Glad to hear some of your staff also hears it. When you get a fix, I’m willing to beta test it. I already have beta roku, firetv, firmware.
Based on our investigation, we believe this may be an issue specifically with the firmware on the Roku 2 or lower. (Please let us know if you’ve seen it on the 3 as we weren’t able to reproduce it on that model.)
When transitioning to or from commercials feeds, broadcasters introduce a period of silence. What appears to be happening is that the Roku is employing a form of dynamic range compression, ie. they are boosting volume for very quiet segments and damping volume on very loud segments.
When encountering silence, the Roku may be over amplifying the audio causing clipping when full volume is suddenly resumed, which would account for a loud chirp sound. Following, we immediately hear a sudden drop and fade-in back to a normal volume level, again consistent with dynamic range compression.
For example, the graph below shows the wave form of the audio when transitioning out of a commercial. We hear the chirp when the volume is abruptly restored. The second graph is just an illustration to show that we do indeed have complete silence. Applying a huge amplification does not affect the silent period.
Regular wave form:
Amplified wave form:
Long story short, we’ll be working with the Roku team to adjust their settings for this or give us an option to disable it.
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I hear it on Roku Lzt 2700x but not on Roku 3 but they are different tv. I can not move Roku 3. to where Roku LT is, but can move Roku LT to other tv. I assume the noise will move to the other Tv. When Roku 4 comes out, the Roku 3 mov red shirt to the bedroom and I’ll get a new TV.
I am watching a recording and din’t hear it. Only watching live.
We just bought a Tablo and have been using it now for about a week. We use Roku devices (wireless). We also are hearing a beeping/chirping noise at different times. It may be just during commercials. Is there any update on this issue having a fix?
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It’s a known problem. I have it on my Roku LT 2700X but not on my Roku 3. @TabloSupport and @TabloTV and the rest of the team are working on it.
They are working with Roku.
@TabloTV It’s been 10 days since you posted the excellent description of what is happening. Any estimate when the problem will be fixed? I KNOW my problem will be going away because I am going to retire my Roku LT 2700x, move the TV and Roku from the living room to the bedroom (it is only 720) and getting a new TV that is 1080. Amazing what the price has fallen to. I am getting a Best Buy store brand TV (just dumb TV - I don’t need “smart tv” since I have a Roku.
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Yeah…this is finally getting to me too. I have a Roku 1, 2 and two streaming sticks, and I’m getting it on all of them. It’s scares the animals. I’m really hoping somebody can fix this…
Mike
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Awww. 
I don’t have an update unfortunately but we’re doing our best to work with the Roku folks on this.
If you haven’t already, send a note into Roku and let them know about the issue as well. The more people they have poking at them, the better.
For me, the chirping noise occurs occassionally on all my Roku apps:
Netflix
Hulu
Amazon Instant Video
YouTube
Tablo
When it does occur, it’s usually soon after a video loads, and begins to play.
Any updates?
Since you guys are processing the audio anyways, can you add a miniscule amount of white noise to the silent areas?
(I’d say if not, to just add a miniscule amount of white noise to the whole audio stream, many dB below the hearing limit, but the purists would complain)
@TabloTV Any updates?
I’m considering picking the Google Nexus player instead of my Roku due to this (thanks theuser86). I missed the groupon deal, and am thinking about just buying it now or waiting for black friday/cyber monday.
But if you guys are close to fixing this, I may not need to upgrade.
@max - We cannot do as you suggested. There is just not that ability within the stream.
As per our previous post, this is an issue Roku must address. We’re doing our best to get them to fix this, but I don’t have an ETA as of yet.
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I have searched the Roku forum to voice my concern but can’t find a post on this. Anybody have a link. I am trying to dump Uverse. The Roku/Tablo looks promising but this chirping is annoying. I will do my part to elevate the issue but I may need to return the equipment and abandon this project if I don’t think it will get fixed. One advantage for Uverse: no finger pointing, they fixed any problem we had. What is the best way to elevate the issue?
@vpetrill, I submitted a ticket to Roku weeks ago about this issue and haven’t even gotten an auto reply back from them. I will say that the 2.2.6 update eliminated the chirping on my Roku sticks and made my Roku 2 worse. The Roku update to v7 did nothing so I ended up getting a Black Friday deal and replacing my 2 with a RokuTV. Low and behold, the chirping was gone. I haven’t tried the 2 since my Tablo 2.2.8 update but suspect the chirping is still there.
While I agree that the issue is specific to Roku 2s and 3s on wifi, I find it interesting that it only appeared after the 2.2.2 update (just saying)
FYI - There was a Roku firmware update around the same time as the 2.2.2 update.
We have also notified Roku about this issue and are hopeful it will be resolved in their 7.1x firmware.
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Thanks for the update. Do you have a Roku ticket number I could reference when I contact them?
While I will be spending more on Roku devices than the 4 tuner Tablo, I know it is small change in the scheme of things. I do have a number of Facebook/nonfacebook friends waiting for my results as they want to go the same route. If I can resolve this and one more issue I can give them a configuration that should work for them. Replacing all my old TVs is not an option but I would consider Roku alternatives. I appreciate any advice. I would like to make this work.
@vpetrill Unfortunately no - we chat directly with a contact on their developer team.
Many folks have been having success moving from Roku to Google Nexus streamers.
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I picked up three used Roku 3s for $50 each, two on eBay and one on Craigslist. Then spent $30 on four DECA ethernet to coax adapters to get them all hardwired using existing coax line. $ and time well spent I think.