Nowadays, you don’t have to buy a new smart TV to have access to all the smart features that you would find on new generation TVs. All you need is a TV that supports HDMI input and you are good to go. There are a lot of streaming boxes and streaming available on the market that can instantly turn your TV into a smart TV. However, the one smart TV stick that seems to be the most popular among all is the Amazon Fire Stick. There are hundreds of thousands of users worldwide that are using Amazon’s Fire Stick to enjoy a true android experience thanks to the Amazon Fire OS 3.0 which is based on the Android interface.
However, just like most other streaming devices on the market, there are a lot of problems that usually occur with the Amazon Fire Stick. Thankfully, most of these problems are caused by software issues and can be resolved easily. So unless there is a hardware fault on your Amazon Fire Stick, you can easily get rid of the issue by looking up some guides on the internet. Today, we are going to talk about one such issue that has been bugging a lot of Fire Stick users for quite some time now.
Reasons Behind No Sound On Fire Stick
One of the few problems that are quite common amongst Amazon Fire Sticks is the absence of sound. And as you may already know, watching a movie or an episode on your TV without sound is quite pointless and it does not make the entertainment any better than a radio where visuals are absent.
If there is no sound coming in from your Fire Stick, you won’t get any output from your TV, irrespective of your speaker system. You can use the built-in TV speakers or connect a high-profile sound system, there won’t be any sound if your Fire Stick is not providing any input.
There can be several reasons behind the absence of sound on your Fire Stick.
1. Hardware Issues
If your Amazon Fire Stick is not working with any other display device, then it is pretty clear that the problem lies with the Fire Stick itself. There can be many defects on the Fire Stick that can cause the absence of audio such as a damaged HDMI connector, internal faults, or a damaged sound driver.
The simplest way to try and fix that is by reconnecting the Fire Stick to your TV. You can also check the internal part of the HDMI end and see if there is dust and dirt on the inside that can potentially block the connecting pins.
If the Fire Stick does not seem to be working with any other device, you should get a replacement for your Fire Stick right away. It is not that difficult since Amazon’s Fire Sticks are warranted for 1 year after the date of purchase.
So if your product is under warranty, you will receive a free replacement from Amazon. And even if it is not under warranty, you can contact Amazon customer care directly to help you with your problem.
2. Problems with Internet Connectivity
As you may already know, Amazon Fire Stick, and the majority of other streaming devices require an internet connection to work. You will have to connect the Fire Stick to your home’s WiFi connection so that it can stream the content from the internet directly to your TV over WiFi.
So problems with the WiFi connection can potentially cause problems with the streaming device. If your internet connection is too slow, it might not get audio data from the stream, causing it to stream only video. It can also happen if your WiFi connection is unstable.
The easiest way to fix that is by getting a range extender for your router and placing it close to the TV or Fire Stick. This way, you can ensure that your Fire Stick maintains a strong WiFi connection and there is one less thing to worry about while using the Fire Stick. You can also get a special splitter for your Fire Stick so that you can connect various USB-powered accessories directly to the device.
Not many people know that apart from a USB mouse and keyboard, Fire Stick also supports a USB LAN card, allowing you to use a wired internet connection with your Fire Stick.
3. Problems with Power Input
Another factor that affects the performance of the Fire Stick is improper power supply. Apart from connecting the Fire Stick to your TV’s HDMI port, you also have to connect the power cable to the Fire Stick for it to work.
So if the power supply is not stable, it might reboot as soon as voltage issues are detected. It also happens when the Fire Stick is going under extensive load. For example, when you are streaming 4K content or playing a game on your Fire Stick.
4. Problem at Source
If you are facing audio issues with a particular app or streaming platform, then your Fire Stick is fine and the problem lies with the application. When it comes to content streaming apps like Hulu, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, etc, you will find new updates being rolled out almost every other week.
This is to create more stable versions of the app and avoid recurring problems with the platform. So if your application is outdated, your best bet is to head over to the Amazon app store and update the application to its latest version. You can also try a clean installation of the app so that all the previous data is cleared and you get the latest version of the app for a fresh start.
Is It Possible To Fix No Sound on a Fire Stick?
If your Fire Stick still does not have any sound coming out, there’s no need to panic. There are some proven solutions for these problems that have already helped a lot of users and can turn out fruitful for you as well. All you need is a little bit of patience while you try out each of the solutions provided in this guide and see if any of them work out for you. We will be offering step-by-step instructions so that you can easily fix the audio issue with your Fire Stick without needing any professional help.
Here are a few ways you can fix the no sound problem for Amazon Fire Stick.
1. See If Your Fire Stick Is Muted
Sometimes, even the slightest of mishaps can lead to an issue that seems unsolvable. In the case of Fire Stick, your device might as well be muted the whole time while you were looking for complicated methods to fix the problem. When you put your Fire Stick on mute, there is a small mute icon that appears on the display, reminding you about the status of the audio output. But due to some software issue, you might not be able to see the mute icon on your TV, or it simply won’t appear.
