Multichannel PCM 5.1 dropping out since 14.10 update



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I have an Apple TV-4HD with LG C9 TV and Arc, surrounds & sub and it’s set to default - to output 5.1 multichannel LPCM.

I played the movie ‘6 underground’ from Netflix for 30 minutes or so, just as a test …and that’s all working okay without any audio dropouts.

Have been following this thread for a while after recently purchasing a beam, and 2 era 100s. Tv is LG C3 Oled 55”. I was originally just going to confirm that the problem persisted on C3 with the PS5 as someone a few pages back had asked about the C3 model. Regular streaming from the TV itself is fine. (whether it’s 5.1 or dolby atmos) My switch wasn’t working with 5.1 until I plugged it into hdmi slot 1.

However, after a TV firmware update yesterday I can confirm that the PS5 isn’t dropping out anymore when set to 5.1. I tested this by playing about 30 minutes of hogwarts legacy, and confirming on the sonos app what the output was. Software version for the TV is 03.11.10. Not sure what changed or what was updated. Also worth mentioning that I had unplugged the PS5 hdmi for a few days, though not sure that had any effect. 

Anyway just wanted to share that news, in case anyone else with similar tv models can update and test. Hope that helps! 

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It’s not just this thread either. There are numerous other threads here with the same issue that have simply been redirected to this “mother thread”. There are also posts on reddit and such.

Some may want to point their fingers at LG, but honestly this looks to be a Sonos issue. The Arc is fine and only the Beam is bugged so Sonos could use that as a starting point if they wanted to. Also, OP claims that the issue only started after doing the Sonos 14.10 update. I did some reading and saw that it was a major update which supposedly fixed audio delays and dropouts. So Sonos likely borked something on the Beam with that big update. There are also comments indicating that Sonos didn’t recognize those delays and dropouts as well before they magically decided to fix them so… yeah…

Overall, this just reeks of laziness and poor customer service. This may be a community forum but when something has drawn this much attention, one would think it would be enough for them to address it. Specially when the community has pretty much handed everything to them on a silver platter. Users have already isolated the issue, provided clear steps on how to reproduce them, and filed reports. Yet 8 months later, still no word on the matter. Even the Sonos staff in here has gone silent. They may simply be a forum mod, but now that the issue has gotten big couldn’t they have at least escalated the issue to their heads or engineering contacts? Indifferent because “simply a forum mod” and “not my job”? Again, poor customer service.

If you can still apply for a refund, then good for you. Unfortunately, I was past the return period when I discovered the issue. Initially planned on building a proper 5.1 setup and eventually upgrade to an Arc Gen 2. But for now, this issue makes this my first and last Sonos product. Shame as I really really loved the software (when it works, at least...)

I’ll add my 2p worth into the mix. I’ve had the Beam 2 with 2 Era 300’s and a Sub 2 for a few weeks connected to an LG C2 onto HDMI 2 (eArc) with Passthrough and eARC enabled with my PC (Nvidia RTX 4090) connected to HDMI 1 on the TV (I also have a PS5 and Xbox Series X connected to HDMI 3 and 4). I have been getting sound cutting out on HDMI 1 every so often (the Beam 2 seems to ‘reset’). Sometimes the audio won’t come back at all and I have to pull the plug on both the LG and the Beam 2 to get the system working (this works consistently). I’m not sure what’s causing the audio to cut out but it seems to have something to do with switching audio sources, i.e. going from a Dolby Atmos container to 5.1. Anyway, I happen to have a spare Fibr (optical HDMI 2.1) cable which I’ve used for HDMI 2 to the Beams 2 (with the TV as the source, i.e. end 1) as suggested in this thread and this (so far) seems to have fixed the issue - note that I use one of these cables to the other way around from my PC to the TV to get 120 Hz with HDR etc. I’m glad it has worked because this whole setup would have been going back to the supplier at the weekend - so Sonos support, you owe MJW75 a pack of beers!

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Just ordered the cable from Amazon Uk that the OP links too and it was 25% off so if a £13.50 spend fixes it that will make me happy. 

It was the OP that posted the fix. 😉

Make sure you have the TV at the source end and the Beam at the other end of the cable when you connect it up otherwise it won’t work. 
Fingers crossed a fix will come as I’m sure there are many Beam owners with this issue that haven’t seen this thread. 

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Just wanted to stress one more thing: So basically Sonos is placing the blame on LG simply because numerous (dissimilar) results come out when you google for “LG OLED 5.1 issue.” Nowhere did Sonos mention that they performed a technical investigation which cleared the Beam of any wrongdoing.

