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Yes! I can confirm a similar issue the last few weeks with Roku Ultra 4640X 12.0.0.4184 Max 54.1.1 and continuing this week with new build 54.1.2. With the latest build I only receive 'Dolby Digital 2/0' stereo as displayed on my receiver, I think DD 2.1 is more accurate.

But with a twist. When I stream Avatar WoW or Kingsman, the 20th Century Fox logo fanfare plays in DD 5.1 then drops back to DD 2.1 for the movie itself.

When I play Barry the recap is in DD 2.1 stereo, the HBO logo switches into DD 5.1, then back to just stereo again for the entire show. So for sure my setup is capable of receiving 5.1 and Max is capable of streaming it to me, but Max only does so for the brief logo screens, not the content. The behavior is the same whether I output sound via HDMI to my DD capable tv or directly from the 4640 to my DD receiver via optical. No 5.1 for content, only for logos.

I started by opening a case with Max, but no luck there so far. I was wondering if Max cut out surround sound altogether for Atmos content on the $15.99 tier, now that Atmos is only available to the $19.99 tier. I hope not. The support agent I spoke to today did not think that was the case, but also did not know what was being streamed to the $15.99 tier. It should be DD+ 5.1, but I have no way to confirm.

Avatar on Disney+ streams to me in 5.1. Nice to have a direct comparison across apps like this.

Thanks for posting this question! IDK if Roku devs help out when an app has an issue, but I'm hoping so.

[rudee]

Oh, that's interesting, a detail I did not originally notice.  But yes, I can confirm that intros do indeed play in DD 5.1 (Barry, Avatar WoW, Game of Thrones), and then revert to Stereo PCM after mid-intro!!

I also was on a tech support chat with HBO Max, and they confirmed that the "Legacy Ad-Free" subscription should be delivering DD 5.1.  As a lark, I upgraded my sub to "Ultimate Ad-Free", and this problem remains!! So, don't do that yourself ;). Tech support said they would elevate this issue, but I'm not holding me breath.

[moody1]

Any word on this?

I’m having the same issue with a different setup(roku tv-> Orei earc extractor-> older Yamaha DD surround receiver. All hdmi).

But exact same issue: intros start in 5.1 and switch to stereo(video res seems to drop too), other apps on tv play in surround etc.

Hoping it’s a build oversight/glitch, but seems like it would be a very “Max” thing to drop support for any sort of legacy format.

[rudee]

The Roku Max app updated today to 54.2 build 0, and this problem seems to be fixed! I’m now getting DD 5.1 surround!

[moody1]

Yes, me too! Roku tv got an update, followed by Max update. Looks like it’s fixed 🤞

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Max 54.2 fixed the issue. I still have the same Roku build from 5/9 but now transcoding to DD5.1 is working again. Thanks, Max!

I was getting worried after digging into this a little deeper and seeing that the same issue happened for google powered smart TVs a little over a year ago, HBO Max the only app affected. But I can't complain about a response time measured in weeks instead of months.