Stuttering issue with Roku Streaming Service and ARC

Paul Siu · November 25, 2019

Recently, I purchased a soundbar and started Disney Plus, which is when I started noticing that the sound often cut out. I have a Vizio D series UHD TV where the roku is connected to the HDMI port on the side of the TV. The Vizio 36 inch atmos 5.1 sound bar is connected to the TV via ARC (HDMI 1). I did the following diagnostic steps.

1. Tried different streaming sources. What I have notice is that the issue appear in Netflix and Disney+ but not Hulu or Youtube or Plex. After checking around, I notice that Hulu streams in 2 channel stereo while Netflix streams in DD+. Plex streams in DD+ or DTS but Plex were streamed using local network.

2. Change Roku to stream only in stereo. All stuttering stopped. Previously, all of my streaming were to 2 channel stereo.

3. Check network streaming speed. Roku indicate that steaming speed was around 25mps. This is more than enough.

4. Ran netflix on the internal app, no stuttering issue.

5. Connect Roku to soundbar directly via HDMI in. No stuttering issue.

My conclusion is that it has to do with interaction of Roku and the soundbar though the ARC. I am not sure how we can fix this? I have two identical roku, and both have the same issue, so it's not because one of the unit is defective.

Paul