Channels & viewing

[hellohalo]

If I play PBS or Sling TV on my new Roku Ultra, I only get stereo sound, even when my receiver tells me it’s in Atmos mode. Meanwhile, other apps like HBO Max give me perfect surround sound using the same Roku and receiver settings. I’ve spent a long stone flipping settings both in my Roku and my receiver to try to fix this. It has not worked. I’ve also noticed I get surround sound when I watch the same channels (PBS and Sling) with a Fire TV stick. My conclusion is this is a *Roku-only software issue* with *select apps.*

Has anyone fixed a problem like this before? Advice please. I would love to enable Dolby surround for PBS and Sling, to hear dialogue from my center speaker.

Roku Settings: volume leveling off, dialog enhancement off, streaming audio format auto, digital output format auto.

Note when I change digital audio format to passthrough, my receiver shows receiving a stereo signal. On the other hand, when I change digital output format to auto, my receiver shows an Atmos signal, but it still only plays in stereo for PBS and Sling.

[hellohalo]

No solution yet! Unless you want to use a Fire Stick. I’m sorry to hear it’s not working for you, either.

[RokuDanny-R]

@hellohalo

Thanks for the post.

Can you please specify the issue you are experiencing? What are the steps to reproduce the issue you are seeing? What troubleshooting steps have you already taken to try to resolve the issue?

With more detailed information, we will be able to assist you further.

Thanks,
Danny

[hellohalo]

Hi Danny, the issue is some apps (shows) like Sling TV (TV5 News in French) and PBS (PBS Newshour) only play in stereo on my Roku Ultra (2022) even though I have a 3.0 stereo system that normally reproduces voice perfectly over its center channel/speaker.

Here’s how to reproduce the issue:

1. Get an audio/video surround receiver (I have a Denon AVR-X1700H) and hook it up to right, left, and center channel speakers. Get everything hooked up correctly. Have an HDMI out to a TV or projector.

2. Plug your Roku into an input in the receiver.

3. Launch the PBS app on Roku and play the PBS Newshour.

4. Note that it plays in stereo. No voices or anything else coming out of the center channel speaker.

5. Close PBS; open HBO Max, Netflix, Disney+, etc., and play literally any program.

6. Note that you now have sound coming out of your center speaker.

Danny, to troubleshoot I have tried every single Roku menu setting. None work. I’ve also tried every receiver setting in combination with those Roku menu settings. None work. So just run through my steps above, and you should be able to reproduce the issue, but I doubt you’ll be able to resolve it with configurations only. I’ve tried them all. No dice.

One troubleshooting step *did* work, but as a Roku employee you might not like it: plug in an Amazon Fire Stick. Follow the same steps above #1-6, and it will work perfectly the first time. For that reason, I think this is a Roku software issue and recommend you guys check it out because it’s a real bug that affects Roku owners and deserves to be fixed.

There’s a sizable segment of your Roku viewers who own sound systems with center speakers so they can hear voices more clearly on talk programs like PBS Newshour. Not having it work is almost a deal killer for that segment of consumers.

I just got my Roku Ultra in May 2022 and assumed it would be the best of the best. For this reason, well - it hasn’t been - but I’m confident you can fix it.

[hellohalo]

Aside - I would also recommend testing this with a 3.0 soundbar or other soundbar that has a center speaker. I have only tested it with my audio/video receiver because that’s all I have, but it would be worthwhile to know if this problem also occurs over a soundbar because Roku probably has 10x more customers listening to soundbars than receivers.