Sound cutting in and out on Sonos Arc after playing Dolby Atmos content on Apple TV 4K



Show first post
This topic has been closed for further comments. You can use the search bar to find a similar topic, or create a new one by clicking Create Topic at the top of the page.

110 replies

Userlevel 5
Badge +13

Hi folks, thanks for reaching out with the Sonos Community! Let me share these threads that may be helpful for some of you. 

https://en.community.sonos.com/troubleshooting-228999/no-dialog-through-arc-from-apple-tv-4k-6847888

https://en.community.sonos.com/home-theater-228993/did-ios14-tvos14-quietly-bring-atmos-audio-to-airplay-2-6848270

We will be adding Multi-Channel LPCM support to Arc as part of a future software update. We don’t have exact timing to share at this point and will update this thread as well when we do.

Please let us know if there’s anything else we can help you with. We and the community are always here.

Userlevel 5
Badge +11

And here LG CX 

zip sound , stuttering with Apple TV 4K and sound drop switching from various sources.

Same issues here too - Arc/CX/ATV4K

Same issues, same gear. 
LG CX 77 / ATV 4K / ARC+Sub+SLx2

I use the restart TV method to reset audio signals too. But the other day trying that method to turn off TV to reset sound when switching playback from Atmos to Stereo nothing fixed like it normally does. Sound was still clipping even after TV restart. So I had to unplug ARC and then the audio reset. Seemed to be stuck from TV side and seems to be LGs issue IMO. Not sure...
 

Hope the firmware fix comes soon! 

I can also confirm having the exact same issues witch ARC/77CX/Atv4K. Sound drops in/out after playing Dolby Atmos content on AppleTV. And sometimes the loud “zip” sound when changing input.

Same here - Arc/CX/ATV4K. Just waiting on software updates I guess 

Badge

Ok, caught the Arc randomly rebooting mid-watching AppleTV. 
Diagnostics 1493524734 time of reboot was 21:08 local time (11:08 UTC).

I hope this helps the Sonos team. 

Badge

Add me to the list. This has been driving me crazy. I’m so glad I found the post. 
 

Sonos Arc, connected via HDMI2 / eARC to new 2020 LG GX TV, ATV4K via HDMI1.

TV firmware, Sonos firmware and ATV firmware all up to date. 
 

I get as per the OP, the sound stuttering every second, resolved the same way OP describes. I hear the “zip” sound from time to time changing between the TV built in Amazon Prime and the ATV. 
 

I am also seeing the Sonos or the TV randomly rebooting from time to time in the middle of watching something, or occasionally, the TV turns on and the wretched Sonos will not wake up from sleep without a power-cycle to start playing Audio. 
 

All in all, it’s a pretty wretched experience just wanting to watch something and never knowing if it’s going to work properly. I have noticed that the drop-outs have got worse with 3.10.43 on the LG. 
 

My ATV says “Auto, Atmos Available” under Audio Format settings. Audio mode is “Auto”. The LG “Digital Sound Out” is set to “Auto”

 

I may be crazy, but when the Arc was first released, I had virtually no issues with it for the first few weeks. This all seems to be deteriorating rather than improving. 

TV: LG CX77

Streaming device: Apple TV 4k 
 

I’m having the same issues with sound stuttering after changing from Atmos to non-Atmos sound content, as well as the loud zipping sound when starting Atmos supported content. None of these issues are present when playing content on native apps on the tv, only when accessing content through the Apple TV 4K. Thanks so much for the updates on this issue, hopefully Sonos releases a patch to read LPCM sooner than later.

I am having the same loud zip issue but no audio stuttering. I own a lg cx55 hooked up to the arc through earc and an Xbox one X in hdmi 4. I see Atmos turn on in the app and then the “zip” sound occurs. I did a lot of trouble shooting with choosing different sound settings in my tv, Xbox, and the Sonos app. The only time this sound would go away is if I turned the bitstream format on the Xbox to Dolby Digital… effectively getting rid of Atmos. Hopefully this issue can get resolved through an update from lg or Sonos, I doubt its the Xbox. I’ve only had the arc for a couple of days… sounds great! but this issue gets annoying.

