Solving playback issues

[rtillery]

My Ultra has an issue I think started with the last update. I only get 2.0 instead of 5.1. More oddly, if I do a factory reset, this problem goes away & I get 5.1 again. But after a day, even though I have changed nothing, it reverts to 2.0 again. I've factory reset 3 times & restored surround, only to have it revert to stereo again. Again, no changes on any device. I've restarted the Ultra & removed & restored power, but that didn't work. I've only been able to get the factory reset to restore 5.1.

For reference, this is an Ultra 4660X. It is attached directly to a Samsung TV via HDMI. The eARC HDMI goes from the TV to the ARC on the Sony AVR. I am using the Official Dolby 5.1 Speaker Test Demo on YouTube as reference. It works just after the factory reset, but fails in a day or so.

To emphasize, no changes were made after the factory reset to the TV or AVR. The only changes to the Roku was moving around the tiles & logging back into services.

As you can imagine, I've tried everything I could find online, ultimately leading to the factory reset. While this fixed the issue, the fix doesn't hold. 

Rick

[RokuEmmanuel-D]

Thanks for sharing this here in the Roku Community, @rtillery!

We understand that this issue is inconvenient for you since you wanted to stream with a surround sound setup. However, the sound keeps reverting to stereo, and we'd like to be able to assist. 

If you are only hearing stereo audio when using the surround sound settings, here's a quick fix you might try:

• Press Home  on your Roku remote, scroll down to Settings and select Audio > Digital output format. Instead of “Auto”, select “Custom” and choose the selection that matches the capabilities of your TV, AVR or soundbar.
• Some channels may also require you to change the audio setting within the channel. For example, Netflix may require you to select “English (5.1)” under “Audio and Subtitles”.
• If you are using volume modes, movies and TV shows you stream with a surround sound format such as Dolby Digital, DTS, Dolby Digital Plus, and Dolby ATMOS may be converted to stereo. If your Roku device is connected to an AVR or soundbar, you may need to set volume modes to ‘Off’ to hear the surround sound format.

For more information, here's a support article that can help you set up your Roku® streaming player for surround sound.

Let me know if that helps or if the issue persists, and we can explore more troubleshooting options.

Best of luck,
Emman

[Hoffmaka]

I am seeing the exact same thing

[Hoffmaka]

Per suggestion. I reverted the sound leveler on and issue came back after my factory reset. I turned it off and restored Dolby.  Thank you. Issue has been identified and fixed.  

[RokuEmmanuel-D]

Thanks for keeping us posted, @Hoffmaka!

We're so glad we figured it out and everything is back up and running! Please let us know if there is anything else I can do to assist you further,

Thank you for your ongoing support of the Roku Community!

Happy Streaming!💜

Cheers,
Emman

[rtillery]

Yes, I've tried all of these settings & every other thing I could try when this 1st happened. Factory reset was a last resort.

Just to be sure, I've tried again, with these Audio settings as you suggested:

• Preferred: Dolby, Output: Dolby Digital
• Preferred: DTS, Output: DTS On

Same results.

Please consider that the settings that work are the defaults of Auto. When the factory reset is done, 5.1 works. These settings were not changed between when they worked & when they didn't. Let's focus on what could trigger a difference. But more importantly, what could trigger a change that cannot be corrected short of a factory reset.

I power cycled the other devices (TV & AVR) after things were working, & that didn't break it. I manually restarted the Ultra. Still worked. I unplugged & cycled power on the Ultra. Still worked.

So, the questions now are:

Is there is a low power mode that could trigger a failed/fallback renegotiation that cannot be reversed?

Can an individual app (Netflix, Amazon Video, Roku, etc.) trigger a change in mode that survives after the app exits & can't be reversed?

Is they any other event that could cause an irreversible change in the output format?

Rick

[StreamerUser]

@rtillery 

You need to verify that you have Volume Modes disabled (these disable multichannel audio).

These are often enabled by default for many firmware versions/builds, so a Factory Reset may re-enable them if you previously disabled them.  To make matters worse these audio settings are "hidden" and only available during playback.

To disable Volume Modes for your 4660:

1) During playback (of any video) press remote Options (*)/Volume mode = Off

Otherwise your audio-related settings should be configured as follows:

1) Settings/Audio/Audio mode = Auto

2) Settings/Audio/Preferred Streaming format = Auto

3) Settings/Audio/Digital output format = Auto

Note:  If your connected device only supports DD/AC3 (and not DD+/EAC3), you will be limited to stereo audio in many apps/services that ONLY use DD+ (e.g. NetFlix, Prime, Disney+, Max, Peacock).

You can check for DD+ support if you HIGHLIGHT Settings/Audio/Digital output format = Auto - you should see DD+/Dolby Digital+/Dolby Atmos listed as Available for full 5.1 support in all apps/services.