Solving playback issues

[Zef_Jedi · Accepted solution]

I am using a Roku Express 3900RW that I bought from Walmart about 6 months ago.  App shows Software 9.2.0.4806.   My AVR is Onkyo TX-NR636.  

I verified that the AVR "Input" shows DD+ and the "Output" shows the same.    I do get sound out of my center channel as well.   

Before I turned off the "Volume leveling" in the Roku my AVR "Input" showed as PCM 2.1 going to all speakers (not sure about center one though).    Turning off the "Volume leveling" while playing a movie in Vudu instantly fixed my issue.

I hope this helps someone.  

[sgmfish]

Zef_Jedi,

Unfortunately, this doesn't "solve" the problem for many of us. Whatever is going on with the Roku not sending surround to one's AVR, the problem does NOT exist with at least 2 Roku channels: VUDU and The Roku Channel (see my testing description in a earlier post). It is with other services such as Netflix or Amazon that we can't get surround.

P.S. For folks like you that have a Roku model that has the volume leveling feature, turning that feature on apparently messes up surround on all channels. For folks like me (Roku3), volume leveling doesn't even exist as a feature.

[maons]

I have 3 Roku's    My oldest one is the model 3600x.  It currently has version 9.2 build 4804 Dated Dec 1st.

It does not work with the Dolby Digital 5.1 but yet it detects it.    

My other 2 Roku's are the Streaming Stick Plus.   Neither one of them work either and detects the same.  Model 3810X  Version 9.2  Build 3806 dated December 12.  I'm just saying that the older one isn't any different from the newer 2. 

[Zwack]

We had a power outage and everything got screwed up...

I came across this thread as I was only getting stereo.

Hopefully my tinkering will help someone else.  I am using a Sony Bravia TV, Roku Ultra and Sonos Beam (with Ikea Symfonisk Surrounds)...

I had to explicitly switch audio (HDMI) to Dolby Digital plus, DTS from Auto to get it working again.

[sgmfish]

PROBLEM SOLVED (well, more or less)

My problem getting 5.1 with Amazon, Netflix, etc was that these services provide 5.1 sound in Dolby Plus. I had the Roku audio setting for HDMI set to "Digital Dolby, DTS". I did not want to leave the setting at "Auto Detect" since, while testing, I was unsure what the Roku would do under that auto setting. Well, apparently using the setting I did stopped the Roku from passing-thru the "Dolby Plus" 5.1 sound that Amazon and Netflix use. I switched the Roku audio setting for HDMI to "Auto Detect", and I now get the Dolby Plus audio from Amazon and Netflix to play from my Roku.

I was further confused because the Roku would not play surround from Hulu, and it still doesn't. I now believe (but I haven't been able to confirm) that Roku does not support 5.1 on my model Roku (Roku3 4200). All the support material I have been able to find says that Roku does support 5.1 as of December 2019, but the announcement adds the disclaimer "on selected models". So I guess my 4200 is not one of those selected models

This was a classic situation of 2 different problems confusing the symptoms which therefore confused the user (me.....embarrassing ;-).

[Sleepstupid]

Thanks so much for posting this. I've been having this same issue and seeing your post reminded me that I switched on Volume Leveling a few nights ago. I went in to The Dark Knight in the Roku channel, switched the Volume Leveling off and it switched right into 5.1 from stereo. However, it seems this only worked for the Roku Channel. Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, etc. all still don't work for me (only getting Stereo). I just got this Roku Ultra (4670x) so I can't say if it worked prior to 9.2.

Edit: Thought I was replying directly to @Zef_Jedi 😄

[vodil]

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@Sleepstupid wrote:

Thanks so much for posting this. I've been having this same issue and seeing your post reminded me that I switched on Volume Leveling a few nights ago. I went in to The Dark Knight in the Roku channel, switched the Volume Leveling off and it switched right into 5.1 from stereo. However, it seems this only worked for the Roku Channel. Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, etc. all still don't work for me (only getting Stereo). I just got this Roku Ultra (4670x) so I can't say if it worked prior to 9.2.

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Make sure you have audio set to "auto" in general settings of the ROKU

[Anomaly]

Zef_jedi, thank you! Your solution worked for me. I have a premier plus and this was driving me nuts! Turning leveling off in Netflix fixed all the other streaming services' surround issues as well. Still sounds like a bug with Roku's software. 

[Sleepstupid]

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@vodil wrote:

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@Sleepstupid wrote:

Thanks so much for posting this. I've been having this same issue and seeing your post reminded me that I switched on Volume Leveling a few nights ago. I went in to The Dark Knight in the Roku channel, switched the Volume Leveling off and it switched right into 5.1 from stereo. However, it seems this only worked for the Roku Channel. Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, etc. all still don't work for me (only getting Stereo). I just got this Roku Ultra (4670x) so I can't say if it worked prior to 9.2.

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Make sure you have audio set to "auto" in general settings of the ROKU

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That was the missing piece for me, Thanks! All my apps are working correctly now.

[RokuTannerD · Accepted solution]

@sgmfish Thanks for sharing. 

Your model of Roku device does support Dolby/DTS passthrough, however, the Hulu channel on Roku does not currently broadly offer multi-channel surround sound audio formats. This is why you may not get surround sound with Hulu. You can follow up with Hulu support directly for more information regarding supported content audio/video formats for your specific device. 

The 'Volume modes' feature that we offer also does not apply to multi-channel surround sound formats, and would cause your device only to play stereo audio. You'd need to disable this feature by pressing the * key during playback of content inside a channel, locating 'Volume mode' and turning this to 'off'.

Auto-detect is usually the best option for most folks, as different channels provide different audio formats. Some channels, like Netflix and Amazon Prime, use the Dolby Digital+ format for their surround sound audio. Others may use standard Dolby Digital 5.1, etc. or only offer 2 channel stereo audio. You'll always want to check the content details page inside any particular channel to see what audio formats are offered for each content title. You can also confer with any specific channel provider directly to inquire further regarding their content format offerings on the Roku platform. 

Thanks,

Tanner