Solving playback issues

[dmurph]

I've spent the past week with the new Roku Ultra and its horrible. HDCP issues right out of the box, but the biggest problem we had is extremely low audio output. Searching the forums, this seems to be a very common issue that Roku isn't interested in fixing. I've tried every suggestion in these forums, every setting combo available, not just in the Roku, but also on my TV (LG OLED 65C3), and nothing helps. 

With literally NO CHANGES, I can plug my 4660X into the same cables and the sound output is easily 70% louder. The settings on both devices are the same too.

This is an unbearable issue for me and this 4850R is going back to Roku. 

Once this 4660 dies I guess I'll get an AppleTV. Just wanted Roku to know that they're losing a long time supporter.... 

[AvsGunnar]

@dmurph 

While not great news for Roku, thanks for reporting your experience with the new Ultra 4850.

Out of curiosity, did you try using both the HDMI cables (the new one shipped with the 4850 as well as the old one from the 4660) to see if that made any difference?

[dmurph]

Yes, I tried 3 different cables (2 are 8K rated and the included cable) and even different HDMI ports on my TV. 

[AvsGunnar]

I have seen reports with the HDCP issues with the new device (will probably be addressed officially via an update), but can also be resolved by adding an HDMI switch in the setup (models that bypasses/ignores HDCP communication) but the end-user should not have to do this.

It may just be an unfortunate timing of releasing a new device and a new OS update at the same time that is introducing some bugs/undesired behavior.

I was going to buy the 4850 but was able to acquire a second 4660 instead.  Unfortunately, some users never got a full resolution to some of the issues they were having with the 480X series of Ultras so I figured I would stick to the older hardware that performs just fine for me and my TVs.

[dmurph]

The only reason I got it was for Dolby Vision support, but it doesn't matter how good the video looks if I can't hear it LOL

4660 for life! 😂