Solving playback issues

[JBrody]

I have a Roku Ultra Model 4660X2 that I purchased as a reconditioned unit in late 2018. I have the Roku connected to the internet by CAT4 wire and plugged into my multi media receiver (Denon) using an HDMI cable. The receiver powers my speaker system and sends the video signal to a Samsung television. Before I purchased my receiver, I was using a Sony multi media receiver. While streaming video, we started to notice that on occasion, the audio level would suddenly drop by about half, hardly audible, and we’d have to turn up the volume to pretty high levels in order to hear the stream. Often, after 20 minutes or so, the volume would return to normal and we’d have to turn the sound back down. I thought it might be the receiver, so I replaced it, but it’s still happening. It doesn’t seem to happen with any input except the Roku, so I’m assuming there is something whacky with my Roku device. Have there been any audio problems as I’ve described with other Ultra devices? Could the fact that mine was reconditioned be a factor or an issue? None of Roku’s support choices seem to deal with this category of problem at all, and there doesn’t appear to be any way to actually talk to someone at Roku support about this issue.

[Cheftr]

Roku device model, serial number, device ID, and software OS/version (these can all be found in Settings > System > About)
M: 4670X - Roku Ultra
SN: YJ000A63175
DID: KW9980643175
S OS: 13.0.0 build 24056-46

TV make/model:
Vizio M65-D0

A/V Receiver make/model:
Yamaha RX-V473

Does the error display during playback of a TV show, movie, during a commercial or advertisement, on the home screen, etc.?

Roku playback periodically makes a static Kscht! sound and the volume drops to almost nothing.  The fix is to rewind the play ack by 10 seconds and the problem is fixed.  The "bing" sound of backing up the playback is clear.

Error occurs during streaming of TV/Movies at least a few times per hour. It has steadily gotten worse over the past 2 years. It was not a problem prior to 2 years ago. We have very little bandwidth usage in our home of 2, and we have 1 gig coming in.

[RokuJharra-Q]

Welcome to the Roku Community, @JBrody!

We appreciate you bringing up this issue again, and we're here to help you.

To begin, please try enabling Leveling or Night mode. Go to the Options menu and follow these steps when streaming a movie, TV show, music, or Bluetooth audio. If you're watching content from an external device connected to your Roku TV system, like a Blu-ray player or cable set-top box, switch the active input to the external device. Here are the steps to follow:

1. Start playing a movie, TV show, or other content
2. Press the Star * button on your Roku remote
3. Select Volume mode and choose the desired setting

We recommend trying these steps to see if they resolve your issue. Please keep us posted.

Thanks,
Jharra

[RokuJharra-Q]

Hi @Cheftr!

Thank you for posting here in the Roku Community!

We understand you're experiencing playback issues on your Roku device, and we're here to help. If you haven't attempted any troubleshooting, please follow the steps below to see if it resolves the issue.

• Remove the channel, Highlight the channel tile on your home screen, and press Star to open the Options menu. Select Remove channel and confirm.
• Restart your Roku device: Press home on your Roku remote, select settings, select a system, select power, and restart the system. (If you do not see a Powersubmenu, skip to the next step.)
• Re-install the channel: Scroll down to search, put the channel name or app, highlight the channel, and select add the channel.
• Please ensure that you have tried using a different TV and have properly plugged in the device.

Please let us know if the issue is fixed or reply back to the thread for further assistance, we will be glad to help you.

Best regards,
Jharra

[atc98092]

@JBrody I don't have that specific model of Ultra (I have a 4640, 4670 and 4800), but none have ever exhibited audio issues like that. And the 4640 and 4800 are both connected to a Yamaha AVR. Could it be an issue with yours being reconditioned? Certainly possible. The Ultra 4660 was released in Oct 2017, it's approaching a seven years old model. I have had numerous Roku players connected through an AVR for many years, and have never had an audio issue like that.

One nice feature of the Ultra 480x models is the new audio passthrough setting. It simply sends whatever audio it is getting straight through without attempting any modifications. Just note that this doesn't mean you can bitstream the lossless audio codecs like Dolby TrueHD or DTS Master Audio. Roku still doesn't support that.

[JBrody]

Thanks for your suggestion, RokuJharra-Q. 

Does this mean that I have to manually set the volume mode each time I start to stream a movie or TV show, or does the volume mode stay as set once I follow your procedure?

Can you explain what Leveling and Night Mode actually do regarding the audio.

I have ordered a new Roku Ultra in case this issue had something to do specifically with the device I own. It’s also very hard to know if something works or doesn’t work because of the totally inconsistent issue … many times we can watch for several hours without experiencing any audio issue; other times the volume drops after maybe 30 minutes, then comes back after another 30 minutes. I can’t produce the issue consistently to know if there’s something in particular that causes it, or if it’s only happening on a particular streaming service app on the device.

[JBrody]

Thank you for responding to my post, atc98092.

I did decide to order a new Roku Ultra because this device is older and it was reconditioned and it’s totally possible that the issue I’m experiencing is specific to the device. 

I’m wondering what is the best way to make sure that my audio and video are synched properly when I’m playing the video from the Roku through an AVR. Are there settings I can play with to get the synch correct? I’ve noticed that with some streams, the moving lips and the sound can be off quite a bit. Would the audio passthrough setting resolve this?

[atc98092]

As to the sound modes, I believe they are persistent even through a reboot of the device.

The Roku does not have any audio sync settings. However, most AVRs have the ability to adjust audio delays. I haven't found the need to do that with any of my streaming devices, other than the extremely cheap Onn 4K Streaming player. And that is only within a specific app, which has its own internal delay adjustments. None of my Roku players have ever had any audio sync issues. 

[Cheftr]

I appreciate the reply.  Those solutions and replacing the HDMI cables as well did not solve the problem.

It happens on all channels.

[Cheftr]

This did not solve the problem.

I don't think this suggestion even addressed the problem.