Gotta admit, that’s one hell of a tactic. No need for any company to troubleshoot and honor warranties. Since you can google anything, just look for any issue with other components no matter how unrelated. Then you can simply deny support tickets by shifting blame lol.

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Same issue here. I have the latest Apple TV 4K (3rd Gen), LG C2 and Sonos Beam Gen 2 (all on the latest software). I get a momentary audio drop every minute or so with ‘Multistream PCM 5.1’ audio only. Every other audio type is fine. I was using my Apple TV on HDMI 4 but changed to HDMI 3 with no improvement. I have good HDMI cables and have swapped them around with no improvement. As suggest above, I’m trying HDMI 1 which seems good (currently testing).

However, as per the linked thread above, it is not the Beam causing this. If you go into one of the hidden menus on the LG by going to Settings > General > Programmes. Then highlight ‘Programme Tuning and Settings’. Then press 11111 (1 five times). Info will be displayed. You will see to 2 ‘more’ links with the second under ‘DVI/HDMI Status’. Click this. In the new info page in the top left you will see it displays the audio format (5.1 is shown as 6CH). Keep this menu displayed when playing 5.1 audio and when an audio drop comes, ‘6CH’ drops to ‘2CH’ momentarily before coming back (I managed to get this on video). Hit the up button on the remote every minute to stop the menu timing out while you do this.

So it is not the sound bar. It is either the source (although no issue on my other TVs) or the TV. I’m guessing TV as why would it work on HDMI 1 if it was the source? I also tried an earlier Apple TV 4K box (2nd Gen) and this bizarrely sends 5.1 audio as 7.1 - so I couldn’t use it to test with.

At this point I’m fairly certain it is an issue with the TV. My LG C2 is only 5 days old so I’m considering exchanging it just in case it is a hardware issue, not a software issue. If this was a software issue I’m sure there will be many many posts about this online.

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Can confirm both HDMI 3 and 4 are affected.

And I don’t think it’s up to a specific faulty TV, it’s affecting all of them with this specific setup.

Sure it might be caused by the TV, but since it only affects the beam 2 then Sonos definitely has a hand in it too.

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Maybe it would be a good start for Sonos to do a complete test before shifting the blame to LG. Maybe using the extensive testing the community on this thread have done as a starting point. 
 

You would think Sonos would care a little more if one of their products isn’t super compatible with arguably the most popular high end tvs? 
 

There is a reason why this thread is growing and growing, maybe people with good sound equipment also have arguably the best OLED tvs? Shock 

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One thing I don’t understand though is why HDMI 1 is unaffected. While this may be an unpopular opinion, I think this fact suggests the problem may be the TV after all…..

Purely speculation, but maybe HDMI 1 and 2 share a bus on the board, and 3 and 4 share another. 3 and 4 are affected as they are on a different bus to the Beam Gen 2. So the signal from the Beam Gen 2 to the TV is normal, but the TV deals with it incorrectly on HDMI 3 and 4 or it has an issue passing it between busses. Again… this is purely speculation.

This has been speculated before but then the question is why isn’t the Arc affected if the TV is at fault?

The million dollar question.

I suppose a lot of us are feeling a bit more happy lately due to the discovery of valid workarounds. But don’t this influence us into absolving Sonos of accountability. The LG TVs may have their own set of flaws, but nothing suggests that this issue cannot be addressed from the soundbar end (PCM 7.1 works, other manufacters’ soundbars work, Sonos’ very own Arc works, etc).

Speaking of, a similar thing happened with the Bose 600. Basically at launch the Bose 600 soundbar had a no sound issue with LG TVs. Users even tried replacing the supplied HDMI cable to no avail. Until a redditor discovered that for some reason a ~$30 Spigen cable “fixed” the issue. Other users then tried and confirmed that it worked for them as well. But this development did not stop Bose from owning the issue and releasing an actual fix - a firmware update.

Of course if this isn’t actually a Sonos issue, they are free come out and issue an official statement. After all, it’s been 9 months since this has been reported.

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Looks like no fix in 15.2, disappointing as I hoped this would be the one. 

That is disappointing. At least my workaround is still working (see my previous posts if you haven’t already), so I’m happy enough that it will no longer cause me issues. I’ll still follow this for a proper fix though.

