Samsung Q85 (QE65Q85RATXXU) sound popping and cracking on external devices

[Rich12]

I’m currently on my third Q85 television set and before I pack this one up and send it back I’m hoping someone can help.

I have a Samsung QLED Q85 (only available in Europe I believe) connected to an Apple TV 4K, fire stick 4K and a PS4. The sound is fine when watching terrestrial tv and using apps through the tv itself, however when watching anything through any of the three external devices the sound pops, breaks and cracks. It’s intermittent, and sometimes there’s no problem at all, but if I notice it on one device, when I switch to another I am hearing the same problem. 

I’ve called Samsung several times and they have suggested it’s a compatibility issue which I find hard to believe given the popularity of the devices I’m trying to connect (I should also say the tv has no problem recognising the devices and is able to set the correct settings on the smart remote). I’ve changed the cables (even though I was already using high spec high speed hdmi cables), tried switching devices in different ports, performed factory resets on all devices, and ensured all software is up to date but it’s still happening. It was the same issue I had with the previous television (that I got replaced) so unless this is a known fault it can only be something I’m doing but am out of ideas.

I’ve made several adjustments to the setting such as turning anynet on/off. I only have the option of selecting PCM as the output. I have the tv connected to a sonos soundbar on a 5.1 setup via optical cable, however I also get the crackling when switching to the tv speaker so i’m confident it’s not the sound system.

Finally, samsung have performed several tests,

and have remotely reset the HDMI ports which temporarily resolved it but low and behold an hour later and it was back.

So all in all I’m pretty confused and all the basic troubleshooting steps I’ve found online don’t resolve the issue.

Samsung have escalated my recent issue with their technical support team, so I will post a response if they’re able to fix it. If anyone knows of anything else I might be missing and should try in the meantime, please let me know.

I love the picture and the tv itself so really hoping I can find a fix. Thanks so much in advance.

[Suzanne71]

They put a new brain in mine. So far its working but the remote is messed up now and I called Samsung and they could not fix it. What is happening is I turn on the TV and it comes on with source TV and it takes a few steps and presses of the source button to get it to bring up the three choices I have to choose from to get the picture. Samsung does not know how to fix that yet.

[Digidavy]

Strange one that. Once again it may sort itself out with another software update. I suppose my set comes on strangely to a point as well. I have to push the return button to get a full picture and remove the unwanted  information shown in the bottom half of the screen, or you can wait a short while for it to do it itself. Its a silly arrangement but is manageable. I am just happy the sound fault is sorted.

Dave

[Outlander]

Hi All

Just to let everyone know the latest firmware/software update, version 1361.0, does fix the popping and crackling.  After doing a through test on all my external devices, blu-ray player, satellite receiver/recorder, etc  no trace of this sound issues could be found on my QE55Q70RATXXU.  No need to now ensure I'm first watching an SD channel before changing the source to an HDMI device.  I can now happily watch an HD channel and then switch to my satellite receiver/recorder.  Great news!

Although, what is annoying that despite many months posting about this issue, and owners returning their TV's, we have heard nothing from Samsung?  Many hours trying to get through to Samsung and getting nowhere.  Having put up with no TV for several weeks whilst they said replacing the mainboard, which solved nothing.  Also, checking their support pages gives no indication of what their updates fix.  Don't get me wrong having put up with this sound issue for sometime I am pleased it's now fixed - well at least for me.  What I am disappointed about is why isn't Samsung contributing to these posts? Letting us know that issues like these are being looked into? Reassuring customers that their issues have been heard.  Sorry, your customer service isn't good enough!

Feel better that's off my chest. 

[Digidavy]

Well another funny event happened with my set I am sure that the SD up scaling is not functioning as good as it did . It was one thing that made me keep the TV despite the sound fault.  I wonder if its just my old eyes! or seriously has anyone else had this problem. Better post here than try and get any sense direct. 

Dave

[D35]

2021 75" AU7100 UHD 4K HDR Smart ONE COLOUR - The cracking/popping sound is back, even with the latest firmware 😞

[Menacesco]

send it back and get a Panasonic OLED. I love my set and no problems with sound etc. 

[Stanislav 21]

I have discovered same problem with my Q85. And I narrowed issue to web browser. If browser is running and has some player in it - arc speakers are cracking.

[Andyjt]

I can tell you the browser was never part of the original problem. I've never loaded the browser and had issues with the sound with devices directly connected. I use my tv with an amplifier/receiver, bypassing the tv entirely when I use an external device.