Playbar + Dolby Digital

A

Setup:

TV: Samsung UN60H7150 -- Doesn’t support DD passthrough, and app support is old enough that I don’t use.

Sonos: Playbar, Sub, (2) :1 rears

Input: FireTV through an HDMI switch w/ an integral optical splitter. Also a PS4 connected to switch.

 

The FireTV actually has a version of Netflix that outputs Dolby Digital, not +. I’d like to upgrade to something less clunky than Fire TV, I frankly don’t like the Amazon interface, and lately the device seems to be restarting on its own multiple times a day. But it seems everything out there only supports Netflix in DD+. Is there anything else out there that can output DolbyDigital Netflix, without requiring either a new TV or an Arc??

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14 replies

G
Userlevel 7

Have you researched an Apple TV or Roku device?

"Receive with simplicity everything that happens to you." - Rashi
A

Not an apple guy, but my understanding was Netflix went DD+ on the Roku’s where the Optical port went away…. Am I wrong here?

G
Userlevel 7

The Roku Ultra model 4640X still has on optical port.

And I found this on Roku’s website:

“The Roku Ultra model 4640X provides an additional option to transcode Dolby Digital Plus to Dolby Digital. This allows you to connect your Roku Ultra to an AVR, soundbar, or TV that supports Dolby Digital, but not Dolby Digital Plus, and still hear the audio in surround sound.”
https://support.roku.com/article/208754498

"Receive with simplicity everything that happens to you." - Rashi
A

Yeah -- I was a Roku user a long while ago, and had picked up the Ultra when it first came out. Unfortunately, it would only output 4k to my non-4k TV, so the video was scrambled. Something went wrong with the handshake somewhere….

I sure wish we weren’t in this phase of technology where all our products are obsolete within a matter of years….. My TV still shows a picture quite well, my Sonos speakers still sound great. But it seems the sources have moved beyond, backward compatibility be damned.

G
Userlevel 7

I have a Roku Ultra 4660 connected to my 1080p Panasonic Plasma from 2013 and it works great.

"Receive with simplicity everything that happens to you." - Rashi
A

Of course all the newer ones available now are an updated model (4800) that has dropped the optical port. Looks like the Nvidia Shield may be an alternate solution here?

G
Userlevel 7

You could keep an eye out for a used Roku 4640X on eBay or Mercari.

I don’t believe the latest Nvidia Shield models have an optical port either.

"Receive with simplicity everything that happens to you." - Rashi
Corry P
Userlevel 7
Badge +18

I don’t believe the latest Nvidia Shield models have an optical port either.

I bought a nVidia Shield Pro a couple of months ago. It does not have an optical port, but it is a fantastic Android box - I’ve been through a few boxes and the Shield Pro leaves others running to their mummies, crying.

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein
A

Optical port isn’t the requirement, I have a HDMI switch that splits optical off -- But if the box only outputs DD+, the optical gets nothing. Does the Shield Pro output Plan DD? I’ll happily pick one up if that’s the case!

Corry P
Userlevel 7
Badge +18

I just looked on mine - the current Shield Pro supports outputting Dolby Digital (AC3), Dolby Digital + (E-AC3), Dolby Atmos, DTS, DTS-HD, Dolby TrueHD and stereo. I would assume that it only real-time re-encodes to DD though - which is exactly what you’d want when using optical (DTS works over optical too, but not with Sonos). You can tell it to automatically select output according to the audio device’s capabilities (for HDMI connections), or manually select which are suitable.

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein
A

On other devices I’ve tried with similar settings (eg. Newer Roku’s, New Google Chromecast), telling it you can only support DD, not DD+ will cause Netflix to downgrade to Stereo. Can you confirm that when only DD is enabled, does Netflix output DD or Stereo?

Corry P
Userlevel 7
Badge +18

I just tested it - I set output format to manual and Dolby Digital output only and played a movie from Netflix and got surround sound. I can't confirm independently what codec is being outputted, however. Also, I don’t have Sonos involved and I am using a HDMI connection. If the Shield is doing what it says it’s doing, then that shouldn’t make any difference, but I can’t promise. I used to watch movies on a PC connected to a TV, and on-the-fly audio transcoding was never an issue, so I assume the same here. I think nVidia really have gone out of their way to make the Shield better than anything similar.

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein
A

That’s awesome, thanks for taking the time to check for me! I’m going to pick one up and give it a shot, this sounds like it’ll do exactly what I want…. Fingers crossed!

Corry P
Userlevel 7
Badge +18

@aclark20 

That’s awesome, thanks for taking the time to check for me! I’m going to pick one up and give it a shot, this sounds like it’ll do exactly what I want…. Fingers crossed!

 

You’re very welcome! By the way, my Samsung surround amplifier only supports Dolby Digital and DTS, so it’s very likely that the Shield was transcoding audio.

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein
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