Intermittent audio cutting out with optical (toslink) The Frame 2019 49"

[Monographia]

I have some severe clipping, cutting out, choppy, glitchy, stuttering (whatever is the correct term) audio.

It happens for a millisecond every other second or so. It feels that it happens more often when there are audio intense moments, but it could also be that it's just more noticeable at those moments.

It happens on both HDMI channels (Apple TV and XBOX), as well as DTV (which I never watch, so that's not really an issue, but could help determining the problem).

The apps on Samsung works better, but after a while the clipping sound appears. On the apps it occurs sometimes and sometimes not, compared to the Apple TV and XBOX where it happens all the time steadily.

When I connect the optical cable to my XBOX everything sounds perfect and there is no clipping whatsoever. 

Also analogue works perfectly with the amp.

All the suggestions I've read mostly focused on changing the Digital Output Audio Format to PCM, which I've tried with no luck.

I've tried factory resetting the TV which didn't do anything.

The manual for my amp says:

The digital inputs are capable of handling up to 24bit / 192 kHz audio signal in PCM-format. check your source signal type to make sure it is in the right format.

Are there any settings I'm missing on my TV to set this up properly? Does 24bit / 192kHz mean anything that I should change in the setup?

Here is my setup:

TV: The Frame 2019 49" (QE49LS03RAU) – 2 months old

Amp: NAD Amp1 (NADAMP1BK) connected via the optical input (D1 for TV use) with a new optical cable (ARGCL1OPT1,0) – both bought 1 week ago

Stereo system 2:1

HDMI 1: Apple TV4 connected with new Premium HDMI cable from Deltaco

I've tried all the different audio settings (Stereo / Dolby Digital, and forcing 16bit) which doesn't change anything

HDMI 2: XBOX One S connected with the in-the-box HDMI cable – 2 weeks old

Tried Stereo Uncompressed and Bitstream, neither changed anything. 

Worth noting is that the TV don't recognize my amp correctly, it instead sets it up as a Denon. 

When it doesn't want to set the amp up and I manually have to say which it is I can choose Nad Amp1, but the remote won't work then and it didn't have any any other affect on the audio.

[ilikemytv]

I can confirm the FiiO D03K fixes the problem. Thank you so much to the posters who suggested it.

This was an incredibly disappointing issue, as one of the features that made me choose the TV was the optical out! And Samsung obviously wouldn't have done anything to help.

By way of background, the problematic amplifier is an SMSL Q5 Pro. Previously connected TOSLINK from TV to amp, it now goes TOSLINK from TV to DAC, then 3.5mm line in from DAC to amplifier.

[Jonpost]

Don’t add the Apple TV 4K - it is giving me precisely the same issues. AppleTV 4K into 2021 “Frame” into Quad Vena II, momentary audio dropout every 15 seconds or so. It sucks, tbh. I am having to stream my new AppleTV into my old one as an Airplay device, which makes no sense at all. 

[tom-mu]

Long shot here, got the same set up with a newer frame TV. 
Any chance you still got that firmware update and could share?

[clumb]

No, but should be available from the manufacturer website. Amazing they still ship the old FW….

[100pat]

Probably irrelevant and I can’t be bothered to read all the posts but when I had an intermittent dropout with toslink it was mechanical. If the plug was not perfectly aligned in the socket - it could be wiggled slightly side to side - then it cut out and maybe then reconnected. The weight of the cable itself was enough to gradually cause a misalignment. It was accentuated when I used a 1 in 2 out splitter which attenuated the signal (4 fibres in, 2 out in each branch.)

[Jonpost]

Solved, I think - I bought a new (but not expensive) and shorter HDMI cables 8k certified - KabelDirekt - 0.25m HDMI cable - 4K & 8K HDMI cord (HDMI to HDMI - 8K@60Hz & 4K@120Hz for stunning U...  who knows whether mechanical or electronic but no more dropouts

[clumb]

HDMI as replacement for a TOS Link…man, that’s not even close to the topic :-)))

[Jonpost]

Phlajo, hi - this exactly mirrors my issue (optical pout from Frame 32" into Vena II).  But I can't get anyone at Quad to tell me about an update.  Do you have any more details?

[Jonpost]

Hi, I'm being told (by Quad) that this is because the optical out signal from Samsungs as well as many other TVs is very noisy and is rejected by a lot of DACs (they intermittently "unlock" from the digital signal, apparently).  The Quad solution is an update which increases the jitter rejection on the optical input.  Lets more crud in, but does the job.  I'm hoping, anyway ...

[Jonpost]

Installed the update provided by Quad and it stops the stuttering ... but all sorts of other extraneous noises (buzzes) come in.  The Quad engineer told me that many TVs these days have a very noisy/ jittery optical output.  Also seems to be the case using an audio splitter (HDMI to HDMI plus pass-through SPDIF) upstream from the TV -  which suggests that the noise is emanating from the Apple TV rather than (as well as?) the Samsung.