Sony A8H and Soundbar issues

vihurricane

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Hi Everyone,

I am a proud new owner of a Sony A8 65" OLED Television. Glad to be part of such a great community.

While I love the picture quality and features of the TV, I've been having some connectivity issues with my LG LAS551 2.1ch Sound bar. I've tried to contact both Sony and LG technical support, but neither have any answers for me. I've also searched the forum for answers on this for quite some time, and my issues are just different enough from others and I thought it would make sense for me to reach out for help.

  1. The TV and the soundbar are connected via HDMI using ARC. I've configured the input on the television so that it powers on with the TV and I've enabled Bravia Sync control of the soundbar. When the TV is turned on, the soundbar also powers on. However, the TV immediately flashing a message stating, "Audio System unavailable. Switching back to TV Speakers." After studying this behavior for a few days, it looks like the TV is looking to verify the connection prior to the soundbar fully booting up. Because the TV can't verify that the soundbar is available, it automatically defaults to the TV speakers. To try resolving this issue, I've updated the TV to the latest firmware, checked for updated firmware on the soundbar (non available), toggled Bravia Sync On and Off, I've enabled and disabled Sound mode sync, and I have changed the HDMI cables.
  2. I've noticed that soundbar sometimes struggles to playback sound requiring me to restart it. For example, when the soundbar is powered on and I switch the Audio Output from TV Speakers to Audio system, I'll get audio that constantly drops out. Other times, the soundbar will play audio, but only the background channels like it was the rear speakers in a 5.1 setup. The new HDMI cables didn't help. I've noticed that the issue gets temporarily fixed when using Netflix and I change the audio from 5.1 to Stereo. This option is generally not available in the other apps.

I am not giving up this TV, but the soundbar is old enough where I might consider an upgrade. I definitely wouldn't mind an upgrade to 3.1 or 5.1. My fear is that a new soundbar might experience the same issues because the cause lies with the TV and not the soundbar.

These issues are persistent, whether I am using the internal apps or my PS4 Pro. Has anyone else experienced the above issues? If so, any resolutions?
 
Ours keeps on losing sync with the (non-Sony) soundbar.
Can put it right by playing with the Settings (of which there are TOO MANY
and in too many different menus on too many controller buttons!

Can stay stable for hours or even a week
However, it can happen again at any random occasion, and the "drift" increases with time.

A further bug-bear - cannot get the UKTV online service yet iPlayer and others all
pre-installed. Is there perhaps a firmware update service somewhere that might
put that right, and how/where would one do it?

Have to say that generally have been somewhat disappointed - chose Sony because
we thought it would be a damn good TV - wish now we'd chosen the Samsung
that the inlaws chose instead of the Bravia.
:(
 
I had a similar issue. But in settings>display and sound>audio output, check that earc is on auto or enabled.

Hope that helps.
 

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