11 Easy Ways To Fix Sound Keep Cutting Out On LG TV

There’s nothing more annoying than having the sound repeatedly cut out while you’re trying to watch your favorite program.

For the most part, the sound cutting out on an LG TV is probably a result of a faulty connection or an issue in your TV’s settings.

Your first step when encountering this issue should be to perform a Sound Test to see if the TV is causing the problem.

The rest of this article will go through the common causes behind your LG TV audio cutting out and how to fix it quickly.

Why Does This Happen?

The most common cause of the sound on your LG TV cutting out is an improper connection to an external device or menu settings that are affecting the audio drivers, although it’s also possible that there’s a fault in the power supply, a defective HDMI cable, or signal interference from other devices.

How To Fix This Issue

Sound issues with your LG TV can be remedied with a little detective work.

To start, check the basics.

Ensure that your audio is up to a volume you can hear and that you haven’t accidentally hit the mute button.

I know, obvious much, but that can happen, believe me.

Once you’ve done that, you can rule out the obvious and start investigating potential hardware and software issues.

1. Restart Your LG TV

Known as a power cycle, this method has worked wonders since the days when computers were the size of town halls.

Power cycling your LG TV is a fairly simple process, and you’ll be surprised how often it works. 

• Unplug your LG TV.
• Wait for a full minute.
• Press and hold the power button once the minute is up.
• Release the power button after another full minute.
• Plug it back in.
• Press the power button.

Hopefully, this does the trick.

If it doesn’t, move on to the next troubleshooting tip. 

 2. Turn off SIMPLINK

Simplink is LG’s name for HDMI-CEC.

A faulty external device may inappropriately prompt your TV to have issues with the sound.

1. Go to Settings.
2. Select All Settings.
3. Select General from the left menu.
4. Select SIMPLINK.
5. Turn it OFF.

After you switch this option off, your sound should get back to normal.

3. Check the Different HDMI Ports

If you are just running your LG smart TV on Wi-Fi and nothing else, this step doesn’t matter very much.

However, if you have a cable box, PlayStation 5, Xbox, or something similar, try switching to the HDMI port.

Change the source on the LG TV to match the new input and see if you have sound. 

If you do, you know you have a bad HDMI port. 

4. Upgrade Your HDMI Cable

You should be able to find all the specs you need to know in your LG TV manual, or you can google the serial and model number to pull up the manual online.

Make sure your HDMI cable is capable of handling the HDMI specs on your LG. 

If your HDMI port is labeled “HDMI ARC,” you need to make sure your HDMI cable supports that. 

5. Update Your LG Software

While there are a ton of different LG smart TVs out there, most of them run off the same LG Operating System (OS). So, the process for updating should be the same, regardless of your model. 

• Press the “Home” button on your remote.
• Select the “gear” icon for Settings.
• Select “All Settings”.
• Select “General Tab”.
• Select “About This TV”.
• Select “Click for Updates”.

If a new version pops up, go ahead and update. Once the update is complete, restart your TV.

6. Reset A/V (Audio/Video) Settings

Resetting the Audio and Video settings is fairly simple on an LG TV.

All you need to do is press the “Mute” button three times.

On the third press, you will see an option to confirm pop up on the screen.

Confirm it and the audio and video settings will reset to factory. 

We also made a quick video with all the best practices when it comes to fixing the sound on your TV, you can see it below.

7. Power Supply Glitches

Your power supply sends current through the wiring of the TV, powering all its functions.

When the connection is loose, interrupted, or faulty in some way, it can cause the whole system to suffer sudden power loss.

As such, checking for loose cables and doing a hard reset is usually a good idea.

Keep an eye out for the following:

• Loose connections
• Damaged wiring
• Unsecured cables
• Defective ports
• Faulty outlets
• Defective cables

Power down your television and unplug the power cable from the wall.

Check all the wires you can see for cracks or faults, both along the wire itself and at the connector ports.

If you detect any cracks or faults, replace them with new wiring.

8. Software Problem-Solving

There are a number of issues that can arise on the software side, causing your sound system to act up.

Navigate to your audio settings on your LG computer by pressing the Settings button.

From there, proceed to All Settings > Sound > Sound Test.

The Sound Test will return your LG computer settings to default and perform a sound test.

If the issue lies within the TV, the audio should continue to be spotty, distorted, or too low, and the LG TV should self-diagnose a potential problem.

If so, then you can visit LG’s Request a Repair page, where you will be prompted to schedule a service repair. If you have an LG account, you’ll need to sign in to schedule a repair.

9. Other Repair Tips to Try

If none of these solutions get you any closer to understanding what’s up with your LG TV, then the issue might not be with your TV at all.

Sometimes, when you run a TV’s audio through an external speaker, the connection between the two can be faulty, causing a range of issues, including having the sound cut out irregularly.

Navigate back to your sound settings and see what the TV Sound Out is set to.

• If it is on Internal TV Speaker, then it is using the built-in speakers for the television.
• If it says External TV Speaker, then the issue may be with your speaker instead.

You can try switching the speaker option to see if it improves the sound quality. 

This way, you can also understand whether the TV or the speakers are causing the issue.

10. Check the Sound Settings

There are a few sound settings you can try to play with.

Chances are, they are not the troublemakers, but we can still give it a go.

You will simply need to navigate into your LG TV’s settings, then go to Sound, and make sure that the Smart Sound mode is turned off.

You can also experiment with switching the Digital Sound Out setting from Auto to PCM.

Go to Settings > All Settings > Sound > Sound Out > Digital Sound Out > PCM.

After you’ve done that, I recommend power cycling your TV by unplugging it from the power source for a few minutes.

11. Problems with the Speakers

We briefly mentioned in the previous steps that you might come to realize that your LG TV is actually fine, it’s your connected external device (like a sound bar) that is causing the issue.

Now it’s time to address this.

The best thing you can do with a malfunctioning external device is to reset it.

For non-Bluetooth devices:

The steps are exactly the same as for the TV reset.

1. Unplug the device from the power source.
2. Leave it unplugged for 1-2 minutes.
3. Plug the external device back in and see if it improves the sound quality.

On top of that, you can disconnect and then reconnect all cables connected to the TV, as we discussed earlier, and the malfunctioning device. 

Make sure all the cables are fitted in properly and there is no dust on them.

For Bluetooth devices:

Here, the first thing you need to check is other Bluetooth devices in the room causing the interference. 

If there are too many of them, like other speakers or your Xbox, for instance, they might as well hinder the sound.

Try disconnecting some of the devices you are not using right now and see if that makes a difference.

Alternatively, you can try connecting your Bluetooth soundbar via the cable if it’s possible.

I know it’s sort of counter-intuitive, but that might as well fix our sound issue.

Apart from it, all you can do is to check if there is any physical damage to the speakers and make sure the software is up-to-date.

Otherwise, they won’t be able to process the data properly.

You can always download the latest version of the software should you need it and install it via the USB drive.

 

Final Thoughts

There are a number of issues, from hardware glitches to software settings, that can cause your LG TV’s sound to cut out unexpectedly.

Let’s sum it all up for your convenience.

First, check all the cables leading both to the TV and the soundbar, if you have one connected.

Next, power cycle your TV and your external speakers by unplugging them from the wall and waiting for about 1-2 minutes.

Run the sound test and check all the sound settings we mentioned in the article. Disable the feature called Simplink.

Last, but not least, make sure there is no Bluetooth interference if your speakers are connected wirelessly.

Try connecting them using the cable as an alternative, or disconnect them altogether.

Hopefully, these DIY fixes can help you identify the problem, but if not, contact LG and request a repair through their website.