Soundbar issues on sky stream.

[Mrnorth12345]

Anyone have issues with broken sound, using a soundbar with sky stream? my soundbar works fine with the optical cable connected, and on multiple tvs,  it works fine with any other hdmi device plugged into the tvs (firestick for example) then linked to the soundbar via optical, every single sky puck I've tried has broken sound when using a soundbar, I'm onto puck number 3 and the problem Persists.... cheap skated us with the latest services and rushed it out, while charging premium prices. Worst sky service to of ever exist, riddled with problems.

[Jporch316]

Hi @Mrnorth12345 

@have you tried changing the sound options in the settings to see if a different setting suits your particular soundbar ?

[Mrnorth12345]

Hi, and thanks for your response,

I have and it sounds terrible, the soundbar preference and mine would be dts x, but there's no option for this on sky stream, but Dolby atmos is, and all my other devices are set to this and work great, so I'm a little lost as to what's going on here, why do other devices set to Dolby atmos on my Dts x soundbar give great Spatial Audio but with sky stream I'm having issues unless using inferior sound settings.

[Mister_Dalek]

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@Mrnorth12345 wrote:

Hi, and thanks for your response,

I have and it sounds terrible, the soundbar preference and mine would be dts x, but there's no option for this on sky stream, but Dolby atmos is, and all my other devices are set to this and work great, so I'm a little lost as to what's going on here, why do other devices set to Dolby atmos on my Dts x soundbar give great Spatial Audio but with sky stream I'm having issues unless using inferior sound settings.

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If you've only connected your soundbar via optical from your TV then you won't be getting Dolby Atmos or DTS-X. Optical/Toslink can only pass up to Dolby Digital 5.1 audio. Any other format received will likely be a output as a pseudo surround by the soundbar, if at all. 

This article is good at explaining the differences in optical/HDMI ARC/eARC:

https://www.rtings.com/soundbar/learn/opitical-vs-hdmi 

[Mrnorth12345]

I have tried looping the hdmi cable through the soundbar as it has hdmi in and out, so hdmi cable direct from my sky puck into the soundbar then hdmi cable out the soundbar into the tv, but the sound is still broken.

ill have a look at that article, thanks

[Mrnorth12345]

I have tried looping the hdmi cable through the soundbar as it has hdmi in and out, so hdmi cable direct from my sky puck into the soundbar then hdmi cable out the soundbar into the tv, but the sound is still broken.

ill have a look at that article, thanks

[Mrnorth12345]

@Mister_Dalek 

Am I right in thinking after reading your comment and that article, that if I connect my sky stream pick directly with hdmi to my soundbar with hdmi and both products support hdmi arc, I shouldn't have an issue, is it a standard hdmi cable or is that different too?

that article mentions lip sync issues too, which is now making me think, as my partner has sky glass, when she uses the firestick on that tv we get lip sync issues, we didn't even consider this could be an issue with sky glass until reading that article so we have just tried it on another tv, everything's fine.

thanks again for your response 

[Mister_Dalek]

@Mrnorth12345 

There are many variables when it comes to HDMI connections. A lot can depend on the capabilities of your individual components - ie your TV and your soundbar. Different makes/models have different methods of processing audio. Some have automatic lip sync correction, some don't. HDMI cables can have different speeds which can affect data transfer speeds. Some soundbars don't cope well when switching between formats - PCM to Dolby Digital or Atmos or DTS etc. 

It can take a bit of trial and error to work out what will work best for your equipment. 
Try connecting the puck directly to your soundbar but make sure it can deal with full pass-through of the video signal to your TV. Not all soundbars can. If this doesn't work then try connecting the puck to another HDMI input on your TV and allow the audio to be sent via the HDMI ARC connection to your soundbar rather than optical. 

[Exiled-in-HH]

@Mrnorth12345  Is there a reason you not connecting the puck and soundbar direct to the TV using HDMI cables?

A good starting point would be HDMI 2.1 Certified cables they are not expensive ... not expensive cables with silly names ... if you want Dolby Vision/Amos support😉

[Mrnorth12345]

@Exiled-in-HH  Hi, and thanks again @Mister_Dalek 

I am connected directly to the tv from the puck via hdmi, which is the big head scratcher as they both are hdmi arc supported, so in theory the setup is correct.

