I am using HD Homerun. Can't get 5.1 sound to play consistently. It will work on some recordings, sometimes. The receive shows that it's getting a 5.1 signal, and playing 5.1, but I'm only hearing steror.
These are all OTA recordings. I'm also checking with a Tivo Roamio to make sure these recordings do have 5.1, and play through all 5 speakers when playing from Tivo.
Any advice on what I can try?
You can check the tvOS settings to change to Dolby for audio.
In channels app you can try changing Settings > Playback > Advanced > Audio Driver
There is also a surround sound test under Settings > Support
Hello, I did the surround test, works fine.
I think it may be an Apple Tv issue, or with my HDMI cable - I have a very cheap one, and have ordered a better one.
Right now, if I restart the ap, I'll get 5.1 on a channel. If I change channels, maybe 5.1, maybe not. If i then go back to the first channel, no 5.1.
I also don't have any 5.1 on the HD Homerun ap on apple TV. But when using the HD Homerun ap on my roku, I get 5.1 when expected, and stereo when expected. So thinking it's something with Apple Tv.
Anyone else using an HD Homerun and running into this issue?
Update - it's definitely the cable. I swapped it temporarily with another high quality HDMI cable, and 5.1 works just fine. Also works on the HD Homerun ap.
Years ago people always said you don't need the fancy cables. May have been true when talking about component cables, but not HDMI!
Yep I learned this recently due to an issue where I couldn’t get hdr to work. Needed a better hdmi cable!
Interesting. Can you share a link to an HDMI cable the works best? What specs define "better" in this case?
Not sure what the specs are of my cable that doesn't work (it was a cheap Best Buy brand cable), but the one that does is 2.2 compliant and can handle up to 18GBS.
Speed rating. As @Fofer mentioned, the latest HDMI specifications call for much higher data rates to support the latest technologies. I’d say you’ll be set for pretty much anything with a version 2.1 compliant cable. Wikipedia article with lots of detail:
Update again - may have spoken too soon.
I got a new cable today. I think this may be an issue with PIP. When I start playing a recoding (or watching live tv) that has 5.1, it plays fine. If I hit "Guide" or "back", PIP window pops up. When I switch to another channel or recording in 5.1, the 5.1 sound is gone.
Turning of PIP solves the problem - 5.1 appears on the next show or channel I select.
This is with the Apple Tv hooked up directly to my receiver. I've tried different inputs and it doesn't make a difference.
The other night, when I got it to work properly, I had hooked the apple tv directly to my tv, and passed the audio back to the receive via ARC. This worked fine and 5.1 came on the next show, even when using PIP.
Any idea what's going on here?