Fire TV - any work arounds for 5.1 sound?

Cleve

Cleve

Super Member
We just bought Fire TV - apparently Amazon 'upgraded' the newer units to NOT have optical sound output.

My McIntosh home theater preamp does not have HDMI inputs/outputs - just optical audio and coaxial digital audio inputs. Well, no big deal - I figured I'd just HDMI connect to my Samsung plasma, and then use the optical out from the Samsung to the McIntosh.

Except - the TV does NOT output 5.1 sound - just stereo. I've tried changing settings in FireTV ANd in the Samsung - the "Multichannel" option in the Samsung menu is grayed out.

Apparently, there's some inane HDMI copywrite restriction thing whereas unless the TV is receiving a feed from an antenna input, it will NOT output multichannel sound via the optical connection.

Any work arounds? FireTV is great - except I can't get the friggin' 5.1 sound to work with my system. Why they had to change it - if they'd left FireTV with optical out sound there wouldn't be any issues.
 
These are the kind of issues I keep working at until I find a solution. I've been doing more and more reading, and apparently it's pretty standard that HDTVs will only pass thru 2.0 sound thru their Optical Audio if the input is from an HDMI source. Apparently it's a standards/licensing issue. My TV is 7 years old - newer HDTVs can have an HDMI ARC input - which if it has one, the optical or coax out on the TV WILL throughput the 5.1 sound from the source. But I don't have such a port

But I did find these; an HDMI Switcher that passes through HDMI video to the TV, but extracts audio signal into Optical or Coax for 5.1 pass through.

https://www.monoprice.com/Product?p...utm_medium=11051853&utm_term=VigLink2-2917105


So all I need to do is buy ANOTHER gadget and wire it in. LOL
 
Cleve said:
My TV is 7 years old - newer HDTVs can have an HDMI ARC input - which if it has one, the optical or coax out on the TV WILL throughput the 5.1 sound from the source. But I don't have such a port

LOL
Click to expand...

FWIW, I have a newer TV with ARC, a very expensive one at that, and it does not pass 5.1 from external sources by ARC. It only sends 5.1 by ARC from internal sources/apps.
 
Ugh. I was just thinking I could free up some digital inputs on my AV receiver if I ran some of them thru the TV. Guess that won't work-
 
The HDMI thing sucks. I got rid of two perfectly good receivers just because of the workaround problems and inconvenience I was experiencing. Resistance is futile-you must assimilate.
 
Cleve said:
These are the kind of issues I keep working at until I find a solution. I've been doing more and more reading, and apparently it's pretty standard that HDTVs will only pass thru 2.0 sound thru their Optical Audio if the input is from an HDMI source. Apparently it's a standards/licensing issue. My TV is 7 years old - newer HDTVs can have an HDMI ARC input - which if it has one, the optical or coax out on the TV WILL throughput the 5.1 sound from the source. But I don't have such a port

But I did find these; an HDMI Switcher that passes through HDMI video to the TV, but extracts audio signal into Optical or Coax for 5.1 pass through.

https://www.monoprice.com/Product?p...utm_medium=11051853&utm_term=VigLink2-2917105


So all I need to do is buy ANOTHER gadget and wire it in. LOL
Click to expand...
Looks like that is your best option by far. It is a shame that you have to spend $40-50 to convert an item to what it was before it was improved. Far cheaper than a new pre-amp or receiver. Fewer and fewer peripherals have anything other than HDMI, so you will make use of that switch.
 
Phillyfisher said:
Ugh. I was just thinking I could free up some digital inputs on my AV receiver if I ran some of them thru the TV. Guess that won't work-
Click to expand...

Depends on the TV. But, if all you get out is 2ch PCM and resulting matrixed surround at least you know why.
 
Just as a follow up to this old topic - I found that a Dotstone HDMI Splitter 1x2 was the solution - the unit I linked in the post above wouldn't serve the purpose - I contacted the seller - and amazingly the company just sent me the proper unit at no charge. And it's worked great now these past 2 years.

You connect an HDMI source to the input, and then another HDMI cable for the video to your TV - it provides either a TOSlink or Co-Ax digital audio output. It passes thru 5.1 sound from Netflix into my MX132 perfectly.

I recently converted my TV to OTA broadcast and ditched satellite. It's frustrating to see that the 5.1 broadcast channels - the Samsung passes the 5.1 sound thru flawlessly to my MX132 - but steadfastly refuses to pass any 5.1 thru from any HDMI source. I have no idea HOW that silly 5.1 sound restriction protects any digital content or what it is supposed to tangibly accomplish - other than frustrating owners of home theaters. LOL.
 
