Speaker Crackle on 4k Movie Resume with Atmos

Plex Players Streaming Devices
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Server Version#: 1.25.9.5721
Player Version#:9.0.2.31766

I am currently running 2019 Nvidia Shield Pro connected to an Arcana that routes my audio to my Sonos Arc and video to my LG TV. Whenever I pause any 4k movie that has Dolby Atmos and then resume, it sends a terrible crackle through my Arc and also my Sonos surrounds. This only happens when I play 4k Dolby Atoms. I have tried 2 Shields and the outcome is the same. Now when i don’t use the Plex app and use Kodi the issue goes away. This tell me that its clearly a Plex App issue. If i could get someone to look into this it would be apprecaited.

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One thing to test would be to use the native playback option on the TV. I have a similar issue with some playback audio occasionally (get a sound like a live audio cable being pulled) and it’s not Plex that’s the problem it’s the fact the native playback on the TV has a problem - I get the same audio “squelch” using Roku Media Player via USB or DLNA so it’s not Plex. TCL Roku at least is trying to fix it (replaced hardware, keeping ticket open and escalated, etc) but it’s a software problem with the codec handling I’m pretty sure as it only happens on some disc rips, not web rips.

Try to playback the file on the TV using the built in LG media player to see if the “direct play” or “native playback” is the issue. Kodi might be using a codec in-app that bypasses the native playback codec handling that both Plex and the built in media player on the TV will be using (like Infuse does on AppleTV).

That will help with any troubleshooting on the Plex side of things. It might also help to include the media info for the files (codec details - I think you can pull it from the XML info inside Plex or you can use MediaInfo free app).

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Doing direct playback on the TV would be of no use since the TV cannot process Dolby Atmos. Again this issue is specific to 4K Atmos playback. I’m also not using eArc on the TV so its doubtful that sounds is coming back from the TV and in through the Arcana and back to my Sonos Arc. I also have all sound on the TV set to external so that it doesn’t attempt to play audio through its speakers.

Media id=“57130” duration=“6534240” bitrate=“67508” width=“3840” height=“2160” aspectRatio=“1.78” audioChannels=“8” audioCodec=“truehd” videoCodec=“hevc” videoResolution=“4k” container=“mpegts” videoFrameRate=“24p” videoProfile="main 10

Stream id=“138956” streamType=“1” codec=“hevc” index=“0” bitrate=“66228” DOVIBLCompatID=“0” DOVIBLPresent=“1” DOVIELPresent=“1” DOVILevel=“6” DOVIPresent=“1” DOVIProfile=“6” DOVIRPUPresent=“1” DOVIVersion=“1.0” bitDepth=“10” chromaLocation=“topleft” chromaSubsampling=“4:2:0” codecID=“HDMV” codedHeight=“2160” codedWidth=“3840” colorPrimaries=“bt2020” colorRange=“tv” colorSpace=“bt2020nc” colorTrc=“smpte2084” frameRate=“23.976” height=“2160” level=“153” profile=“main 10” refFrames=“1” requiredBandwidths=“103363,86240,84222,82286,80694,79102,69833,65667” streamIdentifier=“4117” width=“3840” displayTitle=“4K Dolby Vision (HEVC Main 10)” extendedDisplayTitle=“4K Dolby Vision (HEVC Main 10)”> </Stream

Stream id=“138957” streamType=“2” selected=“1” codec=“truehd” index=“1” channels=“8” language=“English” languageTag=“en” languageCode=“eng” audioChannelLayout=“7.1” bitDepth=“24” requiredBandwidths=“5396,5077,4224,3836,3714,3714,3714,3714” samplingRate=“48000” streamIdentifier=“4352” displayTitle=“English (TRUEHD 7.1)” extendedDisplayTitle=“English (TRUEHD 7.1)”> </Stream

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Gotcha gotcha… maybe some more info about your hardware setup and config could help in that case. It’s hard to pin down Plex specifically as the problem in some cases because Plex usually just sends the file to the hardware to playback what it thinks is native playback. I assume there’s no transcoding happening but it might be useful to verify that too.

Might try Shield directly to Arc and TV maybe?

I really haven’t an idea so just throwing out options to try to pin it down conclusively. :slight_smile:

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No transcoding. I’m getting Direct Play on both Video and Audio.

2019 Nvidia Shield Pro
3 Panasonic High Grade 18 Gigabyte HDMI cable (I have replaced these)
4K Arcana 18 Gigabyte for Dolby Atmos passthrough

Shield goes into the Arcana. The Arcana is necessary since the Sonos Arc does not have HDMI passthrough and the TV does not support Atmos. Arcana splits the audio and video and sends all sounds to the Sonos Arc and video the the LG TV.

If I add the Plex plugin into Kodi it resolves the issue. This is clearly a Plex App issue. It would be nice if Plex would respond to this thread. They are probably more worried about worthless Netflix and Prime integration. This App needs a facelift. There are also several ppl reporting similar noise pop issues on Reddit.

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Just upgrade my Plex client to 9.1.0.31720 Beta to test. Same issue.

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