For anyone interested, this is a the cable I’m using which fixed the problem for me. 
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09YPR5SD4

I ordered the cable. Should be delivered tomorrow. I will test it and report it here, if the dropouts are gone, too.

Make sure you run the cable with the TV at the source end. Fingers crossed this works for you too. I’ve been watching loads lately with 5.1 PCM and I’ve not had an issue. 

I’ve only been set up with Beam 2, One SL surrounds, and LG G2 55 for a couple of weeks - I’m new to the Sonos ecosystem, and just bought the G2 - but the dropouts playing on Switch with surround on had been driving me nuts. Hadn’t noticed the issue with anything else (streaming content on native apps, gaming on Xbox Series S) and wasn’t sure how to troubleshoot between Switch, LG and Sonos.

I added a Panasonic 4K BD player this week, and noticed the dropouts immediately on non-Atmos content… also with PCM 5.1! Now I knew what to Google, it wasn’t just a Nintendo issue, and found this thread. Stayed up until 2am a couple of nights back reading the whole thing, with mounting dread at the lack of progress re. a proper fix… what a saga. However got to your input at the end (perfect timing!) and have the cable you linked due for delivery today. Massive kudos and thanks to you and everyone on this thread for all the troubleshooting you’ve been through, if I’d had 9 months of this I think I would have given up.

I’ll let you know how I get on once the cable arrives, fingers crossed!

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Looks like no fix in 15.2, disappointing as I hoped this would be the one. 

That is disappointing. At least my workaround is still working (see my previous posts if you haven’t already), so I’m happy enough that it will no longer cause me issues. I’ll still follow this for a proper fix though.

For anyone interested, this is a the cable I’m using which fixed the problem for me. 
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09YPR5SD4

I ordered the cable. Should be delivered tomorrow. I will test it and report it here, if the dropouts are gone, too.

Make sure you run the cable with the TV at the source end. Fingers crossed this works for you too. I’ve been watching loads lately with 5.1 PCM and I’ve not had an issue. 

Thank you very much for your testing and also thanks to @RANDUSR23296 for the extensive debugging work!

I’ve gone ahead and ordered said cable as well (from Amazon Germany) and will report back once I was able to test it.

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@ste_ms,

Just being devils advocate… I’m just wondering where a manufacturer stands then, like Sonos, if at the time of releasing their Beam soundbar it works with all major brands of TV (available at that point in time) and then after it’s launch, a manufacturer like LG, launch a new TV model with a different chipset that is not supported/compatible with the Beam.

I don’t see how anyone could return a Beam (outside of its warranty), if those were the circumstances and the sequence of events - so that’s why my thoughts would be to return the TV, that’s if it’s launch perhaps occurred afterwards and the LG device that was not compatible - but I appreciate returning the TV is not the easiest option to do, but seems a little unfair if I look at it from Sonos’ point of view.

Of course it’s incredibly difficult but that is the arena in which Sonos have chosen to develop their products and therefore they need to have deep relationships with the TV manufacturers and constantly update their software to manage this risk.

It’s the same as Apple and Samsung - their phones have to work with the cellular networks and I’m sure that is a constant process with the network operators to maintain that functionality over time. 

Personally I would be more than happy with confirmation either way that either Sonos is looking into it, or that they have and it can’t be fixed so I could make an informed choice on what to do next. But instead we are left in limbo for months on end with no communication or acknowledgement whatsoever which is the absolute worst part of all this.

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Beam 2 + LG G2 + PS5. Exact same issue with the audio dropping every few seconds, only when PS5 is set to AV Amplifier 5.1 LPCM.

After so many people here complained on the exact same issue I really don’t understand why Sonos is having such a hard time replicating it. All it takes is an LG TV and a Beam 2 with some 5.1 LPCM track.

This wasn’t an issue with my LG C9 btw. Seems like Sonos doesn’t like LG and LG doesn’t like Sonos back.

Ok so, it seems like, hopefully, I managed to fix the problem. I disabled “QuickStart+” in the TV menu, played around back and forth with some of the audio settings for a few minutes (bitstream->pcm and back, passthrough->auto and back, eARC on and off etc. multiple times) then set my PS5 to AV amplifier mode with 5.1 channels and while leaving it on and browsing the web for more info on the problem I noticed that there are no more drops in the sound (the PS5 was on the sound menu for some 15 minutes while it was idle). I found it odd so I went ahead and played a game for several hours, making sure it’s on 5.1 channels mode with LPCM, and there were no more sound drops. I then also noticed that I was not using the Sonos hdmi cable provided with the soundbar but some generic hdmi cable (because the Sonos one was too short). I went ahead and tried replacing it with the Sonos cable just for good measure as I’ve read it’s higher quality. Since then several days have passed and I’ve had no more drops. I don’t know if QuickStart+ was the culprit, or fiddling around with the settings helped, or perhaps it was even the cable, so I know it sounds a little bit like voodoo, but all of these steps together fixed the problem for me, at least so far.