Badge

Same issues here too - Arc/CX/ATV4K

I’m having both issues mentioned here: the loud “zip” sound and the random interval stuttering with my Apple TV 4K, Sonos Arc, and LG CX (2020). The “zip” sound happens with my Xbox One X too. Any solutions?

I have the same issue with the loud “zip” sound when changing audio formats on ATV with Sonos Arc and LG CX tv. I also get that same sound on Xbox One X when I first turn it on. I hope this sound isn’t damaging my speakers! I guess I’ll avoid the ATV and hope it’s fixed when LPCM gets added. And keep the volume low when turning on Xbox. 

Hi all.

I own an LG 77CX, Apple TV 4K with Sonos Arc and experienced the exact same audio dropout issues after watching Dolby Atmos content on it.  My brother owns an LG 55CX, Apple TV 4K with Sonos Playbar and experienced the same audio drop out on Dolby digital content until we selected the option to change the  audio format in the Apple TV audio settings.  This is fine with the playbar as it only does Dolby digital but selecting this option with the Arc will disable Dolby Atmos.

This issue does not occur using my nvidia shield or when I used my previous TV, which was a Samsung (connected via optical cable).
So looks like this is an issue with the Apple TV and LG CX not the Arc but hopefully once Sonos update the Arc to play lossless PCM this issue may be resolved. 

@phivs

For me it’s down to two devices either the LG TV or the Apple TV 4K.  I exchanged the TV due to faulty ports (hardware problem) and can still replicate the choppy sound without the ARC soundbar connected.  I have the HDMI 2 port completely disconnected with sound going to internal speakers (not optical + internal speakers) and Atmos enabled.  On the Apple TV device I have match content and range with the sound set to auto,  Atmos available.

 

To replicate the issue, I go into the Apple TV app on the Apple TV 4K plugged into HDMI 1 and watch the trailer for Greyhound.  Once sound starts playing I back out of the trailer and immediately notice navigation sounds start cutting in and out.  Then I open YouTube and play a video with stereo audio and the sound remains choppy until rebooting the TV.

 

I have contacted LG support with the issues.

That’s some fine troubleshooting there!  I wonder why more people aren’t experiencing as I’ve only heard of this issue from Arc users.  Again, I’ll reiterate that this was NOT an issue until LG firmware 3.10.20.  Earlier firmware versions of the LG CX did not have this issue when connected to the same equipment (LG CX, Arc, ATV4K).

 

I suspect this has to do with the ATV’s encoding of Atmos vs other devices.  The Apple TV sends the Atmos signal in a MAT format of Dolby Digital.  When playing Atmos content through my Xbox one, there is no stuttering of stereo content.

Userlevel 7

Hi All

This issue as it relates to Sonos and AppleTV depends upon where you want to place the blame.

  1. You could blame Sonos for not (at launch) equipping the Arc to decode LPCM. It’s said that the Arc will decode LPCM upon a later update.
  2. You could blame AppleTV for using LPCM as the primary base codec to carry Dolby Atmos.
  3. So take your pick….Sonos or AppleTV...who’s to blame :thinking:  I have my opinion but I’ll let you draw your own conclusions. However, I’ll leave you with this:

You manufacture high performance cars. I manufacture high performance tires. Should you manufacture cars to work with my tires or should I manufacture my tires to work with your cars. Oh BTW their are any number of tire manufacturers vying to be named as OEM for your cars.

I’d like to read your answer to the above. 

HINT: There many soundbar manufacturers to choose from.

 

Cheers!

@phivs

For me it’s down to two devices either the LG TV or the Apple TV 4K.  I exchanged the TV due to faulty ports (hardware problem) and can still replicate the choppy sound without the ARC soundbar connected.  I have the HDMI 2 port completely disconnected with sound going to internal speakers (not optical + internal speakers) and Atmos enabled.  On the Apple TV device I have match content and range with the sound set to auto,  Atmos available.

