Audio issues with my V2

[Hati]

Hi all.

Recently the sound bar I used for some years died so bought a new one. Fitting that involved of course moving cables around, but, as far as I can tell, there are no connection issues that could be the cause of the audio problems I am having.

The audio issue is that the sound drops out for a second or two. It is like someone suddenly reduces the volume with the remote and then bumps it back up just as quickly to where it was before. It seems to happen randomly, but it also includes recordings, not just live TV. If I rewind the recording, the audio drop-out seems to happen at the exact same place in the recording. This makes me think that it's a reception issue. Older then the new sound bar recordings also have these audio issues, supporting my theory that the cabling and connections have nothing to do with this.

I thought about reception quality, but it's not the screech we get when the reception tanks out and there is no pixellation of any kind, the picture (recorded or live) remains perfect. The reception quantity and quality remains the same during these "events", I checked.

I could have hours of TV with no issues and then have a series of drop-outs, sometimes to the point that you no longer know what is going on in the show on the screen.

Some of you may remember that I run two USB dual tuners through a USB3 powered hub, so I checked all the tuners available. It does not seem to make a difference. Running the latest beta on the V2, but upgrading to that changed nothing as far as this issues is concerned.

I have searched the forum but nothing useful (for this problem) crops up.

Would appreciate any ideas what this could be caused by. I do not have another V2 to test.

Oh yeah, this is happening in Perth.

Thanks in advance.

[MrQuade]

Do you have Dolby/DTS downmixing enabled or disabled in the V2 audio settings?

And have you notice if this occurs only on commercial HD channels (Dolby AC3), or on other channels (MPEG2, or AC3 which are both downmixed to stereo PCM), or vise versa?

If this problem occurs with the new sound bar, but not on the old one, even on old recordings, then it points to either cabling, or an incompatibility between one of your HDMI components (V2, sound bar or the TV).

Do you connect from the V2, to the sound bar, then to the TV, or do you connect the V2 to the TV, and rely on HDMI ARC to get audio to the sound bar?

Which sound bar are you using? Does it support the full range of audio formats?
Are you running 4K resolution and/or using an HDR "enhanced" setting on the TV and/or soundbar HDMI inputs?

[Hati]

Do you have Dolby/DTS downmixing enabled or disabled in the V2 audio settings?

Both AC3 and DTS downmixes were on, I since disabled DTS, but made no difference.

And have you notice if this occurs only on commercial HD channels (Dolby AC3), or on other channels (MPEG2, or AC3 which are both downmixed to stereo PCM), or vise versa?

Not sure which channel does what, but experienced it on 7, 9 and ABC for sure. The other channels didn't get much time on our screen recently.

If this problem occurs with the new sound bar, but not on the old one, even on old recordings, then it points to either cabling, or an incompatibility between one of your HDMI components (V2, sound bar or the TV).

That's what my thirst thought was, but if that is the case, how do you explain playing back recordings and having the problem in the exact same spot? Also, why is totally random?

Do you connect from the V2, to the sound bar, then to the TV, or do you connect the V2 to the TV, and rely on HDMI ARC to get audio to the sound bar?

V2 via HDMI to TV and ARC from TV to sound bar. Forgot to add... I have on the third TV HDMI input an Apple TV box. That does not cause any sound issues at all.

Which sound bar are you using? Does it support the full range of audio formats?

https://au.yamaha.com/en/products/audio ... index.html

Are you running 4K resolution and/or using an HDR "enhanced" setting on the TV and/or soundbar HDMI inputs?

Don't think so but I'll check and get back to you.

[MrQuade]

ARC..... hmmmm. Always and extra complication and potential source of issues.

If you switch to the TVs internal speakers, do you hear dropouts at those same spots?

That's what my thirst thought was, but if that is the case, how do you explain playing back recordings and having the problem in the exact same spot? Also, why is totally random?

There is some anomaly in the audio stream that is tripping out some component in your audio chain.

It's likely that the anomaly was always present but your old soundbar didn't care about it.

The fact that the audio goes through the TV first and is potentially being subjected to reconversion there is something else to complicate matters.

It's usually more reliable to send all your components through the amp/receiver then on to the tv assuming your amp/receiver had sufficient inputs and can pass the correct HDMI video and audio formats.

I assume you used ARC on the old soundbar too?

[Hati]

ARC..... hmmmm. Always and extra complication and potential source of issues.

Agree, but there is also convenience, which is why I use it.

If you switch to the TVs internal speakers, do you hear dropouts at those same spots?

I never tried that, V2 sound through TV speakers. I know using the TV alone has no issues, it is how I ruled out reception related issues.

There is some anomaly in the audio stream that is tripping out some component in your audio chain.

It's likely that the anomaly was always present but your old soundbar didn't care about it.