I'm keeping my "old" fire TV specifically for reasons like this. Of course the easy solution is the $1000 AVR upgrade :rolleyes:
 
I solved this problem for my Firestick by buying a J-Tech Digital HDMI/MHL Switch & Audio Extractor. I believe it was around $30 on Amazon. It has SPDIF/RCA Stereo Output with Ultra HD ARC Setting. 3 HDMI inputs including one ARC, 1 HDMI output, an RCA output and a Toslink (optical) output. It has a simple remote works great! I was using a Marantz receiver with HDMI arc but upgraded to an older Marantz receiver that's not HDMI but was a high end pre HDMI so with this gadget I use the optical input on the receiver. It also adds 3 More HDMI inputs to your tv which is nice. Defintelty worth the $30.
 

Attachments

  • image.jpg
    image.jpg
    97.2 KB · Views: 8
I'm now actively looking to upgrade my MX132 to an MX120 which would bypass the need for any such devices of possibly questionable audio fidelity - the MX120 has HDMI inputs, also PHONO input, and fiberoptic LED faceplate lamps - so sick of burning out lamps in the MX132. Audioclassics had a beautiful one for sale recently - and I just missed it. Keeping my eyes open.
 
I use my FireTvstick on my living room TV with an older DD 5.1 AVR and 5.0 speakers. I found while my TV's optical digital audio output will not pass DD it will pass Dolby Pro-logic placing the dialog at the center speaker and sound effects at the front stereo speakers and rear speakers almost as effectively as DD for many programs.

For my favourite DD streaming movies I use my smart TV and a DD EX 6.1 surround system in the rec room.
 
That Dolby Pro-Logic signal is nothing more than two channel stereo run through a Pro-Logic decoder.
 
It didn't dawn on me until I connected up my FireTV Stick that I would only be getting the optical digital PCM feed from my living room TV set to my older AVR. Which is of course stereo. But I used it for a few days with movies and TV programs.

I found with the AVR set to Dolby Pro-logic I was getting up to 100% of the Dialog (no doubt with Dolby encoded material) out of center channel speaker, Which often accounts for 80 - 90% of the soundtrack with many programs, Full sound effects from the front speakers, And some surprisingly effective sound effects for the rear channel. The cool thing with Dolby Pro-logic is it will pull much of the dialog out of a stereo source that has not been encoded and place it at the screen where it belongs. This is especially important for those sitting off center.

I even came across some programs that in DD from my cable box only play in stereo, The only way to get center speaker dialog was to switch my AVR inputs to the TV's PCM optical output and set the AVR to Dolby Pro-logic. I suspect somebody was too lazy to convert what might have been a stereo or Pro-logic mix to proper DD 5.1. It would still be Dolby Pro-logic at best, But would get the dialog to the center speaker.

I have enough TV/Audio Clutter in my living room now, and besides most of my TV viewing doesn't warrant the small difference between Dolby Pro-logic and DD, When it does, I use my Dolby Digital 6.1 ES system in the rec room. I agree with the posts suggesting getting an HDMI DD extractor box like this for $22 for the main HT system though.

https://www.amazon.ca/Proster-Extractor-Converter-Optical-Splitter/dp/B073TT8JGN

It doesn't appear to come with a USB power supply, But they are cheap too or maybe like me you have one at home you can use.
 
Last edited:
I just plug my Roku and Bu-Ray player directly into my pre/pro via HDMI. Everything else is automatic.
 
I guess I'm missing something here. All my HDMI sources (including cable box) are plugged into my pre/pro. All video switching is done via the pre/pro. The HDMI output goes to the TV. I don't bother with ARC as the line outs from my pre/pro drive the front channels via a bypass on my two channel preamp. The surround channels are driven directly by the pre/pro through an electronic crossover and a pair of Adcom GFA-545's.

Why complicate things?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

AA6U
Too much bass from TV optical output
Replies
13
Views
3K
Pyrrho
Pyrrho
B
no 5.1 from tv to VSX 03
Replies
5
Views
310
Rick Vestal
Rick Vestal
blowitup
3D TV & Old AV reciever ??
Replies
7
Views
2K
blowitup
blowitup
gadget73
suggestions for a basic soundbar?
Replies
3
Views
183
jbrainey
jbrainey
M
My new DAV-DZ260 5.1 Surround sound problem
Replies
0
Views
2K
mupet0000@gm
M
Back
Top Bottom