- This topic has 49 replies, 10 voices, and was last updated 1 year, 11 months ago by
.
-
Posts
-
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.
I have a similar system ie: Aura – Sony TV – Beam + 2 One SL’s. (Plus a Humax DTRT2100 – which is currently useful for comparison purposes). I have the same audio problem.
With the MS12 decoding ‘ON’ the Sonos App shows “Audio in: Dolby Digital 5.1” on every channel (both HD and SD) but there’s no sound from the OneSL’s on any channel.
With MS12 ‘OFF’ (which I think it’s where it should be) the Sonos App shows “Audio in: Stereo PCM 2.0” (every channel) but the One SL’s are now emitting what sounds like ‘background’ surround sound. Need I say that on Aura Settings “Digital Audio” is set to ‘Surround’.
For the time being I’ve left MS12 ‘Off’.
Both the TV and the DTRT2100 outputs are shown on the Sonos App as ‘Dolby Digital’ for HD and ‘Stereo’ for SD (as it should).
Now waiting for a programme transmitted in 5.1, which I can only find via the TV or DTRT tuners and the Sonos App. I assume I will only get the same result as with 2.0.
I must say that without the Sonos App I would never have known and would have assumed I was listening to Surround Sound. My technical knowledge is very limited but it looks like something that could be rectified in a future update, if Humax are aware of it – I’ve only had the Aura for 2 days so before I contact Humax there may be other issues……
Wheelmon – 12 mins ago »
I have a similar system ie: Aura – Sony TV – Beam + 2 One SL’s. (Plus a Humax DTRT2100 – which is currently useful for comparison purposes). I have the same audio problem.
With the MS12 decoding ‘ON’ the Sonos App shows “Audio in: Dolby Digital 5.1” on every channel (both HD and SD) but there’s no sound from the OneSL’s on any channel.
With MS12 ‘OFF’ (which I think it’s where it should be) the Sonos App shows “Audio in: Stereo PCM 2.0” (every channel) but the One SL’s are now emitting what sounds like ‘background’ surround sound. Need I say that on Aura Settings “Digital Audio” is set to ‘Surround’.
For the time being I’ve left MS12 ‘Off’.
Both the TV and the DTRT2100 outputs are shown on the Sonos App as ‘Dolby Digital’ for HD and ‘Stereo’ for SD (as it should).
Now waiting for a programme transmitted in 5.1, which I can only find via the TV or DTRT tuners and the Sonos App. I assume I will only get the same result as with 2.0.
I must say that without the Sonos App I would never have known and would have assumed I was listening to Surround Sound. My technical knowledge is very limited but it looks like something that could be rectified in a future update, if Humax are aware of it – I’ve only had the Aura for 2 days so before I contact Humax there may be other issues……
Battlestar Galactica on BBC2-HD has DD 5.1 Audio.
Last 2 episodes aired tonight. Suggest you record them for future research
Thanks, I’ll do just that. (For ‘research’ purposes only! – not my usual
).
Just noticed your post was dated yesterday. I only saw it this morning, sorry.
There must be somewhere other than the Sonos App to find out if a programmes in DD 5.1 – a job for later.
This afternoon I have been able to use 2 BBC HD programmes with DD 5.1 audio for comparing four combination:
i) Sony TV into Sonos system (Beam and two One SL’s)
ii)Aura (MS12 On) > TV > Sonos
iii)Aura (MS12 Off) > TV > Sonos
iv)DTRT2100 > TV > Sonos
Setup (i) worked perfectly with the speech as clear as a bell and surround sound as it should sound.
Sonos App showed – ‘audio in: DD 5.1’ and on other progs DD 2.0 or Stereo PCM 2.0 whichever applied.
Setup (ii) much the same as (i) for the 5.1 channel, but on all other channels no sound from rear speakers.
Sonos App showed – ‘audio in: DD 5.1’ on ALL progs – including SD and Radio! (because they’ve all been transcoded by MS12 – but if that’s the case why no sound from rear speakers except on 5.1 progs).
Setup (iii) the 5.1 programme audio was not listenable. Speech was barely audible and muffled and the volume had to be turned up quite a bit to hear anything at all. Non-5.1 channels were ok for volume and sound but like ordinary stereo.
Sonos App showed – ‘audio in: Stereo PCM 2.0’ for all programmes including DD 5.1, DD 2.0, and Stereo 2.0 transmissions.
Setup (iv) Just the same as Setup (i).
My conclusion is that in Setup (iii) – which is the one I think should be applicable to my system – is not working as it should.
Quote from Aura Manual:
“Dolby Advanced Settings: Setting to MS12 Transcoding On transcodes audio sound to Dolby 5.1 channel and thus you can enjoy surround sound. It is recommended when you use only the TV sound.
MS12 Transcoding Off outputs audio sound as it is without any conversion. You can enjoy its original sound and this setting is recommended when you use additional audio device.”
I am forced to select the first option (my Setup (ii)) although I “use an additional audio device” (surely my Setup (iii)).
Tommy1976 – (or anyone else with a similar system) – I would be interested to hear if my findings are the same as yours in order to establish whether this is a ‘general’ problem or just a fault on my device before I contact Humax.
Sorry, I’ve only just been notified of replies, yes wheelmon, I’ve tried what you posted and I have exactly the same problems, it’s very annoying but hopefully it will be fixed in the future, I did try and contact humax but no reply.
