Playbar issues with Sony Bravia 55SD8505

Diagnostic information sent on 7168821. Thanks

Thanks for that diagnostic. We have seen some of the XBR TVs with decoding issues, but yours doesn't look to be one on the list at this time. There's a lot of 5GHz interference showing up there which could cause some trouble with the surrounds. What other wireless devices are around? Do you happen to have a cordless phone or other device that's new to the area, potentially around the time the TVs were swapped?

Have the same problem. It's because the Sony TV actually outputs 5.1 Dolby where as other brands like Samsung and lg output PCM only. I found out that if you set the Sony TV sound output to PCM instead of auto 1 or auto 2 it stops the drop outs however it is not as good as using Dolby surround. If that makes any sense. I have recently also purchased a Sony TV and having same issue. Sonos is having trouble with ththe signal from actual Dolby signal from TV instead of pcm.

That's not entirely accurate kane8703, most Samsung TVs will output Dolby Digital 5.1 and many LGs will do it too. The PLAYBAR can play those signals just fine. Playback problems are usually a result of poor processing or missed data. The PCM certainly has lower bandwidth requirements, and therefore can "fix" the issue, but that's because it has lower processing demands and is easier to compensate for problems.

We'd be happy to take a closer look at your setup if you're having trouble too. It's often best to give us a call on our support line and work with a technician live. They can assist in finding where the source of the cutouts are coming from and help resolve it.

I have had the lastest LG TV last year and didn't output Dolby digital and Samsung a year before that. You can go on system info on the app and it clearly shows when it is outputting in Dolby and Sony are the only ones to show as Dolby. When I purchased the TV in currys the staff there could not find any Samsung or lg TVs that passed Dolby through. Only the Sony TV that I purchased. Also sky q has the dropouts too and that stops when you select normal sound instead of Dolby. There is no reason why it is the TVs fault. My previous lg never dropped sound and that's because it never passed through Dolby. This has been a widespread problem on the forums and on the internet and no sonos representative can give a clear diagnosis or a firmware update to sort the issue out.

There's a really great list here of TVs that'll pass Dolby Digital 5.1 on the optical connect. We've also got a great list on the home theater megathread here based on customer recommendations.

We'd love to take a closer look at your system as there shouldn't be any cutouts or issues playing Dolby Digital. There are definitely some TVs we've seen issues with, like the JS/JU model TVs that had poor processing of the Dolby signal. We worked with them to get some firmware in place that has since largely resolved the issue.

There are a lot of elements that go into having consistent playback for Dolby Digital, and any number of them could cause what appears to be the same issue. Because of that, it can feel like there's an overarching problem, but I can assure you our team is constantly looking into this to make sure there isn't any issue. Personally, I've seen a lot of systems with a PLAYBAR that's constantly streaming Dolby Digital and never had an issue with the audio stream. I know that doesn't help you personally if you are having cutouts, but that's why our team is here, and we'd love to help.

It just looks like sonos won't admit that it's there problem. Sky q does it so you have to switch to pcm, the TV does it so you have to switch to pcm, TiVo does it so you have to switch to pcm and many other pieces of equipment on the threads in the community. How can so many products be having the same problem and not be sonos at fault? It's been a constant problem for 3 years and i haven't voiced my opinion before but now that I own over £2000 worth of sonos equipment it's starting to leave a bad taste. Don't get me wrong the products are amazing but dropouts with these price tags is unacceptable and blaming interference of wireless products is not good enough.

Have you had a chance to work with one of our technicians on this one Kane? If not, we'd love to set up a ticket for you to do so.

A good test too, if you have the audio cutting out from a number of sources is to try it at the source itself. If you wire the optical from the PLAYBAR into any of those sources, do you still have Dolby Digital cutouts?

I would try that but the problem is that it's so random and intermittent that it could take a while to make sure those sources are fine and that I would have to have a set up that i don't want because my other equipment wouldn't be getting the sonos treatment

That's understandable, I know it can be a bit of a hassle sometimes to move cables around. If you want to give it a try at some point feel free to let us know how it goes, and you're welcome to give us a call on our support line and get some help that way. They'll probably need you to do some moving around as well, but they can at least take a look at some of the logs and get a good layout look too.