Question 5.1 Audio problems with Optical Cable from Sony XH900

jego

Novice Member
Joined
Dec 4, 2020
Messages
4
Reaction score
1
Points
1
Age
37
Location
Europe
My setup is a XH900 and a Harman Kardon AVR 130.
The AVR130 has Optical and Coaxial In (No HDMI ARC). The Sony only Optical out.

Through the help of this forum, I figured out that for some reason AndroidTV with Sony TVs will not output 5.1 Audio to an receiver when using an Optical Cable on most apps. (I failed to find the Thread again)
Only apps that work for me are the preinstalled MediaPlayer, Netflix and I think Amazon Prime.
Not working are Jellyfin, JellyfinVLC, VLC, Kodi, MX Player plus some others that I have tried.

So my preferred procedure to watch stuff would be to browse it all through Jellyfin and have it launch in VLC Player.
However in order to get 5.1 Audio, what I have to do now is access Jellyfin through my Phone or PC and then Cast it to the TV. This will playback with the default Mediaplayer and have 5.1 Audio work. (The receiver immediatly shows that all speakers are being used.)

All of this would not be so bad, if it wasn't for the lack of settings of the Mediaplayer.
In VLC I can increase the Streaming Cache which seems to help (I am on WIFI) because it never buffers or gets stuck on any files, whereas the Mediaplayer sometimes gets stuck on playback.

My question now is what would be the best way avoid all the troubles.
Obviously getting a new Receiver would be the easiest, however I don't want to spent that money right now.
Could I get a converter box from HDMI ARC to Optical Cable to "fix" this?
Has anyone tried that method to avoid the weird issue?

And yes, I have enabled passthrough in VLC. I ran Kodi with Passthrough and 5.1 Audio settings, it all does not work. My TV is also set up correctly, because as said Netflix and the default mediaplayer have no problem outputting 5.1 to the receiver.

Any tips or tricks would be welcome
Thanks
 
My setup is a XH900 and a Harman Kardon AVR 130.
The AVR130 has Optical and Coaxial In (No HDMI ARC). The Sony only Optical out.

Through the help of this forum, I figured out that for some reason AndroidTV with Sony TVs will not output 5.1 Audio to an receiver when using an Optical Cable on most apps. (I failed to find the Thread again)
Only apps that work for me are the preinstalled MediaPlayer, Netflix and I think Amazon Prime.
Not working are Jellyfin, JellyfinVLC, VLC, Kodi, MX Player plus some others that I have tried.

So my preferred procedure to watch stuff would be to browse it all through Jellyfin and have it launch in VLC Player.
However in order to get 5.1 Audio, what I have to do now is access Jellyfin through my Phone or PC and then Cast it to the TV. This will playback with the default Mediaplayer and have 5.1 Audio work. (The receiver immediatly shows that all speakers are being used.)

All of this would not be so bad, if it wasn't for the lack of settings of the Mediaplayer.
In VLC I can increase the Streaming Cache which seems to help (I am on WIFI) because it never buffers or gets stuck on any files, whereas the Mediaplayer sometimes gets stuck on playback.

My question now is what would be the best way avoid all the troubles.
Obviously getting a new Receiver would be the easiest, however I don't want to spent that money right now.
Could I get a converter box from HDMI ARC to Optical Cable to "fix" this?
Has anyone tried that method to avoid the weird issue?

And yes, I have enabled passthrough in VLC. I ran Kodi with Passthrough and 5.1 Audio settings, it all does not work. My TV is also set up correctly, because as said Netflix and the default mediaplayer have no problem outputting 5.1 to the receiver.

Any tips or tricks would be welcome
Thanks
You are right - getting a new AV receiver would be the best option. The reason for not playing 5.1 sound is probably that most apps now output 5.1 in Dolby Digital Plus, which cannot be transferred through optical cable (limited to DD only).
 
My setup is a XH900 and a Harman Kardon AVR 130.
The AVR130 has Optical and Coaxial In (No HDMI ARC). The Sony only Optical out.

Through the help of this forum, I figured out that for some reason AndroidTV with Sony TVs will not output 5.1 Audio to an receiver when using an Optical Cable on most apps. (I failed to find the Thread again)
Only apps that work for me are the preinstalled MediaPlayer, Netflix and I think Amazon Prime.
Not working are Jellyfin, JellyfinVLC, VLC, Kodi, MX Player plus some others that I have tried.

So my preferred procedure to watch stuff would be to browse it all through Jellyfin and have it launch in VLC Player.
However in order to get 5.1 Audio, what I have to do now is access Jellyfin through my Phone or PC and then Cast it to the TV. This will playback with the default Mediaplayer and have 5.1 Audio work. (The receiver immediatly shows that all speakers are being used.)

All of this would not be so bad, if it wasn't for the lack of settings of the Mediaplayer.
In VLC I can increase the Streaming Cache which seems to help (I am on WIFI) because it never buffers or gets stuck on any files, whereas the Mediaplayer sometimes gets stuck on playback.

My question now is what would be the best way avoid all the troubles.
Obviously getting a new Receiver would be the easiest, however I don't want to spent that money right now.
Could I get a converter box from HDMI ARC to Optical Cable to "fix" this?
Has anyone tried that method to avoid the weird issue?

And yes, I have enabled passthrough in VLC. I ran Kodi with Passthrough and 5.1 Audio settings, it all does not work. My TV is also set up correctly, because as said Netflix and the default mediaplayer have no problem outputting 5.1 to the receiver.

Any tips or tricks would be welcome
Thanks
Have you tried changing the Dolby Digital Plus output option in the advanced sound settings of the tv from the default of DD+ to just regular DD?
 
Have you tried changing the Dolby Digital Plus output option in the advanced sound settings of the tv from the default of DD+ to just regular DD?
Yes.
It even says to use Dolby Digital if you use an Optical Connection.
 
Yes.
It even says to use Dolby Digital if you use an Optical Connection.
Hmmmm.

Do you have an external device you could use for apps which could go to a HDMI in port on your AVR and pass video through to TV?
 
Hmmmm.

Do you have an external device you could use for apps which could go to a HDMI in port on your AVR and pass video through to TV?
I am not sure I understand what you mean.
You mean any sort of playback device?
If you mean that, no I dont have any playback device besides a PC.
 
Just if anyone has the same issue, I figured out a way to make Kodi play the Sterio 5.1 files.
If you go to System - Audio and have it at Expert mode to show all settings and then select to always use the amount of channels selected.
 

The latest video from AVForums

Is 4K Blu-ray Worth It?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom