Multichannel PCM 5.1 dropping out since 14.10 update

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H

I know this sounds stupid and simple but has anyone tried a factory reset of their sonos sound system? Someone on reddit reporting similar issues appears to have fixed the issue with that.:

 

https://www.reddit.com/r/sonos/comments/urfhl4/comment/jbceh0r/?context=3

 

If all else fails I may try the fiber cable mentioned here. I assume it has to be hdmi 2.1?

O
Userlevel 3
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Oh forgot to mention, the LG support asked me for a video showing the issue, but it’s currently disappeared for me so I can’t send them. Any chance one of you could make a video recording of the issue occurring?

This is it happening on my C2. 
 

 

Thanks, I sent them.

The problem has returned so I also recorded my own video and sent them, although in my case (LG G2) it seems that the audio drop is much shorter so the diagnostics screen doesn’t show any change when it drops.

I wouldn’t hold my breath though, I doubt anything will come out of it.

J
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Having a similar issue myself. Nintendo Switch to Phillips OLED 857, Sonos Beam Gen 2. Swapped out HDMI cables and swapped out the dock but I'm still getting a crackle when Auto or Surround is chosen in the Switch settings. The TV audio is set to Multichannel bypass, the HDMI port on the TV works fine on a 360 and my Series X plugged into another port doesn't experience any crackling sound at all. Bit of a strange one, don't want to reset my whole Sonos system again as it's a bit of a headache.

R
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If all else fails I may try the fiber cable mentioned here. I assume it has to be hdmi 2.1?

No, just “with ethernet”. The eARC channel will still be bi-directional copper wires, even where the main video/audio stream is carried over one way fibre optic.

The “with ethernet” ensures that these wires are configured as twisted pair which can offer enough bandwidth for 7.1 PCM bit rates vs the original HDMI cable design. 

 

H

If all else fails I may try the fiber cable mentioned here. I assume it has to be hdmi 2.1?

No, just “with ethernet”. The eARC channel will still be bi-directional copper wires, even where the main video/audio stream is carried over one way fibre optic.

The “with ethernet” ensures that these wires are configured as twisted pair which can offer enough bandwidth for 7.1 PCM bit rates vs the original HDMI cable design. 

 

Sorry - I may not be as tech savvy as everyone here but just to clarify what this means - is it something like this?

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B09KGSG5VW?ref=ppx_pt2_mob_b_prod_image

 

I am seeing extremely pricey long range ones and this was the most reasonably priced fiber one way cable. Not sure what I am searching for and this is the closest I can find from what was discussed in this forumn which is not like $60 - $100. 

M
Userlevel 3
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If all else fails I may try the fiber cable mentioned here. I assume it has to be hdmi 2.1?

No, just “with ethernet”. The eARC channel will still be bi-directional copper wires, even where the main video/audio stream is carried over one way fibre optic.

The “with ethernet” ensures that these wires are configured as twisted pair which can offer enough bandwidth for 7.1 PCM bit rates vs the original HDMI cable design. 

 

Sorry - I may not be as tech savvy as everyone here but just to clarify what this means - is it something like this?

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B09KGSG5VW?ref=ppx_pt2_mob_b_prod_image

 

I am seeing extremely pricey long range ones and this was the most reasonably priced fiber one way cable. Not sure what I am searching for and this is the closest I can find from what was discussed in this forumn which is not like $60 - $100. 

This is the one I got I. The UK. Works out about $20

GeoHN.G 8K Fiber Optic HDMI Cable 1M, 48Gbps High-Speed HDMI 2.1 Cable 8K@60Hz 4K@120Hz Dolby/Dynamic HDR/HDCP 2.3/eARC 8K Fiber One-Direction HDMI Cord Compatible with Blu-ray/TV Box/HDTV/Projector https://amzn.eu/d/cc32wfX

there should be similar ones available  

 

 

H

If all else fails I may try the fiber cable mentioned here. I assume it has to be hdmi 2.1?

No, just “with ethernet”. The eARC channel will still be bi-directional copper wires, even where the main video/audio stream is carried over one way fibre optic.

The “with ethernet” ensures that these wires are configured as twisted pair which can offer enough bandwidth for 7.1 PCM bit rates vs the original HDMI cable design. 

 

Sorry - I may not be as tech savvy as everyone here but just to clarify what this means - is it something like this?

