Horrendously loud and random popping noise from LG SL8YG soundbar paired with LG C9 OLED after lastest 04.71.05 software update.

[CypherMax]

Update: I replaced both Audio Quest cables with monoprice cables. Ran the same HDMI test that said the old cables were bad and it said new cables were no good too... Nevertheless the tested a couple movies and shows from the affected streaming apps and noise has not reoccured! I also did a factory reset on the sound bar for good measure. Hopefully it stays fixed, thanks for all the help!

 

[lovinthehd]

Update: I replaced both Audio Quest cables with monoprice cables. Ran the same HDMI test that said the old cables were bad and it said new cables were no good too... Nevertheless the tested a couple movies and shows from the affected streaming apps and noise has not reoccured! I also did a factory reset on the sound bar for good measure. Hopefully it stays fixed, thanks for all the help!

Curious, just what is that diagnosis routine in the tv determining about the cable? What part of its performance makes it no good?

 

[TLS Guy]

Update: I replaced both Audio Quest cables with monoprice cables. Ran the same HDMI test that said the old cables were bad and it said new cables were no good too... Nevertheless the tested a couple movies and shows from the affected streaming apps and noise has not reoccured! I also did a factory reset on the sound bar for good measure. Hopefully it stays fixed, thanks for all the help!

How long are your HDMI cables? If a cable is 25' or more they need to be active or hybrid fiber/copper. Also HDMI cables are fragile and you have to pull them gently. In wall they need to be in conduit. Tech tubes are an easy way to go. After that it is easy to pull new cables.

 

[lovinthehd]

How long are your HDMI cables? If a cable is 25' or more they need to be active or hybrid fiber/copper. Also HDMI cables are fragile and you have to pull them gently. In wall they need to be in conduit. Tech tubes are an easy way to go. After that it is easy to pull new cables.

Why would there be a long cable like that on a soundbar/tv combo?

 

[TLS Guy]

Why would there be a long cable like that on a soundbar/tv combo?

Don't know, but he said his cables were in wall and a pain to replace. That is why I raised the issue.

 

[CypherMax]

So, the diagnosis menu is buried in settings. General, about tv, more help, diagnosis. Old cables we 6 feet which was just long enough, new cables are 10 feet so there is absolutely not stress at any connections.

 

[everettT]

So, the diagnosis menu is buried in settings. General, about tv, more help, diagnosis. Old cables we 6 feet which was just long enough, new cables are 10 feet so there is absolutely not stress at any connections.

That's why I mentioned a pin being damaged earlier. The service menu will have full diagnostics

"Service Menu Code For LG TV:
Press and hold <OK> buttons on remote as well as TV panel for a few seconds and the service menu will appear on your TV screen. For some TV models, you might need to press "Menu" buttons on remote and TV panel simultaneously for a few seconds to access the service menu."

That might not be the one for your model, but try it. Just dont change anything in there if you don't know what you're doing.

 

[highfigh]

I would check the TVs audio settings- they often have different sound modes and it may have some that accentuate the low end and it probably treats the sound bar like a farm animal.

 

[Jennglans]

Is it the same sound that I have here going on?

It's been also happening since a week ago for me on a OLED C7 with a SL10YG soundbar connected. It's driving me crazy to be honest.

It only happens when the soundbar is in "movie"-preset, meaning the voices are louder. And to be honest it's the best mode to watch anything.

Edit: I read other comments about HDMI cables. I unplugged everything connected to the soundbar and switched up the HDMI cable with a new 2.1 (1.5m). Nothing changed.

 

[sk0rpan]

Is it the same sound that I have here going on?

It's been also happening since a week ago for me on a OLED C7 with a SL10YG soundbar connected. It's driving me crazy to be honest.

It only happens when the soundbar is in "movie"-preset, meaning the voices are louder. And to be honest it's the best mode to watch anything.

Edit: I read other comments about HDMI cables. I unplugged everything connected to the soundbar and switched up the HDMI cable with a new 2.1 (1.5m). Nothing changed.