 

To replicate the issue, I go into the Apple TV app on the Apple TV 4K plugged into HDMI 1 and watch the trailer for Greyhound.  Once sound starts playing I back out of the trailer and immediately notice navigation sounds start cutting in and out.  Then I open YouTube and play a video with stereo audio and the sound remains choppy until rebooting the TV.

 

I have contacted LG support with the issues.

@okgrongstad @Buggses @AjTrek1 

Same issue on my brand new LG CX 65”, Arc and Sub (Gen 3).

Switching to 5.1 on Apple TV and playing all Atmos content on built in apps (unfortunately no native HBO Max app yet) seemed to resolve it.

Do we know if this is an LG issue / Apple issue / Sonos issue? That high pitched zip sound was crazy. I also got a couple of errors in the middle of watching content from Apple TV Netflix app. Could NOT replicate when I removed Sonos from the equation.

Anyone at Sonos looking in to this? Having everything coming out of Apple TV would be preferable. Much nicer interface than LG.

 

 

Hello @okgrongstad 

I saw you were reporting issues with your Sonos Arc and wanted to say I have been having similar issues even though I have a different setup/device and just wanted to add some information.  Thanks for taking the time in posting your issue with all the details.

 

Sound Cutting in and out:

The issue I have been having with my Sonos Arc is where the sound cuts out for about ¼ a second and comes right back.  I had a similar issue before with my Sonos Beam, although I don’t recall it happening as frequently as it is now.

Setup:

TV: LG OLED C8

SYSTEM: Sonos Arc paired with two rear Sonos Play:1 for surround sound speakers.

STREAMING DEVICE: Nvidia Shield Pro (2019)

 

My issue: 
While I need to do further testing to see if my issue is related to having Dolby Atoms streams, I have been experiencing the sound cutting in and out on my Sonos Arc during playback.

Here is a recording of what I hear:

The skips you hear are exactly what I hear (this is not an issue with the recording).  Apologies for the intense movement and sound of the recording, I was using ‘Dark’ on Netlfix.

 

Testing/Information

NVIDIA: I have reached out to Nvidia regarding the issue and they had me replace my HDMI cable and even sent me a new Nvidia Shield but the audio issue continues.  I am currently using Monoprice 8K cables (overkill I know).  My Shield goes directly to my TV via HDMI and the Sonos Arc is connected to my LG OLED TV via the ARC port using the HDMI cable that came with the Arc.

LG: I have reached out to LG regarding my TV.  I was able to replicate the issue while the tech was there and he ended up replacing my Main Board within the TV.  His fix was simply a guess as to what was causing my audio issues, my TV passed all the tests that he did prior to him replacing the main board.  He did mention that the sound issue seemed to happen more often when there was lots of motion on the TV or when the sound was ‘swelling’.  While I agree with that assessment, I have also heard the issue happen with simple cartoons or TV shows that are mostly just dialog (more to come on that below).

Sonos: I have reached out to Sonos who pulled multiple diagnostics sent to them and said they saw nothing wrong with my Sonos Arc and any connections.

 

Test: I used the opening sequence of “Dark’ on Netflix (Season 2, Episode 1 from the 05:15 mark to about 15:00 in). I have 4K, Dolby Vision, and Dolby Atmos playback enabled on Netflix when I do this.  Dolby Vision is also turned on within my Nvidia Shield.  I play said episode and the time frame on my Nivida Shield and without fail will get the audio to ‘skip’ (as described above).  The times when the skip happens is not consistent.  It can happen only once during playback or multiple times.

I played the same episode on my Fire TV (4K).  This device will play the episode in 4K but with only 5.1 sound being sent.  No issues noticed or recorded in multiple playbacks.

