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aff13
Contributor I
November 4, 2018

Virgin V6 and Sonos Playbar - no surround sound

Hi everyone,

New member here in need of some help. I've spent the last week trawling through the forums here and on the Virgin website, but can't seem to find a solution for my issue. My suspicion is that the problem is with Virgin, but I am posting this here in the hope someone might have already been through the same.

My setup: I have a Virgin V6 box and a separate media player (NUC) both connected directly into my TV (Sony KD77A1) via HDMI cables, to HDMI input 3 (ARC) and HDMI input 1 respectively. The TV is connected to the Sonos Playbar via an optical Toslink digital audio cable, as part of the Sonos 5.1 home theater system.

My problem: I only get stereo sound out of the V6, irrespective of the channel (SD, HD, 4K, etc).

Further details: The V6 audio output option is set to Dolby Digital (but I have experimented with PCM as well, to no avail). The Sony TV definitely passes through Dolby Digital via the optical cable. Indeed, I get full 5.1 surround sound out of the other media player in this setup. I have tried swapping the HDMI inputs between the V6 and the other media player, to no avail. The HDMI and optical cables are brand new and high quality (and, again, the fact that the other media player outputs 5.1 surround suggests none of the other components in the system are at fault).

All roads lead me to believe the issue is with the audio output from the V6 box.

Any idea how to get 5.1 surround sound from the V6 to the Sonos playbar?

Many thanks in advance for your help!
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19 replies

John B
November 4, 2018
As a diagnostic exercise, take the optical out of the TV and run it direct from the V6 to the Playbar and see what you get (with V6 output set to DD5.1). Obviously, make sure source is DD5.1 too.
John B
November 4, 2018
Actually, to make the experiment more robust, please connect the V6 to your TV via HDMI to a non-ARC HDMI port.
aff13Author
Contributor I
November 4, 2018
Actually, to make the experiment more robust, please connect the V6 to your TV via HDMI to a non-ARC HDMI port.

Hi John B, many thanks for the prompt reply.

I've actually already tried different HDMI ports - as mentioned above, I swapped the ports for the V6 and my other media player (so the V6 went into the TV's HDMI input 1, which is non-ARC). The result was that I was still getting 5.1 surround from the other player, but still only getting stereo from the V6, even with the HDMI ports reversed.

As a diagnostic exercise, take the optical out of the TV and run it direct from the V6 to the Playbar and see what you get (with V6 output set to DD5.1). Obviously, make sure source is DD5.1 too.

Unfortunately I can't do this, as the V6 box is in the basement and I can't run an optical cable all the way to the upstairs TV. I'm transferring the signal via an HDAnywhere MHUB PRO (8X8) matrix, which "supports all audio formats, up to and including Dolby Atmos and DTS:X". And, again, it's clearly transferring the 5.1 surround from the other media player. It's only the V6 that is delivering stereo audio.

It's all rather puzzling and frustrating!
UKMedia
UKMedia
November 4, 2018
I've read recently that MHUB can only transmit one audio source format across multiple sources. Can you try testing with only the Virgin V6 connected?
Remember: Sometimes Red Wine helps :)
aff13Author
Contributor I
November 4, 2018
I've read recently that MHUB can only transmit one audio source format across multiple sources. Can you try testing with only the Virgin V6 connected?

Thanks for the suggestion - I just tried it, but it made no difference. Even if I have only the V6 connected to the MHUB and nothing else, what comes out on the other side is only stereo 😞
Ken_Griffiths
Ken_Griffiths
November 4, 2018
I have the VM V6 box too, first of all press the info button on the remote and scroll down on the left to the little speaker icon. It’s fourh down in the list. Here it will tell you what the audio output is on the channel/programme you are watching. Find a film etc with 5.1 DD surround sound OR better still goto Netflix on channel 204 and play a 5.1 DD movie.

Then open the Sonos App and goto the 'About my Sonos System' and check the PlayBar audio output.
aff13Author
Contributor I
November 4, 2018
I have the VM V6 box too, first of all press the info button on the remote and scroll down on the left to the little speaker icon. It’s fourh down in the list. Here it will tell you what the audio output is on the channel/programme you are watching. Find a film etc with 5.1 DD surround sound OR better still goto Netflix on channel 204 and play a 5.1 DD movie.

