My Atom HDMI doesn’t fully wake up (with that “click” sound) when I turn ON the TV. I see HDMI on the display but when I hear the “click” (rely sound when switching input) the sound works, if I don’t hear that sound then bad news. The LG TV switches automatically to Internal speakers why I don’t know.
There are two (unstable) scenarios:
LG TV with Quick start+ disabled → never works and the sound output automatically switches to Internal speakers, because too slow and the Atom too fast or the contrary. I need to turn it off and on again to make it “work” but then the volume doesn’t work.
LG TV with Quick start+ enabled → this was promising at certain point, but yet there is still 40% of the times that something goes wrong and the TV is connected to the Atom but no audio or volume not working.
I contacted Naim support but they told me to disable the HDMI switching in the app and doing it manually. I cannot ask my family members to do it and it means that the Atom wouldn’t turn on automatically and, if the Atom is already ON and on a different input, the TV would switch to Internal speakers and then restoring the connection between the two is not quick (it implies restarts, disconnections from power etc.).
Attached my settings as image and please let me know if I have missed anything important. I don’t think as I deeply investigated and also I work in tech, but not an expert in home theatre. I am more now.
I’ve an LG TV too and the ARC has always been…problematic. Am no expert but I will suggest a couple of things.
Try another HDMI cable. They are not all created equal. The newest and highest quality you have.
You can quick switch external (digital) audio using the Magic remote, tap the settings button and go down to ‘sound out’ and select 'Audio Out/Optical/HDMI). Does that turn the Atom on?
In the LG sound settings I have ‘Digital Sound Out’ set to Auto. That works with my Pioneer AVR.
Thanks Jay for the answer. I use the Apple TV remote control, but when there are issues I need the TV one and switching to HDMI arc not always works, when it works then the volume doesn’t change. The problem is that the Atom is always waking up, and you see HDMI on the display so the input is there but there is no sound, so I need to turn the TV off and on again to hear finally a click sound and have the audio working.
I found the setup so delicate and unreliable…
So the input is switching to HDMI but the Atom doesn’t come out of sleep? I wonder if fiddling with the autosleep or power settings on the Atom would help?
I’ve had no end of HDMI eARC issues over the years.
48Gbps Entertainment Experience: Certified Ultra High Speed by HDMI Licensing, Pearl 48’s 48Gbps bandwidth enables 4K/120 and 8K/60 resolutions and frame rates and all other HDMI-2.1 capabilities.
I think AudioQuest is playing with language here. “HDMI 2.1 compliant” is not the same as Ultra High Speed HDMI Certification. Unless the box has the official certification label, we should assume the Pearl 48 is not certified.
Anyway, I ordered a certified cable (and also reduced the length from 3m to 2m) from Amazon. it should arrive tomorrow. I’m trying this last step, very curious to see how it goes. If there are still problems, unfortunately I’ll replace the Atom with a NAD M10 V3 (released more recently in September 2024, and with eARC). If I have issues with that too, I’ll give up and probably just buy an LG soundbar… which is likely what LG wants.
Also, last but not least: Naim support confirmed they’re having problems with LG, stating “LG code their HDMI outputs differently to almost all other TV manufacturers. When it first occurred, we thought it was at our end, so we spent a lot of time creating a fix for the issue. This fix lasted about a week before LG again changed something and the fix didn’t work any more.”
Indeed, I also contacted LG and provided detailed information, hoping they’ll test it and apply a better firmware.
I think AudioQuest is playing with language here. “HDMI 2.1 compliant” is not the same as Ultra High Speed HDMI Certification. Unless the box has the official certification label, we should assume the Pearl 48 is not certified.
Trust me, they’re certified (I own several at various lengths, including 3 metres):
This issue has been covered comprehensively on the forum in the past.
Fair to ask, did you do any search the ‘Q’ function top right of the forum, before posting?
The short answer is, Naim technical staff have in the past, posted on the forum, in these terms.
HDMI is a widely drawn standard and there is considerable divergence between each manufacturers interoperation of the specs.
Further, Naim try and follow the specs as close as possible to whether others do or not, is outside of Naim’s control.
Best option is not remove HDMI totally from your setup for sound and use optical from LG tv to Atom. Then establish a set routine for family to switch on both units and control volume from Atom remote or app.
Here, two LG tv’s with Apple tv (via HDMI in) with optic out to Nova or Superuniti - never fails to work, very simple, always works; ymmv. Try it perhaps?
Thanks for the response and the effort. My previous setup was on optical and the Apple TV copied the IR signals to turn on and change volumes on active speakers. I have a nice setup with hdmi in another room so decided to improve the usability replicating it but with a luxury solution (with Naim).
I replaced it with a new product, and let’s see how it goes. I understand the pain with HDMI. I am more annoyed at LG of course. I’ll monitor the situation and will buy Naim at the first future occasion.
No worries. Your photo is better than mine (the box was in the loft so the light wasn’t the best).
I’ve experienced weirdness with HDMI cables in the past, to be fair.
BTW, you mentioned trying an LG soundbar. Personally, I’d go with the Samsung Q990 (regardless of generation), atlthough it does seem that LG do things differently so it might be better to stick with them.
(The only time I’ve had compatibility issues with any of my Panasonic OLEDs was with an LG soundbar. It just would not work consistently, so it went straight back to Costco.)
Just a follow up: three weeks ago I returned the product and replaced it with the NAD M10 V3. I didn’t have any HDMI issues. Everything works so well and smoothly, I still can’t believe it. So it is not possible to blame the HDMI standard or LG.
Sad I could not keep the Atom, but will monitor their firmware’s updates.
and indeed no changes with the new cable. I could avoid same waste time.