I played the same episode directly from Netflix within my LG TV OS.  Playback showed the signal coming in at 4K, HDR, and Dolby Atmos being on.  No issues noticed or recorded in multiple playbacks.

No other audio device to my TV and thus to my Sonos Arc causes this skipping issue, I have also had my PS4 and Nintendo Switch connected to my LG TV and the Sonos Arc worked just fine. I will add it doesn’t matter what application I am using within the Nvidia Shield to hear the audio skip.  I have heard the issue simply watching Family Guy on Hulu, watching Toy Story on Disney+, and watching New Girl on Netflix (within the Nvidia Shield).

 

Conclusion:

While I do believe the issue seems to be related to my Nvidia Shield Pro given the above test.  It has been a pain to try and narrow down every single connection and issue to try and rule them out.  I do find it odd this is my second Nvidia Shield (they replaced my first via RMA for free) and the issue continues.  They are going to try replacing it one more time, but can’t seem to find an issue within my Nvidia Shield after sending feedback from my unit directly to them.  I will say the issue ‘seems’ to happen more with Dolby Atmos content, but again I have heard the issue come up while simply playing Family Guy on Hulu which doesn’t have Atmos. This issue also happened with my Sonos Beam before I upgraded my Netflix account to 4K and allow for Dolby Atmos.  At that time my Sonos Beam was connected to my LG TV via the optical adapter.

 

Playing music from Alexa or even directly from the Sonos app has no audio issues either.  Spotify, Apple Music and Pandora all work and sound great without issue.

 

Recently Development:

I spoke with a Sonos customer service rep today who told me the audio issue I was describing could be due to the fact my LG OLED C8 only has a HDMI (ARC) port and not eARC since this TV is just shy of being 2 years old.  While I understand this, I believed that on my TV specifically the ARC port WOULD allow Dolby Atmos.  There is not a lot of information, but from what I could find on some other forums was this: “ The C8 should deliver Atmos but as a lossy Dolby Digital+ stream as opposed to the lossless Dolby TrueHD you find on blu-ray and 4K blu-ray. You need eARC on both the TV and the receiver/soundbar for lossless audio.”

(EDIT)Further Add:

Sonos’ own website states HDMI ARC should work fine with the Sonos Arc.

https://support.sonos.com/s/article/4844?language=en_US

 

Hope any of that information helps.  Just wanted to share what I have been experiencing as well, even though I understand a few different things are at play.

 

@okgrongstad

Had the same issue and same setup, however, I was able to replicate the problem without the ARC connected.  I had only the Apple TV connected to HDMI 1 and nothing else connected.  Using the internal speakers with Atmos enabled also caused the issue for me.

I’d be interested to know if you can recreate the issue without the ARC connected.

Since you’ve verified you can reproduce w/o the Sonos Arc, I recommend reporting to LG support as well as it seems like they broke something in firmware 3.10.20.

I have this same issue and same TV.  I’ve seen others report this on AVSForum and the LG Community.  For me, the issue started with the CX firmware 3.10.20 as the combination worked perfectly with earlier firmware versions.  The issue can also be remedied by turning the TV off then back on and the issue will also stay if you switch the audio to the TV’s internal speakers.

 

 

@okgrongstad

Had the same issue and same setup, however, I was able to replicate the problem without the ARC connected.  I had only the Apple TV connected to HDMI 1 and nothing else connected.  Using the internal speakers with Atmos enabled also caused the issue for me.

I’d be interested to know if you can recreate the issue without the ARC connected.

Userlevel 7

Hi @okgrongstad 

You are correct.

Hi @AjTrek1, so the best solution would be to watch Atmos content on the built in TV apps until the LPCM patch comes out, and watch stereo and 5.1 content on the Apple TV? 

Hopefully the patch comes out soon, the user experience is so much better on the Apple TV and it’s so much better to play everything through one box. 

Userlevel 7

Hi @okgrongstad 

You are correct. Just remember that ATV can send Dolby Atmos in LPCM format. It’s just that the Arc at present cannot process LPCM codecs.