Sound Bar Not Working With Sony KD55XD9305 Apps

[preeder1963]

Hi

I have a Sony KD55XD9305BU  Smart Android TV which is linked to a Cambridge TVB2 sound bar - both a few days old.  Linked via the HDMI 4 port which is ARC.

My Virgin Media box, a TV Media Box, and a Bluray player are also connected to the TV via HDMI.

The sound bar works faultlessly with the three boxes listed above.

However, when I use the TV's on board Apps, such as Amazon and BBC I player, the sound fails to make it to the sound bar and I either get silence or a loud clicking.  The picture will also stall when trying to watch apps with the sound bar selected and switched on.  If I switch to TV speakers then the apps work fine.

I can't really take the sound bar back as I would have to admit it works fine.  Is my TV maybe malfunctioning or is there some setting buried deep in the menus that I haven't found yet?  Spent most of Xmas on this so any help much appreciated.

[rooobb]

It could be some incompatibility on one of the devices you connect to the system. Try disconnecting both Virgin and TV media box and see if the TV/soundbar connection is working...

[preeder1963]

Thanks for the reply Roob.  It turned out to be in the Sound Menu - Digital Output Mode.  Deselected Auto and forced to PCM.  Should have been in the instructions really.

[rooobb]

it's not a real solution since you are cutting down any Dolby or dts encoding (unless your soundbar is not able to manage that). but if you are happy with it it's ok

[preeder1963]

I don't really understand that Roobb so now I think I am missing out on something that I would be unhappy about if I understood what it was.

I tried your suggestion of disconnecting all other devices so that I had only the TV connected to the internet via LAN.  The problem still occurred.  I found that by switching off the sound bar power and disconnecting the HDMI lead I could then get the apps working using TV speakers.  If I then connected the soundbar via HDMI to the TV and then turned the sound bar power back on then the sound bar worked with the App (Amazon Iplayer etc).

If I leave the sound bar on and plugged in and switch between episodes within the app, or to another app then the problem comes back.

It also comes back if I leave the sound bar plugged in but powered off.  I expect it's only on stand-by anyway and the sound bar is sending something back up the HDMI cable to the TV.

[rooobb]

there should be two auto mode:did you tried both before switching to pcm? if yes probably your solution is the best possible 

[preeder1963]

Yes there are two auto modes and I have only tried one. Basically, last night I had tried disconnecting all other devices and started going into my John Cleese self destruct mood when I finally got through to Richer Sounds and tried their suggested PCM option. 

When I get back tonight I will try the other auto and see what it does.  Thanks for your help so far.  It is appreciated.

[preeder1963]

Ok I have now tried both Auto modes and neither work properly. 

[Anonymous]

Hi there

Im coming in the middle of this thread, but im trying to understand the problem.  Problem: Your having issues with 'no audio' when using apps such as Netflix, YouTube etc but audio works fine when outputting via HDMI-ARC from devices connected to the TV.

You changed one of the settings to PCM and it therefore works.

So I am now unsure what the issue is?

Cheers

[preeder1963]

Hi Quinnicus - I think Roobb was pointing out that with the TV's digital sound output set to PCM I am going to be losing some of the sound properties DTS etc as I understand that PCM is a compressed format.

Cheers Paul