Sonos Arc + Samsung Q90T | Sound Cutting Out | Anyone else?


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So I recently picked up the Sonos Arc + Sub and a Samsung Q90T TV (which has HDMI 2.1/eArc) and I am experiencing the sound cutting out periodically. Some details:

  • Only devices I can test with are an Xbox One S, Xbox One X and the built-in Samsung TV Apps

  • Sonos, Xboxes and Saumsung are properly set to have Dolby Atmos

  • I have experienced sound cutting out on both Atmos and 5.1 

  • I have experienced sound cutting out from both the Xboxes as well as the built-in Samsung TV Apps (only tested the Netflix app) . . . so I know the Xboxes aren't the issue

  • At times the sound cuts out very infrequently (minutes apart) and other times about every 10 to 20 seconds and there is no discernible pattern on what changes this.

  • There is a sound setting on the TV showing ‘sound output’ that should should normally say ‘Receiver(HDMI-eARC)’ when you have the ‘HDMI eARC Mode’ set to ‘auto’ but sometimes shows ‘Receiver(HDMI)’ instead (as if it lost the eARC signal).

  • The most stable I have seen the sound (though it did cut out once during a 30 to 40 minute session, so perhaps it is just much less likely) is if I go to the Samsung TV settings and set ‘HDMI eARC Mode’ to ‘off’ (only other option is ‘auto’). When doing this Dolby Atmos still works (at least it says so in the Sonos app).

I don't know if this is a Samsung issue, a Sonos issue, or just the two of them working together. Curious if this is some form of eARC / HDMI signaling issue.

Perhaps related side-note: the Samsung settings do say when playing with the settings it may cause temporary muting, which is kind of what this is, so wondering if when in 'auto eArc' mode, there is a problem. Unfortunately there is no way to force on, just 'off' and 'auto'.

On reddit, someone with a Samsung Q80T also said they had this issue. They also mentioned that toggling ‘Dolby Atmos compatibility’ fixed it (though obviously no Atmos). My experience was more temperamental. Sometimes it got better and sometimes it didn’t.

Anyone else experiencing anything like this?


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Q80T + Arc here. This happened to me yesterday as well. Right after I tried the beta upgrade. Cutting out only happened with audio from the TV. Was still able to play music via my phone.

In the end I did a factory reset on the TV. Didn’t resolve the issue. I then did a power cycle on the Arc and this seemed to fix it. 

I’m starting to feel rev 1 owners of the arc are beta testers...

Q95T and Arc with same issue. First two weeks no probs, now started cutting couple of days ago.

Power cycle Arc + disable/enable hdmi+cec fixes it for some time.

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Same issue with Samsung here.  Swapped HDMI cable initially and it was a fix for about a week.  Issue came back yesterday.

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This is definitely wider-spread. Another post here about the Samsung Frame:

https://en.community.sonos.com/home-theater-228993/sonos-arc-samsung-frame-tv-earc-not-working-6842523?postid=16444852#post16444852

I have same issue with Q95TsQ95T and ARC.

 

I have noticed two things:-

 

1) As noted during the issue, I have always lost the Sonos signal from the EARC source. I.e. I don't see the Sonos picture anymore, if I change to the Sonos source.

 

2) a quick unplug and replug of the HDMI cable from the ARC fixes the issue.

 

Might be worth checking these two issues/fixes to confirm same issue?

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I am seeing this issue on a 2020 LG with eARC but just so far with TrueHD/Atmos tracks mainly durring action scenes when the sound gets quite intense (possible higher bit rates?). Source is Plex on an Nvidia Shield. Will do more testing.

I have a 2020 Sony X950 with eARC and have encountered a similar issue. When streaming Netflix content in Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos, the audio cuts out from time to time. When this happens I can exit Netflix, but the audio does not return. The Android TV UI makes a “ding” sound every time you navigate the menus, but that does not work until I power cycle the television.

 

After seeing this forum with Samsung and LG users, I’m guessing it’s the arc sound bar itself. I have about 14 days to return and I might do that. For $799 and my first Sonos experience, it isn’t a good one.

Happening to me daily. 

To fix it I go into expert sound settings and toggle dolby atmos off and back on.

Hopefully just a bug that's fixed with a software update 

First worked perfect. Then cutting daily and all of a sudden, was again working for several days without any problems. Was already thinking it had been sorted… WRONG! Today started cutting again 😫

I also contacted sonos support about it → nobody got back to me about it 😡

This is happening to me on my LG C9 TV, Apple TV 4K, and Arc.  

