I have noticed new behavior on the latest app (3.5.0) that I think is a bug. If surround sound is checked in Channels, audio will not work on my Bluetooth earbuds. Channels continues to play through my AVR.
All other apps work correctly and I'm pretty sure that Channels did too in the past. Thanks.
Please advise.
Did you get the Shield update in the last few days?
Can't test this until I get home, but there was an update yesterday for me, 8.23 IIRC.
Sounds like it might be trying to send DD audio, which your BT audio device may not support?
I think that you are probably right. It seems to only have this issue with OTA channels (via HD Homerun). TVE channels are fine. It's weird though because I can literally play anything else I can find via Kodi, Netflix, or Amazon video and, no matter what the audio format (DD, DD+, TruehD, DTS, DTS-MA) it still plays fine through the BT headphones.
I watch local news via Channels (OTA stations) every night and, maybe I'm wrong, but I swear this used to work without issue. It's possible it was a change in the audio handling via the Shield's FW, but since there have both new Channels Apps and Shield FW, I can't be sure. If the Dev's read this, please let me know. I prefer not to have to turn off Surround Sound in Channels since most of my viewing time is with an AVR, but I do also have to deal with family members late at night.
Thanks.
You could try changing the streaming bitrate from original to 10Mbps ... this might cause the server to transcode the audio to AAC, which out to be supported by the earbuds.
We did change the android api used because of a deprecation so it is possible the audio session is not getting set up in the same way as before. I don't see a quick fix as we are already signaling for a movie media session which I would assume gets routed to bluetooth. Will require more investigation.
I have had a similar weird experience with sound on my Shield Pro. I have sound on all Streaming Apps (Amazon Prime, Netflix and Disney+) and sound watching OTA on Channels. The only Steaming App with no sound is Philo. This has happened 3 times in the last month.
No sound when watching directly from Philo or when using TV Everywhere from Philo on Channels.
I have two other TVs in the house, streaming from FireSticks and I have sound watching Philo on those devices when the Shield loses Philo sound so I can’t blame Philo.
The only way to get sound back when this happens is to reset the Shield Pro. I tried unplugging and replugging power to the Shield but this doesn’t help.
You need to go the Shield settings (top right corner “Gear” Icon, scroll down to Device Preference then select “About”. Then scroll down to “Restart”.
You might want to try this sequence. I never had this issue before so I’m thinking a recent Philo or Shield update might be the cause.
Thanks for the info. At least knowing it's just the OTA channels makes toggling on and off less onerous. I may check out the Shield forums too to see if it's affecting any other apps.