Roku sound - Audio Dialogue low on some media

[vaise 307]

On some media in emny on our roku the dialogue is low and the action is high.

Note - not all, so must be the audio encoding level or audio type, or transcoding or not.

Roku is connected to a multi channel yamaha amp.  I have Adaptive DRC turned on in the amp which was one area some said online.

I can turn up the volume, but then the action stuff is too loud.

I have increased the centre channel a bit, and decreased the left/right which helps a bit.

 

The reason I am posting it here is that this issue can be fixed in the BNN roku app with a few settings tweaks and this is what I do below.  I would like the same in the 'normal' roku beta app if possible.

 

When the wife says 'I cant hear the voices very much", we exit Roku beta, and go into BNN (we have only used this for emergencies since moving to the Roku Beta a long time back).  BNN has the following set on it - I don't know which helps but I messed around with it a while ago to 'fix' this dialog issue :

 

Enable HD Audio Test - Yes

Force Surround - Yes

 

Maybe speechless can say what these are doing under the covers but whatever it is, it is making a difference to the voices volume/clarity.

 

 

   

[speechles 1928]

Enable HD Audio Test - this just allows 7.1 channel audio to work if and when it will on any roku model. Both trueHD and DTS are allowed in 7.1 (8 channel) with this enabled. This having any effect is a red herring and should actually break HD audio from producing sound. If you disable HD audio test this will allow 7.1 to transcode.

 

Force Surround - this will tell the app to always use AC3./dolby when transcoding. This will not automatically force transcoding if the codec is something other than AC3 and the item can be direct played, but the user can use "force transcode" to do a full remux, then the AAC (or whatever audio codec it was) will become AC3 since a remux is in effect a transcode and the audio will be forced to become AC3.

 

So the net effect is, in the official app likely the audio is being direct streamed in AAC and the video transcoded for whatever reason. This means the AAC audio won't be getting that "audio boost" (which is default to 2 in emby) normally done when transcoding the audio stream.

 

Using force surround will not always force transcoded audio. It will transcode any audio not in AC3  to become AC3, but only if it has a reason to transcode. Forcing surround is not a reason in and of itself to force an audio transcode. So if the item can be direct played it will be regardless of your force surround setting, just be aware. If you want to always have AC3 audio make sure to always use "Force Transcode" as your play method.

Edited June 30, 2018 by speechles

[vaise 307]

Thanks for the info speechless.

I will turn off that enable hd test then on bnn.

i must say.... i was just pressing all your options until the wife said 'that's better', then left it at that.

I would re-encode but its only the wife that complains and she never re-watches anything so little point re-encoding.

[speechles 1928]

Thanks for the info speechless.

I will turn off that enable hd test then on bnn.

i must say.... i was just pressing all your options until the wife said 'that's better', then left it at that.

I would re-encode but its only the wife that complains and she never re-watches anything so little point re-encoding.

 

I have the exact same problem with some low volume AAC, where the sound either goes from normal to super soft then normal, like a warble or some weird effect. It is annoying and to solve it "force transcode" while using "force surround" is the only way to solve it. It has something to do with the fact the only audio codec the roku can pass-through without touching it, happens to be AC3. DTS can pass-through too, but not in an HLS container only during direct play, which is why AC3 is the codec of choice used. Every other codec the roku is touching (read as decoding itself first) before letting whatever it has done go down the pipe for other audio equipment to decode.

 

I also have the issue, where the sound is just quiet in general, and even turning the TV up to 125 (high as she goes) can barely hear the audio. Set it to "force transcode" with "force surround" set and immediately that same 125 volume now shakes the entire block with sound. Its a night and day difference. No other explanation except not all AAC files are the same, and the roku is doing something to them to make matters worse.

 

So tell your wife, I agree and feel your exact pain. This is why the options exist to allow so much, so you can be your own doctor when issues pop up, and you guys chose the right remedy. Smart

Edited July 1, 2018 by speechles

[vaise 307]

Cheers Speechless.

 

Im thinking of jumping from the roku to an android TV box for the two areas with amps.

I have two in the garage I have not got around to installing anywhere as I got the newer 4k capable stick roku's (and then had all the audio track issues with all the different 4K formats and emby/roku).

 

So would the AndroidTV emby be better ?

[ebr 14954]

What "Android TV box"?

[vaise 307]

The cheap chinese clone ones, well, one is cheap, and one is a bit more than cheap.

 

One is a V88 (you can google 'V88 TV Box') - about $20..... Have to use the Chinese English on the below description :

 

Comes with Android 6.0 OS, powered by the High-performance RK3229 Quad Core 32bit CPU, includes a Mail-400 GPU that can reach speeds of up to 1.5GHz.
1GB DDR3 RAM with 8GB eMMC ROM provides plentiful room to quickly start and operate the media files. With expandable storage up to 32GB, it also greatly improves the reliability of your TV box and prevents crashes due to lack of memory.
Bandwidth saving Lifting speed: H.265 hardware decoding can save 50% bandwidth resources, let you watch the 4K movie smoothly. 4K 1080i/P resolution is 4 times of full HD, so every detail of the screen is lucidity.
Supports 4K Ultimate HD video hardware decoding, which provides you high definition viewing and fluent video playing, making it as the highest resolution signal available for home movies.
Supports IEEE 802.11b / g / n 2.4GHz wireless Wi-Fi, and equipped with LAN port which supports 10 / 100M Ethernet. Also supports OSD type of languages: English / French / German / Spanish / Italian / Japanese, Korea, etc.24 languages Supported. 

[ebr 14954]

Then I would expect your experience to equal the price you paid for them .

 

Honestly, there is no telling.