Quite possibly. The TV is an older model Panasonic 55" LCD model. The soundbar was also Panasonic, just for ARC compatibility. I think you are on the money calling this an anomaly. I turned off HDR on the V2, and that reduced the amount of the anomaly, but I did not have a chance to power cycle the V2 yet. Also, for the first time, rewinding a recording for the third time showed no audio anomaly in the same spot. First and second time the dip in sound was there, third time was not. I guess now I have to find a way with settings that keeps this anomaly minimal or gone all together.

It's usually more reliable to send all your components through the amp/receiver then on to the tv assuming your amp/receiver had sufficient inputs and can pass the correct HDMI video and audio formats.

Agreed, if one does use an amp. I don't, removed the Harman-Kardon amp years ago, soundbar was sufficient for our needs.

I assume you used ARC on the old soundbar too?

Yes, but HDMI was switched by a cheap 5 port powered hub, left over from when I had more sources then HDMI inputs. Then ARC was only used for the sound bar to run with the TV remote.

Now I only have the V2 and the Apple TV box and the old TV with 3 HDMI inputs, so removed anything that was no longer needed, such as the HDMI switch.

[MrQuade]

Now I only have the V2 and the Apple TV box and the old TV with 3 HDMI inputs, so removed anything that was no longer needed, such as the HDMI switch.

Ahh right, so the audio chain is now quite different to your previous arrangement.

I'd be eyeing off the tv as the fault here then. It may be performing some audio reencoding rather than simply passing audio through and the encoder may not like dealing with bitstream errors.

You wouldn't see errors in the apple tv since that content would not be as error prone as a broadcast.

If you have access to any downloaded movies or TV shows, they playing them on the V2. The theory is that you won't hear any audio dropouts on those files.

[Hati]

So I disabled HDR on the V2, don't even know why that was on. That was last night. We had recordings going so couldn't do a power cycle for the V2 until this morning.

Ever since (probably 2 hours now) I had no anomalies at all. Was watching some live Ch7 and a recording as well. So far so good. Will report back tonight or tomorrow.

[MrQuade]

So I disabled HDR on the V2, don't even know why that was on. That was last night. We had recordings going so couldn't do a power cycle for the V2 until this morning.

Ever since (probably 2 hours now) I had no anomalies at all. Was watching some live Ch7 and a recording as well. So far so good. Will report back tonight or tomorrow.

HDR "Enhanced" settings can cause audio issues. Most often you end up with picture, but no sound when you try to feed an older device into a new TV with 4K enhanced inputs.

Might be a chance there is something similar going on here, though your TV is the older component in this case, but it wouldn't completely explain to me why the issue is intermittent, and happens at consistent places in your recordings.

Good result if it works though!

Agreed, if one does use an amp. I don't, removed the Harman-Kardon amp years ago, soundbar was sufficient for our needs.

I see. having a look at this particular soundbar, it just has the HDMI output, but no inputs. I am more used to playing with the models that have inputs and an output like a receiver.

[Hati]

The switching of the HDR off on the V2 seemed to have made the biggest difference. The audio is now by far and large anomaly free, but it does crop up once in a while. I am now playing with the various soundbar settings to see if that helps.

For the most part testing recordings for the anomaly locations was done with one, maximum two rewinds, but I did try three rewinds once. Interesting outcome: anomaly gone the third time. Definitely a processing issue of sorts.

At least the V2 hardware is ruled out as the source of the anomaly.

The TV picture is still quite good so not in a hurry to replace it, but seeing that the V2 can upscale to 4k, how good is that? Would an upgrade be worth it? I don't have any 4k screen in the house to try...

The logic here would be that a more modern TV may pass through the V2 audio without the anomaly, while giving me the "upgrade" to a 4k picture.

[MrQuade]

The TV picture is still quite good so not in a hurry to replace it, but seeing that the V2 can upscale to 4k, how good is that? Would an upgrade be worth it? I don't have any 4k screen in the house to try...

The logic here would be that a more modern TV may pass through the V2 audio without the anomaly, while giving me the "upgrade" to a 4k picture.

You are not going to see any appreciable improvement in upscaling lover resolution content to HD. You are going to get pretty much the exact same thing on screen.

The improvement you will see will only come when you are playing 4K content.

A more modern TV may improve things, or it might be worse. ARC, and especially ARC from external sources will always be a crapshoot since every manufacturer handles it differently.

[Hati]

Alright, thanks for that, pretty much confirmed for me what I thought the case would be in regards to upscaling.

Today, so far, no anomalies, recordings or live TV. Looks like my current settings will keep us sane. Thanks for the help, appreciated.

[Hati]

Bit of an update.

I think I finally got it. The anomaly reduced greatly from last time but never went away completely. So I decided to do a factory reset, in case it was one of the settings I played with and forgot to set back. So factory reset it was. While I was at restoring the more important settings, I changed the resolution to 1080i.

NO MORE ANOMALY. It's gone. We have now watched for over two days plus of live and recorded TV with zero anomalies.

This is a bit strange though as I always had 1080p sent to the TV and had no issues. I wonder if the latest beta had a hand in all this... Either way, downgrading to 1080i is an acceptable compromise for the time being.