The question of whether my soundbar is receiving atmos or dts x through the optical cable has being answered and if it's not that's fine, as the sound quality I get through the soundbar from all other devices connecting the tv and the soundbar via optical is of good enough quality for me, Xbox PlayStation and firestick have no issues with broken sound, the only way I can have unbroken sound on my sky puck with the soundbar on is to switch to pcm stereo and the quality is so poor it's very very noticeable, if I goto Netflix on the puck and the firestick and load the same movie at the same time and flick between the hdmi inputs on my tv it's even more apparent how bad the pcm stereo setting on the puck is.

I have only tried to loop it through the soundbar (which is also hdmi arc supported) using hdmi in/out for test purposes, this causes the same broken sound issue as directly into the tv, however even if this did work for the audio, I would lose 4k, I'm not sure if 4k pass through on a soundbar is a thing, and if im honest I'm not interested in looking, as the soundbar is clearly not the issue here,  and neither is my tv, or I would experience the same issues on all devices as they all support the same type of connection on paper and are all have the same configuration in terms of cabling.

As a last resort, I'm going to try upgrading to my hdmi cable, from the ones that work great on all other devices, just to rule it out, but after that, we're into cancellation territory.  

I just want it to work, to a good enough standard that I'm happy with, and after reading these forums thoroughly over the past few days, trying all the things users have being suggesting, and which I'm very grateful for, it's clear I'm not the only person experiencing the sound issue and nobody is getting any support from Sky. 

thanks again everyone who has taken the time to reply to me, you have been great, and I've learned a few things along the way.

[Exiled-in-HH]

Another test you could try for comparison is access the Sky channels in UHD/HDR and ATMOS via Sky's NOWTV streaming service .. rather than completely cancel Sky services🤔

[Mrnorth12345 · Accepted solution]

@Exiled-in-HH  I appreciate your helpfulness,, however, I pay enough for sky as it is, I've been a customer for around 15 years, I installed for them right up until sky Q, their products and services have always been great, worth the money in my eyes, they have always stood head and shoulders above the rest in terms of quality.

They nailed it with sky Q, just a few minor software updates and few hardware updates to standardise 4k on all boxes would of been all they needed to do, however with the satellite system about to be decommissioned, they have nothing to offer I can't get better somewhere else, and cheaper, especially when they can't even get the end user equipment right anymore. They are a sinking ship and when it's sunk, Elon's taking over with his whole range of new satellites up in air, they have just been greedy, should of just spent the money required to make the satellite upgrades needed and continued to dominate the market.... It's a sad time for sky, we know it and they know it.

the answer for me is cancel sky, I cancelled the broadband last week when they tried to more than double my price, and now they're getting the tv service cancelled, wether in contract or not and I am well within my rights, the service provided is simply not fit for purpose and if collective action is needed to stand these rip off merchants in court, it coming their way.

[Exiled-in-HH]

I only access content legally ... that's why I only recommend Sky Stream or Sky's NOWTV to access Sky's subscription channels and on-demand via streaming🤔

VirginMedia has never been an option anywhere i've lived due to it limited availability😂🤣😂

[Mrnorth12345]

@Exiled-in-HH 

You and me both, virgin isn't without its problems tbh, I'm going to take a look see what equipment bt are offering at the moment, all sky channels on BT are multicast over IP tho so they have the same latency issues with live tv as sky, unfortunately this is what we have to put up with now, paying for live sports and finding out the scores on Facebook first, the technology and infrastructure is available to bring the old sky satellite system upto date but they don't want to part with the cash, the door is gunna get left wide open for those that are willing to spend the cash to make it great again.... my moneys on Elon Musk, it makes perfect sense, starlink is here to stay, Astra28 is going to sleep, and when it does, all those sky customers that are managing to hold on to Sky Q, will 100% leave when they realise how bad stream actually is.

[Exiled-in-HH]

That will be delivered via NOWTV BUT without access to discounts😉