Playback Issues - Audio/Video & Power

[twig314159]

Roku Model:

Roku Ultra 4670X

Software Version: 9.3.0, build 4170

None of the channels I use (Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime, Hulu) play through the Roku play in surround sound, they all play in stereo.

I have a Bose Lifestyle V20.  The Bose supports Dolby Digital.

All devices are connected via HDMI cable.

My Frontier PVR and Sony BluRay player DO play in 5.1 surround when connected to the Bose.  The Netflix app on the PVR plays in 5.1 just fine.

I have verified that the Roku auto detects Dolby Digital and DTS support.  Changing the Auto Detect specifically to DD or DTS does NOT fix my problem.

I have verified that the Roku channels do not have any sound mode enabled.  They all have a sound mode of Off.

Please help.  I have tried everything from other posts I've found and nothing has worked.

Thank you.

[Mike49]

I have the same problem with a Bose Lifestyle V10 unit.  can get surround sound when playing Netflix through the Sony Smart Blu Ray player but not through the Roku player.  Any suggestions please.

[twig314159]

After some research I came to the conclusion that I need a new receiver.

Roku support Dolby Digital+, while the Bose is old enough that it only supports Dolby Digital.  As such, the two devices can't communicate and fallback to stereo sound.

According to this page: https://support.roku.com/article/208754498, the Roku Ultra 4640X can transcode from Dolby Digital+ to Dolby Digital and in theory would work for us.  But since I don't have a 4640X, I can not verify it.  In that link, see the "Note" in the section titled "More about audio formats".

[atc98092]

Yes, the 4640 is the only model that has ever had a DD encoder. And since the majority of online providers use DD+ as the audio codec, you have to have DD+ support to get 5.1 audio. 

My 4640 annoys me at times by converting audio into DD+ when my AVR can handle whatever the codec in use is. But the 4640 is still a really good player.