So this is weird. I got a new TV ( TCL 55P605) . The audio on just one of my OTA channels is off (out of sync), and seemingly loud. It’s hooked to a soundbar (Sonos Playbar), but it does this via soundbar or TV speakers. It doesn’t do it on any other channels, nor does it do it with any other app (any streaming app, Plex, etc). It also doesn’t do this in the iOS apps (iPhone nor iPad). It does this on the last gen aTV and the new aTV 4k, both live TV and recordings. Any ideas to help troubleshoot this?
Try changing the Apple TV’s audio output setting from “Best Available” to “Dolby Digital 5.1”
Also tried that, same result. Should have mentioned. I’ve also tried reduce loud sounds.
Update: Plex does it too, so it’s not Channels specific. I got no idea.
Probably the way your TV is trying to decode the stream. I bet it would work fine if you did ATV into the soundbar and then soundbar HDMI into the TV. I used to have a setup like this, but had to switch to ARC with ATV4k, since my soundbar won’t pass 4k signal. If you need to use the ARC, then check the sound options on your TV. The best way to do it would be bitstream in and then bitstream out, let your soundbar decode the audio instead of the TV. Some TVs don’t let you do bitstream out, though.
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Plex does it on random videos? And Channels still only on one channel?
Sorry that was unclear. Plex also does it on the same channel via the TV tuner. It doesn’t do it on any other media I’ve come across. So it does the same thing Channels does. So it’s the source or more likely TV. Although it’s a pretty popular tv, it’s wirecutters pick.
Same thing with a recording made off that channel?
Yup. Anything off it.
Make a 30s recording and send it to [email protected]. Will see if there’s anything strange about it.
Done. One more odd data point - if I play the recording on the iOS app and AirPlay it, the audio is fine.
I mentioned this already, but it is the way your tv is decoding the audio channels. Airplay downconverts to 2-channel stereo, which is why you dont have the issue here. If you plug the atv hdmi into the soundbar, rather than the tv, your issue would be fixed.
Since it’s only happening on one channel, it’s unlikely it has anything to do with the hardware setup.
When I try to play back your sample locally I see some sync issues. I haven’t had a chance to investigate further but there’s something weird about the audio track.
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Unless that one channel is the only channel broadcasting 5.1 channel audio
It’s not, all of my OTA are 5.1. Thanks Dave. I did see that, but it’s a Sonos Playbar and it only uses an optical connection. I meant to follow up on that. I have to go through the TV. The tv does pass 5.1 via optical.
If I set the aTV to stereo audio it seems better. I’m not sure what it’s technically doing though (if there are two tracks or it converts).
Thanks Aman!
I have this same issue with sound on CBS and the CW, but only on my soundboard. If I am just using the TV speakers it’s ok. I came to conclusion it has something to do with specific audio format from those channels and for some reason the sounbar takes longer to process and creates a delay. It’s weird because other channels seem to have the same surround out, but these channels are the only ones with the delay/sync issue.