenshots were taken/merged) and that sounded similar to what I was hearing on the Arc but just not as good/loud as the Arc (obviously)

So this was just my first initial test and my initial thoughts.

Could really do with more/better examples than game-playback on YouTube perhaps?

But no metallic-like sound noticed at this point.

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Ken_Griffiths

Hi Ken,

would be great if you could try to reproduce it.

That said, I am glad I can say that it is in no way similar to that song nor reproducible using Cher.

For a moment I was really afraid I that I would have to listen to it over and over again. ;-)

 

I think Elton John’s farewell Show on Disney+ is what Benny mentioned earlier in this conversation.

As I do not have Disney+, I cannot confirm from my end but will look for something on Amazon or NetFlix.

 

Also, I have posted a link to an actual recording of the issue here.

 

But in general, anything with a crowd in the background seems a good choice. For me the effect is most audible when enabling “night sound” in scenes with low overall volume/density and a crowd (e.g. background clapping or chatting). It is clearly coming from the two outwards pointing speakers on the Beam.


It only seems to happen with audio input from the TV.

 

Will let you know as soon as I have identified a sample to reproduce from my side.

 

I don’t use Disney+ either, but I haven’t noticed it whilst watching the World Cup football - would that be a good option to listen to the crowd, perhaps🤔? I’m still not exactly sure what to listen-out for, but in fairness I have been watching things here with the surrounds and Sub enabled.

I will try the posted YouTube video after the Wife has finished watching her programmes (Coronation Street etc.) but that’s going to just be in PCM stereo anyway, I assume? (does that matter?) ..and I’ll see if I notice anything. I will post back later.

Oh, and I will switch the surrounds and Sub off too and Trueplay aswell.

S
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This clip will reproduce the sound. You can search 'Superman Game Unreal Engine' in YouTube on the TV. It was uploaded by TJATOMICA.

 

Turn the volume up and listen for the city sounds at the start of the video when the Superman character is on the ground. It sound like the city noise is out of phase or low bitrate. 

I recommend doing it with just the TVs and the beams on their own, without the sub or surrounds. A few posts online have said the issue disappears when surrounds are added. 

 

K
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Hi Ken,

would be great if you could try to reproduce it.

That said, I am glad I can say that it is in no way similar to that song nor reproducible using Cher.

For a moment I was really afraid I that I would have to listen to it over and over again. ;-)

 

I think Elton John’s farewell Show on Disney+ is what Benny mentioned earlier in this conversation.

As I do not have Disney+, I cannot confirm from my end but will look for something on Amazon or NetFlix.

 

Also, I have posted a link to an actual recording of the issue here.

 

But in general, anything with a crowd in the background seems a good choice. For me the effect is most audible when enabling “night sound” in scenes with low overall volume/density and a crowd (e.g. background clapping or chatting). It is clearly coming from the two outwards pointing speakers on the Beam.


It only seems to happen with audio input from the TV.

 

Will let you know as soon as I have identified a sample to reproduce from my side.

Ken_Griffiths

I’ve got an LG C9 OLED TV with Arc and another (older) LG TV with a Feintech VAX04101A audio extractor to provide DD+ Atmos, used with the Beam (gen2).

Both have Surrounds/Sub (gen3) and am happy to try to see if I can hear the metallic audio issue, but not sure what I’m looking for?

Are there any examples (Netflix/Amazon sources perhaps?) that you could post and state a place in the movie/show where (and what) to listen for and the settings you have in place in the Sonos HT room (just need those outside of the HT default settings). 

Always happy to try to test these things, whenever I get a chance that is - so please supply the detail and I will happily test and report back if I hear it.

I assume what you’re hearing is something ‘similar’ to Auto-Tune as used in the late 90’s by Cher on her ‘Believe’ track, but please correct me if I am perhaps misunderstanding things here.

K
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I can confirm that playing with the “height audio” level setting changes this bogous metallic effect.
I cannot however make it go away using height audio settings … just change its “presence”.

What is especially astonishing is, that height settings also changes the metallic effect with audio that is only stereo, 2.0 (e.g. Dolby Multichannel PCM 2.0).

