No Sound on HDHomerun App on Roku with Older Sony Bravia

[sirlou]

I just installed my new(er) Connect device on my network and it was detected, I scanned for channels, it looked to be working great, and so I ran a couple test recordings via a 3rd party app and all went well.

Before I purchase and install the SD DRV service, however, I wanted to make sure the HD Homerun streaming app was working on my Roku devices. It works on one but not the other, which is probably b/c of an older TV. Thought I'd check here to be sure.

Working device: Roku 3910RW connected via HDMI to a newer Samsung TV. All works great after I made the changes to the Roku audio settings suggested in the FAQs.

Non-Working Device: Roku 3930RW connected via HDMI to an older Sony Bravia KDL-32D20L1. Made all the same changes to the Roku settings, but no sound coming out. I tried to adjust the Sony TV's audio settings but they were very limited. Am I correct in assuming this old TV is not going to work with the app?

thanks in advance,

Louis

[rikd]

...Am I correct in assuming this old TV is not going to work with the app?...

Is not compatibility with the App - but how the Roku Express deals with AC3 audio from the broadcaster

You have a Roku that can't decode AC3 and pass through allows it to push that audio stream out over HDMI to the next device in the chain
see https://developer.roku.com/docs/specs/m ... dio-codecs - only Roku TV/Ultra supports decode

Roku TVs and Roku Ultra can decode AC3 and E-AC3. All other Roku devices will do passthrough to the receiving device. Roku Ultra supports the latest Dolby technologies such as Dolby Atmos and System Sound Mixing (MS12).

But your TV also can't decode the AC3.
According to the specs for the Sony Bravia KDL-32D20L1 -> it ONLY supports PCM Stereo over HDMI.

To use this combination - you can get a cheap HDMI Audio extractor ($10-$20 on Amazon) to get a stereo L/R out which can go in to the HDMI Audio Phono sockets on the TV
And connect like this

Code: Select all

/------\               /---------\               | TV
| ROKU | --- hdmi ---> | Extract | --- hdmi ---> | HDMI In 
\------/               \---------/               | 
                            |                    | 
                            \---- RCA Audio ---->| HDMI Audio In 

edit: added link to Roku audio codec support info

[sirlou]

According to the specs for the Sony Bravia KDL-32D20L1 -> it ONLY supports PCM Stereo over HDMI.

Thank you for this very detailed response, I really appreciate it! I will look into getting one of these splitter boxes to separate the video/audio signal.

One thing I noticed you mentioned is my Sony Bravia model TV *ONLY* supports PCM Stereo over HDMI. When I checked the audio on my Samsung TV, it too only supports PCM audio (the selection for Dolby was greyed out), but my setup on that system still works. I am wondering if that is because I send audio over SPDIF cable from the Samsung TV to an SDIDF to analog box, and then via RCA cable to my stereo receiver.
Just wondering in case I ever make changes to my setup.

Code: Select all

| ROKU | --- hdmi ---> | Samsung TV | --- SPIDF cable ---> | SPIDF/RCA Converter| --- RCA Cables ----> Stereo Receiver 

thanks,

Lou

[rikd]

One thing I noticed you mentioned is my Sony Bravia model TV *ONLY* supports PCM Stereo over HDMI. When I checked the audio on my Samsung TV, it too only supports PCM audio (the selection for Dolby was greyed out), but my setup on that system still works. I am wondering if that is because I send audio over SPDIF cable from the Samsung TV to an SDIDF to analog box, and then via RCA cable to my stereo receiver.
Just wondering in case I ever make changes to my setup.

The Samsung is most likely doing a passthrough from the HDMI to the spdif. It assumes the audio can go down it and sends it unmodified, and basically hands off to the next device in the Chain.
The Bravia might be able to do the same.
You can check simply on the Samsung by disabling the spdif

[NedS]

I think we went down a rabbit hole of seeing if any HDMI extractors would actually decode AC-3, a few years back, and I don't think we found any. Most were extracting PCM to analog. If someone does find an HDMI extractor that can actually decode AC-3 then please tell us, because that would be fantastic to know about. Not just for the HDHomeRun, but also for a few other edge cases out there in the A/V world.

[rikd]

I think we went down a rabbit hole of seeing if any HDMI extractors would actually decode AC-3, a few years back, and I don't think we found any. Most were extracting PCM to analog. If someone does find an HDMI extractor that can actually decode AC-3 then please tell us, because that would be fantastic to know about. Not just for the HDHomeRun, but also for a few other edge cases out there in the A/V world.

Dang.. You're right.
The cheap ones don't decode or downmix.
This one https://www.amazon.com/OREI-Extractor-D ... B0CCW7P9RM does, but is $90.. almost the price of a soundbar!!

[sirlou]

I think we went down a rabbit hole of seeing if any HDMI extractors would actually decode AC-3, a few years back, and I don't think we found any. Most were extracting PCM to analog. If someone does find an HDMI extractor that can actually decode AC-3 then please tell us, because that would be fantastic to know about. Not just for the HDHomeRun, but also for a few other edge cases out there in the A/V world.

Dang.. You're right.
The cheap ones don't decode or downmix.
This one https://www.amazon.com/OREI-Extractor-D ... B0CCW7P9RM does, but is $90.. almost the price of a soundbar!!

OK, so it sounds like the cheap HDMI Audio Extractors will not work, thanks for telling em before I bought one. Appreciated.
Hmm, if the box that would do it properly costs $90 its not good value for money I think as I could buy a new Best Buy 32" LED TV for $89, which would probably function properly with the audio.
But then I still have to deal with the issue of BOTH my Roku units not properly displaying video full screen, so I need two new android TV boxes. And also I am having the "malformed data" errors that others have mentioned, likely do to either a signal or more likely wifi bandwidth issue.

OK, so I may have to rethink what I am doing. Thanks for all the detailed troubleshooting, and I have one more question:

Is there a recommended hardware setup where the DVR service just works, like out of box, without all this futzing?

Would that be a newer (non-Samsung) TV with an Android TV (and not Roku) box with a wired connection (e.g., the Google Chromecast with Android TV 4K)?

thanks!

Louis

[jasonl]

Anything other than a Roku will work better than a Roku, and won't have random sound problems with certain TVs. The onn. Google TV box from Walmart works well, and the Fire TV Stick 4Ks are good too.

[sirlou]

Anything other than a Roku will work better than a Roku, and won't have random sound problems with certain TVs. The onn. Google TV box from Walmart works well, and the Fire TV Stick 4Ks are good too.

Thanks, much appreciated.

-lou