Playback Issues - Audio/Video & Power

[MichaelDiggs]

I bought the Polk Audio Magnifi Mini and love it. Completely beats all the other Soundbars I've tried and returned already. Anyway I have a Sony Bravia television with a Roku, Dune Media Player, and Xfinity Cable TV hooked up to it. Everything is using HDMI and the Soundbar is using the ARC HDMI line. When playing with Cable Box and the Dune Media Player the Soundbar detects DD signals no problem. Soon as I change it to the Roku Ultra it gets stuck at stereo. I've changed the limited audio settings in the Roku to reflect all the changes that it can accept. All have just sent no DD signals. Having no issues with my cable box or Dune Media Player I suspect the problem lies with the Roku. I do have the same Roku model in my living room hooked up to my huge Denon receiver which recognizes all the types of DD signals just fine. I've also tried other Sounbars on the same setup and still the Roko sounds like the culprit. Is there a way to take care of this problem?

[MCwalker]

Hi, 

I’m having this issue too. I have a Sony Bravia, Polk Magnifi Max, and a Roku Ultra. 

When I play Dolby or DTS content from the TV apps, there is no issue. When I play the same content from the Roku, it is downmixed to stereo.

Any chance you solved this?

[TinyBogD]

I also have the issue 

[MCwalker]

I ended up just using the optical cable. It works as I wanted—the tv turns on the soundbar, and the soundbar turns itself off when not in use. It carries both Dolby and DTS signals. 

The only thing I haven’t been able to do is turn the volume display off on the TV. My Roku remote controls the soundbar volume, but the TV will also display a volume level indicator. The TV volume display doesn’t match the soundbar and that can be a distraction. 

[TinyBogD]

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@MCwalker wrote:

I ended up just using the optical cable. It works as I wanted—the tv turns on the soundbar, and the soundbar turns itself off when not in use. It carries both Dolby and DTS signals. 

The only thing I haven’t been able to do is turn the volume display off on the TV. My Roku remote controls the soundbar volume, but the TV will also display a volume level indicator. The TV volume display doesn’t match the soundbar and that can be a distraction. 

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I used that as well the odd thing is that when I turn up the volume at some point the volume goes automatically to 100%. Can’t get that figured out now. 

[RokuTannerD]

@MichaelDiggs In order to get all available audio formats in a channel to pass through from your Roku device to your TV or A/V receiver, including surround formats, you'll need to ensure that you do not have any 'Volume mode' enabled. During playback of content inside a channel, press the * key on your remote. Look for the 'Volume mode' option and turn this to 'Off'. This will then allow any available audio format to be passed through to your receiver/soundbar. You can see more here: https://support.roku.com/article/226802507-how-do-i-use-volume-modes-on-my-roku-streaming-device-

You'll also want to make sure that if your Roku device is connected to your TV, that your TV is connected via HDMI ARC to your soundbar, in order to pass the audio along correctly. You also want to double check that you have selected 'Auto' in Settings>Audio>Audio mode in order for your device to detect the capabilities of your connected receiver, and pass any available audio format through accordingly. If a channel does not provide surround sound audio, or a specific surround format, you will likely only receive stereo sound. For example, Netflix content offers Dolby Digital+ 5.1 content, and not standard Dolby Digital 5.1 format. If you were using a receiver that was not capable of Dolby Digital+ 5.1, you would only receive stereo audio from your device. 

Hope that helps clarify! 

Thanks,

Tanner