Server Version#: 1.15.6.1079
Player Version#: Plex 2.2, ATV 4th Gen
I have had a very static setup for the last 2 years, with only Plex and Apple TV updates. I have:
Plex Server
Apple TV 4th Gen
Pioneer receiver
I found a couple of years ago that the best bet for getting multi channel audio was using Apple Loseless files. There are hundreds of albums in my 5.1 and 4.0 collection. Everything was working fine until the other day when I ripped the new UK “Night After Night” multi channel disc. The vocals are mainly in the center channel and it immediately became apparent that there was no center channel when I played it on my ATV. There were also no rears. The system was ignoring the other channels and just giving me front left and right. The receiver stated that I had a stereo recording. Below is a list if tests that I ran after this.
- Checked other multi channel files. All now showed up as stereo.
- Checked the settings on the Plex ATV app and made all of them as direct as possible (sending full audio without any conversion). Didn’t help.
- Checked ATV setttings (there are only 2). Actually tried changing to convert it to Dolby 5.1. Didn’t help.
- Tried to play a movie on Plex that had a 5.1 audio track. That worked fine.
- Went to my web app. That worked fine (I have a 5.1 setup on my computer). The new album and older ones played fine.
- Tried to stream a FLAC file on the ATV. Same issue.
- Tried to stream on my iPhone. That didn’t work, but then I only have stereo on my phone. BUT
- I cast my phone to my Chrome web app and got the 5.1.
- I cast my phone to my ATV and only got the two channels.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Bruce
5 Likes
Oh, one more thing. I forgot to mention that I then enabled DLNA in Plex. Opened VLC on my ATV and was able to play the songs with full 5.1.
1 Like
I have the same issue. Only getting 2 channels from multichannel FLAC. I think last update broke it. Netflix and MrMC apps stream multichannel as usual, definitely a Plex bug.
3 Likes
Possibly related, so I’ll post it as a reply here rather than starting a new thread.
Since the v2.0 update, video files that have an audio channel which is anything other than 2-channel stereo don’t output audio via my HDMI interface.
Switching to AirPlay for those files works just fine. But I have a wired connection via an HDMI audio splitter as it’s just more reliable.
If I convert the audio inside the container to be 2-channel stereo, the file then works just fine. (I use remux.app on macOS to do this.)
This issue was introduced with v2.0 – I played the same files in v1.x with no issues.
It’s definitely just playback of the individual file. Others play just fine. Plex’s background sounds play just fine. It’s just the audio of these specific files that fails to play.
Happy to help troubleshoot, let me know what I can do.
1 Like
So, do Plex people actually monitor these posts? It would be really nice just to hear from someone who says, “we are looking at it”. The music side of Plex is completely down for me. As a paying customer, I would hope to at least get a nod from someone. This is worse than cable companies that say we’ll be out in 3 weeks. At least they tell you when they are coming out. And it’s not like I can revert back to a previous version, since this is an ATV app issue. I’ve actually started looking for Plex alternatives because I just don’t know if this will ever get fixed. Is anyone listening?
3 Likes
Started playing with Emby. Maybe not as professional looking, but they seem to care about support and if I convert my files to FLAC, multi channel music will work. And they are working on gapless.
1 Like
Glad it’s not just me! I only noticed this the other day and was starting to think I was crazy!
3 Likes
You’d think that maybe they would at least say, “Ooops… We’re working on it”. At least I’ve now got Emby so I can listen to my music again.
2 Likes
I’ve been pulling my hair out trying to figure out why all of my 5.1 content (all FLAC) suddenly started playing in two channels only. But when I use the VLC ATV app connect to to my Plex server I get beautiful 5.1 sound (but a hideous user experience).
Hopefully someone at Flex support will read these posts.
In the meantime I will follow your suggestion and try Emby — thanks for the idea!
3 Likes
Stuart, Emby is a lot better than VLC, but isn’t quite as clean as Plex. Still, it has a reasonably decent interface and does a good job with the sound. No gapless audio, but it is on their road map. Not only that, but when I had trouble playing ALAC files, I heard from one of their people in the forum within 24 hours. ALAC files aren’t supported right now. Just getting an answer was so nice. I went and converted my ALAC files to FLAC and everything is just fine.
1 Like
I installed Emby last and it is really quite nice. I’m not sure if I will go back to Plex even if they fix the 5.1 bug — I’d rather support a company that listens to their customers.
Thanks so much for the pointer!
Cheers,
Stuart
1 Like
Glad I could help. At this time, I’m probably going to keep Plex as my movie server and use Emby for the music. I’ve got a lot of series that I haven’t completed and Plex knows when and where. 
It continues to be frustrating though, that I have paid money to a service that could care less about me. I used to be a big fan and have told lots of people about it. That ends until they fix their bug. It amazes me that a bug this big is being ignored, but then again, they have always been more about movies than music. Look how long it has taken to get gapless audio. Actually, I understand the new update has it, but if only 2 speakers are being used, what’s the point.
1 Like
I believe, ironically, this flac 5.1 bug was introduced in a version that said it had “audio improvements”… very bad… please fix…
1 Like
Yes. I believe there was supposed to be gapless audio. And it isn’t just FLAC. ALAC files don’t work either. Audio only has never been a priority with Plex. I’d be surprised if this is fixed before the end of summer. Anyone what to start a pool? Luckily, Emby is streaming the files very nicely.
1 Like
So… Has anyone heard anything from Plex? It’s been over 3 weeks already.
1 Like
Found this thread after trying to troubleshoot for an hour.
Please fix this, Plex. It’s probably a small number of users, but playing 5.1 FLAC files through my Apple TV is my primary use of Plex right now.
4 Likes
I was going to check today to see if there was an update, but since you wrote, I guess I don’t need to. If only Plex would spend a little less time on advertising and a little more money on programming, maybe this thread wouldn’t have to exist.
2 Likes
Posted about this issue in a different thread. Pretty frustrating to have an update push a LESS compatible audio player. Bizarre that Plex would have a month old thread like this with no company response. Not a good way to run a company with a subscription model.
But hey, if you want Tidal, Plex is happy to talk about that… 
1 Like
Stop trying to make Tidal happen. It’s not going to happen.
1 Like
And what happens when Tidal fails? It’s going to make Plex look pretty bad. I sure hope they aren’t billing tidal for anything, because I hear Tidal isn’t real good about paying their bills on time. Meanwhile, we continue to wait… while streaming my music on Emby.
