Roku playback audio issues

[bebopinbob 0]

I just set up an emby server (4.5.3.0) and it seems that I can't get the audio to sound right on my Roku TV.  It almost sounds like there is no center channel, I can hear the action just fine but the dialog is so completely quiet.  I'm not really sure where to check to see about getting it to downmix the audio in to something that sounds reasonable to watch without having to blast the audio.  Any help is appreciated.

 

Thanks,

Bob

[ebr 14910]

Hi.  Check the audio settings on your Roku device itself.   Make sure they match what your equipment actually supports.

[speechles 1917]

Make sure you have set the "Volume Mode" to OFF. If the Volume Mode is set to anything other than OFF the Roku will downmix to Stereo. The Roku will not pass-through audio like AC3/DTS when Volume Mode is used. Everything will become 2-channel PCM.

• Off: Volume modes are inactive and content volume is unmodified.
• Leveling: Enables consistent volume across different types of entertainment so you do not have to change the volume every time you switch channels or a commercial comes on.
• Night: The volume of soft sounds like whispering is increased while the volume of loud sounds like explosions is decreased, making it easier to hear your show at night without disturbing others.

https://support.roku.com/en-ca/article/226802507

Volume Mode will only work when your audio is set to "Auto Detect". The Volume Mode will show faded, cannot be selected, and show as OFF when you change this from "Auto Detect".

 

Just saw you have a Roku TV. These are a bit different if you are using S/PDIF or ARC you need to go to the Roku TV Settings >> Audio and change this from "Auto Detect" to exactly what you want for audio. Using "Auto Detect" can fail to detect all your equipment connected.

If you are just using a Roku TV by itself and have bad audio it might be the codec. The Roku TV will decimate AAC 5.1 into AAC 2.0 on the device. If you use the Emby Roku app settings and find the Playback Settings. Then find the Convert Multi-Channel Audio setting and it needs to be set to ON. Once it is ON this should stop the Roku downmix your AAC and instead Emby server will preserve the surround in Dolby AC3 by converting the audio. Converting audio on your server is very minimal.

Edited December 10, 2020 by speechles

[bebopinbob 0]

Thanks for the feedback!  I will double check the settings, but it sounds like turning the Convert Multi-Channel Audio to on will have the Emby Server process the audio in to a better sounding version?  Seems like I ripped my movies in to two different audio formats aac and dts but I'm not concerned with it being in that format since it's only going to be playing out of my TV speakers. 

 

Thanks again for your assistance.

[bebopinbob 0]

So setting Convert Multi-Channel Audio seemed to improve the sound quality quite a bit!  One thing I noticed though is the sound is very quiet, had to turn the volume up more, it was quieter if the audio was DTS rather than AAC.  Is there a way to set the level of the downmixed audio?  Either way, this is doable, it's not perfect sound by any means but it is watchable late at night which is ultimately what we were wanting.