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We have a Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 10.1, running Android 5.1.1 (U.S. Cellular, if it matters). We're connecting it to a Sony HT-CT80 Soundbar via Bluetooth.

While this works perfectly most of the time, during some shows that feature extended periods of quiet (such as Law & Order SVU, when there's an extended pause in the conversation, of about 5 seconds or so), the speaker appears to disconnect, in that the speaker is completely silent. When sound returns on the show we'll miss less than a second of the sound before the speaker starts back up. We've also had it do this while listening to the radio (WPR - Wisconsin Public Radio - via their Android app).

The tablet is connected via USB and fully charged, with the screen on the entire time. The soundbar is plugged in and doesn't lose power.

We've tried checking the bluetooth settings but don't see anything obvious, and suggestions online suggested that keeping the screen on might help with keeping the bluetooth connected, but as noted above the screen is definitely staying on.

Are we missing a setting that might explain why the tablet appears to be temporarily disconnecting during periods of quiet?

James Skemp
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1 Answers1

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It's the "feature" of the soundbar called "Auto Standby" -- it shuts down the audio amplifier when there is no audio to play, and then it needs some time in order to turn the amplifier back on when it detects that audio has returned. Unfortunately, it does that even when connected to power source (to reduce power consumption). I've checked the manual (https://docs.sony.com/release/HTCT80_EN_ES_FR.pdf), and it seem that on your model it isn't possible to turn auto standby off.

The only workaround is to prevent the soundbar from going into standby by periodically playing sound on it, but that will be very annoying, since it must be a real sound, not silence.

Mikhail Naganov
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  • Hmm. So "The system enters standby mode automatically when you do not operate the system for about 15 minutes and the system is not receiving an input signal." But it seems like it's doing it after just 5 seconds or so. (Sorry, it looks like I wasn't clear about how long the periods of quiet are. I'll update the question accordingly.) – James Skemp Jun 02 '17 at 17:23