Soundbar 500 Audio Dropouts

[spudohio]

I have a Soundbar 500 with the companion bass module and the Nearly Invisible rear speakers.  I have audio issues, similar to others have reported but slightly different.  If I am watching a movie either through Apple TV 4K or through my Samsung 4K Blu-Ray player, I will get audio that stutters.  This will typically start at about 45 minutes into whatever I'm watching but once it starts, it happens every 3-5 minutes.  Pausing the movie and restarting will correct the stutter briefly.  The audio sounds like it is rapidly dropping out and coming back, so all audio has a stutter when trying to watch.

The Soundbar is connected to my 55" LG OLED TV (2019 model) via digital optical cable.  I have tried using HDMI ARC with the same result.  I have factory reset both the Soundbar and the TV, with no success.  I have also tried switching the HDMI cables and inputs connecting the Blu-Ray player and Apple TV, also with no luck.  Finally, I have tried all audio output options on the TV and still have the issue (except when using 2 ch. stereo out from the TV, but what's the point?).

Considering this only happens when I am using the Soundbar, I believe it to be the Bose system - using just the TV speakers does not have this issue.  Is there anything I haven't tried?  Considering the relative newness of the Bose system, I am frustrated and disappointed.

[Jeff_G]

Hello spudohio, 

Many thanks for posting.

I'm sorry to hear you're having issues with dropouts on your Soundbar 500. 

To give us a better understanding of the problem, can you please confirm: 

- Does the issue occur if you disconnect your bass module and/or rear surround speakers. 

- Does the issue occur if you connect everything to a different TV. 

- Do you have the same problems when using internal TV sources, e.g Antenna, Netflix, Hulu etc?

- Does setting the TV output to PCM improve performance? 

- Is the Soundbar's firmware fully up to date? 

I'll look forward to your reply! 😊

[spudohio]

Hi Jeff,

Below are the responses to your questions:

- Yes, the issue occurs without the bass module or rear speakers connected.

- All of my equipment is wall-mounted, so I have not tried when connected to a different TV as this is not an easy test to attempt.

- When using the internal sources, the issue exists but is less severe.  With these, the audio will drop our for 1-2 seconds every 2-3 minutes.  When watching cable TV, I will typically lose 1-2 words every 2-3 minutes, but I do not experience the stutter as I do when watching movies.

- Yes, changing the TV to output to PCM does solve the problem.  But doing this reverts to 2-channel stereo, defeating the purpose of having a 5.1 surround system.

- Yes, the firmware is up-to-date.

Thank you for your help.

[Jeff_G]

Many thanks for getting back in touch. 

Would it be possible to bring another TV into that same room to test? It's possible this could be the soundbar, but at the same time, it'd be great to test with another television. Can you also please confirm the Model name for the TV. I've done some research online and am seeing some LG OLEDs exhibiting audio dropouts when connected to home theatre systems/soundbars, but it would be a good avenue to explore. 

In the meantime, could you also check if the TV supports a 5.1 PCM output option?

I'll look forward to hearing from you!

[spudohio]

Hi Again Jeff,

I will see what I can do to test with another TV.  In the meantime, it is an LG OLED55C9PUA model.  The TV does not support 5.1 through PCM - only through Bitstream.  The PCM audio is limited to 2 channel.

Thanks.

[spudohio]

@Jeff_G (or another mod)

I was able to fix my issue by changing the HDMI Input Audio Format to PCM for all of the input devices connected to the TV.  This seems to have stopped the audio stutters and dropouts that I was experiencing while maintaining 5.1 channel audio.

Given this stops the stutters and dropouts, it seems that the soundbar is having difficulty decoding a Dolby signal, and changing the Input Audio Format setting forces the input device to send 5.1 channel audio (not Dolby audio) to the soundbar, bypassing the issue.

Am I understanding this all correctly?  I'm glad that the audio issues are gone, but it seems like the problem isn't "fixed" so much as it is worked around.