In such a case, you should play a stream of video from Youtube or any streaming platform and press the mute button on your Fire Stick remote a couple of times to see if that helps. You can also try the Amazon Fire TV mobile app that basically allows you to use your smartphone as a remote for your Fire Stick. This way, you will be able to unmute the device in case your remote is not working. If that works, you should check if the remote is properly paired to your Fire Stick or not. You can also get a replacement for your remote if it is not working as expected.
2. Reset the Fire Stick
If the problem lies with the sound drivers of the Fire Stick, there is little you can do to fix it. Unlike your computer, the drivers or any other system software are not accessible on a Fire Stick. So, you cannot manually repair or restart the sound drivers of the Fire Stick. But what you can do is reset the Fire Stick altogether to get the device back to its factory settings and reset all the built-in drivers. It is especially helpful in case the problems appeared right after you updated the firmware of your Fire Stick.
Unlike most other streaming devices, resetting an Amazon Fire Stick is quite easy. Instead of shuffling through various settings or options, all you will have to do is press and hold down the ‘☰’ and ‘●’ button on your Fire Stick for a couple of seconds. After a few seconds, the Fire Stick will restart, indicating that the reset process has begun. Now, simply watch the Fire Stick reset itself as it shows the status of the device on the screen. Once the device is reset, see if you get the audio working for our Fire Stick or not.
3. Manually Reset All The Connections
Another simple fix to solve various problems related to external streaming devices like an Amazon Fire Stick is to reset all of its connections manually. As we mentioned earlier, the Fire Stick might have audio issues due to improper power supply or connectivity problems.
To resolve that, try to plug the power cable of the Fire Stick into another AC outlet in your home. You can also try an extension cord to connect the device to a wall outlet that is a bit farther from your TV to ensure better connectivity. While you are at it, also make sure that the power cable is properly connected to the Fire Stick so that there is no loose connection. You can also try plugging in the Fire Stick in a different HDMI port to check if the HDMI port of your TV is the culprit.
4. Check Fire Stick Sound Settings
Apart from problems with the sound settings of your TV, you can also face audio problems with Fire Stick if there is something wrong with the sound preferences in the Fire Stick itself. Just like any other streaming device, Fire Stick also has some built-in sound options in the settings that can potentially render its sound drivers unable to send audio data via the HDMI connection. Or, there might be some additional feature that might be turned ON which is not supported by your TV speakers, or external speaker unit.
- To check the sound settings on Fire Stick, go to “Settings” and head over to the “Display and Sounds” option.
- Now, click on the “Audio” option. Here, you will find all the options related to audio output from your Fire Stick.
- The most important feature here is the “Surround Sound” option that deals with the Dolby Digital Plus feature of the Fire Stick.
- By default, it will be set to the “Best Available” option to automatically select the best preference for your TV.
- You can try disabling this feature by selecting the “Stereo” option from the list.
- This disables the Dolby Digital and Dolby Digital Plus features of the Fire Stick that might not be supported by your TV.
- You can also try disabling the “Volume Leveller” and “Dialogue Enhancer” options from the “Advanced Audio” section and see if that works.
5. See If The Problem Lies With HDMI Connection
If your Amazon Fire Stick is working fine on other display devices like another TV or your monitor, it is probably because the problem lies with the TV settings. As you may already know, you have to select Amazon Fire Stick for video as well as audio input for your TV for it to work properly. It is not the problem in many cases since a TV automatically detects Fire Stick as the primary audio source since the HDMI port can transmit both the video as well as audio data.
But if it is not doing the same in your case, you can look up the display and sound settings on your TV and make sure that Fire Stick is selected. Sometimes, it also helps if you disable sound enhancement options like Dolby Digital Plus since some older TV models might not support that.
Also, if you are using an HDMI to AV converter to use your Fire Stick on very old TVs, there are bound to be problems with the audio and video since these connectors aren’t very reliable. The same goes for HDMI to VGA converters if you are using the Fire Stick with a VGA-supported monitor. Here, the best option would be to replace the generic connector with a branded option so that you get the best conversion quality and assured output.
6. Avoid Wireless Audio Connections
There are many cases reported on Fire Stick forums where Bluetooth connections seem to be the root cause of audio issues. There are many applications designed for this platform that apparently do not work very well with wireless audio transmission. While such problems are quickly fixed by the developers of said apps, they might go unnoticed for months and you won’t get any audio output from such apps with your Bluetooth headphones.
But, there is a workaround for that too. Instead of connecting your Bluetooth headphones or earphones to the Fire Stick, you can route the audio to your TV and then connect the headphones to your TV for a flawless connection. Most speaker systems like home theatres, reference monitors, and soundbars also support 2-way Bluetooth connection to offer support for wireless audio transmission. You can also try pairing your wireless headphones or earphones to the speaker system and see if it works for you.
Conclusion
Having no sound on your Fire Stick can completely ruin your experience with the device and render it useless for your TV. But fortunately, it is one of the simplest problems to fix when it comes to Fire Stick issues and you can do that easily by following the guidelines presented here. In this guide, we have gone over several different reasons why your Fire Stick might not have any sound and provided some proven solutions to fix the problem. So, you can try all of these solutions one by one and see if you get the audio working for your Fire Stick. If you have any doubt about the steps or fixes mentioned in this guide, you can reach us via the comment section below.
