Random sound drops when playing CDs

[abealing]

I have an odd issue of random audio drops when playing CDs on my 4k Bluray player through my AV amp which has my Android TV connected.

Audio randomly drops from a second to several and often resets the selected sound field on the Amp.  Does not drop when playing direct to the headphones via Bluetooth or direct to the TV.  This points to the amp and seemed to be confirmed when I reconnected by old Bluray player to it and it also suffered the same issue. 

Having seen this post on the US site:  

https://us.community.sony.com/s/question/0D50B00004IL2ZUSA1/str-dn1080-sound-drops?language=en_US

I tried disconnecting the TV which was only on standby and the issue stopped!

I therefore suspect it to be an issue between the TV and the Amp, possibly applying picture/sound settings set on the TV.

Anyone else had this issue?

TV: KD-65A1  Firmware: PKG6.2858.0082EUA

AVR: STR-DN1080  Firmware: M41.R.0377 (fv=p7.0377.0)

4K BD Player: UBP X800  Firmware: M36.R.0178

Bluetooth headphones: WH-1000XM2 

[Kuschelmonschter]

Re-adding the link to the bug ticket:

https://github.com/CiNcH83/sony_atv/issues/8

Don't make me mad guys. I am tired of Sony people trying to cover severe bugs up!

[dutchice]

Hi Andrew,

I honestly think your kit is simply the best from Sony at the moment. Most features of your kit are technologies being rolled out as Sony's first in consumer electronics. You can rest assure that any issues related to your devices and their interaction are well collected, documented, prioritised and actively investigated in conjunction with leading industry partners, all in order to deliver not premature but sustained solutions towards end-users just like yourself.

Now without getting too deep in technical matters, this issue is not related to any of your devices in particular, but to the latest Bravia Sync protocol implementation in itself.

For you and any other reader interested in enjoying products for what they meant to deliver rather than long discussions on what could be the technical reason behind it; the solution is definitely not to ignore and learn to live with it, but to switch the STR-DN1080 output from HDMI A to OFF by either pressing the HDMI OUT button on the remote or through the AVR menu. This is just a temporary workaround while an update for the issue is under development for preventing active audio-only source signals from being interrupted during playback.

I'd like to add that it also happens that I personally have the exact same kit as yours at home, and I'm able to confirm the workaround to work just fine. Please don't forget to post back your opinion and comments. We are always keen to hear back from you, as your contribution is the drive for improving products.

[abealing]

Many thanks for this detailed reply dutchie.

I will try your workaround and report back when I've had a chance to test it.

If this is a known issue it is a shame that the Sony support team response was not to check for it and suggest the same workaround but to instruct me to take the 1080 to a service agent, who would be unable to correct a firmware problem between it and the TV!

I mentioned other issues I had come accross to them and asked them to confirm if they were normal for the firmware in use or faults/bugs and they have not answered this point. 

-it sometimes seems to default to the TV input for some reason and

the sound field seems limited to movie type, e.g. Dolby Surround:Movie with no music options available.

-The Music preset button on the remote reports on the display as NOT.USE.  Why can’t I programme this for my favoured music setting?   It seems to be linked to the screen mode on the TV, how do I override this so that I can freely select the sound field I want to use and it remains as set until I change it? Or at least why  can’t I choose the default, say A.F.D rather than Dolby Surround?

-The Display button on the remote seems to have little purpose.  On my old machine (STR-DN1040) it cycled through the display options on the machine, on this one I have to use the button on the front of the machine itself, a nuisance when I’m trying to work out which sound field and source its chosen!

Does your 1080 behave the same?:

[dutchice]

Just a quick note to let you know I read your comments. However since I am on a trip until next month I won't be able to verify your points in detail. There are though some points which you make that sound familiar to me (e.g. Device not responding to Display button on RC). I will get back to you as soon as I can.

[abealing]

This issue still persists even with the new firmware for the A1 TV,  the only "solution" is to unplug the HDMI lead from the TV to the STR-DN1080. Hardly satisfactory.

[Kuschelmonschter]

It has been there for more than 3 years already, so since the very Android TV beginnings. Don't expect a fix. Sony just doesn't care. Those wakeups cause a hell of a lot of trouble:

- violates applicable EU standby standards

- causes USB to be powered (connected LED bias lighting turns on, connected HDD spinning up/down and wearing out)

- might cause connected HDMI devices to wake up

- might cause interruptions on interconnected HDMI devices

- wears out hardware

[dutchice]

@abealing wrote:

This issue still persists even with the new firmware for the A1 TV,  the only "solution" is to unplug the HDMI lead from the TV to the STR-DN1080. Hardly satisfactory. 

---

Hi Andrew,

Your comment comes as a surprise, since I previously already had written what the fix was.

Switch the STR-DN1080 output from HDMI A (or B) to OFF by either pressing the HDMI OUT button on the remote or through the AVR menu.

There is nothing to be addressed by the the A1 TV firmware with regards to this issue. You could expect a permanent fix through a firmware update for the STR-DN1080 receiver somewhere in Q4 2018 or Q1 2019. For the time being please revert to use the workaround.

Cheers,

Dutchice

[Kuschelmonschter]

---

@dutchice  schrieb:
There is nothing to be addressed by the the A1 TV firmware with regards to this issue.

---

Total crap. Those wakeups every few minutes have to be fixed for several reasons:

- violates applicable EU standby standards

- causes USB to be powered (connected LED bias lighting turns on, connected HDD spinning up/down and wearing out)

- might cause connected HDMI devices to wake up

- might cause interruptions on interconnected HDMI devices

- wears out hardware

[abealing]

Yes thanks dutchice I had followed your advice and thought it was working.  Played a CD yesterday with HDMI off and it still dropped and changed sound field until I pulled the HDMI lead from the TV.  In case you suspect that I didn't stop cycling through the HDMI options at the right point, I wondered why the TV didn't work when I reconnected it until I switched HDMI back on.

Along with the other issued I mentioned to you I remain a bit disappointed with this kit, having spent a lot on it all.

Andrew

[CostasZ_GR]

Guys i solved the HDMI audio dropout problem using the solutions mentioned here:

https://community.sony.gr/t5/android-tv/55-quot-755c-audio-hdmi-issues/m-p/2292095#M16009

let me know if this helped .