HDR v3 box not fit for purpose (sound cutting out)

[Paddy+Mcvey]

Watching a film on Amazon Prime! 50 minutes in 2 drop outs within 30 seconds 

watched Disney+ and had 1, apart from that Sky, Netflix etc have all been fine Q160 beta update 

[Garry74]

I wonder if it is still possible to get on the trial for Q160? I did complain about the sound drop outs a while back. 

[rscott]

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@Garry74 wrote:

I wonder if it is still possible to get on the trial for Q160? I did complain about the sound drop outs a while back. 

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Unfortunately not, they stopped accepting new triallists a few weeks back.

[BBBD69]

Still no problems with the main box. 

I did experience 3 pixelation and sound drops on the mini box in the space of an hour last night. It is also on V16. 

[Bainsey316]

We too have signed up for the v160 trial and although it worked almost perfectly for the first few days we are once again suffering with the same issues as the previous firmware.

Everytime we fast forward a recorded program and press play again, we lose the sound.

We then have to cycle through the soundbar output options until it receives the correct decoding method and then the audio plays again. Its so annoying!!!

We've also had the same issue sometimes when just loading up the TV, Sky Q box and Soundbar from a standby state. No sound until you mess about turning each on and off again.

[fizzdisco]

@Bainsey316 

That sounds more like it could be a problem with your soundbar and the HDMI handshake connection to it rather than the random audio drop-out issue. What make and model do you have and how is it connected? Are you using ARC from the TV or does the Q box loop through it first and then to the TV? What sound format is the Q box outputting DD/DD+? 

[Perfectionist+dur]

I watched all four hours of the Justice League movie last night and not a single dropout. I haven't had one audio dropout at all since the 160 firmware upgrade. Heaven

[Scobo]

So a week in and our mini has been flawless.

Just need our main box updated to Q160 also please Sky. 😀

You can start the rollout as soon as you like. 👍

[Bainsey316]

TV - LG OLED55CX6LA

Soundbar - Sony HT-G700

High Speed HDMI cable from Soundbar to TV and a second High Speed HDMI Cable from TV to latest Sky Q 2Tb HDR box using ARC on the TV. Pretty sure its set to Passthrough on the TV output options.

Dolby Digital + on the Sky Q box 

Thanks

Mark

[fizzdisco]

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@Bainsey316 wrote:

TV - LG OLED55CX6LA

Soundbar - Sony HT-G700

High Speed HDMI cable from Soundbar to TV and a second High Speed HDMI Cable from TV to latest Sky Q 2Tb HDR box using ARC on the TV. Pretty sure its set to Passthrough on the TV output options.

Dolby Digital + on the Sky Q box 

Thanks

Mark

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Have you tried connecting the Q box directly to the soundbar's HDMI input then out to the TV? That would at least rule out whether you are still getting drop-outs. The spec of the HT-G700 does allow full 4K HDR pass-through so it shouldn't affect the video signal. 

I've always found ARC to be a bit if a pain so tend to avoid it. Lip sync was terrible for me with Sky Q via ARC and I've had sound disappear when switching formats on an Apple TV 4K box so I now connect all my AV kit directly to the amp and have a single HDMI output from the amp to the TV with full pass-through. 

Using this method I've not had a single drop-out with DD+ on Q160. Stereo, 5.1 and Atmos soundtracks have all been perfect.   

[Bainsey316]

Thanks for your suggestion.

Whilst I am prepared to give that a try, the whole reason I use the ARC is to allow Dolby Atmos to function as I believe without the ARC method this doesnt work?

[notagain]

I still have not had one audio dropout since last Thursday, so almost a week now, I think some people may have box issues, or other connectivity issues, as I have hammered by set up and not one issue audio wise. The only think I did have happen was HDR mode dropped out during a film so I had to stop and restart where I was and it came back, thats happened before though since HDR appeared. I stilll get pixilation issues though, now and then, it can be like the whole screen is fine and one piece of movement in the image breaks down, but its not constant and does not always happen and does not happen using the TV itself without sky. Also I didnt have it over the winter so I blame all the trees in bloom possibly or sky has an issue with bitrate maybe?. So I have to say my box is behaving brilliantly on Q160 which is something I never though id say.

Sky Q 2TB v3 box to Sony AF8 via high speed HDMI then high speed HDMI via Arc to a Sony HT-NT5 which has three devices conneced directkly to it as it has full 4K at passthough for DV, HDR10 and HLG. at 60 fps. Sound output is set to DD.

[GNinga]

@Bainsey316 don't know if there's something particular about your gear, but in general Atmos should only be dependent on the source providing Atmos signal, not on whether you use ARC or not. 

[fizzdisco]

@Bainsey316 

You'll get Atmos from Sky Q by connecting the box straight to the soundbar via HDMI and selecting that input as the source - the TV and ARC has nothing to do with it. 
If you want Atmos from any TV apps or other sources connected to your TV however, you will need to use ARC.
I was only suggesting you try this other method to determine whether you are still getting drop-outs with Q160. 

[Bainsey316]

Perhaps im getting mixed up and I use the ARC mainly due to also having a PS5 connected directly to the TV.