Solving playback issues

[ciras3]

Purchased a Roku Express for an older Olivia Television that's in my bedroom. I'm using an HDMI cable to connect.  Whenever I want to use the Roku on this TV,  I have to go into the settings and restart it, otherwise I get the weird alien sounding voices. It works just fine after I do the restart.  It's just annoying and a waste of time to do this every time I want to watch a movie on Netflix or something on Hulu. Did I purchase a defective Roku Express ? Is there a way to have my Roku Express turn off when I'm done using it and restart the next time I want to watch something ?  Seems like this unit goes into a hibernating mode and doesn't actually turn off.  Look forward to advice on how to solve this issue. 

[danielk4ren]

My Premier + is also playing garbled sound with Netflix and Disney +. Disney + support said it was a Roku problem but I can't find anyone to call. Got any ideas?

[LoveOurGadgets]

I have ROKU ULTRA.  Samsung TV was making garbled distorted low sound.  Thought it was the TV so tried a soundbar and same issue.  Did sound test on TV and it tested good.  So still thought it was a TV.  Brought in another TV (which used Roku Streaming Stick on but it overheats all the time so was going to try the Ultra).  STILL THE SAME DISTORTED SOUND so now know it is the Roku causing the problem.

I didn't know what OP meant by restart every time (powering down and up again is what I thought); however, I found the restart option in the ROKU and restarted and it is working ... for now.  As OP stated having to restart continually is not a satisfactory solution.  I saw other posts in which Roku was replying had not heard of this problem but obviously it exists and between more than one TV this is an issue that we figured out the Roku was the common denominator.  Hubby already went out and bought another ROKU ULTRA (before I did restart) after several days with this issue and just now discovering the root cause was the Roku when we swapped TVs.  I have had Roku Express, Roku Streaming Stick (always overheating under a year old), Roku Ultra (just over year old) and now another Roku Ultra as of today.  I won't be happy if I'm having to buy a new Roku Ultra every year.

[MitziCope]

I have the same issue with my Roku Ultra and Samsung TV. I frequently have to restart the Roku to resolve the distorted sound issue. Very annoying.

[Stanley333]

the sound is crackly and it repeats scene's that have just played ?? this just started on my roku , any advise

[KCUltra]

I have same problem with new Roku Ultra and Sony 4K TV. Restart gets rid of distortion but it a pain and time waster. 

[haneef]

Same here. It is super frustrating. It happens with ALL channels. Netflix, Youtube TV, Amazon Prime Video. Come on Roku, respond, fix it. I have three of them.

[RokuTannerD]

Thanks for the notes here. There are a few things you can try to see if this helps resolve that type of issue. 

1. Replace the HDMI cable connecting your Roku device to your TV. 

2. Connect your Roku device to a different HDMI port on your TV. 

3. During playback of content inside a streaming channel, press the * key on your remote. A menu will open on the lefthand side of the screen. Look for 'Volume mode'. If this is turned on, try disabling or turning off this feature. Does that resolve the issue you are experiencing? 

4. In Settings>Audio>Audio mode, try selecting 'Auto'. If already set to Auto, try selecting Stereo and see if the same issue occurs. 

Keep us posted from there! 

Thanks,

Tanner

[haneef]

Please don't do that kind of response. Replace HDMI cables, connect to a different port. Yeah, done all that with a lot of physical difficulties. You think it is easy to just keep doing that in a system that has lots of sources/sinks, behind cabinets? This is the standard response, EVERY time I report any problem

Something happened in the last month or so, Nothing changed in my setup.

Please explain to me why the problem is temporarily fixed by powering on/off (reboot). Problem restarts within a day or less. You think the cables/ports fix themselves temporarily? just because I reboot?

Please don't take us for idiots. I know, it may be hard to reproduce on your end. But find out what changes were made to the last FW update(s) and how things could have gone wrong.

Frustrated!!!!

[RokuTannerD]

@haneef Thanks for the response. We suggest the recommended troubleshooting for these issues based on what typically helps resolve them. If you have already tried those suggestions, please let us know what you observe when trying the following: 

- During playback of content inside a streaming channel, press the * key on your remote. A menu will open on the lefthand side of the screen. Look for 'Volume mode'. If this is turned on, try disabling or turning off this feature. Does that resolve the issue you are experiencing? 

- In Settings>Audio>Audio mode, try selecting 'Auto'. If already set to Auto, try selecting Stereo and see if the same issue occurs. 

If that doesn't resolve the issue, please generate an issue tracker report ID the next time this behavior occurs by pressing the Home button 5 times quickly, followed by the Back button 5 times quickly. This type of information helps us provide additional details to our team when passing along reports of issues. You can see more about this here: https://community.roku.com/t5/Welcome-to-the-Roku-Community/How-to-Create-a-Help-or-Support-Topic-in...

We can continue to help look into the issue from there. 

Thanks,

Tanner