Sony HT has frequent audio drop outs // has anyone similar problem listening music ?

[lovinthehd]

@av-tom is it like TLS says and the input actually temporarily switches on the avr?

 

[TLS Guy]

yes, this had not lead to any success. According to the many research I had optimized all settings but as written above none had success so far to eliminate the wake-ups.
There even exist some apk (Android app) to realize a complete shutdown. But if this is the solution then just switching power off is much simpler...


Again it has nothing to do with Apple TV. It happens on every HDMI connected audio source.

But to validate I appreciate to have more evidence from other users. The TV could have just a defect...which make the wake-up triggering the audio drop outs.

This is just the way this confounded HDMI stuff works. it is an a truly awful system. If your Sony TV keeps waking up, then this problem will occur every time. So you have to stop the TV waking up. There is no other solution.

 

[Trebdp83]

Again, turn BRAVIA Sync/HDMI-CEC OFF in the TV. Turn Control For HDMI OFF in the receiver and blu-ray player. Do not use altered cables. Make sure all cable are at least Premium Certified cables. Connect to the TV using a port other than HDMI 4/ARC when HDMI-CEC and ARC are not to be used.

Regarding the Apple TV 4K, the receiver does not support 4K and will limit video output to 1080p. The TV was firmware updated to support 4K @60Hz HDR10. So, you are in a bit of a pickle regarding optimal video and optimal audio output. If you want the Apple TV 4K to output 4K HDR, it must be connected directly to the TV. This will mean using HDMI-CEC/ARC or an optical connection to the receiver from the TV. The Apple TV 4K will need to be set to Dolby Digital 5.1 for audio output. Though ARC can support Atmos/DD+, the Apple TV 4K does not bitstream Atmos/DD+ from streaming services and outputs everything as uncompressed LPCM by default. This increases the needed bandwidth for audio output and eARC would need to be supported by the TV and receiver when connected in this way.

With no Dolby Atmos capabilities, I doubt there would be a real loss in audio quality using DD 5.1 vs DD+ 7.1 with this receiver. The TV should not have an issue sending DD 5.1 signals over optical. The HDMI port to which the Apple TV 4K would be connected should be set to Enhanced mode for 4K @60Hz HDR signals. The audio settings for the HDMI input port and optical out port should be set to bitstream, not PCM, for DD 5.1 signals to make their way to the receiver.

If you want to continue using the Apple TV 4K connected to the receiver, set its video output settings manually to 1080p @60Hz SDR and turn Match Dynamic range and Frame rate OFF to avoid any video black outs when switching between different content.

 

[av-tom]

@av-tom is it like TLS says and the input actually temporarily switches on the avr?

No. When TV is standby AVR remains standby.

... this is all good advise but not intent of this issued thread. response and proposls above have many more aspects, which would hijack the idea listening uninterrupted music with prefrence to have TV off. Looks my English is not good enough to make it clearer. I will consider changing the setup during upgrade as mentioned. I definetely want a system, which will support CEC and audio only playback while TV is off.

Finally I want to know if this is a Sony system related issue which could stop me buying new Sony TV with eARC or if it is a device fault issue when other Sony Android-TV do work as expected and play audio without interrupts in such scenario.

Thanx in advance to those who potentially have a Sony Android TV and are willing to test.

P.S. going on biz trip tonight and will revert next WE

 

[lovinthehd]

No. When TV is standby AVR remains standby.

... this is all good advise but not intent of this issued thread. response and proposls above have many more aspects, which would hijack the idea listening uninterrupted music with prefrence to have TV off. Looks my English is not good enough to make it clearer. I will consider changing the setup during upgrade as mentioned. I definetely want a system, which will support CEC and audio only playback while TV is off.

Finally I want to know if this is a Sony system related issue which could stop me buying new Sony TV with eARC or if it is a device fault issue when other Sony Android-TV do work as expected and play audio without interrupts in such scenario.

Thanx in advance to those who potentially have a Sony Android TV and are willing to test.

P.S. going on biz trip tonight and will revert next WE

Not what I was referring to particularly. Do you see a change in input on the avr? Or is it simply a gap/cut-out?

 

[isolar8001]

Thanx in advance to those who potentially have a Sony Android TV and are willing to test.

Trouble is...that's a 7 year old Android Sony. Newer ones might be different, for better or worse.

 

[av-tom]

Not what I was referring to particularly. Do you see a change in input on the avr? Or is it simply a gap/cut-out?

Display is changing to TV? input (I have to check when I am back) and back to HDMi source during wake-up of TV whick is only 10-20 seconds. During this time audio is dropped out == silence.

 

[av-tom]

Trouble is...that's a 7 year old Android Sony. Newer ones might be different, for better or worse.

exactly, but it is not any trouble but good experience from other users with likely newer Sony Android-TV are a perfect input into my upgrade decisions.

 

[Trebdp83]

Whenever HDMI-CEC is enabled in every device, the TV and receiver will receive a signal to power on and switch to the device used for playback. It is what it is. Some just turn HDMI-CEC OFF in every device. Some want to have their cake and eat it too and clip pins or use certain adapters to get around commands.

 

[lovinthehd]

Display is changing to TV? input (I have to check when I am back) and back to HDMi source during wake-up of TV whick is only 10-20 seconds. During this time audio is dropped out == silence.

The only way I got an avr to switch to an input outside of its hdmi-cec setting was to really screw with the timing via the macro on a Harmony remote, but don't remember it ever switching back on its own otherwise, it would just change to the "tv" input. I just got rid of the hdmi-cec stuff and used an external streamer from then on. No problems with wake-up/particular implementation as you mention, tho.

 

[BMXTRIX]

Again it has nothing to do with Apple TV. It happens on every HDMI connected audio source.

This is the type of troubleshooting you will want to actually test, and not just say.

Maybe, the AppleTV is waking up periodically. This wake up causes a HDMI-HDCP blurp with the receiver and television that causes audio to drop out.

You will want to unplug ALL sources from the receiver except one. I would go with the Blu-ray Disc player as that is the least likely culprit.

From there, you leave all sources unplugged completely, and you ensure that HDMI-CEC is turned off across ALL sources. Off in the receiver, off in the Blu-ray Disc player, and off in the TV. Then, test audio. If you get a dropout with the TV connected, then that's the most likely cause. Unplug the HDMI from the receiver for the TV and see if the issue goes away.

Now unplug the Blu-ray Disc player, and test with just the AppleTV. Same process. With the TV plugged in, and the TV unplugged. See if you have the issue in one case, and not in another.

Yes, as of right now, all signs point towards the TV as being the issue. When it wakes up briefly, the AV receiver is having some sort of handshake that it can't handle without dropping audio to the system. This is most likely HDCP related as even though the TV isn't powering on and I don't believe the receiver is switching sources at all, but the HDCP handshake can cause a brief dropout of your source until it is fully negotiated.

There is NO reason for this handshake to occur when the TV is in standby mode and that part of the chip should not be activated, and I don't know a good way to ensure that it is powered off and not acting stupid on you like this. But, your testing should not be by leaving everything plugged in as that leaves a lot of variables on the table. It likely is the TV, but it COULD be the AppleTV (even if that's not what is currently playing). It could be the Blu-ray Disc player (even if it is off!). But, unplug the world, then start with one thing at a time.

I do agree that this appears to be fully a TV thing. I'm not sure if there is any way in power settings to really bring things down to ground zero for waking up. You may want to consider completely disconnecting the TV from the Internet so there is no ability for apps to reach out, which may or may not impact things. Unless you are dependent on those apps, but with an Apple TV, you should be able to get by without them. At the very least, it's something else to test and try.