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tothbros
Scholar 2

distorted sound with roku on several apps

hi,

i was just wondering if anyone else has similar issues. i've been using roku boxes for several years now, but never been able to get to the bottom of this.

so, the problem: mainly on itv hub and all4 apps sound is generally quite poor, i would describe it as a garbled sound, distorted, that can be heard mostly during dialogue, human speech. its more present when the volume is higher, but using earphones its noticable even at a lower volume. either way, its really annoying, definitely not an audiophile issue (which i am not 🙂 ).

whats interesting is that its only present with on demand content, live tv on both apps is fine. and strangely, the sound issue not always there, but i would say 80% of the time it is.

i have three roku boxes, two roku 3's (4200) and one roku 2 (4210) - and the issue is the same on all three. 

i have contacted itv and channel 4 before, and went through the painstaking process of making sure its not my hardware, not my internet and so on... played around with the audio settings of roku, tried different hdmi cables, different tv's... i even did a hard reset on my roku, which was a pain, but no joy.

now as im planning to buy new devices, mostly because "NOW" is painfully slow on my roku's, i would like to somehow find out if this above mentioned issue is roku-related (outdated hardware?) or not, because if it is, then hopefully buying newer roku's would solve it.

so, if any of you experienced this issue, please share...

thanks!

10 REPLIES 10
Saint1976
Elite 3

@tothbros daft question but have you pressed the '*' button during playback and switched off audio leveling?

 

Lots of 'workable' solutions on the Roku community within various threads.

 

https://community.roku.com/t5/Playback-Issues-Audio-Video-Power/Distorted-Audio/td-p/540954

 

https://community.roku.com/t5/Playback-Issues-Audio-Video-Power/Static-noise-crack-popping/td-p/4267...

 

I use a Roku Premiere to view All4 without issue.

tothbros
Scholar 2

thanks for the quick reply and the suggestions!

i tried but on my roku's there is no such option when pressing (star).

good to hear you dont have these issues on premiere!

i was planning to buy the ultra (4800) from the US (even though no bbc iplayer, as i hear), as i really need ethernet for wired internet and the ability to connect earphones to the remote (the mobile app for 'private listening' doesnt work so well)

commanda6
Legend 5
Legend 5

@tothbros wrote:

thanks for the quick reply and the suggestions!

i tried but on my roku's there is no such option when pressing (star).

good to hear you dont have these issues on premiere!

i was planning to buy the ultra (4800) from the US (even though no bbc iplayer, as i hear), as i really need ethernet for wired internet and the ability to connect earphones to the remote (the mobile app for 'private listening' doesnt work so well)


Hi @tothbros 

I'm afraid I would have to advise against importing Roku devices from the US as there is a possibility that using a Roku device that is designed/intended for the US market will also cause issues with Now. You already appear to be aware of the issues with iPlayer and Roku devices imported from the US. Only Roku devices, which are officially released in the UK are supported officially by UK-based streaming services as there are some software between the Rokus was released in the US and the Rokus is released in the UK

 

In regard to private audio. I'm assuming you don't have a smart TV with Bluetooth capability? If you do, then a better option is to get a pair of Bluetooth earbuds or headphones (headphones tend to be much cheaper 😉) and connect those to your TV via Bluetooth. You will then have private audio just as you would on a Roku ultra when connecting headphones to the Roku remote. The UK Roku model plus the Bluetooth headphones will will probably still cost you less than importing Roku ultra from the US and you have none of the possible drawbacks I just mentioned 

 

I'm afraid I can't really offer any suitable suggestions for the lack of ethernet on the Roku is available in the UK, apparently on some of the newer Roku's. It is possible to get ethernet capability via an adapter the issue with that is said adapter would connect via USB, which means you would probably be limited USB two or USB three speeds, this means connection speeds could be much slower than ethernet would ordinarily be which means things like 4K and HDR may be out of the question


I do not work for Now . I am simply a Now customer trying to help I am a Community Contributor This means that I know a lot about the service. But just like you I am still a customer. This means I cannot help you with issues that would involve looking into your account directly. A member of the now TV forum team or live chat will need to assist you with these issues.
commanda6
Legend 5
Legend 5

@commanda6 wrote:

@tothbros wrote:

thanks for the quick reply and the suggestions!

i tried but on my roku's there is no such option when pressing (star).

good to hear you dont have these issues on premiere!

i was planning to buy the ultra (4800) from the US (even though no bbc iplayer, as i hear), as i really need ethernet for wired internet and the ability to connect earphones to the remote (the mobile app for 'private listening' doesnt work so well)


Hi @tothbros 

 

I'm afraid I can't really offer any suitable suggestions for the lack of ethernet on the Roku is available in the UK, apparently on some of the newer Roku's. It is possible to get ethernet capability via an adapter the issue with that is said adapter would connect via USB, which means you would probably be limited USB two or USB three speeds, this means connection speeds could be much slower than ethernet would ordinarily be which means things like 4K and HDR may be out of the question


Hi @tothbros 

here is a bit more info for you in relation to Roku and compatibility with USB to ethernet adapters. This info comes from Roku themselves. It looks like that if you get an adapter which is 10/100 capable then that is enough for 4k HDR

https://support.roku.com/en-gb/article/360058027813

 


I do not work for Now . I am simply a Now customer trying to help I am a Community Contributor This means that I know a lot about the service. But just like you I am still a customer. This means I cannot help you with issues that would involve looking into your account directly. A member of the now TV forum team or live chat will need to assist you with these issues.
tothbros
Scholar 2

thats useful info, thanks. wasnt aware there could be more problems with US roku's apart from bbc. i thought that as long as i sign in with a UK roku account, my UK apps would be loaded normally and they would work as well  - i figured the issue with the bbc is more of a tv licence thing, rather then a software issue.

Saint1976
Elite 3

@tothbros my audio settings are different on account of me using a surround sound system but for reference;

 

Audio mode - Auto (DD, DTS)

HDMI - Auto Detect

 

During playback I use the '*' button to switch off sound adjustments.

tothbros
Scholar 2

thanks for checking it. so u can confirm that using roku premiere u dont hear any audio distortion on itv hub or all4?

Saint1976
Elite 3

@tothbros no sound distortion at all.

tothbros
Scholar 2

so, in audio settings i have

menu volume: off

audio mode: stereo

hdmi: PCM-stereo

restarting the box does not effect the issue.