Solving playback issues

[dwhitejazz]

Has anyone been able to create 5.1 DTS or Dolby Digital surround sound flac or wav files and have them decode properly through a Roku?

Programs streamed through Roku are fine in 5.1 surround. My Roku is setup correctly and so is my receiver. Connected directly through HDMI.

My 5.1 flac/wav files do play, and speakers do have different audio content but it's not right. Incorrect channel assignment or missing assignments.

Not sure how to check if the files are the issue. Used DVD Audio Extractor to create the 6 channel files.

Thanks...

[dwhitejazz]

My 5.1 flac files play correctly when accessed through my Sony blu-ray player. 

[StreamerUser]

https://support.roku.com/article/208754908

Supported media file types

Different Roku devices support different formats. Newer firmware may support additional formats. The type of audio formats supported is dependent on the type of TV or A/V receiver your Roku device is connected to. Formats supported by your Roku device can be viewed by accessing the ?/Help pages from the Media Device and the Media Type selection screens.

The following file formats are supported:

• Video – H.264/AVC (.MKV, .MP4, .MOV)
• Audio – AAC (.MKV, .MP4, .MOV); MP3(.MP3, .MKV); WMA (.ASF, .WMA, .MKV), FLAC (.FLAC, .MKV), PCM (.WAV, .MKV, .MP4, .MOV), AC3/EAC3 (.MKV,.MP4. .MOV, .AC3), DTS (.MKV, .MP4, .MOV,.DTS), ALAC (.MKV, .MP4, .MOV, .M4A), Vorbis (.OGG,.MKV,.WEBM)
• Playlists –.M3U, .M3U8, .PLS
• Image – JPG, PNG, GIF (non-animated)

The following media formats are supported on Roku devices that support 4K

• 4K Video – H.265/HEVC (.MKV, .MP4, .MOV); VP9 (.MKV, .WEBM)
• 4K Video – H.264 (Roku Premiere, Premiere+, and Ultra only)

The following media formats are supported on Roku TVs and some Roku players

• Video – H.262 (.MKV)

Notes:

• The Roku Media Player channel will not display unsupported file types or files it has determined cannot be played by your Roku device.
• DRM-protected content is not supported.

[dwhitejazz]

This is the FAQ response. 

flac files are "supported" in that they will play as 2.0 channel PCM. flac files that are 5.1 will not play in surround sound. They are transcoded by my Roku 3 model. 

I was able to play the flac files in DTS surround by bypassing the Roku and using my Sony blu-ray player instead.

Therefore, the issue is not with the files or the receiver. 

It seems Roku 3 does not support 5.1 flac files for DTS or Dolby Digital surround sound decoding.

Does Roku Ultra have the same problem?

[atc98092]

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@dwhitejazz wrote:

It seems Roku 3 does not support 5.1 flac files for DTS or Dolby Digital surround sound decoding.

Does Roku Ultra have the same problem?

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The answer is "maybe". Of the various versions of the Ultra (I really wish Roku would stop reusing the same model name), only two have Dolby Digital encoders, the 4640 and 4800. Because of that encoder, it's possible that those players might handle 5.1 FLAC differently. However, I have no such media on my server to test the theory. 

[StreamerUser]

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@dwhitejazz wrote:

This is the FAQ response. 

flac files are "supported" in that they will play as 2.0 channel PCM. flac files that are 5.1 will not play in surround sound. They are transcoded by my Roku 3 model. 

I was able to play the flac files in DTS surround by bypassing the Roku and using my Sony blu-ray player instead.

Therefore, the issue is not with the files or the receiver. 

It seems Roku 3 does not support 5.1 flac files for DTS or Dolby Digital surround sound decoding.

Does Roku Ultra have the same problem?

---

If you read the support article (and the part I pasted), then you read this part:

Audio – AAC (.MKV, .MP4, .MOV); MP3(.MP3, .MKV); WMA (.ASF, .WMA, .MKV), FLAC (.FLAC, .MKV), PCM (.WAV, .MKV, .MP4, .MOV), AC3/EAC3 (.MKV,.MP4. .MOV, .AC3), DTS (.MKV, .MP4, .MOV,.DTS), ALAC (.MKV, .MP4, .MOV, .M4A), Vorbis (.OGG,.MKV,.WEBM)

Notice it clearly indicates AC3/EAC3 and DTS are only supported in MKV, MP4, MOV (and AC3 and DTS respectively).

They arent supported in other formats at all (in any channel configuration).

Roku's only support 5.1 output for Dolby, DTS and AAC (w/Dolby decoder output as DD5.1, though there is a bug currently).

Roku's dont support Multichannel PCM output (aside from MAT 2.0/Atmos with the 4800).

It's all there in the support article.

[atc98092]

I wish Roku would update that support page, as there's one additional supported container. The TS/M2TS container is also supported, and can contain multi-channel AC3 and DTS audio. 

[StreamerUser]

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@atc98092 wrote:

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@dwhitejazz wrote:

It seems Roku 3 does not support 5.1 flac files for DTS or Dolby Digital surround sound decoding.

Does Roku Ultra have the same problem?

---

The answer is "maybe". Of the various versions of the Ultra (I really wish Roku would stop reusing the same model name), only two have Dolby Digital encoders, the 4640 and 4800. Because of that encoder, it's possible that those players might handle 5.1 FLAC differently. However, I have no such media on my server to test the theory. 

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They may handle it differently in terms of output, depending on Audio configuration, but thats true for all incoming audio streams (e.g. For the 4800 all audio (aside from DTS) is transcoded/converted to the highest detected Dolby level of the connected device in "Auto detect" mode).

Regardless, AC3/EAC3/DTS are not supported in FLAC, so their "incorrect channel mapping" etc isnt going to be fixed/addressed (unless Roku changes their official position or a fix incidentally happens).

[StreamerUser]

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@atc98092 wrote:

I wish Roku would update that support page, as there's one additional supported container. The TS/M2TS container is also supported, and can contain multi-channel AC3 and DTS audio. 

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Its definitely in need of an update (its several years old)

[Carbo3D]

I don’t know WHY it is so difficult for this Roku device to simply play multi-track AUDIO files in true surround sound 5.1 via the Roku Media app. Instead it puts out just the blaring white-noise encoded DTS/ac3 as PCM files. It’s 2021 and no true audio bitstream pass-through? And playing FLAC audio files is a choppy experience at best; another fail. I thought I would give Roku another try considering this is a BRAND NEW 2021 Express 4K+ model that touts it has audio pass-through. This gadget has SO much potential with native OTG NTFS drive recognition, great Apple screen mirroring…c’mon, coders, this ain’t rocket science. Back it goes!