Hey!
I just spoke to LG in Sweden and they had me and some other guy that were calling about the same thing, they also had some guy on the soundbar department that had heard of this. They are looking in to it right now! Hopefully they'll find something useful, ill talk post here as soon as i know more!

 

[sk0rpan]

Hey all! Today when I got home I connected to Google Home App (havent done that earlier with my soundbar) and it found an update during the setup and after this it seems to work good for me again. I watched netflix on my TVs built in app with sound mode MOVIE without any of that weird high pitched sound. Havent done anything else, but now it seems to work perfect again! I have the LG SL9YG soundbar and SM8500 TV!

 

[sk0rpan]

Is it the same sound that I have here going on?

It's been also happening since a week ago for me on a OLED C7 with a SL10YG soundbar connected. It's driving me crazy to be honest.

It only happens when the soundbar is in "movie"-preset, meaning the voices are louder. And to be honest it's the best mode to watch anything.

Edit: I read other comments about HDMI cables. I unplugged everything connected to the soundbar and switched up the HDMI cable with a new 2.1 (1.5m). Nothing changed.

Look at my latest reply, might work for you too!

 

[TheMagicFrog]

H

Hey all! Today when I got home I connected to Google Home App (havent done that earlier with my soundbar) and it found an update during the setup and after this it seems to work good for me again. I watched netflix on my TVs built in app with sound mode MOVIE without any of that weird high pitched sound. Havent done anything else, but now it seems to work perfect again! I have the LG SL9YG soundbar and SM8500 TV!

Hi there, I’ve has the same problem with my SL8YG connected to an Xbox One X via HDMI and an LG SK8500 TV via ARC.

Xbox - this started several months ago, and seemed to occur only when the audio output from the console was set to Dolby Atmos. Switching it to Uncompressed 5.1 / 7.1 appeared to stop the issue, but it was only after swopping the HDMI cables with the one between TV and soundbar did the issue stop, even with the Xbox outputting Atmos.

However this issue just re-emerged today, except the popping sound also now occurs when watching the Netflix app on the TV (audio output set to ARC / Auto), along with the previous Xbox issue!

Is there a way to force a firmware update of the soundbar, assuming there is one out? I tried searching on the support forums but can’t find any, and starting the Google Home app doesn’t trigger any update either.

 

[m0nkye]

Hey there!

Same here! Same TV, same soundbar, same problem. It occured the first time today out of nowhere after 2 months. I called LG support and they were actually able to help!

In my OLED55C94LA TV I went to the audio menu > audio output > HDMI ARC and set Ditigal Output from Automatic to Pass Through and it worked.

No problems over the last 2 hours! I hope it will work for you too!!

Edit: though I don't know if or how this change will influence audio quality

Edit 2: alright, today the problem returned, again out of nowhere. Contacting LG again. If there is no solution until Wednesday I'll return this thing and get a refund.

 

[Cdbrc]

It might not be related to the problems you are all talking about; I bought an SK4D soundbar and was fine until recently, TV and most music fine but any complex jazz pieces seem to result in terrible clicks and artefacts being played over the subwoofer and bar. Bluetooth connection to Spotify, doesn’t happen with any other devices or with any other types of music. God knows what is wrong with it but I’m regretting wasting my money on a budget sound system

 

[TLS Guy]

It might not be related to the problems you are all talking about; I bought an SK4D soundbar and was fine until recently, TV and most music fine but any complex jazz pieces seem to result in terrible clicks and artefacts being played over the subwoofer and bar. Bluetooth connection to Spotify, doesn’t happen with any other devices or with any other types of music. God knows what is wrong with it but I’m regretting wasting my money on a budget sound system

Hopefully this is a learning experience for you. How anyone would expect a unit like this to actually work is beyond me. I just walk past that sort of stuff in Best Buy etc. and just assume none of it works, at least properly. I just don't expect most stuff I see in stores to be of any really practical use whatsoever. Its all just a cruel trick to take money from people having rendered no useful value in return. It's a pity as it just makes the less well off downright poor.

