Dobly Digitial rendered as chirping sound out of Samsung HW-M550 with wireless surrond from Emby on Roku

[Nicias 2]

Hell,

I have Emby on my Roku 4 outputting audio over optical to my soundbar.

Recently anytime I play anything besides stereo it comes out as just chirps. If I force stereo on the Roku, it plays (stereo) fine. I'm not sure if the problem is with the Roku, Emby or the soundbar.

I've tried changing all of the audio settings I could find on both devices, but I can't get DD sound out.
 

[speechles 2055]

It is  HDMI sync on the Roku. It isn't actually reading things correctly possibly? Does it sound sped up like chipmunk? Or is it slowed down like the devil is talking to you? If it is either it is the TV isn't communicate over HDMI with the Roku or the Roku is just flat out dropping the ball. You have to turn off the TV and unplug the Roku. Then turn on the TV first and then...plug in the Roku. Now the Roku should read the HDMI sync properly and then things work correctly?

If it still happens let us know which codecs this happens with. It is just Dolby (AC3), or is it also: Dolby+ (E-AC3), DTS, AAC, or any other codec?

https://community.roku.com/t5/Playback-Issues-Audio-Video-Power/High-pitched-chirp/m-p/570515

On my old Roku3 it would always do devil voices on audio. It was cool for a bit until they go out of sync immediately with the video. The sped up chipmunk voices go out of sync the other way immediately ahead.

Edited April 22, 2021 by speechles

[ebr 16169]

Hi.  Can you test something like Netflix with a Dolby soundtrack to see if it is the same?

[speechles 2055]

It is almost like they (Roku Co.) are sending something out of spec to their decoder and it wraps. Instead of near silence at the end of the spectrum one way it wraps to insanely loud at some other frequency than it should be. You get these random robotic beep boop blips. Instead of cut-off filtering like they should be...

Did you choose "Auto" for your HDMI Audio inside your Roku settings?

Oh.. The Roku 4......The Roku 4 cannot pass-through Dolby unless you choose "Dolby" on the HDMI settings. This is known limitation for that exact device. It will otherwise turn everything into AAC with the on-board Dolby decoders. The only devices with an on-board Dolby decoder are the Roku 4 and the Roku Ultra (#4640).

Edited April 22, 2021 by speechles

[Nicias 2]

I tested playing the same file using the Roku Media Player app, and it produced the same problem. I don't think Emby is the problem.

I did the power cycling. No change.

It is loud chirps and barely audible actual sound.

Both audio settings are set to Auto and it picks DD.

[pwhodges 2012]

Are there any settings for the soundbar that you could check?  Specifically for how it handles the optical input.

Paul

[Nicias 2]

It has relatively few options. I've cycled through all of them. It is a Samsung HW-M550. Looks like the problem is between the bar and the Roku.

I've even reset it to factor defaults. Didn't help.

Roku pushed out an update right before this happened. I'm pretty sure this is Roku's fault.

[speechles 2055]

Choose DD on the HDMI. Do not choose DD+. Choosing DD and not DD+ will cause the Emby app to convert Dolby Digital+ into Dolby Digital. Maybe that is all your need?

Edited April 22, 2021 by speechles

[Nicias 2]

no change.

[pwhodges 2012]

To test if it's the Roku firmware, you could try downgrading it.

You can do this from a secret screen accessed from the remote as follows:  click home five times, scroll right three times, scroll left twice.  On the screen that appears you can find an option to reinstall some older firmware.

Paul

[Nicias 2]

Thanks, that only offers to upgrade to the same version, or factory reset. Factor reset seems drastic.

 

[Nicias 2]

Ok, someone on the roku forums suggested using HMDI out rather than the optical. That fixed it.

[Luke 42077]

6 hours ago, Nicias said:

Ok, someone on the roku forums suggested using HMDI out rather than the optical. That fixed it.

Thanks for the feedback !