Astonishing as 2.0 audio does not in itself carry anything that could be directly interpreted as “height” or even ambient audio.

This again points to some advanced audio processing that is going berserk.

 

It is really strange that there are so few people realizing this or are complaining. I am on the brink of returning my beam as this effect is extremely annoying.

 

Benny, did you also have the change to check with non-LG TVs? As mentioned earlier, I had a Panasonic before which also exhibited the issue… but I guess we could use some more data-points on this one.

 

B

Additionally it maybe of help but I have noticed if you use speech enhancement it brings the effect down slightly and also if you use the height setting and go to minus 6 or lower it brings it down. 

Have a play with the height setting while watching a game of football in the world cup and you will notice the difference in the robotic crowd effect.

Hopefully this can help you out 👍
 

B

Yeah I tried the optical connector and it was the exact same too. 
 

I am getting the issue from all TV inputs via HDMI. Strangely if I put something on my phone and just airplay the audio to the beam it doesn’t have the same robotic reverb sound. 
 

Noticed it across all content from Atmos to stereo. It is really noticeable on the Elton John farewell show on Disney+ because of the crowd noise. Would be a good example to share with the sound engineers.

 

Hopefully they release a patch to fix it soon, but from seeing how long people have been mentioning it, maybe that’s a bit of wishful thinking. 

 

S
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OK. Is it more prominent for you also when you enable “Night Sound” ?

And just to double check - when you say “all sources”, you mean input anyway from TV (either HDMI or Optical), but all sorts of audio encodings, is that correct?

 

Haven't noticed night sound making it any worse. I get the metallic sound on all audio coming from the TV through the Beam, regardless of source or encoding. 

K
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OK. Is it more prominent for you also when you enable “Night Sound” ?

And just to double check - when you say “all sources”, you mean input anyway from TV (either HDMI or Optical), but all sorts of audio encodings, is that correct?

 

S
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Shnakey, as you seem to experience the exact same Issue that I have, do you have any specific source you can reproduce it? Till now I have only had German Live TV exposing this behaviour.

Ideally we have a Nexflix / Prime movie / specific audio channel that always exhibits this distortion. But I have not been able to identify till now.

 

I have it on all sources, apps etc. I also experience it with 2.1, 5.1 and Atmos content. It happens anytime there is surround sound effects, crowd noise and the likes.

K
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Shnakey, as you seem to experience the exact same Issue that I have, do you have any specific source you can reproduce it? Till now I have only had German Live TV exposing this behaviour.

Ideally we have a Nexflix / Prime movie / specific audio channel that always exhibits this distortion. But I have not been able to identify till now.

 

S
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No further comments till now but Support asked me to test with the opical connection instead of HDMI (ARC).

Which I have not done till now. Maybe you can post your results of this test here, too? Mine will probably follow tomorrow.

That said, I can second what you said: The distortion is especially “evident” where there is clapping in the background.
However, silent scenes with a specific / clear and simple audio allow to capture it much more accurately.

When outmost speakers mean the “rear” channel, that could back the theory of bogous processing… as for me it is mostly evident in 2.0 channel audio, which by definition should not have any “rear”.

 

I've tested the optical adapter before. No change. 

K
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No further comments till now but Support asked me to test with the opical connection instead of HDMI (ARC).

Which I have not done till now. Maybe you can post your results of this test here, too? Mine will probably follow tomorrow.

That said, I can second what you said: The distortion is especially “evident” where there is clapping in the background.
However, silent scenes with a specific / clear and simple audio allow to capture it much more accurately.

When outmost speakers mean the “rear” channel, that could back the theory of bogous processing… as for me it is mostly evident in 2.0 channel audio, which by definition should not have any “rear”.

 

B

Just bumping this up:

Got a Beam Gen 2 last week and finding that I am getting the same issue after going through every setting on my LG Oled and working through with Sonos Support. Just received my new unit with RMA and still noticeable.

I find that it's really evident in Crowd and clapping scenes, very noticeable in the world cup games that are now on. When you go close to the speaker its definitely coming from the outermost speakers so must be how the sound is processed to the rear channels.

Have you had any further comms with the support team on a possible fix?

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