Solving playback issues

[FallLine76]

Hmm, so is it basically only a problem for people trying to go though some sort of external receiver, versus the Roku plugged directly in to a TV, and audio just going through the TV speakers, or possibly just a sound bar connected to the TV? Just curious what is different, for the people having no issues at all.

My setup is pretty basic, just a single HDMI cable between the Roku Ultra and the receiver, sending both video and audio from the Roku over that. I suppose I can test plugging in the Roku directly in to a TV HDMI port, and just listening to the audio over the TV's built in speakers, to see if it does the same thing or not.

[acowie]

So we have at the very least an Ultra, Streaming stick, and Roku TV experiencing this issue with both HDMI -> receiver and optical out -> receiver. Definitely sounds like a software issue.

But wait - just discovered that if I turn up the volume on my Roku TV's built in speakers, I can hear the pops through there as well. So it isn't limited to external speakers, just easier to hear on them..

[user16]

That's right, I have verified the clicks and pops through the TV speakers as well -- nothing to do with  a receiver. That confirms the issue lies with Roku's implementation of AirPlay. AirPlaying directly to a receiver/soundbar that supports AirPlay, skipping Roku, does not have clicks/pops.

Unfortunately I have given up trying to resolve the issue and I do not expect it to be addressed. My workaround is to connect my iPhone via Bluetooth to my soundbar that supports BT (it does not support direct AirPlay). The sound quality is noticeably worse than AirPlay but I prefer that over the annoying clicks/pops.

The other workaround is to purchase another AirPlay capable external device, such as an Apple TV, and AirPlaying to that instead skipping Roku.

Roku, please let us know if you can resolve this issue with your software. Quite disappointing, though it's something that most consumers wouldn't notice, I wish I was blissfully unaware of the issue!

[acowie]

Good summary. Really hope this is addressed soon. Going to use either a used airport express or Apple TV until this is fixed I guess - I would normally go with a raspberry pi but there's no AirPlay 2 support with shairport-sync (yet). 

Btw, I uploaded a < 5 sec clip of a pop happening when listening to a random TuneIn radio station - pops in quiet music are way more noticeable like one user said, maybe due to relative volume. but I did manage to get this little one on video: https://i.imgur.com/uLwQl5e.mp4 

[user16]

Replying to the message from 'RokuMary-F'

Just wanted to point out most of your questions are not relevant to the issue we are discussing. Please escalate this issue to a relevant technical team that can take a look at Roku's implementation of AirPlay. That is the part that has a technical problem, most likely a bug in the software rather than a hardware problem. So, you could say the issue is with the AirPlay 'channel' on Roku though it's not really a channel. It has nothing to do with Roku Mobile.

Please let us know if you have any updates. Thanks for your help if possible.

 RokuMary-F

[StreamerUser]

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@user16 wrote:

Replying to the message from 'RokuMary-F'

Just wanted to point out most of your questions are not relevant to the issue we are discussing. Please escalate this issue to a relevant technical team that can take a look at Roku's implementation of AirPlay. That is the part that has a technical problem, most likely a bug in the software rather than a hardware problem. So, you could say the issue is with the AirPlay 'channel' on Roku though it's not really a channel. It has nothing to do with Roku Mobile.

Please let us know if you have any updates. Thanks for your help if possible.

 RokuMary-F

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Just as an FYI, ironically, the AirPlay2 support is in fact a 'channel' - its simply a hidden set of 2 apps (with a UI menu link; much of Roku's own functionality operates the same - hidden apps with a UI menu link).

Also, a new firmware build (10.0.0-4200) was made available today (6/4), check to see if its available for your model (Settings/System/System upgrade/Check now), and if you upgrade to it, see if it resolves the AP popping & clicking behavior.

[user16]

Yep interesting info, I could tell AirPlay was a hidden app / channel, same as most of the functionality. FYI, I checked for an update, none available as of today for my TCL 55R615 Roku TV. Oh well.

[FallLine76]

Yep, that is definitely the click/pop sound for sure (I just watched the clip posted). My workaround has been the same as someone else posted....I'm just using the built-in Bluetooth functionality of my receiver. It works fine, but Airplay is certainly nicer, since I don't have to be anywhere near the receiver with my phone for it to work...I just have to be on the Wifi network. I think it does sound a little better via Airplay as well.

The Airplay functionality on my Vizio TV (eARC connected to an old Sony receiver) has been working perfectly, so in that part of the house I'm good with Airplay. I was hoping RokuOS 10 might have magically fixed this, but it hasn't, as far as I can tell. 

[StreamerUser]

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@user16 wrote:

Yep interesting info, I could tell AirPlay was a hidden app / channel, same as most of the functionality. FYI, I checked for an update, none available as of today for my TCL 55R615 Roku TV. Oh well.

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Expect some 42xx build to be made available in the near future, at which point you'd want to check the AP (and other) behavior again.

[acowie]

Unfortunately no change in behavior for me after updating to 10.0.0 build 4213-48