Might be worth a shot for you guys too! Let me know if it helped anyone.

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So my latest reply with a diagnostic number (that I can’t seem to get back) seems to be deleted. 

Anyway, I received the optical one way cable this evening and plugged the display side into the beam and the source side into the Tv. It’s fixed. No more dropouts. 

Okay so I recently bought myself a Sonos Beam Gen 2 and have only had it for a little over a week. I bought it specifically for my LG CX TV and my PS5 and did a lot of research on how to set it up and what settings to enable etc.

TV settings enabled: SIMPLINK, HDMI ARC, eARC, Pass Through, Bitstream

For a while in the PS5 settings I was running on the ‘Soundbar’ setting thinking that was the “correct” one until I realised that it was reporting Multichannel 7.1 PCM in the Sonos app, so I did a little digging.

After my digging I landed these settings (supposedly they’re better): AV Amplifier, 5.1, Linear PCM. I noticed this cutout issue pretty much immediately considering up until then I never had the problem and initially fiddled with settings to isolate the problem. Everything with any combo of settings works except for when I’m on 5.1 and when the app reports Multichannel 5.1 PCM. This is what lead me down the rabbit hole on researching the issue to find this thread which has helped me in at least the fact that I’m not the only one. I read through the thread and tried some things people said alongside my own testing, which is what I’ll explain below.

What I did first was turn off QuickStart+ as someone suggested earlier in this thread, which unfortunately on its own didn’t fix the issue, so I’ve kept it off anyways from hereon (so I’m not sure if this contributed to my final result 100% but it’s worth noting). After a lot of testing and fiddling with a lot of potential solutions people have proposed in this thread (like the new LG firmware/WebOS update through software update in settings) I was about ready to give up when I remembered that I had never turned off my PS5 *in* 5.1, only in 7.1. Thinking that *maybe* with QuickStart+ off and turning everything off and on again and allowing it all to start in 5.1 instead of switching it whilst it was already on might work and funnily enough it did, with the app also reporting the correct Multichannel 5.1 PCM. For extra insurance for it possibly being a fluke I gamed for hours with no cutouts and over the cause of a week or so it has been okay.

For extra measure what I do now is turn the PS5 on and allow it to fully start (the light going from orange/blue to white) before turning on the TV as what I noticed during my testing is when turning them on in a different order or whilst one is turning on at the same time would reproduce the issue of the cutouts. I’m not too technical as to why this may be the case but maybe it’s the ARC/eARC connection/handshake between the devices getting confused or something? For context I have my PS5 connected directly to the TV through HDMI4 and the TV to the soundbar through the HDMI2 port (ARC/eARC) port.

Hopefully this helps someone but if not maybe my post can push forward this issue to Sonos to eventually fix this for good.

TL;DR for my post: what fixed it for me is turning off QuickStart+, enabling AV Amplifier 5.1ch in the PS5 menu and turning the PS5 and TV off. When wanting to use your PS5, allow it to fully turn on before turning on the TV.

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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. 
 

 

Beam 2 + LG G2 + PS5. Exact same issue with the audio dropping every few seconds, only when PS5 is set to AV Amplifier 5.1 LPCM.

After so many people here complained on the exact same issue I really don’t understand why Sonos is having such a hard time replicating it. All it takes is an LG TV and a Beam 2 with some 5.1 LPCM track.

This wasn’t an issue with my LG C9 btw. Seems like Sonos doesn’t like LG and LG doesn’t like Sonos back.

Ok so, it seems like, hopefully, I managed to fix the problem. I disabled “QuickStart+” in the TV menu, played around back and forth with some of the audio settings for a few minutes (bitstream->pcm and back, passthrough->auto and back, eARC on and off etc. multiple times) then set my PS5 to AV amplifier mode with 5.1 channels and while leaving it on and browsing the web for more info on the problem I noticed that there are no more drops in the sound (the PS5 was on the sound menu for some 15 minutes while it was idle). I found it odd so I went ahead and played a game for several hours, making sure it’s on 5.1 channels mode with LPCM, and there were no more sound drops. I then also noticed that I was not using the Sonos hdmi cable provided with the soundbar but some generic hdmi cable (because the Sonos one was too short). I went ahead and tried replacing it with the Sonos cable just for good measure as I’ve read it’s higher quality. Since then several days have passed and I’ve had no more drops. I don’t know if QuickStart+ was the culprit, or fiddling around with the settings helped, or perhaps it was even the cable, so I know it sounds a little bit like voodoo, but all of these steps together fixed the problem for me, at least so far.

