Roku Dolby Issue (1 Viewer)

[Mugsy]

My Comcast cable is connected to HDMI 1 and my TV picks up Dolby 5.1 and sends the audio to my AVR via tosklink cable from my TV...no problem. When I use the HBO Go app on my TV I can watch a movie and the Dolby 5.1 is sent to my AVR via toslink cable...no problem. However, my Roku which is connected to HDMI 3 on my TV... and when I watch a movie on HBO Go via the Roku HBO Go app, the audio coming from my TV to my AVR is only PCM and not Dolby. I configured the audio settings in my Roku to Dolby and Dolby Plus...but only PCM comes over. I ordered from Amazon a HDMI Audio Extractor which should arrive today...perhaps that will solve my problem? I am just curious why I can receive Dolby from my TV HBO Go app and can receive Dolby from my Comcast connection to HDMI 1 but I can't receive Dolby via my Roku which is connected to HDMI 3...only PCM comes over to my AVR. Please advise. Thank you.

 

[Phil A]

What receiver and what tare the settings on the receiver regarding those to inputs? Might be some useful info at places like: https://forums.roku.com/viewtopic.php?t=92817

 

[Mugsy]

I have a old JVC receiver that only has Dolby 5.1. My Samsung TV app can send Dolby to my receiver when I view an HBO GO movie in 5.1. However, when the Roku Premier is plugged into HDMI 3, only PCM is sent from my toslink digital optical cable to my receiver. I bought a audio stripper and connected it to my Roku...the HDMI cable goes from my Roku to the stripper and out of the stripper the HDMI cable is connected to my TV. The stripper is only sending PCM to my receiver. I configured the ROKU audio settings to Dolby 5.1 and Dolby Plus...but it makes no difference...the stripper is only sending PCM to my receiver. Ergo, I am returning the audio stripper. I have given up on this issue. I will watch HBO GO movies in Dolby 5.1 via my TV HBO GO app and not the Roku HBO GO app.

 

[Mark-P]

You need to hook the Roku directly to the AVR, and the HDMI out of the AVR in to the TV. AVRs are designed to be hubs, TVs aren't.

 

[Mugsy]

Thank you for your reply. It is not possible to hook up the Roku to my AVR via HDMI because my old JVC does not have HDMI ports. Roku, regretably, unlike the Apple TV 4th Generation, does not has a built in decoder for Dolby Digital Plus and Dolby Digital. That would be my solution until the market comes out with a Dolby Plus digital extractor. Meanwhile, I can use my TV's HBO GO app to watch a movie and receive Dolby 5.1. I am certainly not going to replace my receiver to resolve this issue. Once again, thank you for your reply.