Static pops but just on Disney+?

T

TheTallOne89

Audioholic Intern
Hi all,

I have an issue that I can't seem to find any info on. I recently upgraded to a Denon 3700, with Martin Logan Motion 60xti/Motion 50 fronts, two Motion 15i surrounds, and two SVS PC-2000 subs. While streaming Disney+, I sometimes get weird static pops. It happens infrequently, and seemingly randomly. Maybe 3-4 times in a 30 minute viewing, but not predictably. If I rewind and watch again, it does not reoccur. Sometime the pops are louder, sometimes they are quieter. Sometimes there will be two pops they are three seconds apart, sometimes it only happens once or twice watching an entire episode of the Mandalorian. There doesn't appear to be any consistency to when they happen. Sometimes there is a lot of bass/loud volume, but sometimes it just happens when I first turn it on and you see the Disney+ logo.

As far as I can tell, this is not happening with any other streaming service. It also does not appear to be happening when I watch movies/play music on my 4k player. I say it does not "appear" because they are so random (and differ in volume levels) it is hard to know; maybe I am just missing them somehow (though I don't think I am, given that I always catch at least one while watching something on Disney+).

In terms of volume levels, the master volume I use on Disney+ is higher, but that is just because Disney, for whatever reason, seems to mix its volume levels lower; I don't think the actual decibel levels are any higher (and using my phone SBL meter, I can't tell any major difference) between watching on Disney+ and how I watch other media. (I have volume levels for discs usually around -12ish, for Netflix/Prime around -8ish, and for Disney+ around -2ish.)

The only thing I can think of is that this is some sort of bug in Disney's system; maybe it pops when it is trying to catch up on audio (analogous to the image degrading here and there when the stream slows). But I have never had this issue before and I wanted to see if anyone else has, and if maybe the problem could be with my speakers/receiver/setup in some way. I kind of doubt it (and I certainly hope it isn't), but I figured I would ask.

Thanks in advance, and happy to fill in any more info that might be useful.
 
T

Trebdp83

Audioholic Ninja
What kind of device are you using for streaming services?
 
TLS Guy

TLS Guy

Seriously, I have no life.
Hi all,

I have an issue that I can't seem to find any info on. I recently upgraded to a Denon 3700, with Martin Logan Motion 60xti/Motion 50 fronts, two Motion 15i surrounds, and two SVS PC-2000 subs. While streaming Disney+, I sometimes get weird static pops. It happens infrequently, and seemingly randomly. Maybe 3-4 times in a 30 minute viewing, but not predictably. If I rewind and watch again, it does not reoccur. Sometime the pops are louder, sometimes they are quieter. Sometimes there will be two pops they are three seconds apart, sometimes it only happens once or twice watching an entire episode of the Mandalorian. There doesn't appear to be any consistency to when they happen. Sometimes there is a lot of bass/loud volume, but sometimes it just happens when I first turn it on and you see the Disney+ logo.

As far as I can tell, this is not happening with any other streaming service. It also does not appear to be happening when I watch movies/play music on my 4k player. I say it does not "appear" because they are so random (and differ in volume levels) it is hard to know; maybe I am just missing them somehow (though I don't think I am, given that I always catch at least one while watching something on Disney+).

In terms of volume levels, the master volume I use on Disney+ is higher, but that is just because Disney, for whatever reason, seems to mix its volume levels lower; I don't think the actual decibel levels are any higher (and using my phone SBL meter, I can't tell any major difference) between watching on Disney+ and how I watch other media. (I have volume levels for discs usually around -12ish, for Netflix/Prime around -8ish, and for Disney+ around -2ish.)

The only thing I can think of is that this is some sort of bug in Disney's system; maybe it pops when it is trying to catch up on audio (analogous to the image degrading here and there when the stream slows). But I have never had this issue before and I wanted to see if anyone else has, and if maybe the problem could be with my speakers/receiver/setup in some way. I kind of doubt it (and I certainly hope it isn't), but I figured I would ask.

Thanks in advance, and happy to fill in any more info that might be useful.
That would seem to indicate some type of coding/decoding mismatch between the Disney source and your system.
 
T

TheTallOne89

Audioholic Intern
What kind of device are you using for streaming services?
Just my TV (65" LG B8). One thing I have not tried is using another device to stream Disney+. I don't have a Roku or anything similar. Although I haven't actually checked, possibly my Sony UBP 4k player can do Disney+. I don't recall it being able to, though. Might be worth getting another streaming device just to test, I suppose.
 
T

TheTallOne89

Audioholic Intern
That would seem to indicate some type of coding/decoding mismatch between the Disney source and your system.
Interesting. Anything to be tried/done about this, or just a mildly annoying problem with some content that I should let go?
 
