Answered

Poor dialogue when watching TV from Sonos PlayBar

  • 5 February 2020
  • 14 replies
  • 1120 views
A

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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Best answer by Ken_Griffiths 5 February 2020, 17:30

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14 replies

K
Userlevel 7
Badge +16

Theres Speech enhancement and Night mode which both help a little but what really needs to be done is have the option to raise the center channel volume imho.

I find some programs hard to hear speach on (that's why we  bought it in the first place).

 

A

Thanks, i have tried both Speech enhancement and night mode, they seem to have very little effect

i have also changed the source from Sky, Apple TV and the TV itself and they all seem to have the same issue. for a £600+ bit of kit for TVs it seems to have fundemental issues

AjTrek1
Userlevel 7

Hi andystevenuk

If you have (or can borrow) an iOS device use the TruePlay feature in the app. See if that helps with dialogue. 

There are numerous factors that can affect the way your Playbar sounds. Room design that is considered a hard surface meaning hardwood floors, no drapes and sparsely padded furniture. Rooms with high ceilings and/or open concept combining viewing area with another space. 

One option that helps (although expensive) is to add a Sonos sub. In truth adding a sub has been more beneficial with the Beam; as the Playbar typically doesn’t need it reproduce decent vocals/speech.

If you have a hard surface space as mentioned above adding accent rugs can help.

Cheers!

Together Everyone Achieves More = T.E.A.M.
Ken_Griffiths

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.

A

Thanks for the responses

 

I have added a Sub to the system, it made no difference so i moved it to a speaker setup in my kitchin for music and that sounds great.

 

I have a sony TV, but i have also tried taking the output from the Apple TV and Sky box and it made no difference to the poor dialogue

 

i tried trueplay and that has not improved the situation

 

i am at a loss

Airgetlam

Have you checked, as Ken suggested, to see what type of signal is being received by your PLAYBAR?

Bruce
A

Sorry, its set to PCM stereo

Airgetlam

Then that’s an issue. You’re not getting an individual ‘center’ channel that carries the majority of the dialogue. You need to check the TV, and any sources that feed a signal to the TV to be sure that they are sending a Dolby Digital signal. And not something else, like Dolby Digital Plus, or Dolby Atmos, or DTS.  

Bruce
A

is it best to plug it into the Sky Q box or the TV?

Ken_Griffiths

is it best to plug it into the Sky Q box or the TV?

I would personally leave the playbar cabled to the TV’s optical port and use HDMI from your other boxes to the TV  ...so you can then still use the in-built TV Apps and also get audio from the other boxes like Apple TV/Sky Q etc. 

In the “sound out” Settings set all your devices to use Dolby Digital 5.1 or Dolby Digital codec (if not available try auto), but don’t choose “Dolby Digital Plus” nor “DTS”. Then try a Netflix DD5.1 movie to see how it sounds... also try the voice enhancement feature too (again) in the Sonos App.

A

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

A

@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.

C
Userlevel 5
Badge +12

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.

A

@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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