 

[sandeep3180]

I have the same soundbar, and I hear a really scary sound every time there is a power cut. For the last month or so my apartment has been having a lot of power cuts. There is backup which kicks in after a few seconds so the soundbar and TV (And my Amazon FireTV Stick 4K) do lose power. The problem occurs when the main power is restored and the input electricity to the soundbar switches from the backup to the main supply.The switch from backup to main is almost instant (Maybe half a second gap) and that's when the issue happens. There is a loud screech. It's almost like what electricity would sound like if it could be played on a speaker. It's a really startling noise so I just turn off the soundbar every time there is a power cut until the main power comes back. This is really annoying and I have already raised a support ticket with LG but they haven't gotten back. This issue along with the fact that the wireless subwoofer keeps cutting in and out every now and then makes me wish I hadn't bought this soundbar. The output is really really good I must admit. If only these issues got resolved, I'd be so happy.

Oh and also, the soundbar claims Dolby atmos, but it's only really supported on the HDMI IN while using with Apple TV 4K or Amazon FireTV Cube (Or PrimeVideo on the FireTV Stick 4K). No other streaming device supports it. I've heard if you have an LG TV (Like the C9), you can stream ATMOS over ARC to the soundbar. I say ARC even though the C9 supports eARC because the soundbar only supports ARC (I suspect it's carrying the ATMOS signal over DD+ which can be carried over ARC).

I'm going to try replacing the HDMI cables too. I'll probably buy 2 Belkin certified high-speed HDMI cables from Apple that they recommend with the Apple TV 4K (Just waiting for the new AppleTV 4K to launch in a few weeks). I really hope that will solve the problem.

 

[TLS Guy]

I have the same soundbar, and I hear a really scary sound every time there is a power cut. For the last month or so my apartment has been having a lot of power cuts. There is backup which kicks in after a few seconds so the soundbar and TV (And my Amazon FireTV Stick 4K) do lose power. The problem occurs when the main power is restored and the input electricity to the soundbar switches from the backup to the main supply.The switch from backup to main is almost instant (Maybe half a second gap) and that's when the issue happens. There is a loud screech. It's almost like what electricity would sound like if it could be played on a speaker. It's a really startling noise so I just turn off the soundbar every time there is a power cut until the main power comes back. This is really annoying and I have already raised a support ticket with LG but they haven't gotten back. This issue along with the fact that the wireless subwoofer keeps cutting in and out every now and then makes me wish I hadn't bought this soundbar. The output is really really good I must admit. If only these issues got resolved, I'd be so happy.

Oh and also, the soundbar claims Dolby atmos, but it's only really supported on the HDMI IN while using with Apple TV 4K or Amazon FireTV Cube (Or PrimeVideo on the FireTV Stick 4K). No other streaming device supports it. I've heard if you have an LG TV (Like the C9), you can stream ATMOS over ARC to the soundbar. I say ARC even though the C9 supports eARC because the soundbar only supports ARC (I suspect it's carrying the ATMOS signal over DD+ which can be carried over ARC).

I'm going to try replacing the HDMI cables too. I'll probably buy 2 Belkin certified high-speed HDMI cables from Apple that they recommend with the Apple TV 4K (Just waiting for the new AppleTV 4K to launch in a few weeks). I really hope that will solve the problem.

If you are going to use equipment where there is automatic stand by power, then driving it from an Uninterruptible Power Supply is MANDATORY. If you don't then you risk severe damage to your equipment. I assume you are in India or somewhere other then the US where power interruptions are common.

 

[Ice Hart]

Having the exact same loud and random popping noise but I am connected with an optical connection. Less than 1 year old happens very random. OLED 65 C9 SL8YG. Sound bar not connected to internet.

 

[TLS Guy]

Having the exact same loud and random popping noise but I am connected with an optical connection. Less than 1 year old happens very random. OLED 65 C9 SL8YG. Sound bar not connected to internet.

We have had enough reports if this now, to know that those soundbars need to go on the junk pile list. It sounds to me these have a cap in a switching power supply, but up to the job, that is acing though the dielectric. So these are all going to end up in the recycling bin in short order.