Aura and Sonos.

[Anonymous]

My sincere apologies Mars (and to anyone else reading my post).

Coincidentally I have an eyesight check up on the 19th May ! !

[Anonymous]

Tommy1976 – 3 mnths ago  » 

I was wondering if anyone could help, I have a Sonos beam with two ones as surrounds, before I had the aura I had the 5000T, the sound came out of all speakers, this showed as Dolby 2.0 in the Sonos app, now the app always shows as 5.1 through the Aura, even though the programme isn’t in 5.1, it now only comes out of the sound bar unless it’s a 5.1 programme which isn’t very often as most are in stereo, I’ve had a mess about but can’t get it to work, thanks for any help you are to give.

Hi Tommy1976

For the proposed solution to problem, see posts numbered #36, #51, and #54 in Topic: “Aura Beta Firmware dated 11:05:21”.

[Anonymous]

Hello Wheelmon, thanks for your message, yes all sorted now, I was on the previous beta which had the fix, but also, it was part my fault as one of my hdmi ports on tv was faulty. Hope you’re all sorted now.

[Anonymous]

I had suspicions about my TV at one stage but the firmware beta has sorted everything anyway.

Nevertheless I’ve got a new TV arriving on Friday which will bring me up to speed! Cheers.

[Anonymous]

Hi, I am new to this forum. I am considering buying an Aura, but am concerned that there are issues with surround sound. I have a Samsung TV, Sonos Beam with 2 Play 1 speakers set up as surround sound. It works perfectly with a BT 4k UHD box.

BUT I tried the new BT Pro box, which I believe is made by Humax and despite Sonos technical support and my best efforts, it was. not possible to get it to work in the same way as the previous box.

All channels were Dolby 5.1 according to the Sonos app and there was no sound from the Play 1 speakers. When the programme or movie was actually broadcast in 5.1 the system worked ok.

Any advice would really be appreciated.

[Anonymous]

Hi William, that was exact same problem in the beginning with the Aura, it’s all fixed now and works flawlessly.

[Anonymous]

Thanks Tommy, really appreciate the quick and positive reply. Regards, Will

[Anonymous]

You’re welcome Will, any problems with the sound, if you get the Aura just get in touch.

[Anonymous]

Hi Tommy, may I take u p your offer of more help?

I have bought the Aura and have it set up with HDMI Arc and Beam with 2 Play 1 speakers. I am getting Dolby digital 5.1 right now on BBC 1 HD (The Green Planet). On other programmes on BBC 1 and on other channels I get PCM stereo. What puzzles me is that using my BT TV box I get Dolby Digital 2.0 on all terrestrial channels, other than when they are broadcasting 5.1. Is there a way that I can get Dolby Digital 2.0 and 5.1 using Aura or does it always default to PCM Stereo?

[Anonymous]

Hi Will, yes that’s what mine does, it’s basically the same, in fact pcm is better as Dolby digital is compressed.

[Anonymous]

Thanks again Tommy

[Anonymous]

Good afternoon, this is my first post and having just purchased an Aura 2TB I am trying to get something other than Stereo PCM from my sonos system whilst using the Aura.

Reading the post below it says if using arc but I use earc from an lg Oled to a Sonos Arc, Sub and two One SL’s. I have been through each option on the audio output options and tried rebooting the box after each selection but nothing seems to change the sound output from Stereo PCM. I have also tried custom settings and turned MS-12 transcoding on and off but it makes no difference to the output on my Sonos. Can you tell me if doing something incorrectly or is it a case of awaiting a software update? On that note, are software updates applied automatically or do they have to be installed manually and if so where/how do I check what version I am on and how do I install the update?

Apologies if this has been covered previously, and thanks in advance

Barry – 2 years ago  » 

Further update just received from Humax Towers:

We apologize for your inconvenience, and can confirm a software update is necessary to solve the situation.

In summary:

• Audio for Freeview HD channel is AAC (2.0 or 5.1)

• Aura provides PCM 5.1 for AAC multi-channel, if MS-12 transcoding option is off.

• But if a user uses ARC (not eARC) or S/PDIF, PCM multi-channel is not supported due to the limited bandwidth – Probably this is the case of Sonos Beam, and it is our mistake to miss it.

• As PCM 5.1 is in general better output, we’ll keep it as default operation, but will provide additional option to enable DD 5.1 transcoding,.

For the time being,

• Please use HDMI connection for Audio Devices instead of S/PDIF, whenever possible.

• Recommended connection : Aura – (HDMI) – AVR – (HDMI) – TV, if it is supported.

[Anonymous]

Hello, most content is only in stereo, BBC sometimes show movies or sport content in 5.1, so it seems to be right.

[Anonymous]

You have just bought the Aura, don’t expect any software updates, the last one was in August 2021,

Humax have abandoned the Aura as an ongoing project. We just have to put up with its many little eccentricities.

To check which version of software you are running press the Freeview button on the remote control, click on Settings on screen (cog) scroll down to Freeview Play Preferences> System Information.

Firmware Version should be 00.09.21

Is the Aura connected to the TV, if so look in the TVs Sound settings to see if there is an Audio pass through mode,

if not the TV may be mixing down the 5.1 channel broadcasts to 2.0 and sending it to the Sonos.

[Anonymous]

Hello Tommy, thanks for the prompt reply, I don’t know if you’re familiar with the Sonos App. But when you open the app it tells you what sound format is playing through the system. When playing through the Aura it tells me that it’s broadcasting Stereo PCM but if I change the input to the TV (same channel) it tells me the output is Dolby Digital 2.0, (presumably they are different?). I mean to be fair it’s not a big deal as I’m only using it for recording channels/programs with adverts and as you say you rarely get 5.1 if at all on most channels, to maximise the capabilities of the Sonos eg Dolby Atmos I have to use streaming services anyway and would use those on my TV not the Aura.I was just trying to work out why the Dolby was not working. Thanks Rob

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