TLS Guy

TLS Guy

Seriously, I have no life.
Interesting. Anything to be tried/done about this, or just a mildly annoying problem with some content that I should let go?
Not sure what you can do. I find you have lots of company, ROKU devices in particular have this problem. The audio codec of Disney + is Dolby Digital plus and that in itself should not be a problem. However Disney + is using the latest version of the HEVC video codec. Disney do specify, that the whole chain has to be HDCP version 2.2 or higher. So that means TV, cables and receiver. I assume you are using eARC audio return. Is that correct? Do you know the HDCP versions of you TV, receiver and cables.
There seems a lot of reports about all this but no definite solutions. I suspect though, this is caused by HDMI/HDCP incompatibilities in the your chain.
I have not subscribed to Disney +.
Your receiver is HDCP version 2.3 and your TV 2.2. So that leaves the cable. So maybe you need to update your cable? What is the length of your current cable?
 
T

TheTallOne89

Audioholic Intern
Not sure what you can do. I find you have lots of company, ROKU devices in particular have this problem. The audio codec of Disney + is Dolby Digital plus and that in itself should not be a problem. However Disney + is using the latest version of the HEVC video codec. Disney do specify, that the whole chain has to be HDCP version 2.2 or higher. So that means TV, cables and receiver. I assume you are using eARC audio return. Is that correct? Do you know the HDCP versions of you TV, receiver and cables.
There seems a lot of reports about all this but no definite solutions. I suspect though, this is caused by HDMI/HDCP incompatibilities in the your chain.
I have not subscribed to Disney +.
Your receiver is HDCP version 2.3 and your TV 2.2. So that leaves the cable. So maybe you need to update your cable? What is the length of your current cable?
So the cable is not long 6 feet I believe, not in front of me this second. This would make sense. A long time ago I had a different problem (not static pops but visuals cutting out) that turned out to be a bad cable. This one might have just outlived its usefulness. I’ll try a new cable and see if that helps at all. (And yes, using eARC.) Thanks for the suggestion, we’ll see if it helps.
 
TLS Guy

TLS Guy

Seriously, I have no life.
So the cable is not long 6 feet I believe, not in front of me this second. This would make sense. A long time ago I had a different problem (not static pops but visuals cutting out) that turned out to be a bad cable. This one might have just outlived its usefulness. I’ll try a new cable and see if that helps at all. (And yes, using eARC.) Thanks for the suggestion, we’ll see if it helps.
Make sure the cable meets the latest specs. If that is an old cable you have now, it likely is not the correct specification. This cable would be fine.
 
T

Trebdp83

Audioholic Ninja
I believe your TV is able to pass Atmos/DD+ over eARC but is dependent on apps supporting it as well. I'm not sure Disney+ supports Atmos on your TV. You can check by watching a bit of "The Mandalorian" and checking the audio codec displayed on the Denon. As TLS mentioned, you may be having issues with an older HDMI cable that does not support the current HDCP spec. Look for a current Premium Certified Cable.
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TLS Guy

TLS Guy

Seriously, I have no life.
I believe your TV is able to pass Atmos/DD+ over eARC but is dependent on apps supporting it as well. I'm not sure Disney+ supports Atmos on your TV. You can check by watching a bit of "The Mandalorian" and checking the audio codec displayed on the Denon. As TLS mentioned, you may be having issues with an older HDMI cable that does not support the current HDCP spec. Look for a current Premium Certified Cable.
View attachment 43567
As far as I can tell his TV does support Dolby Atmos. I think all LG OLED TVs do. But as far as I can tell only their OLED TVs do.
So if getting a cable of the correct spec does not do the trick, I have nothing else to suggest. I know my OLED LG TV supports it.
 
T

Trebdp83

Audioholic Ninja
Yes, lots of good hardware out there these days but one never knows that a good TV or streaming device will have a fully featured app. What may stream in 4K/HDR and Atmos one TV or streaming device may just stream in HD and DD 5.1 or 2.0 on another TV or device. This is true of Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+ and HBOMAX as so many recently realized while trying to stream WW84. It's always something. :confused:
 
T

TheTallOne89

Audioholic Intern
Well, changing to a new cable did not solve the problem. Alas. The only other thing I can think to try is a different streaming device. So I'll look into those and see which might work for me. Thanks all.
 
TLS Guy

TLS Guy

Seriously, I have no life.
Well, changing to a new cable did not solve the problem. Alas. The only other thing I can think to try is a different streaming device. So I'll look into those and see which might work for me. Thanks all.
The other question, is are you streaming to the TV, or is it hard wired? Wi-Fi is not an adequate connection as a rule, for these higher resolution streams. It seems you have a buffering issue. What ethernet cables are you using? These need to be Cat 6 now, at a minimum. Also older routers may not be up to the job. Since you have trouble on the stream requiring the highest bandwidth, I suspect you have a data bottleneck somewhere. Have you tested your bandwidth at the TV, with a site like Fast.com?
Before you buy another device, you need to look at your bandwidth throughout the chain. In this day and age, most people's home Ethernet infrastructure has to be rethought.
That means cabling, and not Wi-Fi, to bandwidth hungry devices. Planning and thought to your home Ethernet architecture is now more important than ever. I can tell you I did a lot of planning on mine, and spared no expense and work on its implementation. Also it can me updated easily, as standards and requirements change. It would be an easy matter to change every cable, patch bay and hub in the place, in less than a day, if the need ever presents itself.

