My HBO max seems to have surround sound for many of the shows, but not all of them. Going to Stereo vs Auto did work. However, I have a very nice surround sound system and using this solution basically negates this ability to have surround sound, which is not what I wanted.
Then I saw smvogt's solution and it was pure genius. I did not know there was any options using the * key while you were playing a show. So I changed it from off to leveling and presto, surround sound came back. Amazing! This was using a several year old Roku Ultra. Also it was plugged in using HDMI to a new Yamaha TSR-700 receiver. All shows now work.
I have another newer Roku ultra that does not have this sound issue. But my guess that is because I am using a very old Denon surround receiver with no HDMI inputs. Therefore, I run optical sound out of my TV directly to my stereo. I have not had any HBO max issues with that.
My next step was going to be to use the same direct audio to my Yamaha receiver instead of HDMI. But I was reluctant to go this route as it kind of negates getting the new receiver in the first place. My guess is that somehow the codecs used by HBOmax have some sort of HDMI ARC issue with my receiver. Funny, but the old HBO app did not have this issue.
Anyhoo, was really glad that smvogt's solution worked. Thanks again!
