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Contributor I
January 22, 2018

Sonos Playbar optical input issue

  • January 22, 2018
  • 9 replies
  • 1074 views
Hi guys,

I'm experiencing pretty weird issue with Sonos Playbar optical input when I'm trying to use Pro-Ject pre-amp via Toslink it skips audio every single second. So it plays for a second, then pause then again plays a second, and again pause. When I connect Apple TV via Toslink it plays constantly and has no issues. I've double checked everything, cables, ground, connection, tried different input sources. Can't understand how it's actually possible, but here we are. I even can't explain what's wrong with Playbar as it plays audio through Apple TV, so it can't be returned due warranty. Any ideas how I can fix it?
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9 replies

Contributor I
January 22, 2018
Diagnostic information #8391352
Keith N
Sonos Staff
January 26, 2018
Hi there, angrygecco. Thanks for the diagnostic report. Was this run while playing audio from the Pro-Ject pre-amp? Seems the PLAYBAR is receiving a stereo signal, what is feeding audio to the pre-amp?

You're right, if the PLAYBAR works with an Apple TV, we know the PLAYBAR works. Its now working our way back through the audio chain to find out what the cause is.
Building community is like building a garden. You build the frame, till the ground, plant the seeds, feed the plants & sometimes you gotta pull the weeds.
Contributor I
January 28, 2018
Yes, it was run while playing from phono. Audio input source is Pro-Ject Primary turntable.
Keith N
Sonos Staff
January 29, 2018
Understood. Do you have anything that we can test the turntable on? I'm curious if the problem persists on other speakers, using the same pre-amp.

Thanks!
Building community is like building a garden. You build the frame, till the ground, plant the seeds, feed the plants & sometimes you gotta pull the weeds.
Contributor I
January 29, 2018
I’ve checked it already. I used another audio system through both optical output and analog one. Both had no issues.
Keith N
Sonos Staff
January 29, 2018
Understood. In this case, I would recommend giving our support technicians a call to take a closer look at what is going on.
Building community is like building a garden. You build the frame, till the ground, plant the seeds, feed the plants & sometimes you gotta pull the weeds.
Contributor I
March 6, 2018
One more assumption, the phono I'm using to send signal to Sonos Playbar outputs 24bit/96kHz sampling rate via optical output. Is it possible that Sonos input can't handle such sampling rate and starts skipping audio constantly?
Keith N
Sonos Staff
March 7, 2018
One more assumption, the phono I'm using to send signal to Sonos Playbar outputs 24bit/96kHz sampling rate via optical output. Is it possible that Sonos input can't handle such sampling rate and starts skipping audio constantly?

That is certainly possible. 24 bit audio files are not supported on Sonos. Is it possible to change the bitrate to 16 bit/96k?
Building community is like building a garden. You build the frame, till the ground, plant the seeds, feed the plants & sometimes you gotta pull the weeds.
Contributor I
October 20, 2018
One more assumption, the phono I'm using to send signal to Sonos Playbar outputs 24bit/96kHz sampling rate via optical output. Is it possible that Sonos input can't handle such sampling rate and starts skipping audio constantly?

That is certainly possible. 24 bit audio files are not supported on Sonos. Is it possible to change the bitrate to 16 bit/96k?

Hi Keith, could you provide more info on this please, the custhelp.com site is showing unavailable? This thread https://en.community.sonos.com/setting-up-sonos-228990/project-essentials-3-to-playbar-6810726 says he's successfully using a turntable that only outputs either 24bit @ 48KHz or 96KHz, connected directly to a playbar on fibre? I'm looking to use this setup but want to check. Why wouldn't Sonos support higher quality / current audio formats, when the main selling point is high quality audio?

Edit - OK, I've read a thread questioning whether anyone can tell the difference between 16bit and 24bit, but if source devices only output in 24bit, where are we to go? We / I buy into Sonos partly for a simplified, streamlined setup without amps and external speakers; I want to add a turntable and the idea of a direct fibre link is perfect, but the only turntable I've found with fibre output is 24bit...