We do not spend nearly enough time on this issue on these forums, and I expect posts like yours to escalate over time, due to data transfer bottlenecks in the home.
 
S

sterling shoote

Audioholic Field Marshall
The other question, is are you streaming to the TV, or is it hard wired? Wi-Fi is not an adequate connection as a rule, for these higher resolution streams. It seems you have a buffering issue. What ethernet cables are you using? These need to be Cat 6 now, at a minimum. Also older routers may not be up to the job. Since you have trouble on the stream requiring the highest bandwidth, I suspect you have a data bottleneck somewhere. Have you tested your bandwidth at the TV, with a site like Fast.com?
Before you buy another device, you need to look at your bandwidth throughout the chain. In this day and age, most people's home Ethernet infrastructure has to be rethought.
That means cabling, and not Wi-Fi, to bandwidth hungry devices. Planning and thought to your home Ethernet architecture is now more important than ever. I can tell you I did a lot of planning on mine, and spared no expense and work on its implementation. Also it can me updated easily, as standards and requirements change. It would be an easy matter to change every cable, patch bay and hub in the place, in less than a day, if the need ever presents itself.

We do not spend nearly enough time on this issue on these forums, and I expect posts like yours to escalate over time, due to data transfer bottlenecks in the home.
Not too long ago I connected my laptop to my OPPO via HDMI to enjoy multi-channel FLAC music played from Foobar 2000. It indeed worked but dropouts galore every few minutes. I assumed that I did not have a Foobar setting properly set but instead of spending any time tracking down the problem I just said "screw it" I don't have the time, inclination, or mental resources for this. So, I just burnt a data DVD of the music and now enjoy it as I would a multi-channel SACD. At any rate, maybe it's the learning curve of streaming that causes me to still just buy movies on disc rather than stream them.
 
T

TheTallOne89

Audioholic Intern
The other question, is are you streaming to the TV, or is it hard wired? Wi-Fi is not an adequate connection as a rule, for these higher resolution streams. It seems you have a buffering issue. What ethernet cables are you using? These need to be Cat 6 now, at a minimum. Also older routers may not be up to the job. Since you have trouble on the stream requiring the highest bandwidth, I suspect you have a data bottleneck somewhere. Have you tested your bandwidth at the TV, with a site like Fast.com?
Before you buy another device, you need to look at your bandwidth throughout the chain. In this day and age, most people's home Ethernet infrastructure has to be rethought.
That means cabling, and not Wi-Fi, to bandwidth hungry devices. Planning and thought to your home Ethernet architecture is now more important than ever. I can tell you I did a lot of planning on mine, and spared no expense and work on its implementation. Also it can me updated easily, as standards and requirements change. It would be an easy matter to change every cable, patch bay and hub in the place, in less than a day, if the need ever presents itself.

We do not spend nearly enough time on this issue on these forums, and I expect posts like yours to escalate over time, due to data transfer bottlenecks in the home.
Definitely not hard wired; would love to do that but not feasible right now, for my current setup. Didn’t build this house!

Is a static pop something that generally can happen if you have a data bottleneck? If so, that is actually a relief to me. I can work on that; I just am hoping this is not some bug with my receiver or some weird wiring problem I don’t know how to fix. (I can confirm it does not appear to be affecting other media though. Watched Jumanji 4k last night—with Atmos, plenty loud—and no static pops.)
 
Trell

Trell

Audioholic Spartan
Definitely not hard wired; would love to do that but not feasible right now, for my current setup. Didn’t build this house!

Is a static pop something that generally can happen if you have a data bottleneck? If so, that is actually a relief to me. I can work on that; I just am hoping this is not some bug with my receiver or some weird wiring problem I don’t know how to fix. (I can confirm it does not appear to be affecting other media though. Watched Jumanji 4k last night—with Atmos, plenty loud—and no static pops.)
Wireless can give some weird issues, especially if there are many competing nearby wireless devices including your microwave oven if you are not exclusively on the 5GHz band.

The easiest way for you to test if the wireless is the source of the issue is to acquire a long (?) network cable just for testing. If you still have issues the cause might not be the wireless connection.
 
T

TheTallOne89

Audioholic Intern
For posterity's sake, I figured I would update the thread: I got a Roku Ultra and streamed the same content. At least so far, I am not hearing the pops. To be sure, I have only had time to watch a few things, maybe 1.5 hours total viewing time, but I was rarely getting more than 10-15 minutes without a pop previously, so even if it has not completely eliminated the problem, it seems to have greatly diminished it, which suggests it is some sort of app issue. Thanks to all who responded.
 
S

stalag2005

Full Audioholic
I am going to ask this, are all devices in the chain have their firmware updated?
 
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