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B09KGSG5VW?ref=ppx_pt2_mob_b_prod_image

 

I am seeing extremely pricey long range ones and this was the most reasonably priced fiber one way cable. Not sure what I am searching for and this is the closest I can find from what was discussed in this forumn which is not like $60 - $100. 

This is the one I got I. The UK. Works out about $20

GeoHN.G 8K Fiber Optic HDMI Cable 1M, 48Gbps High-Speed HDMI 2.1 Cable 8K@60Hz 4K@120Hz Dolby/Dynamic HDR/HDCP 2.3/eARC 8K Fiber One-Direction HDMI Cord Compatible with Blu-ray/TV Box/HDTV/Projector https://amzn.eu/d/cc32wfX

there should be similar ones available  

 

 

Ya that one appears to read a similar description as the one I linked to in the US so hopefully should work. All these other ones I was looking at were bidirectional or super long 40 feet+ ones so after a lot digging that was the most reasonably priced one is saw (https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B09KGSG5VW?ref=ppx_pt2_mob_b_prod_image). Will give it a go and see if that works!

H

Ok - looks like that cable appears to have worked after about 30 mins of testing. Will report back if anything comes back but thanks to everyone here for doing so much troubleshooting and coming up with a work around! 

 

The only thing that makes me wonder about this though is if this process of reversing what the source should normally be on the cable would have any side effects that may not be readily apparent yet. It seems odd that it only works when the source side is on the TV and therefore you will not get the Sonos splash screen on HDMI 2. If the sound in the end is not effected than I suppose this works fine but it's just pretty interesting that this backwards method is what is working and idk if the this would end up preventing some features that people have not noticed just yet. Hopefully Sonos or LG comes up with an official fix soon but in the meantime I at least was able to find a reasonably priced cable to use. 

L

I was wondering the same thing but I guess the reverse part of the Fiber Optic HDMI Cable only comes into play regarding video?

M
Userlevel 1

Just got a beam (gen 2) and two one Sl. 
 

Having this exact issue when Audio is set to (5.1) on ps5 and Nintendo switch. 
 

Very frustrating after spending 600 on a new set up. 

O
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I found that resetting the TV may help. Press and hold the power button for around 15 seconds until the tv reboots (should seem different than normal turn on). Maybe this will help.

L

Just got a beam (gen 2) and two one Sl. 
 

Having this exact issue when Audio is set to (5.1) on ps5 and Nintendo switch. 
 

Very frustrating after spending 600 on a new set up. 

 

Yeah it’s unfortunate and very frustrating. Over the past few months I tried replacing it with other soundbar systems, and while one or two did sound better that included a sub at a similar price, they all dealt with there own issues. Ones that I found more egregious than this hiccup the Sonos has.

The only other bug I’ve experienced with the Beam over 2 years was playing Resistance: Fall of Man on PS3, terrible audio distortion for some reason (I tested on other systems and they didn’t have this issue with the game). Otherwise it’s great. I do eventually want to replace this system with a full on receiver and dedicated speakers.

I don’t like recommending stepping up to the ARC to avoid this issue because I really believe Sonos should fix this on the Beam, but I’d consider if I were you. Otherwise if you want to go all out, build your own system with a receiver! :)

The Beam is overall really good for a soundbar. They NEED to fix this issue but hopefully you can use HDMI port 1 or the cable workaround discussed a few comments above here if you decide to stick with the Beam.

Y
Userlevel 3
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Just got a beam (gen 2) and two one Sl. 
 

Having this exact issue when Audio is set to (5.1) on ps5 and Nintendo switch. 
 

Very frustrating after spending 600 on a new set up. 

 

Yeah it’s unfortunate and very frustrating. Over the past few months I tried replacing it with other soundbar systems, and while one or two did sound better that included a sub at a similar price, they all dealt with there own issues. Ones that I found more egregious than this hiccup the Sonos has.

The only other bug I’ve experienced with the Beam over 2 years was playing Resistance: Fall of Man on PS3, terrible audio distortion for some reason (I tested on other systems and they didn’t have this issue with the game). Otherwise it’s great. I do eventually want to replace this system with a full on receiver and dedicated speakers.

I don’t like recommending stepping up to the ARC to avoid this issue because I really believe Sonos should fix this on the Beam, but I’d consider if I were you. Otherwise if you want to go all out, build your own system with a receiver! :)

The Beam is overall really good for a soundbar. They NEED to fix this issue but hopefully you can use HDMI port 1 or the cable workaround discussed a few comments above here if you decide to stick with the Beam.