Then open the Sonos App and goto the 'About my Sonos System' and check the PlayBar audio output.

Hi Ken, many thanks for your suggestion. Actually, this was the first thing I did - indeed, that's how I identified the problem listed in my original post. In any case, I repeated the steps in your message again, just in case. Sure enough, the audio output on the channels and programmes was listed on the V6 as "Dolby English", but the Sonos app reports the Audio In to the Playbar as "Stereo". So the problem is indeed as I described it originally.

To recap:
1) programmes that are definitely broadcasting in 5.1 surround are reaching the Playbar only as stereo, this much has been tested and proven
2) there are three possible components in the chain that could be causing the audio downgrade: the TV, the MHUB, or the V6 itself
3) I think I have ruled out the first two, as they have been demonstrated to pass through 5.1 surround from my other media player

Therefore, going back full circle to my original post, the evidence leads me to believe there's an issue with the V6 audio output.

I wonder if anyone has managed to get 5.1 surround form the V6 to the Sonos Playbar (through the HDMI-optical combo going via a TV, not directly from the V6 via optical)?
Ken_Griffiths
Ken_Griffiths
November 4, 2018
Have you actually tried the Netflix channel (204) press red button and try playing a 5.1 movie like “the Hitmans Bodyguard” for example ... that definitely outputs 5.1 Dolby Digital Audio on my Sony TV... now I’m not using a PlayBar in my case, I’m just using a Sony Home Theatre System connected over HDMI-ARC, but definitely getting that type of surround output from my V6 Box and through the TV.

In my other room (Dining Room) I’m using a Beam that also gets DD 5.1 output from same film on Netflix, but (sadly) I’m not using a VM V6 box in that other room, the TV has its own built in Netflix App.

I’m still sure you therefore should be getting a 5.1 output from the V6 Box, so I personally suspect it’s your TV ... it’s probably not passing a 5.1 signal out from its HDMI connection over to the optical port... this can be the case with some older TV's... it just processes it as a Stereo output.
Ken_Griffiths
Ken_Griffiths
November 4, 2018
See also the attached screenshot I took a few moments ago from Netflix.com in regard to the VirginMedia V6 Box via this link ...
https://help.netflix.com/en/node/54872
aff13Author
Contributor I
November 4, 2018
Have you actually tried the Netflix channel (204) press red button and try playing a 5.1 movie like “the Hitmans Bodyguard” for example ... that definitely outputs 5.1 Dolby Digital Audio on my Sony TV... now I’m not using a PlayBar in my case, I’m just using a Sony Home Theatre System connected over HDMI-ARC, but definitely getting that type of surround output from my V6 Box and through the TV.

In my other room (Dining Room) I’m using a Beam that also gets DD 5.1 output from same film on Netflix, but (sadly) I’m not using a VM V6 box in that other room, the TV has its own built in Netflix App.

I’m still sure you therefore should be getting a 5.1 output from the V6 Box, so I personally suspect it’s your TV ... it’s probably not passing a 5.1 signal out from its HDMI connection over to the optical port... this can be the case with some older TV's... it just processes it as a Stereo output.

Hi again. Yes, I tried Netflix and no, it did not work - the output was still stereo. It's definitely NOT the TV, because as mentioned in the original post the TV IS passing through 5.1 surround to the Playbar via the optical cable from my other media player (not the V6). So both the TV and the optical cable obviously work. (Also, as mentioned, the TV is a Sony KD77A1, currently one of the most recent and highest spec Sony TVs available, and definitely passes 5.1 surround via optical, as tested and confirmed here https://www.rtings.com/tv/tests/inputs/5-1-surround-audio-passthrough).

The more I think about it, the more I'm convinced it's either a faulty V6, or the MHUB is failing to pass through 5.1 surround for some reason. There's simply nothing else that could be the problem.

I'll try swapping the two V6 boxes I have and digging deeper into the MHUB settings to see if that makes any difference.

Thanks for trying anyway; appreciate the effort.
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