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Mike DiSalvio
Contributor I
June 7, 2018
Answered

Surround sound not working with TV or Cable Box

  • June 7, 2018
  • 6 replies
  • 3839 views
I have a Toshiba model 55UL605U TV and Cisco Explorer 8642HDC cable box. I have a Playbase and 2 Play:1's. I have tried connecting the IR Audio to the TV and then to the cable box and the surround sound does not work with either option. It works fine when playing music. The TV has Dolby Digital Plus and the cable box settings for audio say Digital. Any ideas on why the setup is not working?
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Best answer by Airgetlam
Another thing to be aware of is that on most TVs, the source that you're playing at the time that you look at those options needs to be in 5.1 for the option to be available (not greyed out). So I'd recommend a movie channel with a newer movie that claims to be in Dolby Digital when messing around with it.

That being said, yes, I think you're on the right track 🙂

6 replies

UKMedia
UKMedia
June 8, 2018
Hi Mike

If you open the Sonos App>Settings>Room Settings and select your Playbase and then the Surrounds tab. Can you make sure that Surrounds are Turned On :)

Normally this is because the source is outputting a stereo rather than a 5.1 signal. I suggest that you view a channel that you are 100% positive is outputting a 5.1 signal and then test each of the Audio options from the source device.

Have you tried the digital Audio Selector function - Page 47:

https://support.toshiba.com/support/staticContentDetail?contentId=2823595&isFromTOCLink=false
Remember: Sometimes Red Wine helps :)
    Mike DiSalvioAuthor
    Contributor I
    June 24, 2018
    Thank you and I very much appreciate your reply. I reconnected the surrounds and looked at the manual, went into the TV menu but the menu option for Digital Audio Selector is grayed even though everything else is set up as digital. I wonder if I need a different optical cable even though I am using the one that came with the Sonos PlayBase:

    The TV’s DIGITAL AUDIO OUT terminal outputs a
    *Dolby® Digital or 2-channel down-mixed PCM
    (pulse-code modulation) signal for use with an
    external Dolby® Digital decoder or other external
    audio system with optical audio input.
    You will need:
    • Optical audio cable (Use an optical audio cable
    that has the larger “TosLink” connector and not
    the smaller “mini-optical” connector.    )

    The cables that I see on Amazon do have a thicker looking cable.
    Airgetlam
    AirgetlamAnswer
    June 24, 2018
    Another thing to be aware of is that on most TVs, the source that you're playing at the time that you look at those options needs to be in 5.1 for the option to be available (not greyed out). So I'd recommend a movie channel with a newer movie that claims to be in Dolby Digital when messing around with it.

    That being said, yes, I think you're on the right track 🙂
    Bruce
      Mike DiSalvioAuthor
      Contributor I
      June 24, 2018
      Yes, you are correct. Unfortunately it does not seem that anything comes through cable in 5.1 :)

      I ended up on Netflix, picked a 5.1 show and voila, the surround speakers worked fine.

      Thank you for your reply.

      Mike.
      Airgetlam
      Airgetlam
      June 25, 2018
      Glad you were able to find something that worked. 🙂
      Bruce
      Airgetlam
      Airgetlam
      June 25, 2018
      By the way, you might look for audio settings on the cable box. Assuming you're connecting to it with HDMI, it probably has some settings.

      Of course, that depends on your local area. I've just moved to Austin, TX, and the local news seems to only be in stereo, not DD.
      Bruce
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