Solving playback issues

[Galactosaurus]

I use ROKU 3 which only has an HDMI out.

I bought a signal splitter with an optical TOSLINK which now connects to my Yamaha Receiver, HDMI goes straight to the TV.

My audio settings in the Roku is set to Dolby Digital, DTS (not set to DD+)

I get 5.1 from HBO max and Plex apps. All other apps (Netflix, Amazon, Disney+) only play in stereo. The apps don't have their own audio settings besides language. 

What could be the problem?

[StreamerUser · Accepted solution]

Most major streaming services now use DD+ (E-AC3) as their primary audio encoding.

Some channels (HBO Max/The Roku Channel) use DD (AC3) for some/all of their content, or as a secondary audio stream.

Your splitter is working as intended - however, it cannot transcode DD+ from HDMI to DD for optical output.

Roku devices only do Dolby passthrough (aside from the 4640 and 4800) - they dont decode Dolby (and cannot transcode DD+ to DD).

Since your Roku 3 cannot decode Dolby, it cannot transcode the DD+ to DD for output.

You'll need to acquire a 4800 (2020 Ultra) which has the necessary Dolby decoder and can transcode the DD+ to DD for your setup.

Otherwise, the 4640 (2016 Ultra) also transcodes DD+ to DD, and has an optical output, thus negating the need for the HDMI audio splitter.

As a final option, more recent year TV models also have Dolby decoding support, and can transcode DD+ from their HDMI inputs to DD for the optical output.  You'll have to check/test your TV for this functionality.

[Galactosaurus]

Thank you. I suspected something like that. Just odd that the Roku gives you DD as an output option in the audio settings. Be that as it may, I'll get one of those.

[StreamerUser]

The manual audio configuration settings on the passthrough-only models are very misleading (both their existence and usage), and they even removed them in early 9.4.0 builds, but because their E-EDID handshake/detection routines are flawed/buggy in some scenarios, they restored them in more recent builds (where they will no doubt mislead folks once again into thinking they are Dolby decoder conversion/transcoding configuration options).

[atc98092 · Accepted solution]

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@Galactosaurus wrote:

Thank you. I suspected something like that. Just odd that the Roku gives you DD as an output option in the audio settings. Be that as it may, I'll get one of those.

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There's only a couple of Roku players that can convert DD+ to DD. That's the Ultra 4640 and the new Ultra 4800. No other player can do that. They don't have the Dolby encoder hardware required to do it.