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andystevenuk
Contributor I
February 5, 2020
Answered

Poor dialogue when watching TV from Sonos PlayBar

I have tried to sort this multiple times but the dialogue that comes from the playbar is so hard to listen too, my wife now refuses to watch TV in the room with it!! music is great but you almost need to lip read if there is any background sounds going on

 

i have called tech support and submitted diagnostics but the sound is still poor, any ideas what to try - i am seriously thinking about purchasing something else

 

Andy

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Ken_Griffiths
Ken_GriffithsAnswer
February 5, 2020

andystevenuk,

It’s not clear what TV brand/model is in use here. I would (re)search the model, both here in the community and online, to see if anyone else has reported a similar experience and perhaps ensure the TV is running the latest firmware update from the manufacturers website. It’s also not clear what audio codec is being sent to the PlayBar by the TV. Are we talking PCM stereo or a Dolby signal? ..and does swapping the codec format make any difference? 

Have you checked the optical cable and perhaps tried another in its place? 

Maybe also checkout the PlayBar EQ Settings, including the loudness toggle switch, to see if they can assist with things.

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andystevenukAuthor
Contributor I
February 9, 2020

I only have “auto” as the other option, have changed it but not had time to test yet

    Anonymous
    February 10, 2020

    @andystevenuk Thank you for bring you question to the Sonos Community.  I understand that your issue is with your TV audio and not streaming music on your Sonos system.  This would point us in the direction of the TV and its settings.  The previous suggested steps aid in that testing, but you now mention that your TV only has an Auto setting for your TV audio out settings. Sonos is compatible with PCM or DOLBY.  We want to test another source like a cable box that has optical out and run the optical cable out from the cable box to the Playbar.  This will allow us to test another source to see if this corrects the issue, meaning it is something with the TV or that there may be an issue with that optical cable.  When testing the TV audio in this configuration please use this FAQ link for submitting us an updated diagnostic report.  Please follow up with the test results and new diagnostic report number.

      camillo777
      Headliner I
      February 13, 2020

      I would say that if tv audio is not a 5.1 signal, voice enhancement and night mode will have no effect.

       

      I am asking for a full stereo configuration on stereo tv audio channels to be able to duplicate front channels on rear "surround" speakers.

       

      This would allow to have better dialogues with lower volume.

      Anonymous
      February 13, 2020

      @camillo777 Thank you joining the thread. I have had other customers asking for that feature to be added to Sonos. I will happily add your voice to the feature request.

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