Sound dropping out through ARC??

[Big Worm 1]

I'm hoping someone can help me with this. I've googled it and it seems like a common issue, but no-one seems to give a definitive answer.

I got my old 5.1 system out of the loft and set it up. While most of my devices are connected into the amp and then from the amp to the TV, my Virgin V6 box needs to plug directly into the TV as the amp doesn't directly support 4K.



Each device that is connected into the amp works absolutely fine with no audio issues. However, when i'm watching the Virgin box, every minute or so, the sound drops for a second. I've plugged the Virgin box directly into the amp, and while there is no picture, the sound is fine.

All connections are through HDMI, and the amp is connected into the HDMI ARC port on the TV.

Simple solution i guess would be to buy a 4K amp, plug everything into that and have one connection into the TV, however if there is a fix for my current setup, it would save me a few hundred ££££.

I've swapped out the HDMI cables between the Virgin box/TV and TV/amp which rules them out.

Any ideas?

Thanks

[SS2.]

Big Worm 1 said:

Simple solution i guess would be to buy a 4K amp, plug everything into that and have one connection into the TV, however if there is a fix for my current setup, it would save me a few hundred ££££.

Could you use the TOSLink / optical output from the V6 straight into the amp ?

[hornmeister]

I presume you do have a 4K TV and are using that option.Otherwise is there an option to turn it off on the Virgin box?

My guess is that the TV is relaying a signal the amp can't quite process or isn't 100% compatible.
It may however be the HDMI cable not being good enough for the 4K data so chuck £5 at an Amazon basics one or similar between TV & amp as a first port of call if you're unsure as to the cable compatibility.

As suggested previously however sending via optical from the telly as a first choice or sending via optical from the Virgin box as a secondary choice. Each option may introduce lip sync issues and will reduce the compatible sound formats available however it's not ideal. As you correctly summarised, your best option is I'm afraid to upgrade the amp. You will probably benefit from better upscaling from non 4K sources, and routing all to amp and then amp to TV over Arc will give you the lest amount of compatibility headaches.

Edited by hornmeister on Thursday 2nd May 16:45

Edited by hornmeister on Thursday 2nd May 16:45

[alorotom]

We had this issue with a Samsung 4K tv - it was documented under numerous model numbers that it was a widespread fault - with little rhyme or reason for why it happened or when

We had the main boards and speakers replaced by Samsung and it corrected the problem

[Big Worm 1]

My optical cable arrived this morning. I’ve connected it from the V6 box to the amp, and also the TV to the amp. Unfortunately it’s not fixed the issue.

I’ve checked all the settings on both the TV (Sony x900f) and the amp. Can’t see anything that might be causing the issue though.

[hornmeister]

So it's not the cable.

You're only getting he dropouts through Arc? If you connect box direct to the amp does that fix it?
If so and as suggested previously it sounds like a TV fault or incompatibility.

[Big Worm 1]

hornmeister said:

So it's not the cable.

You're only getting he dropouts through Arc? If you connect box direct to the amp does that fix it?
If so and as suggested previously it sounds like a TV fault or incompatibility.

No it's not the TV as it used to do it with my old TV also. It's just anything that is connected directly into the TV rather than the amp seems to have this issue. I've tried a new optical cable which hasn't helped. I've had a new HDMI cable delivered today so i'll try that later. If that doesn't work, i'm guessing i either live with it or buy a new av receiver.

[heisthegaffer]

Can you reduce the resolution of the virgin box to 1080p to see if it works that way?

[Big Worm 1]

So after connecting the new HDMI cable, the issue seems to be resolved and it was the cable after all. Looks like all the other ones i have, and had tried are crap so i'd better chuck them in the bin and order some new ones.

Thanks for all you help!