Dropping audio with ARC

  • 15 October 2020
  • 4 replies
  • 363 views

I have a Sony XH90 connected via ARC to the Sonos Arc.  The system has two Play:1 rears and a sub.  I have started to get audio drops outs on all sources.  It’s only for a microsecond and seems to happen on the Arc and Sub mainly.  Everything is WiFi.

 

It was working fine, but I noticed the app was jumping between mine and my sons account.  I have transferred ownership of everything back to me in case that was causing an issue.

 

the TV is the only source and is connected with an 4K certified cable for HDMI 2.1

The diagnostics reference is 1828291275 if someone is able to take a look to see what may be happening.


edit: I have set the TV output to PCM instead of DD and will see if that helps.  Will the Arc still be fully producing DD Atmos with PCM?

 

edit2:  TV was set to PCM and sound not cutting out. Netflix was set to DD and cutting out.  Now seems OK since setting all sources to PCM (new diags ref:2109859000)

 

 

many thanks

 


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4 replies

Userlevel 5
Badge +16

Hi @PMM01.

Thanks for reaching out and welcome to the community!

I appreciate your detailed post outlining the issue as well as the step(s) that you did, let me help and try to figure this out.

Upon checking on the 1st diagnostic report, the audio signal is Dolby Digital Plus (DD+), and on the 2nd diagnostic is Dolby Digital 5.1/AC3. 

  • Kindly verify if the audio interruptions happen only when using TV audio?
  • Have you tried to test audio playback using a music service to confirm the issue only occurs with TV audio?
  • What source you’re playing the audio from? Examples: Cable box, Blu-Ray player, Apple TV, built-in TV apps for streaming services.
  • You may also check this article that provides common fixes for TV audio interruptions while using Sonos home theater speakers.

 

This article outlines the main factors that determine if your Sonos Arc can play Dolby Atmos audio.

Any Sonos speakers like the Arc can only play what is handed to it.

Getting Dolby Atmos audio can also depend on the physical source device playing the content.

Some TVs do not support Dolby Atmos audio even if the source device does. In most cases, the TV will re-encode the audio to Dolby Digital 5.1.

Since the audio interruptions only occur when set to Dolby Digital, the TV may not be passing an audio signal correctly.

We suggest reaching out to the TV manufacturer for further help and to check with them if it supports Dolby Atmos.

 

Let us know how it goes and if you have any questions feel free to reach out, we’re always here to help.

Userlevel 2

PMM01,

 

I have exactly the same issue with the same setup. It is a wider issue with the ARC and isn’t limited to Sony TVs, as many forums show with multiple users with different brands reporting issues.

 

PCM is not a solution as that is effectively stereo, so not worth having the ARC in the first place.

 

Apparently the issue is being worked on but Sonos appear to be trying to down play this clearly wider issue with the ARC.

 

Hopefully it is fixable with a software update in the future but the lack of a proper update on the issue doesn’t look great at the minute. I am hoping they are doing this from a marketing point of view and not because the tech guys are struggling.

 

I have the same issue! Please fix this! Sony XH90 supports HDMI ARC and HDMI eARC.

Userlevel 5
Badge +16

Hi everyone, thanks for your patience. It’s best if you can give us a call and work with a technician live to expedite the process. They have resources available for advanced troubleshooting, and the tools our agents can use would be very useful in this case, there can be an advantage if they need to remote into the controller to see what's going on.

 

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to let us know, we’d be glad to help.