Solving playback issues

[TrashProduct]

@Swordsman what are you talking about? I had this TV for about a month when I had the first sound issue. I find various forums stating that this is a KNOWN issue. I've had checked for updates, I have contacted Roku and there response is unplug it or do a hard reset. Sometimes I have to unplug multiple times a day. This is not a Roku issue? Are you serious here? And where is Roku support? They give the same bull**bleep** advice and do nothing. They KNOW they have a problem and have not even talked about doing some sort of update or patch.

[Swordsman]

Did you check all the TV settings (not the Roku) making sure it's on something other than stereo and that the refresh rates are the same on the Roku and the Television?  Further, several times a day makes me wonder if you have your router set to 5GHZ instead of 2.4GHZ.  5GHZ is great in the same room but drops and fails outside of the room that it's located in (depends on what's in the walls).  Set your ROKU to receive 2.4GHZ.  A dropped signal is almost always a router issue.  If you are unplugging multiple times, it's not likely it's a ROKU issue.  It's that router (sometimes just moving the antenna on the router will fix the issue).  We're talking radio signals here.

As to a 'known' issue . . . that known issue is mostly radio signal (router) and different implementation of advanced audio standards.

[SocalVal]

To Swordsman thanks for investing in this but it still doesn’t change the fact that it’s a Roku issue and they offer little to no support outside of freaking Twitter. Perhaps what you’re saying is a fix for “some” people then then why TF can’t they just say that instead of remaking silent. For me it’s not the router it was the stick itself and I’ve used Roku with Time Warner and Comcast. How is it that no other streaming devices have this many issues?

[Swordsman]

Mostly, the two best-rated services are Amazon and Roku.  Nothing else is really recommended, no matter what site you go to.  The new Amazon Ultra 2020 is supposed to get a 50% improvement in detecting router signal.  In truth, most people shouldn't do either.  They simply are no willing to learn enough about this stuff to keep it going.  For example, sound out-of-sync with video.  There's an Expert Setting on a Samsung TV.  That's a tv issue.  2.4GHz instead of 5GHz, that's a router issue.  On a Samsung curved model, the tv can't handle a stereo mode with Roku.  On other tv's, it's the PCM mode that the television can't handle.  Everyone implements these standards differently.  My Samsung was going on at random.  That was caused by the Samsung Receiver is was connected to.  There is no such thing as a universal standard.  What works for one will not work for another.

As to the issue of customer service, that's a dying industry.  Way too many people buying complicated stuff and not wanting or caring how it's setup.  Look at the responses I have gotten just posting on this site and I'm not even with ROKU.  It's the reason we all run when the neighbor wants some technical help.  It goes on forever and nobody does anything but act like it's your fault.  So, the techies just quit.  Try getting help from Amazon.  It's never someone in the United States.  Try Corel, the maker of WordPerfect.  In the 1980s, that company was legendary for customer support.  Try getting anything now.  Customer Service is dead because people are nasty.

[SocalVal]

You keep saying that you don’t work for Roku but you are “Going hard” for a company that you don’t work for. Your opinion on customer service being a dying breed makes no sense. They are a billion dollar company they surely can afford better technical services and if the solution is as simple as you described then why can’t they say that? It’s 2020! They can put out a solution sheet or something! It’s clear that you and I will not agree on this issue.

[aocustodio]

I’m sharing my sound loss troubleshooting experience in hope that others with similar challenges can overcome them.  In this pandemic, having a functional streaming device is more than important. I was very worried by the long list of complaints in this blog.  Roku customer service, I believe you can do better.     

First, some information about my equipment set-up.  I recently upgraded to a Roku Ultra after five years of using a Roku 3.  Having a better sound quality was one of the reasons for the upgrade.  The old unit is now in use at my parent’s home with no reports of problems.  

I have the Roku Ultra (which replaces the Roku 3) connected to a Denon receiver (AVR-X3100W) which has technology that supports HD/4K video and high quality audio pass through.  The TV is connected to the received (LG CXPUA).  

During the initial set-up, the Roku was not recognizing the 4K TV.  I plugged the Roku directly to the TV (HDMI eARC input) and this issue was resolved but the audio problems started.  The sound was intermittent during playback of YouTube videos and Spotify music.  I believe this problem was caused by the HDMI eARC connection.  However, I have no hard proof of this.  I returned to my normal connection through the receiver, and this time Roku did recognize it was connected to a 4K 60Hz TV.  However, it started losing sound randomly.  I had to restart the unit to gain sound again, only to lose it after some minutes of use.  I also unplugged the unit twice, but this did not solve the problem.  

After a day of frustration, I went back to Roku’s audio settings.  

Settings > audio > HDMI

Here, I selected “auto passthrough” instead of the default “auto detect.”  My sound problems ceased and the system states the following at the bottom of the screen: “Detected: D-MAT, DD+, DTS.”     

I hope this helps.  

[Swordsman]

I don't work for ROKU and I don't work for you.  If ROKU doesn't work, then try Amazon.  Good luck with that customer support thing ... hope you can understand a very heavy Indian Subcontinent English accent because that's all you're going to get from Amazon.

By the way, there was another comment about using the passthrough setting instead of autodetect.  You might want to try that.

[SocalVal]

My issue has been resolved and it wasn’t the router I had to end up purchasing another as it stopped working less than a year. I don’t want Amazon either but it’s just ridiculous that you’re minimizing this systemwide issue while this company is not addressing the issue. They can and should be doing more to address the issue even if it’s a press release or something but they aren’t. There’s nothing you can say to change my (or others) feelings on that. We are the customer and lacking customer service should not be something we accept as “getting with the times” just no.

[TrashProduct]

@Swordsman I feel like your solutions are geared towards people that have a separate streaming Roku device and attaching it to a TV. I have an actual Roku TV. There is no separate device. It's all one unit. I'm using no separate HDMI cords. Just the TV plugged in. I have many friends who have older versions of this TV with no problem. This new version seems to be the issue. I have another TV with a separate Roku attachment and because that Roku Streaming attachment is probably about 4 years old, I've had no issues.

As for Roku's service, they have basically washed their hands of the issue. "Unplug or do a hard reset, should be fine". It's fine for a few days, maybe a few weeks and then it happens again. Why bother to even have a customer "service" team when they don't actually deal with it. I legit DM'd them on Twitter. They gave me the unplug or hard reset advice. I told them I had already tried it, and they NEVER responded again. That's a joke. No way around it. 

[ssmccloud]

aocustodio, thank you for your thoughtful response. I checked out my Roku’s audio settings and don’t find ‘auto pass through’. Would you have a suggestion for Plan B?