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Louis_Nenda's avatar
Louis_Nenda
Streaming Star
12 months ago

Garbled sound through headphone jack

I'm trying this again since for some reason my original post was marked as spam and removed after I provided all relevant details about the affected TV. Aside from that, I also have more information about the problem now than I did at that time.

We have a recently-purchased WalMart Onn 32" TV.  At first it worked fine with no issues, but after the latest firmware update on June 7th the sound began to periodically garble, sounding like it's under water, for a few seconds at a time. It is most noticeable when changing channels, but will also sometimes occur in the middle of a program.

Through testing I have found that this problem only happens when the external speakers are plugged into the headphone jack. The internal speakers are not affected. Also the external speakers are not affected if plugged in via an optical converter instead of the headphone jack. However, when the optical audio is used the remote control cannot control the volume or mute the sound, so that's not a good solution.

Has anyone else seen this problem or come up with a solution?

9 Replies

  • Anonymous's avatar
    Anonymous
    12 months ago

    Louis_Nenda 

    This is a guess but sounds to me like the standard audio cable has a problem.  It maybe disconnecting for fractions of a second at a time. You can test this by slowly turning or "jiggling" the plug that goes into the TV. If that results in static or messed up sound, The speakers audio plug could be shot. The plug is difficult or impossible to change. Other than that some try some basic trouble shooting. Try plugging something you know is OK into the TV. If that works, your speakers have a problem. If the known good does the same as before the TV is the problem. Hope this helps.

    • Louis_Nenda's avatar
      Louis_Nenda
      Streaming Star
      12 months ago

      @ mop_891 Thanks - that's what I thought at first as well (problem with speaker connection), but further testing indicates that's not the case.

      The garbling happens only with broadcast, over-the-air television. It is not a problem with streaming channels. I tried other speakers connected to the headphone jack with the same results. As mentioned, if the speakers are connected to the optical audio output there is no problem, however since that output is always on full volume and is not controlled by the remote it's not really a solution.

      Wiggling the speaker connector around while connected to the TV's headphone jack does not trigger the problem. In fact I just now tried it on a streaming channel, tugged at it pretty hard, and the audio did not skip a beat.

      Although it may be coincidental it is suspicious that this issue started immediately after the TV was updated to firmware version version 13.0.0 (build 24062) on June 7th.

      • Anonymous's avatar
        Anonymous
        12 months ago

        Louis_Nenda  You are making me think! (joke). Yeah it very well could be the 13.0 update is messed up. So, if audio is OK thought optical, the audio is getting there OK. My guess, since it is only broadcast, I check you TV antenna and everything that goes with it. Could be as simple as a loose connection somewhere. check starting at the back of the TV. OK, tool time, You'll need a 7/16th inch open end wrench. That fits The connectors. Gently, turn the wrench clockwise. If it moves at all, connection might be loose. Loose connections on today TV signals can do strange things. It's what I'd do in your situation.

  • CaptainJack's avatar
    CaptainJack
    Newbie
    12 months ago

    Hello -- I have a 6-month old Roku TV (Model 43R4A5R).  The output from the built-in headphone jack on the back of the TV has stopped working.  My mother was listening through her Sony wireless headphones this morning, and when she came back after lunch, there was no sound through the headphones.  I plugged another set of headphones into the jack, and did not hear sound through them either.  I do get sound from the headphone output on the remote, but that is not a good long-term solution.  My mother is hearing-impaired, and uses her Sony headphones for many hours each day.

    I tried unplugging the TV for a few seconds (but maybe not long enough for a full power cycle); also turning the TV off and on several times; plugging and unplugging the headphone cable multiple times, etc.

    Is there any other trick or setting that I might try, before concluding that there's a hardware issue? Maybe a Factory Reset? Thanks!