Might be worth a shot for you guys too! Let me know if it helped anyone.

This this!! Thank you! I turned off QuckiStart+ and no more drop out is pcm 5.1 I tested the apple tv nintendo switch and PS5 multiple hours with games movies and tv shows

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Also bought the cable and waiting for it to be delivered. I am following this thread from the beginning but haven't had the patience to do the extensive testing and troubleshooting @RANDUSR23296 or @MJW75 have done. Many thanks for your efforts.

I have the same issue. Experiencing audio dropouts repeatedly when playing back an LPCM 5.1 track. My setup consist of an LG C1 + Beam 2 with IKEA Symfonsik rear speakers. As a player I use an Nvidia Shield and a PS5. I’m affected when I play games or when watching a movie via Plex that has a DTS / DTS-HD MA soundtrack (which then gets transcoded to LPCM due to the C1s inability to pass through DTS).

 

The only thing that sometimes helps to resolve this is unplug the TV, wait for 2 minutes, and then start it again. It’s mind boggling to me that this issue has been reproduced by so many and is not getting fixed or at least acknowledged. 

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Hi @ste_ms 

Thanks for updating the thread!

That is baffling - as both formats are McLPCM, they both need the additional bandwidth of eARC, so it seems strange indeed that a cable change would permit 5.1 to work when 7.1 already did.

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Looks like no fix in 15.2, disappointing as I hoped this would be the one. 

That is disappointing. At least my workaround is still working (see my previous posts if you haven’t already), so I’m happy enough that it will no longer cause me issues. I’ll still follow this for a proper fix though.

For anyone interested, this is a the cable I’m using which fixed the problem for me. 
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09YPR5SD4

I ordered the cable. Should be delivered tomorrow. I will test it and report it here, if the dropouts are gone, too.

Make sure you run the cable with the TV at the source end. Fingers crossed this works for you too. I’ve been watching loads lately with 5.1 PCM and I’ve not had an issue. 

Thank you very much for your testing and also thanks to @RANDUSR23296 for the extensive debugging work!

I’ve gone ahead and ordered said cable as well (from Amazon Germany) and will report back once I was able to test it.

 

To follow up on this, like others who’ve bought this cable, I can also confirm the issue is gone.

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Remember that we are in this together and Sonos is the enemy lol. One of the most active threads with almost 10k views, almost 200 responses, and multiple tickets filed. They’ve got to address this at some point, right...? I hope the forum mods are merely community volunteers because that’s how it looks like.

 

Turns out I am still in warranty after all, but sounds like the retailer would send the Beam 2 for “repair” rather than swap out for a newer unit (the build date is stamped on the exterior of the packaging though).

@Eruvatar, who just got a refund, only bought their unit Jan 2023 so unlikely that there are already revisions that address the issue. “Repair” could potentially be better if they secretly know how to address the issue but are keeping mum due to costs involved.

 

Speaking of, if you can still get a refund or if you are a prospective buyer, just drop the Beam and give the Bose Soundbar 600 a look (this may be inappropriate, but I don’t care at this point). Stumbled upon the Bose store earlier and gave it a try. For the same price point, I think it blows the Beam out of the water. Only thing I don’t like is the the forced upmixing which can’t be disabled. But to be fair, without the bug the Beam would still be a fine consolation considering it came out a year earlier. If the bug still isn’t fixed by the next update, I’m getting the Bose on the next sale and sell the Beam.

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On the main page I go to param of (input/ouput)

And I got settings screen: 

 

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I think the fact that the mods are not engaging with this thread anymore is telling. I think Sonos have reproduced the issue and so don’t need any more diagnostics or support calls coming in.

At this point they either don’t know how long a fix will take, or how it can be done and hence don’t want to set expectations, or they know it’s unfixable and are hoping this just dies away in time.

 

Lack of communication and hoping the issue just “dies” on its own are the worst things you can do as a company in the long run, because this basically guarantees you’re not gonna get returning customers.

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