Thanks Tommy1976. Sort of a relief that it’s not just mine. I see there’s an email address for Humax support. I might send them the appropriate parts of my marathon post after I’ve done a bit more ‘googling’.
ps I too had a 5000t before this. The Aura’s more responsive to the remote but has other probs
ie AV buttons takes you to a dead end, and the text button doesn’t get BBC Text News (but that will probably be gone soon anyway. I also get the occasional black screen with or without sound.
pps I’ve ended up back on MS12 Off for now…..
I have just bought an Aura to replace my Sky Q and this issue with sound is really creating a problem. The Aura presents everything as 5.1, which is great for 5.1 content, but when the provider switches to a stereo (2.0) source, the Aura continues to present 5.1 The result is that for stereo content, central voices come from the left and right speakers and nothing comes out of the central speaker. I then have to keep adjusting the Aura settings (between surround and stereo) depending on the programme. When set to stereo the central voices of 2.0 content correctly come from the central speaker.
When I compare this to other DTV boxes, I can see they properly switch between 5.1 and 2.0 depending on what the channel is sending. Do we know if Humax will fix this, do I need to raise an issue with them, or is there something I am missing?
Yes I have tried MS12 on/off and all variations. I only get 5.1 with MS12 on, otherwise all content is presented as 2.0. I have LG OLED TV and Onkyo receiver. I have tried optical and HDMI connections, but the underlying issues keeps coming back to the fact that the Aura does not switch between 5.1 and 2.0.
It seems that with MS12 ON everything (incl SD and radio) comes out as a ‘made up’ 5.1 which only actually works with 5.1 transmitted programmes if you’re using a surround sound system. Humax suggest this setting is used with just the TV on its own.
The ‘fault’ lies with MS12 OFF (quote: “recommended when you use additional audio device”). Humax go on to say “..You can enjoy its original sound…..”. This certainly is not happening as everything now comes out in Stereo 2.0 regardless of the transmitted format and when the transmission is DD 5.1 the volume drops considerably and the speech isn’t ‘right’. My tech knowledge is limited but shouldn’t ‘speech’ frequencies be channelled separately?
Hopefully Humax can see this but perhaps they need a nudge.
Wheelmon, have DMed you, let’s take this to Humax for a fix
GrahamY – I’ve replied to your DM.
Just a point: I take it you’ve been to Settings > Device Preferences > Sound > Select formats.
I tried both ‘Auto’ and ‘Manual’ but it made no difference.
On ‘Auto’ it switches on ‘DD’, ‘DD+’ and ‘DTS’. My TV can handle just those three’ so there is some sort of recognition. From this I think we can assume that Humax do intend for it to provide what we need. It’s just not actually doing it in practice!
Hopefully it’ll be sorted in the next firmware update as you say.
The Sonos App normally shows “Audio input: ‘Stereo PCM 2.0’ or ‘Dolby Digital 2.0’ or ‘Dolby Digital 5.1’.”
As it is it’s showing:
MS12 On : everything ‘Dolby Digital 5.1’
MS12 Off: everything ‘Stereo PCM 2.0’
Humax Towers have been reading this thread and asked me to post the following:
Freeview channels do not have Dolby Digital Audio – the actual transmission is AAC 5.1 if it is multi-channel.
(Most of contents have 2-channel AAC, but sometimes AAC 5.1 is transmitted. AAC is MPEG-4 audio, a different format from Dolby.)
In case of Android TV, AAC multi-channel audio will be decoded by STB, and send PCM output to audio device according to capability.
– If the receiver supports multi channels (usually AVR), then the output will be PCM 5.1
– If the receiver supports stereo (TV), the output will be PCM stereo.
– The legacy STBs will transcode AAC 5.1 to DD 5.1.
MS12 options should be off – and if everything is ok, correct format should be PCM 5.1, and Sonos App should display PCM 5.1 as well. (Not PCM 2.0 nor DD 5.1)
I searched with “Sonos PCM 5.1”, there was a software update from Sonos side recently : https://support.sonos.com/s/article/3521?language=en_US
11/10/2020 : “Sonos Arc now supports multi-channel LPCM surround sound through an eARC connection.”
So, I think Sonos Software update may help – and it would be interesting to see the result.
Barry – 5 hours ago »
Humax Towers have been reading this thread and asked me to post the following:
It is good to see Humax engaging with this Forum Barry. I am thinking that if Humax continue to fix bugs for a while longer, then the Aura may well turn out to be the best box they have produced since the HDR-FOX T2.
Thanks Barry for the quote.
Now I’m worried – it’s beginning to look as though the Aura was a bad choice in my case. It seems that with the Aura the Sonos Beam is not receiving a multichannel audio format it can handle unless I turn the MS12 “On”- but that only works with 5.1 transmitted programmes (which are only occasional) and the 2.0 progs have no sound from rear speakers. I don’t have this problem with just the TV tuner or the DTRT2100. They just work.
All this ‘cos I wanted a PVR with 3 tuners and a bigger HDD.
Due to the comparison in monetary outlay it would have to be the Aura that would have to go.
The Aura seems to be too advanced for the Beam, but surely the Beam can’t be obsolete already?
For the time being I’ll use the DTRT2100 for 5.1 and the Aura (MS12 ‘Off’) for everything else. – Or vice versa with MS12 ‘On’. – Gulp – !
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.