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Beam 2 > TV LG C2 > PC - Sound stops working

  • 15 November 2023
  • 10 replies
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G

Hi, I have a Beam 2 soundbar with two Sonos One connected to a LG C2 tv and the tv connected to my PC. My problem is that every couple of minutes (sometimes more sometimes less) the sound stops working for a few seconds.

Has anyone had a similar problem?

I have tried various things like using the pc in 5.1, 7.1, dolby atmos mode. But the problem continues. The PC has a RTX 3080 and I'm using a HDMI 2.1 cable. The Beam 2 is connected to the HDMI eARC and the TV is in pass through mode.

Thanks for help

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Best answer by Corry P 22 November 2023, 17:45

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10 replies

Jamie A
Userlevel 7
Badge +16

Hi @gdaroch, welcome to the Sonos Community!

We do have an article for connecting Sonos to use as PC speakers, which you can find below:

From what I assume, it seems that the TV is losing the signal to the PC (or vice-versa) which is causing the sound to stop. Since your setup isn’t directly connected to the PC, we wont be able to find much, if any, information in any diagnostics related to this issue. If the sound also stops on the TV, then our support team can look into this with you as resolving that may also resolve the issue with the PC.

If you haven’t already, I’d suggest replacing the cable between the TV and PC to see if that helps. Another test would be to use the TV internal speakers to see if they also cut out PC audio.

My reply will bring your topic to recently active, so other users can see and potentially assist, though I haven’t seen a setup like this before.

I hope this helps!

G

Hi Jamie, I tried with another cable with the same result, I will try of your suggestions. Thanks for the answer.

Corry P
Userlevel 7
Badge +18

Hi @gdaroch 

If the above did not help. please try unplugging your TV from power for at least 2 minutes - this will restart the TV’s software in a way that Standby does not achieve, and may clear up this problem.

I hope this helps.

 

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein
G

Hi, I tried that with no luck. I left you a list of what I tested:

  • I got another beam 2 from a friend with its own cables and the problem is the same.
  • I tried with another cables HDMI 2.1 and 2.0 with the same result.
  • I tested an app called Sound Keeper recommened by another user, I tought maybe the sound bar went into sleep mode or something simila but that wasn’t it.
     

Since I can't find a solution, I think I'll connect it through the optical input, but for that I need a sound card with Dolby, and I will lose the Dolby Atmos.

Corry P
Userlevel 7
Badge +18

Hi @gdaroch 

Thanks for trying.

I gather your friend has no issues with his Beam at home? That would imply the issue lies elsewhere.

Do you have any other devices connected to your TV? If so, do you get the same issue with them connected? I discounted a possible HDMI-CEC conflict earlier as PCs don’t utilise it, but if another device is randomly sending signals to your TV when you are viewing the PC feed, it could conceivably cause problems.

It may also be worth changing Passthrough mode to Auto on your TV - after a recent update, my Hisense TV’s passthrough behaviour changed such that I had better results on Auto afterwards.

If you’re looking to connect your Beam directly to your PC, yes, you would need a sound card with optical output. Your TV should have this output socket already, however, and there’s a fair chance that optical will be more reliable than HDMI, though you are correct - Atmos will not be an option.

Finally, it may help to turn eARC mode off in the TV’s settings - ARC can handle Atmos via Dolby Digital +, which will “fit” on HDMI-ARC, and will work with streaming sources. If using BluRays, however, you’ll likely need eARC for Atmos.

I hope this helps.

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein
G

Hi, I did the tests you mentioned, auto instead of passthrough, disabling eArc, removed the other device I had connected but no luck.

I also tried connecting the bar directly to the pc with the optical adapter to a Sound Blaster Z SE, which can play Dolby, but I couldn't get the 5.1 to work properly.

Finally I tried connecting the bar to a laptop with an RTX 3060, I couldn't test for long and the test was at a lower resolution, but the error didn't occur.  I'll try this again at the weekend.

The last option I read is to connect the PC to an HD Fury ARCANA and then one output to the TV and the other one to the soundbar, but it's an expensive device and nothing assures me that it will work so I think I'll just give up.

It's a shame because the sound of the bar is great but the constant audio cuts take me out of the immersion while playing.
 

Anyway thanks for the help, the ideas were very useful.

Corry P
Userlevel 7
Badge +18

Hi @gdaroch 

Do you have a second TV in your home? It might be worth testing things with it if so - at least, you should be able to narrow-down the source of the interruptions. I rather suspect the TV is the source of the interruptions.

For what it’s worth, I have my PC connected to my TV, and my TV connected to a Sonos Amp - I have no issues at all, though I do not get surround sound (that would require a hacked nVidia driver to provide surround sound for live sources like games). I haven’t tried playing movies with surround via the PC, however - I’ll try later on and get back to you.

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein
Corry P
Userlevel 7
Badge +18

Hi @gdaroch 

I’ve been unable to play any surround sound audio from my PC, even with pre-encoded media - which I was not expecting. I only really tested with Plex, but I had all the right settings selected both in Plex and in Windows. Only stereo PCM was played, or the video just showed the first frame and stopped (typical behaviour when there is an audio format compatibility issue).

The last time I was able to output surround sound from my PC, I was using S/PDIF (optical) output rather than HDMI and completely different software - this may be the reason, but I’m not convinced.

To be clear, I’m not blaming my Sonos Amp for this behaviour - just Plex and/or Windows (or maybe nVidia/Hisense, but Sound settings for Hisense audio device are correctly showing formats supported by TV).

Regarding the audio dropouts you get, please feel free to submit a support diagnostic immediately after recreating the issue and reply here with the number given, but I rather suspect that the Beam will just report an interruption in the incoming feed from the TV. It doesn’t hurt to check though.

I hope this helps.

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein
G

Hi Corry, thank you for continuing testing, In my case I can confirm that Dolby Atmos is working on my setup as the TV shows a Dolby Atmos active notification and the Sonos app in my phone also claims to be playing Dolby Atmos while I play.

I've been tweaking settings on my TV and windows. Yesterday I tried for a while with no audio cuts, but I don't want to claim victory yet.

I leave the configuration in case someone can use it in the future:
- On my PC 4k 120hz HDR active, dolby atmos active.
- My TV with game optimizer disabled (which unfortunately disables VRR), HDR active, bypass disabled, HDMI in bitstream (in PCM I have no audio), Digital audio output in auto (if I put it in PCM dolby atmos doesn't work), eArc active for the moment.

I deactivated VRR because a few days ago I installed everything in the living room, in a Sony a80j, the pc with the sonos equipment works perfect there, but at 4K 60hz.  When I activated VRR and the 120hz I started to have cuts in the audio, different from the ones I have in the LG C2, but maybe the problem is similar, maybe it's too much information for the HDMI cable.

 

I'll keep testing over the weekend and let you know, thanks again for the help!

 

G

Hi, last update, it didn't work for me, so I gave up and I think I'll sell everything and play with headphones. It's a pity because the audio quality of the bar is excellent. But maybe in the future with another TV or another soundbar it will work fine. I really appreciate the help, see you!

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