With no pattern that I can establish, I will sometimes start a show with the Apple TV and get no sound. The Sonos app says there’s no signal. By adjusting the LG TV sound settings to toggle eARC off then on again, the sound always comes back immediately, and continues to perform well, generally for days.

I’ve never seen it go out during a show. Only after a period of non-use. This does not happen every time. And it seems to happen for Atmos, 5.1, and stereo content alike.

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Of late things have been a bit more stable (meaning between uses it seems to not do the frequent drop-outs) BUT I do commonly get a single drop out during one watching session, usually after 30ish minutes of watching (just estimating).

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I have the q95t and I have my Arc wired straight into hdmi 3 (eARC) the Arc only shows the Arc as a HDMI Receiver as opposed to Receiver eARC - I have a horrible audio delay when using Atmos on my Xbox One X and I think a possible fix could be to enable audio pass through on the TV but this is only possible on eARC devices, which for some reason it doesn't seem to think the Arc is.

2020 LG-75NANO90UNALG + Sonos ARC here. I’m experiencing similar behavior. When I have eARC enabled in the sound settings, I get the audio dropout randomly. I’ve got a really simple setup and am only using the TV->ARC for audio, no sub yet (back-ordered). I have a 3’ HDMI 2.2 cable connecting the two. If I disable the eARC function in the TV sound settings, I don’t experience the issue (* or at least I haven’t yet). Given this forum seems to showing it’s happening with both Samsung and LG TV’s can we safely say this is a Sonos issue?

I am getting this on the LG CX, with arc (+surrounds and sub). I notice with Dolby digital plus it cuts out a few times at start of a tv show and then is fine till the end. Then when another ep starts, it happens all over again. 
 

i was just watching a Dolby atmos film and it cuts out every 20 seconds or so. 
 

When watching something with Dolby pcm 2.0 it’s fine, no issues. 
 

i previously had a Beam with the same setup and no issues at all. 

Samsung Q90T with Arc connected via eARC HDMI connection. Same issue here as well. Very random, usually when TV is first turned on. Sometimes it’s fine, sometimes it cuts out on and off for random periods of time. I’ve tried changing inputs, settings, HDMI cords, apps, used Samsung TV and Apple TV 4K and when the issue is occurring, it occurs no matter what I’m using or doing. As random as it starts, it just randomly ends as well. I have not unplugged the Arc power cord and plugged it back in but will try that if it happens again. Very annoying issue to say the least. Once it starts working, it’ll be fine for hours and hours for me and will only happen again once I turn the TV off and then turn it back on later on or the next morning (or sometimes is fine). 

So I have found with my LG Cx there is a digital sound out option where you can choose from PCM, Passthrough and Auto.
 

Choosing Auto seems to pass Dolby multi-channel pcm 5.1 for most tv and movies on Netflix, prime etc and Atmos when the show/movie supports that.

 

Been using that all day and not had any cut outs. I am not a sound buff, so no idea if pcm is better or worse...

We seem to be having the same issue with our Samsung Q800T and Sonos Arc. Diagnostic sent 55511649. Can anybody help?

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@Realtonytones, I’ve been communicating in another thread with a Sonos rep. See here:  https://en.community.sonos.com/home-theater-228993/intermittent-audio-from-sonos-arc-to-samsung-qe65q95t-6843249?postid=16452439#post16452439

 

At this point, for me, I can generally confirm nearly every 30 minutes I will get a quick drop out. I sent in diagnostics for the latest two. Not sure why it is so regular. Others seem to have more random issues (which is what I had before, though I have not forced a power cycle on the Arc since it get into this state, so perhaps if I did it would be behave differently upon restart).

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Same issue here with Arc and a Samsung QN65Q80T.  Very frustrating and hope there is a resolution possible.  Will submit diagnostics to Sonos next time it happens.

I just got my Samsung Q90T and Sonos Arc up and running two days ago.  I am also experiencing the audio drop out.  Like others have said, going into Sound Expert Settings and changing the eArc from Auto to Off then back to Auto gets the sound going again.  It has mainly been noticed when the TV is turned on, but I also noticed it when trying to tweak the sound settings to get Dolby Atmos from the Netflix (4K subscription) and Amazon Prime Apps installed on the TV.  That is another issue but I feel like venting…. 

