No sound from Nvidia Shield to TV; tracks appear to be playing

[Davidastorer]

Although tracks appear to be playing, I get no sound from Nvidia Shield to TV. Have uninstalled and reinstalled but no change. All other apps work

[Vasil]

Hey there @Davidastorer!

Sorry to see you've been experiencing such an issue.

I believe however that,  in your case, it might be connected to the Nvidia device and not the Spotify app.

Please have a look at this article and apply the recommended steps. In case the issue persists afterwards, do let us know and we'll do our best to assist further 🙂

Cheers!

[Davidastorer]

My shield already had all settings as indicated in this article. Track appears to be playing with small frequency indicator moving and track progressing over time, but no sound. Occasionally, a 1 sec burst of sound at beginning of track, but otherwise nothing.

[Eni]

Hey there @Davidastorer, 

Thanks for getting back to us. 

Just to confirm, does the same happen if you're trying to use the Connect feature from a different device?

On another note, could you try restarting your router by unplugging it from the power for at least 30 seconds and see if that makes the difference?

If the issue persists, would you mind sending us a short video of the issue happening so we can take a closer look? You can attach it to your next response by using the Insert Video option in the post editor. You can also upload it to Google Drive and share the link with us (make sure the video has the permissions for anyone to see it).

 We'll be on the lookout.

[bumblemillie]

• I have the exact same problem. No sound either playing on the Nvidia app or selecting Shield from my iPhone 

[Davidastorer]

I have not had time to do the video as suggested, but it will only show what I have described.

It does not occur on any other device including the LG Smart TV.

I reboot my router on a regular basis and this does. not help

[bumblemillie]

I deleted the Nvidia Spotify app and now I can stream from my iPhone Spotify app to the shield by using Chromecast 

[Jamesw17]

I have the same issue with my Nvidia Shield

[Jamesw17]

I just fixed it.  Deleting and re-installing both Apps.  In the Iphone and in the nVidia Shield.  And started giving me sound on the nVidia shield.  

[Davidastorer]

Thanks for responses, but surely it should not be be necessary to stream Spotify from the iPhone to the Shield.

If I have the Spotify app on the Shield, it should deliver just the same as any other app. In my case, it delivers a picture, progress bar and even the  words of the lyrics, but no sound.

Just to be sure, I have uninstalled and reinstalled the Spotify app on the Shield and still no sound.

I can get it to work from my Sonos sound bar, but that does solve the problem posed.

[AlejaR]

Hey @Davidastorer,

Thanks for your replies and for all the info shared. 

Would you mind checking if the Stereo Upmix option is enabled on the advanced sound settings? If yes, disable it and check if you notice any difference.

On another note, we'd recommend checking if perhaps there are pending firmware updates for your Nvidia Shield. If yes, try updating it to see if you notice changes. 

Lastly, did you notice if this started to happen after a specific event such as an OS update? If yes, please send us the details.

Keep us in the loop!

[Davidastorer]

Thank you for your suggestions.

I can confirm that my Shield firmware is always updated promptly.

However, I am pleased to advise that your other suggestion of disabling Stereo Upmix has provided a solution.

I double checked by enabling it again and there was no sound. I am a little concerned that this will limit the sound width on other streams and would appreciate your comment. The sound on most tracks tried seems to be quite narrow.

[AlejaR]

Hey @Davidastorer,

Thanks for keeping us in the loop!

Well, after some digging, we've found this Nvidia forum, which contains more info on the matter. We'd suggest you have a look at it and contact Nvidia support, so they can provide insights about this behavior and how their Upmix feature works and affects your streaming apps on the shield. 

We understand where you're coming from and why it's important for you to understand better what's exactly happening. We think Nvidia folks can provide further assistance regarding any questions you might have about the features of its shield. 

On the mentioned forum, one user was advised to disable the MCAR feature to enable the Upmix feature instead. This same user mentioned there that they performed a full reset of the shield and after that they made sure not to enable Match Content Audio Resolution (MCAR). This solved this behavior for the user, so we recommend you give it a try to see how it goes.

Hope this clears things up. Keep us in the loop about this and if you have any questions or need anything else, the Community is here for you.

Cheers!

[djhellduck]

I also have this problem. The MCAR feature is essential for preventing audio lag in video playback when sending the signal through a receiver. It is simply supposed to bypass audio processing on the Shield - how can this break the Spotify app? 

(Thanks for your engagement in this thread btw. Tremendous resource, and very helpful!)

[-1JAYH1-]

Plan

Premium

Country

Canada

Device

Nvidia Shield Pro 2019

Operating System

Android TV

My Question or Issue

Lately, I've noticed that Spotify no longer works on either of my Nvidia Shields.  When I select a song, the track skips through a few songs before stopping on a random song.  When I try to play any song, it simply pauses and never plays.  I've also attempted to cast from my phone but same issues arise.  Spotify however, works on all my other devices. 

I've uninstalled Spotify and reinstalled.  I've reboot my modem.  

Any suggestions?

[bumblemillie]

So I had the same problem - the solution was to follow the guide in the above link:

Audio output= auto

match content resolution=yes

AND

Stereo upmix to 5.1= Off

its the last option red the stereo upmix, which if I turn on, then I get no sound from Spotify app

[Yordan]

Hey @bumblemillie,

Thanks for sharing this!

Currently, Spotify is designed to output in Stereo only, but upmixing is definitely something that's on our tech folks' radar, so hopefully in the future the app would be able to support it fully. Rest assured we'll keep everyone posted in our For the Record blog as soon as we have any new info to share about this.

The Community is always here if there's anything else you need assistance with.

[Djparent]

I'm still having this exact problem almost a full year later! Every time I try to play a track, Spotify plays for 3 seconds or so then skips to the next track. I can't pause, stop or even exit the app while it's doing this until it completes the WHOLE playlist. I have NEVER had MCAR or upmix enabled unlike the other users. In the past wiping the cache or completely reinstalling has sometimes worked. After the latest Spotify update it's completely broken. THIS IS NOT AN NVIDIA PROBLEM. I know someone with an apple TV having the exact same problems right now. This has been going on for a year and I now spend more time reinstalling the app and trying to fix things that I do listening to music. This is the last straw for me, if there isn't a fix for this I'll be uninstalling and moving to another service. There's actually another thread with people discussing this exact problem on an Apple TV and Spotify blames Apple there too. Seems to me Spotify is the common denominator in this very common problem.

[Shadowkiss-au]

I have had this problem with Spotify and my Shield for well over a year now. All other apps have no issue with sound, only Spotify. Spotify will connect to the Shield and the first few seconds will play, then silence. Rebooting does not help. No other app on the Shield is affected. Stereo Upmix is switched off.

Very frustrating as it seems to be a common issue for Shield owners but no one has a definite solution.

[Maenes]

I have this Problem since the last update of the spotify app on shield. The seconds Arena counting but no sound. This is only on songs without videos. On videos I can hear normal sound.