Yeah, this is also a matter of trust. It’s difficult to recommend spending more money on Sonos after the level of neglect that they’ve shown here. Say you upgrade to an Arc (or Arc 2/Beam 3) and you encounter an issue particular to your use case, what then? Things could even work well at first, but we are just a bad firmware update away from being screwed. Sonos needs to demonstrate that they will not abandon their customers.

I suggest going for a full refund if you can. If not or if you’re into the Sonos ecosystem, use the HDMI 1 or cable workaround as suggested. We are nearing the 1 year anniversary of this thread and still no official response from Sonos.

L

I don’t necessarily disagree with this sentiment. They really need to fix it.

T

Just found this thread from a version of the issue linked on Reddit.

 

I just want to check in with anyone that has used the suggested cable for more than a few weeks (and especially anyone that’s used it with the Nintendo Switch). 

 

  1. Is the fix a case of using the cable with the source end of the cable plugged into the TV and the display end of the cable plugged into the Sonos Beam Gen 2?
  2. Has anyone used this cable for more than a few weeks and seen the issue fixed? Conversely I’d like to know if anyone’s seen the issue come back when using this cable?
  3. Can anyone link the post explaining why this cable works?

 

I’ve seen the sound dropout issue myself since recently connecting my LG C2 TV to my Sonos Beam and Nintendo Switch, I’m looking to get the cable to fix the issue but just want to be sure it actually works reliably.

S
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The cable has worked for me for about the last month (the original one linked from Amazon). It seems to be stopping the Beam from interrupting the main audio signal whilst still maintaining eArc functionality as there are still copper lanes in the cable as well as the fibre optic.

Still disappointed in the dreadful communication from Sonos but lesson learned for the future, if you are in the return period it might be worth considering as Sonos clearly can’t or won’t fix this.

O
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Can you link the correct cable again here? Preferably from the UK Amazon since the American one doesn’t ship here.

S
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https://amzn.eu/d/i7OSKuo

 

M
Userlevel 1

So I assume you only need to get one of these cables between the sound bar and tv. The rest can be other HDMI 2.1 cables. Just asking as I have a G series OLED and they are a bit of a pain to plug new cables in to. 
 

 

S
Userlevel 3
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So I assume you only need to get one of these cables between the sound bar and tv. The rest can be other HDMI 2.1 cables. Just asking as I have a G series OLED and they are a bit of a pain to plug new cables in to. 
 

 

Yes, taking care to get it the right way round i.e. source at TV end

O
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https://amzn.eu/d/i7OSKuo

 

Dang it’s also unavailable…

O
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Is this one good?

https://a.co/d/3ulDEy2

It was linked here before, and I can order it, not sure whether it works though.

Y
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Reporting back that in my experience, HDMI 1 is not perfect. I encounter dropouts with PCM 5.1 once every… I wanna say 30 to 60 mins. Haven’t bothered timing it to see if it’s consistent but it’s always there. Happens at least once whenever I watch a TV series (per episode) or movie. There was this one time when the dropout occured every 10 mins but a quick restart of my devices changed it back to “normal.”

T

One of the previous posts mentioned this issue occurs particularly when the device is connected to either of ports 3 or 4 on the back on a LG C2/G2. 

 

I tried using post 1 with my Nintendo Switch set to ‘surround sound’ (LPCM5.1) and it seemed to work for at least half an hour. 

 

Has anyone else had a similar experience to this with other LPCM5.1 devices?

 

I’m curious about whether I need the cable or need to just permanently switch the inputs. Also if anyone know what might be special about ports 1 & 2 on an LGC2 TV that would be useful (considering all 4 ports are labelled as 4k 120Hz HDMI 2.1 ports).

Y
Userlevel 3
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I’m curious about whether I need the cable or need to just permanently switch the inputs. Also if anyone know what might be special about ports 1 & 2 on an LGC2 TV that would be useful (considering all 4 ports are labelled as 4k 120Hz HDMI 2.1 ports).

My 2 cents (and this is what I’m doing): If using HDMI1 is good enough for you, then hold off on buying the cable for as long as you can. In case the cable workaround has its own bug or IF Sonos decides to address to issue lol.

And then when you finally find the HDMI1 workaround insufficient/intolerable, then buy the cable.

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