Weak sound?

[Silvermanz]

What's wrong with the sound on sky stream?

In default 'auto' sound mode everything is very quiet - I need my soundbar on max volume to hear it at a normal volume. For reference, at max volume on other content such as a game or Blu-ray it's usually loud enough to make the glass in the windows rattle.

A little googling later I tried setting the sound to pcm stereo which helps restore a normal volume level, but now the bass is very weak sounding.

I watch a lot of musical content so sound quality is very important to me and currently I've got the choice of very quiet or muddy weak bass.

Has anyone got any suggestions on how to fix this? Is it happening to anyone else?

Thanks.

[Fothergill1]

@Silvermanz Welcome to the forum.  Your sound issue is not something I have ever noticed on my stream puck.  If it did the first thing I would do is reboot the puck so give it a try if you haven't already done so.

Go to Settings > System Management > Resets & Updates > Restart device (do not do a factory reset).  It takes about 3 minutes to completely reboot. You will have a blank screen for a couple of minutes before the Sky logo appears so don’t panic when you first start the process.

[Jay155]

I have the exact same issue with two pucks 

[Lyle95]

I have the exact issue. When I had SkyQ I could listen to TV at 20, and it was loud. Now I have to listen to the TV at 40-50 to hear it now I have the stream puck. If I've got music on I have to have it at 100 (max) and its still not loud enough.

[CoffeeDrinker]

@Silvermanz Which soundbar do you have?

The Sky puck auto mode in the sound options will try the following sound formats in order, trying each to see if the sound device responds with a successful 'handshake'. If the devices fail to handshake, it will move onto the next:

1. Dolby Digital Plus (includes Atmos if you have the UHD/Atmos add-on). A fairly new codec, but the one with the least widespread support/compatibility. Can do Atmos, 7.1, 5.1 and 2.0 stereo.
2. Dolby Digital. An older codec from the 1990s that can do 5.1 and 2.0. Was the standard for audio on DVDs, so support is pretty widespread.
3. PCM stereo. The standard for compact discs. Just about anything capable of making sound can handle PCM stereo.

Sometimes support for a given codec/sound formats is almost there but not quite., If you soundbar is sounding weak and it is struggling with Dolby Digital Plus in auto mode, try using Dolby Digital before settling on PCM stereo.

it might also be worth powering off your puck for a minute or two then turning it back on. I've had a few instances in the past where my puck would only play the front left and front right channels of 5.1 shows (Star Trek the original series); music and sound effects came through fine but dialogue and bass were so weak as to be almost inaudible. It might not be the same issue you're having, but it's worth cycling the power to rule it out.

[nicky15]

We have recently swapped from Sky Q to streaming with the Puck. When we switched we were promised the sound quality would be better - but it really isn't. To have a hope of hearing dialogue, it has to be turned up much more than with the Q system which makes the background noise unbearably loud and the voices just about audible although it is like listening with a pair of socks in the ears. We have tried all the sound settings on the puck, we use a surround sound with rear speakers, tried every combination of sound on the sound bar but it doesn't make much difference. I have hearing problems at the best of times and the puck is making tv viewing challenging. The best set up is with pass through and it does vary with TV channel - the Sky programmes tend to be the worst offenders and streaming Amazon Prime through the TV rather than the Puck can be noticeably better. Using Dolby through the Puck, which is supposed to be supported by the sound system makes no difference and can be worse. Speech is muffled and there don't seem to be any other settings to alter base/treble. Any other useful suggestions would be appreciated.

[CoffeeDrinker]

@nicky15 What make & model of soundbar are you using? And if you are using ARC to pass through the sound through your TV to the soundbar, which make & model of TV do you have?