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HW-Q800T odd glitch while casting to alexa

(Topic created: 12-31-2020 10:13 PM)
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Bugalugs12
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Seems this soundbar glitches with a small pause in sound while casting songs from the Amazon music app to Alexa. I notice it every few minutes.

 

I have a strong wifi signal, connected at 5GHz and running latest firmware. Android apps are updated.

 

Anyone else experience this? 

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SamsungLK
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Hello, There could be various things happening here. Because the connectivity is Wi-Fi, there could be various things that could affect the signal between the two. While Samsung doesn't guarantee compatibility with third-party devices, We do support connectivity with Alexa via the smart things application. If the audio is not cutting out when using other devices, the issue would not be with the soundbar itself. You could try contacting your ISP to see if they can change the channel or frequency that your Alexa and Soundbar are on so there's less interference from other devices. Also, I would recommend trying a different application to see if you experience something similar as you're experiencing with the Amazon music app, as it could be something within the application itself that's causing this. If it does work properly with no sound cutouts in other applications you'd need to report the problem to Amazon Music App developers. If all of the above did not resolve, please try speaking with our Smart Things team for further assistance, 1 (800) 726-7864 to see if they can run some tests to make sure there are no connectivity problems there.




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user8KjH2mU3xE
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Yes, this is happening to me on my HW-900T.  I was cruising these boards to see if anyone else had the problem and if they've come up with a solution.  When playing Amazon music through Alexa on the Soundbar, the sound pauses or drops out every few minutes. This never happened on my previous set up, piping music through an Echo device connected to a previous soundbar through Bluetooth. It may be a Wifi problem on the SoundBar as the sound goes through Wifi.

Bugalugs12
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Thanks   @user8KjH2mU3xE  it seems to be a bug. I would recommend anyone with a samsung HW series bar to open a support case and report it as a problem so hopefully they fix in a future firmware update.

 

I Will try turning off the 5Ghz wifi and force it to 2.4G to see if it makes any difference. I'll report back.

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user8KjH2mU3xE
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I tried that too.  No luck.  Currently Alexa will respond to questions, and will control my home automation (Hue lights).  She will answer some questions, but anything that plays back audio simply doesn't work anymore.  Amazon Music, Pandora, News Flash, and Spotify - none of them will play in the SoundBar but they will play on all my other Alexa devices on the same WiFi network.  How do you open a case report?

 

Bugalugs12
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I have Amazon music playing mostly reliably, its just the pause in audio that is the problem.

 

Best to raise a case else on here we are just barking into the darkness 😖

 

Just google "samsung support" and you will get the correct page for your country. In Australia I notice there is a 60 day satisfaction guanrantee which I will take up if I dont get any reponse.

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user8KjH2mU3xE
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OK, Here's what I've deduced:

 

When the soundbar updates it's software, it breaks the authentication setup with Amazon Alexa. It will continue to answer questions and even control the Soundbar, but it won't do anything that requires authentication.  This is a bug in Samsungs implimentation but the fix is pretty simple:  Re-initialize the SoundBar by pressing both the plus and minus buttons on the soundbar itself (not the remote) and the Bar will reset everything. This is also how you can change your Wi-Fi settings.  Then go back into the SmartThings APP and reconnect Alexa.  It only takes about 2 or 3 minutes. I share this because there is such poor documentation about it on Samsungs support pages, and BTW, they really seem to hide this bulletin board support system. 

 

As to the sound pauses - i'm convinced it is Samsung's implementation of Alexa again that is the problem.  It is not a bandwidth, wifi, or connectivity problem.  Samsung has not properly buffered streaming music on these devices, and when the buffer runs out, the music hiccups and then comes back on-line. This doesn't happen on any other Amazon Music device on use:  iphone, PC, Echo devices, or even the Amazon music AP on my samsung TV.  They need to increase the buffer size on the soundbar to fix this problem, and until they do we're stuck with hiccuping music - or maybe I'll just have to reattach my old Echo dot to the soundbar and put up with changing source inputs again.  Sigh.  Why can't this stuff just work as advertised.  

 

Other than these Alexa glitches, I love how this Q900T sounds.

Bugalugs12
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@SamsungCaleb  @SamsungJam @Anonymous  can you please raise this audio glitching problem with your development team and see if it can be fixed in a future update as it is impacting all customers with 2020 soundbars including the HW-Q800T/Q900T ?

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Bugalugs12
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Bump.... anyone from samsung here?

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JeffD7
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@SamsungLK @Anonymous @SamsungCaleb  - Can someone at Samsung chime in on this and provide an update?  I'm also experiencing the same with a Q850T that was just installed.  Sure hope a firmware update is in the works to address this.....

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