 

I have found through the Sonos App that I can only get Dolby PCM 5.1 with the installed TV apps even if the content is delivered with the Atmos signal.  I found this in the Samsung Q90T manual:  “Dolby Atmos - You can set the TV to allow Dolby Digital+ with Atmos streams that are input from external devices.”  The key words being EXTERNAL DEVICES.  Therefore it is my assumption that I must purchase an External Device to get the full Atmos experience from my 2020 Samsung Q90T and Sonos Arc.  I am getting a 4K Apple TV to validate this tomorrow, but I would love to hear if anyone else can validate this on the Samsung (or LG so if it works on the LG I can hate myself even more for buying Samsung)...

 

And the sound cutting out is just absurd.  Something has to give. Since we are seeing this with multiple TV models I’m starting the think this particular issue is with the Sonos Arc and not the TV...

Samsung Q80T + Sonos Arc via eArc port using RocketFish HDMI cable (happens with Sonos provided cord as well)

Sound intermittently cuts out every 8 secs for an undefined duration.  Cut out being a flash of silence lasting 1-2 seconds.  Total phenomenon can last 5 to 10 mins. Occurs every time TV powers up so initially thought TV or Sonos Arc needed time to catch up on audio but lately started happening later during uninterrupted usage.  Also originally thought it might have been a Directv Genie issue but cut out happens on native apps such as Netflix and Apple+.  Both TV and bar have latest firmware and I’ve tried unplugging and replugging HDMI cords on both ends.  Toggling audio outputs, Atmos on/off, and PCM/pass through to no success.

 

Quite disruptive and maddening!

Praying for an OTA update to resolve...

 

 

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I just got my Samsung Q90T and Sonos Arc up and running two days ago.  I am also experiencing the audio drop out.  Like others have said, going into Sound Expert Settings and changing the eArc from Auto to Off then back to Auto gets the sound going again.  It has mainly been noticed when the TV is turned on, but I also noticed it when trying to tweak the sound settings to get Dolby Atmos from the Netflix (4K subscription) and Amazon Prime Apps installed on the TV.  That is another issue but I feel like venting…. 

 

I have found through the Sonos App that I can only get Dolby PCM 5.1 with the installed TV apps even if the content is delivered with the Atmos signal.  I found this in the Samsung Q90T manual:  “Dolby Atmos - You can set the TV to allow Dolby Digital+ with Atmos streams that are input from external devices.”  The key words being EXTERNAL DEVICES.  Therefore it is my assumption that I must purchase an External Device to get the full Atmos experience from my 2020 Samsung Q90T and Sonos Arc.  I am getting a 4K Apple TV to validate this tomorrow, but I would love to hear if anyone else can validate this on the Samsung (or LG so if it works on the LG I can hate myself even more for buying Samsung)...

 

And the sound cutting out is just absurd.  Something has to give. Since we are seeing this with multiple TV models I’m starting the think this particular issue is with the Sonos Arc and not the TV...


Hello, 

 

how did the testing go with the Apple TV? Are you getting full Atmos?

 

 

So the night I posted this I did more testing and actually found some shows that I can stream on the Netflix Samsung TV App and the Sonos App indicates the audio is full Dolby Atmos. Those shows I have found that work as expected on the internal Netflix TV App are The Order, In the Shadow of the Moon, Okja, Sweet Magnolias, and Altered Carbon. The one I originally tested with that show Atmos in the on screen description was Dark. It will not send Atmos for some reason. I have been unable to find Atmos content on Amazon Prime Internal TV App. So far I’ve tried Jack Ryan and Mad Max 2015 movie trailer. I would be interested if others have found Content on Amazon Prime Video that the Sonos App indicates is streamed with full Dolby Atmos so I can validate on my end. Given that I am having some success with the internal TV Apps I’m going to delay the purchase of the Apple TV. I really don’t want another gadget to deal with unless it provides some real tangible benefit. 

Update on sound cut out…

 

setup Samsung Q90T and Sonos Arc, etc.

 

i have had 3 days (albeit only a few hours total of watch time) with no sound cut outs.  Only change made was implemented a Harmony Companion Universal remote to turn on/off all devices for Watch TV activity. 
 

Will have much more uninterrupted time today to test this. Fingers crossed that either the new Harmony remote or some automatic software update to TV and/or Arc has fixed the issue!!!

Another update on sound drop out…

 

occured twice last night when Netflix automatically queues up the next episode of a show. Only way to fix was turn TV and Arc off for Qatar while (like a minute) and then back on, or switch TV input / fiddle with sound output settings. Can’t seem to find a rhyme or reason to cause or solution. As posted above it can be quite maddening. 

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