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HW-N950 Woes

(Topic created on: 12-10-2019 06:57 PM)
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banjax
First Poster
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So I've had the n950 for a couple of months now and am having a few real issues.

 

It's linked via HDMI 2.0 to a LG OLED65E8PLA.  Sources are the TV itself, Apple TV 4k, Sky Q and Panasonic UB 9000 UHD player all connected direct to the TV.

 

The room is 16 1/2 foot square with the TV on one side and the Speakers on the other. 

 

1) It frequently loses connection using TV ARC.  Generally, I can turn Anynet + off and on but sometimes only a power cycle seems to cure it.

2) It also frequently loses auto power so I've got to also reset that.

3) I had a Sonos amp connected via optical but that seemed to make issue 1 worse.  I think may have read somewhere that this isn't an intended use so I can't have multiple devices running at the same time.

4) The rear speakers (Not checked the sub) are a bit like Jack the Ripper.  They occasionally appear out of the fog of silence, kick into life briefly and are really notable but generally, you hear hide nor hair from them.  I do live in a block in central London which I'm sure does have a reasonable level of interference.

 

When it's all working its' fab....Dolby vision, ATMOS going lovely but at the moment I'm at the point that I'm thinking that this was a complete mistake and I should have gone for the SONOS, not atmos, solution.  In fact, I far get better performance out of the Bean/Sonos 1 pair solution I have in the study.

 

Any suggestions to troubleshoot/resolve the issues gratefully received.  

 

I would be grateful for any suggestions that anybody has because I'm pulling my hair out.  

60 REPLIES 60
Wpc1
Student
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Sorry i never intended to run the N950 down and did not intend it that way, i am sure if you have the right feeds this is a supurb soundbar. 

If i offended N950 owners it was not intended 

Maybe i should keep quiet, if not a little late 

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Andyspencer100
Student
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You may be one of the lucky ones. The problem is, it’s so good when the rear speakers disconnect and you’re left having to completely reset the whole thing once every few weeks. It gets super annoying. Oh, that and the courier has just returned it (apparently all fine) bent to hell! I mean it’s ruined!
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phneutral
Journeyman
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@Andyspencer100 wrote:
You may be one of the lucky ones. The problem is, it’s so good when the rear speakers disconnect and you’re left having to completely reset the whole thing once every few weeks. It gets super annoying. Oh, that and the courier has just returned it (apparently all fine) bent to hell! I mean it’s ruined!

Eek, I hope you checked it before signing for it

 

With those faults, I would be asking for a full refund or replacement from the retailer! 

 

What's the distance from the main bar to surrounds?

 

 

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goudha
First Poster
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I got this unit from sale for testing. I have right to return item if i'm not satisfied.

 

Same problem... Sub and rears are very quiet. I had to change front lvls to -6 and sub & rears to +6 to get some sound out.

 

Then a real problem. Unit should say what audio stream it plays, right?. E.g. Dolby Digital, DTSx, Atmos? Mine does not say anything. I've tried with all modes, Standard, surround and smart with virtual on/off. Source is Philips android 4k HDR capable TV that should be able to pass Atmos content via HDMI. I've checked settings. Tried also with PS4 and no go. Bluray, Netflix, Plex, none of them gives me right signal. I'm using HDMI cable came with system. Any ideas? Updated also fw for N950.

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KU2019
Journeyman
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Hey @goudha 

I'd try playing one of the Dolby Atmos test clips from their website. The front soundbar should briefly display "ATMOS" as soon as you start playing any Atmos encoded content. I'd suggest connecting a laptop via HDMI to the soundbar (with another HDMI wire connected to your TV via the ARC port on both the soundbar and your TV) - you might need to change the source on both the soundbar and input source on your TV but once your laptop screen is showing on your TV heading over to the Dolby website (or search "Dolby Atmos for LEAF clip" or "Dolby Atmos AMAZE clip") and you should be able to play the clip. If all works correctly, you will see "ATMOS" appear on the soundbar display briefly - then enjoy being blown away by the power of the soundbar. Also - dont forget to switch your laptop sound to output to the TV otherwise it will come out of the laptop and obviously wont be Atmos from the Soundbar. 
Alternatively, you could try with a ATMOS encoded blu-ray disc via your PS4 - just remember to change your sound settings in the PS4 menu to output BITSTREAM DIRECT and also - set this on the movie audio settings before hitting play. Most 4K Blu-ray movies have an Atmos Soundtrack - you can verify this by looking on the back of the Blu-ray disc under the 'Audio encoding' box - I'm sure you already know that of course. Let me know how you get on. 

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goudha
First Poster
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Thanks for reply. I played yesterday with all settings, checked cables, etc. Finally, i downloaded some Atmos demo videos on mp4 and mkv format. Oddly, this unit does not recognize Atmos soundtrack inside mkv. I have ripped all my movies to mkv format and issue is same even there's original Atmos track inside.

 

Anyways... Sound was outstanding when it was detected as Atmos sound. All other tracks played in low volume with lame effects. I'm pretty happy with unit when it comes to Atmos. It's just i don't have that many Atmos movies and unit should sound good in other tracks too without detecting it as Atmos.. like normal DD or DTS which my movies mainly are.

 

Now i need to figure out which format should do Atmos and maybe convert or rip all again to that format.

 

Atmos inside mkv still plays correctly and effects are coming from right directions so unit processes sound right, but there's still something wrong which maybe could be corrected with FW update. I have 46 days to test this unit before need to send it back if i decide not to keep it.

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phneutral
Journeyman
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What are you using to play MKV files?

 

Plex on Nvidia Shield will pass through TrueHD with Atmos, and Netflix on LG Oled TVs will passthrough Atmos via Dolby digital plus, but you need a premium Netflix sub. 

 

You're extremely limited when it comes to mkv files, this bar was made with UHD Blu-ray players in mind, and not all TVs support Netflix streaming Atmos over DD+

 

 

 

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goudha
First Poster
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Sorry for  delay...

 

I used Plex and TV's own DLNA player. All files in mp4 format worked with both players and mkv files did not work with either. Haven't had time to investigate other options to play files correctly.

 

I know Shield would be one option and i might get one of those. I have Netflix UHD subscription so it should support 4k and Atmos sounds, but my TV obviously does not... Philips 55pus7502.

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Andyfarmer
Apprentice
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So, after my initial gripes about how the inbuilt Samsung Netflix app on my q6 couldn’t send atmos to the hw n950, I forked out more money on an Apple TV 4K. Mostly we just watch on the inbuilt app on the telly as it’s quicker and easier but with the release of El Camino I thought I’d give the apple a go. So it says it’s 5.1 but when I started playing it the Dolby atmos leds spring to life in all their fanfare. So it says it’s playing atmos on the soundbar but I don’t hear a peep out of the rear speakers. Nothing! So I try to change the sound mode to see if I can get any regular surround sound and it tells me this is unavailable. So I turned off the Apple TV, switched on the Samsung Netflix app and just watched it in plain old 5.1, exactly the same way I would have without wasting over a grand on this piece of ***** and another couple hundred on the Apple to try to make this piece of ***** work. If anybody is considering buying this, just don’t even bother, it is a waste of money and doesn’t work! Last time I give Samsung a penny.

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phneutral
Journeyman
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A quick Google search throws up similar issues and fixes for Apple TV 4K Atmos streaming

 

I wouldn't blame the bar, I use the inbuilt Netflix app on my LG and it works absolutely fine

 

 

 

 

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