Solving playback issues

Find troubleshooting tips and resources for Roku playback speed issues, HDCP messages, power issues, and more. Join the community discussion for assistance.
cancel
Showing results for 
Show  only  | Search instead for 
Did you mean: 
BoyWonder
Newbie

Audio conversion to play Dolby DTS-HD Blu-ray movies on Roku Smart Soundbar

I have the Roku Smart Soundbar connected to my TV via HDMI ARC, and have a Blu-ray player connected to my TV. Most of the Blu-ray movie discs that I own have Dolby DTS-HD audio, and since the Roku Smart Soundbar does not support this audio format, I cannot use my soundbar for audio when watching Blu-ray movies. Has anyone found an audio conversion box that works in-line the HDMI ARC connection from the TV to the Roku Smart Soundbar that can supports external devices such as Blu-ray players and gaming consoles without disrupting the TV-soundbar operation?

Labels (1)
0 Kudos
1 REPLY 1
atc98092
Community Streaming Expert

Re: Audio conversion to play Dolby DTS-HD Blu-ray movies on Roku Smart Soundbar

The simplest method to make it work would be to use a media server product, such as Plex or Emby, or a DLNA server such as Serviio, rip your movies to the server and let the server transcode the audio into Dolby Digital. All three are available for free. Plex and Emby have dedicated channels for Roku devices, while DLNA servers use the Roku Media Player for access. The only downside (if you consider it as one) is that you need a device running the server software whenever you want to stream a video. For myself, that's no problem, as I leave my computers on 24/7 anyway. 

Of course, you are referring to directly playing the movie disc from the BD player. In that scenario there's no way to get the DTS-MA track to your soundbar. Your TV will not process the audio. About all you can do is to configure the BD player to send two channel audio to the TV. 

There's no way to extract the audio from the HDMI cable and preserve the DTS-HD track. At best it might convert the audio to 5.1 Dolby Digital, or maybe the lossy DTS core. At worst it converts the audio to analog stereo. For a bit of effort to set it up, you might find using a media server a far simpler way to go. Use MakeMKV to rip your discs to the computer hard drive, and then you can stream to all devices on your network. In most cases your Roku Streambar will pass the DTS core audio without transcoding, and if not the server can convert it to DD, so you still get 5.1 audio. Roku devices do support DTS audio over HDMI, but only from a MKV container. 

Dan

Roku Community Streaming Expert

Help others find this answer and click "Accept as Solution."
If you appreciate my answer, maybe give me a Kudo.

I am not a Roku employee, just another user.
0 Kudos