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kiur
Contributor I
March 27, 2021

No Dolby Digital 5.1 with Netflix through Chromecast

  • March 27, 2021
  • 41 replies
  • 7989 views

This is some sort of post-topic to this: 

 

I got myself a splitter as suggested in the above topic and have a partial success as I’m getting 5.1 sound on the optical output of the splitter for my cable box. However I’m not getting 5.1 when I plug in my Chromecast and cast Nextflix on it. Per this: https://help.netflix.com/en/node/23924 for proper 5.1 sound from Netflix I should be getting 5.1 from Chromecast which is not happening, at least when I use it with the splitter. Do you guys think this is a Chromecast issue, Netflix issue, splitter issue or a combination of those? Any ideas appreciated, thanks!

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41 replies

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kiurAuthor
Contributor I
March 28, 2021

I really like Beam and would not like to return it (still can), It plays music great, I love the way it intergrates with streaming services like Spotify or plays internet radio stations. But if I’m not able to get surround sound from Netflix I’d have to consider this. Would love to replace it with Arc but this is a very costly option. So I’m looking for something that would work with it like sticks. Do you think Amazon Fire TV Lite would work for me?

https://www.amazon.com/fire-tv-stick-lite/dp/B07YNLBS7R/

Do you think it’s able to transcode DD+ to DD 5.1?

Ken_Griffiths
Ken_Griffiths
March 28, 2021

I really like Beam and would not like to return it (still can), It plays music great, I love the way it intergrates with streaming services like Spotify or plays internet radio stations. But if I’m not able to get surround sound from Netflix I’d have to consider this. Would love to replace it with Arc but this is a very costly option. So I’m looking for something that would work with it like sticks. Do you think Amazon Fire TV Lite would work for me?

https://www.amazon.com/fire-tv-stick-lite/dp/B07YNLBS7R/

Do you think it’s able to transcode DD+ to DD 5.1?

I think it would work.

kiurAuthor
Contributor I
March 30, 2021

Unfortunately… it doesn’t :( I plugged my brand new Fire TV Lite to one on the HDMI ports on the switch and connected the digital output to the Beam played a 5.1 movie and… still getting stereo only. And yes - I did set Passthrough Dolby Digital in the Fire TV  audio surround options

 

I think I give up on Sonos Beam, this is a complete letdown for me...

Ken_Griffiths
Ken_Griffiths
March 30, 2021

So on the fire-stick if you goto "settings/display & sound/audio/surround sound” have you chosen ‘Always Dolby digital’ - or ‘Dolby Digital over HDMI’ or do you have it set to something else?

kiurAuthor
Contributor I
March 30, 2021

The available sound options on the stick are: BestAvailable, PCM, Passthrough Dolby Digital and Passthrough Dolby Digital Plus. All the options but the last one result in Stereo sound, the last one results in no sound (which is probably expected)

Ken_Griffiths
Ken_Griffiths
March 30, 2021

Just leave that as ‘DD & Passthrough’ that should work okay.

What are the settings that you have on the extractor/splitter? Is is Arc switched ‘off’ and ‘5.1 output’ through its optical port?

kiurAuthor
Contributor I
March 30, 2021

Yes, Arc is off and ‘5.1 output’ is on on the splitter. What’s more, in one HDMI input I have the Fire Tv, in the other I have my cable box connected - for the former I’m getting PCM stereo, for the latter: 5.1. 

Ken_Griffiths
Ken_Griffiths
March 30, 2021

Yes, Arc is off and ‘5.1 output’ is on on the splitter. What’s more, in one HDMI input I have the Fire Tv, in the other I have my cable box connected - for the former I’m getting PCM stereo, for the latter: 5.1. 

I’m afraid that doesn’t make sense to me, as both devices should work … perhaps try this...
 

Power off all devices (not standby) and just uncable the HDMI lead from the TV then power on the devices in this order:

  • Beam
  • Switch/Extractor
  • Cable TV
  • Fire TV

let those devices settle, then plug in the HDMI cable to the TV and power it on last of all.
Play a 5.1 audio movie from both your fire-stick and your cable TV before playing any stereo audio to see if it then sets up the devices correctly. If no joy then speak with the switch/extractor support desk to see if they can suggest anything further that may assist to get all the inputs working with surround audio.

kiurAuthor
Contributor I
March 30, 2021

I know it does not much sense to me either. Perhaps the only reasonable explanation is Fire TV is not doing the good job passing through DD?

Anyway, I followed the procedure exactly and no joy. I also tried various HDMI inputs on the switch - no change: 5.1 sound from the cable box, PCM stereo from Fire TV. Apart from Nextflix I also played some 5.1 test clips in YouTube - same thing

What’s interesting is when I choose DD+ Passthrough option I’m not getting any sound (obviously)  but the movie page on Netflix shows 5.1 logo. When I choose DD Passthrough the logo does not show

Ken_Griffiths
Ken_Griffiths
March 30, 2021

I’m not sure @kiur🤔 I honestly expected the FireTV to just work when set to Dolby Digital.

Does the cable TV work in any of the switches HDMI ports by the way?

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