[Tizen] Samsung Smart TV app volume level too high

[rhapsodyindrew]

Plan

Free and/or Premium

Country

United States

Device

Samsung Smart TV (model number UN50MU630DF)

Operating System

Samsung Tizen (version 1290)

Spotify App

Samsung Smart TV / Tizen app version 1.7.2

My Question or Issue

The gain in the Samsung Tizen Spotify app is much too high, causing both digital distortion and way-too-loud playback. Audio played through the Tizen app sounds simply awful, rendering the app useless. (Other apps on the same TV have perfect audio, both in terms of distortion and general loudness.)

Here are two threads about this issue, both from 2017:

https://community.spotify.com/t5/Other-Partners-Web-Player-etc/Spotify-way-too-loud-on-Samsung-Smart...

https://community.spotify.com/t5/Other-Partners-Web-Player-etc/Samsung-TV-Tizen-spotify-app-poor-sou...

It's disappointing that this problem persists in 2021! Is this not an issue with a simple fix - just reduce the in-app gain? Or perhaps add an in-app option to adjust the gain?

[Novy]

Hey there @rhapsodyindrew, 

Thanks for reaching out about this in the Community, and welcome 🙂

Would you mind letting us know if you've already tried reinstalling the app on your TV? 

We'd also recommend making sure that your TV has no pending system updates. 

Let us know how it goes.

[rhapsodyindrew]

Thanks for the reply. I tried uninstalling and reinstalling the app just
now, and the volume is still too high and there is still digital
distortion. I also confirmed that my TV has the latest firmware version
(1290) installed.

Even beyond the digital clipping, the sound level in the Spotify app is
simply much higher than any other apps on the TV. To put a number to it,
where I might need to have other apps at 16-18 volume (out of 40), I need
to turn my speakers down to 10 or 11 (out of 40) while using the Spotify
app.

[Eni]

Hey @rhapsodyindrew, 

Thanks for your quick reply. 

Would you mind letting us know if this has always happened or if it started happening after a specific event such as an update?

On another note, could you check if this is also happening if you try casting to the TV from your phone?

Keep us posted 🙂

[rhapsodyindrew]

Thanks, Eni, for your reply.

This has always been happening. As I noted before, threads from 2017
identify the identical issue, and this has been my experience for the
entire time (several years) I've used the Spotify Tizen app.

What do you mean by "casting to the TV from my phone"? Do you mean like a
Chromecast? I don't have a Chromecast so I can't test that. But when I
connect my phone directly to my *stereo*, using the Spotify app on my
phone, the sound quality is perfect. The issue is clearly only with the
Spotify Tizen app.

[Eni]

Hi @rhapsodyindrew, 

Thanks for getting back in touch and sending us this info. 

Could you let us know if the issue persists using the Connect feature as well?

Additionally, we recommend disconnecting and connecting back again your TV to check if that makes any difference. 

Let us know how it goes!

[rhapsodyindrew]

Thanks Eni. Yes, the issue persists when using Connect: Connect doesn't let
me control the TV app's volume, so it's still much too high and there is
tons of digital clipping.

What do you mean by "disconnecting and connecting back again my TV"?

I should note that this problem persists whether I use the TV's built-in
speakers or the digital audio out. The gain in the app is simply much too
high. This seems like it should be an easy fix, albeit one beyond my
control as an app user rather than a developer.

[Eni]

Hey @rhapsodyindrew, 

Thanks for your reply 🙂 

No worries, with disconnecting and connecting back your TV we meant that you unplug it from power and plug it back to check if that makes the difference. 

On another note, would you mind sending us a video of the issue happening so we can take a closer look at it on our end?

We'll be on the lookout for your reply.

[rhapsodyindrew]

Thanks again. Yes, I've unplugged and re-plugged in my TV many times over
the several years this problem has been occurring and it never makes a
difference.

Here's a video showing me playing the same song, at the same speaker
volume, through YouTube and Spotify. The video clearly shows that the song
is much louder, and heavily distorted, when playing through the Spotify
Tizen app. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cA-FvLLVN-4

Sadly, everything is *not* awesome when it comes to the Spotify app on my
Samsung TV. I'm really hoping Spotify can fix this problem.

[Peter]

Hey @rhapsodyindrew,

Thanks for reporting this issue to us.

We’ve passed your info on to the relevant team, who are currently looking into it.

If anyone else is experiencing this issue, make sure to click +VOTE and Subscribe to the thread to be notified of any developments.

Could you also make sure to provide us with the following info, if you haven’t already:

• Samsung Smart TV model + OS version
• The exact Spotify version running on the device
• Troubleshooting attempted so far

Thanks! We’ll keep you posted and let you know as soon as we have any updates on this.

[rhapsodyindrew]

Thanks Peter! I'll repeat some info I included in my original post:

Device: Samsung Smart TV (model number UN50MU630DF)
Operating System: Samsung Tizen (version 1290)
Spotify App: Samsung Smart TV / Tizen app version 1.7.2

Troubleshooting attempted so far:
uninstalling and reinstalling the app
confirming that my TV has the latest firmware version installed
using Connect from my phone
unplugging and replugging the TV

Thanks for looking into this. D