My Humax Forum » Freeview HD » Aura UHD

Everything seems to be LPCM audio output

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    Misterhumax

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    We've not used the new Humax for much other than TV but having a bit of a play, I noticed TV and Amazon both switch my sound system to LPCM ( basic stereo). Amazon set to Dolby+ momentarily but then back to LPCM as soon as playback started. I know the things I was watching definitely were all in DD or DD+

    I have the Aura set up in 5.1 mode using ARC - everything goes through the TV - and wondered if there could be some mismatch and settings config needed somewhere as it negotiates the best available option.

    Sometimes LPCM is nice for TV - you can hear the dialog - but it's a bit of a waste having gorgeous adaptive HDR+ with basic stereo.

    | Sun 16 Oct 2022 13:22:53 #1 |
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    Misterhumax

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    I found this thread talking about quite similar issues but I'm not sure how much is in common as I'm not running Sonos or an LG TV and not really bothered about Atmos; I have Aura -> recent Philips OLED 806 via HDMI, TV -> Sony soundbar via HDMI ARC.

    https://myhumax.org/forum/topic/dolby-atmosdolby-digital-plus-how-to-get

    We've played around various sound settings on the TV previously like eARC, passthrough before having the Aura - everything seems so complicated! eARC has bugs on this TV so is disabled.

    In the linked post it's apparently endorsed to go Aura ->tv->soundbar as described which is good to hear, the Aura setup process encouraged us to plug the Aura directly into the soundbar which would end up a big mess

    | Sun 16 Oct 2022 13:36:19 #2 |
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    SSThing

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    Page 49 (Digital output settings) of your manual.

    | Sun 16 Oct 2022 14:01:07 #3 |
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    VitaminD

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    Press the Freeview button on your remote control, go to Settings.
    Go to Audio and Video click on Audio Out.
    Select Custom (user defined), Dolby Advanced Settings, Home Cinema Volume Control and Surround Sound
    should now be available for selection.

    Surround Sound> Select Formats> Auto.

    Dolby Advanced Settings > MS12 Transcoding Off, press Yes to apply the changes the Aura will reboot.

    Go back to Freeview> Settings> Audio and Video> Audio Out and select Home Cinema via HDMI

    My Aura is hooked to an AV processor then to TV. Try my settings with your set up and see if
    it gets you the desired audio out puts.

    | Mon 17 Oct 2022 0:25:22 #4 |
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    Misterhumax

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    Thanks @VitaminD, this sounds promising. In the linked thread it talked about 2 settings pages which is where I thought I should start my own thread!

    So do you make ANY changes in the Android homescreen's audio settings (5.1/7.1) or ignore that entirely and do everything via Freeview settings?

    @SSThing which document/version are you referring to? In the one linked from the website (https://uk.humaxdigital.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2020/10/WebUM_FVP-4KGTR_100GB_21-0210.pdf) P49 is "Freeview Mobile App" and there is no "Digital Output Settings" section.
    Just double checking, the content you refer to is in "Audio" section on P41, they must have refreshed the document:

    Home Cinema Volume Control: If you are using an
    additional audio device connected via HDMI, you can
    control its audio volume using the Aura remote control.
    If set to
    Auto, the audio device volume is controlled via
    CEC when available, but the set-top box volume will be
    controlled by default when no audio devices are detected.
    Setting to
    Always On or Always Off forces the audio
    device volume control to be enabled or not. If turned on,
    your remote control adjusts the audio device volume
    via CEC and your set-top box volume is set to maximum
    volume level. If turned off, your remote control works for
    the set-top box volume.

    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. Note that you need to restart the system to apply these changes.
    • Audio Description: Set to On to narrate the on-screen visuals which are available for visually
    impaired viewers.
    • Digital Audio: Set the sound option to Stereo or Surround. This setting affects TV only.
    • Lip-sync Delay: You can adjust the delay between audio and video. If you want to adjust the delay
    while watching live TV, press the button twice while on live TV.

    | Mon 17 Oct 2022 8:58:41 #5 |
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    SSThing

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    No, your TV manual.
    Pg 49 is the start of the Sound options.
    Pg 52 tells you what to do.

    | Mon 17 Oct 2022 9:38:07 #6 |
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    Misterhumax

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    My TV works fine with other Dolby(+) devices already plugged into it (we've tested several) and I'm familiar with the TV's settings having had to troubleshoot them previously.

    There's only one combination of settings which makes the TV work properly with the soundbars I have (from memory bypass is on) so I am hopeful the steps VitaminD outlines will help when I can test.

    | Mon 17 Oct 2022 9:59:58 #7 |
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    Misterhumax

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    So from digging into this this evening, the TV was already using Multichannel Bypass (basically raw) and the Aura is now set to "home cinema via HDMI" with MS12 transcoding off.

    I'm seeing some mixed results:

    - via Amazon Video on Aura, I'm now seeing my sound bar notify me it switches to DD+ when I start streaming a show. Previously it was PCM Stereo.
    - recorded shows like grand designs and frozen planet 2 are playing back in PCM Stereo, as is live TV (HD channels). I'm pretty sure these channels use Dolby because watching built in tuner and DVR on the TV the soundbar displays Dolby instead of PCM.
    - When I watch frozen planet 2 on iPlayer on the TV, it reports Dolby. When I watch the same show on iPlayer on Aura, it's PCM stereo

    The Aura S/AD display is really handy and confirms this against my soundbar. I can jump back and forth between TV and Aura and see the audio switch consistently.

    Is there a way to check the format of a recording? I'm curious whether the recording is DD but it's being negotiated to PCM with the TV, or the original recording is actually PCM in the first place. Presumably the first.

    | Mon 17 Oct 2022 22:08:12 #8 |
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    Luke

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    Misterhumax - 1 hour ago  » 
    I'm pretty sure these channels use Dolby because watching built in tuner and DVR on the TV the soundbar displays Dolby instead of PCM.

    In the UK no channels on DTT broadcast in Dolby. It is your TV that is converting the format.

    | Mon 17 Oct 2022 23:42:08 #9 |
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    VitaminD

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    The vast majority of UK terrestrial broadcast TV audio is still in stereo.
    An AV processor can decode it to 5.1.
    Films and major sporting events on BBC 1HD and BBC 2HD can be broadcast with 5.1 channels or more
    check with Match Of The Day or any more recent films, same goes for Ch4HD,
    not F! though if I remember correctly, will check this weekend.
    Just make sure your devices TV, Aura, Soundbar are set to passthrough the broadcast audio signal
    so no post broadcast decoding is being done and you get the original audio signal.

    The term Dolby does not necessarily mean 5.1 or 7.1 channels of sound.
    Before that there was Dolby Stereo 2.0, still is.
    Your TV maybe reports a stereo broadcast as Dolby, but the Aura will still describe a Dolby Digital or
    Dolby Digital+ 5.1 or 7.1 broadcast as PCM 5.1.

    Most of your digital streaming services like Amazon are in Dolby Digital/ Dolby Digital + 5.1.

    Looking at the online manual for the Aura the Audio Output options are on page 41,
    the options displayed there are not the same as the options available on screen.
    Humax have not updated the online manual since 2020, even though the software/ firmware was updated in Aug 2021.

    Which manual were you looking at, the online or the published manual you get with the Aura.
    As you have recently bought the Aura the published manual maybe more up to date
    and page 49 is where you find the Audio Output section as SSThing describes.

    | Tue 18 Oct 2022 4:25:22 #10 |

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