I have a Roku Ultra connected to an LG OLED65B7A via HDMI. The reason the Roku is connected to the TV rather than the receiver is that the receiver can’t pass 4K HDR signals. Connecting the Roku to the TV is the only way I could get that to work. The TV is connected to my Yamaha RX-V671 receiver via the HDMI ARC connection. I have Plex running on a Synology DS216j NAS. All ethernet connections are hard-wired.
It seems like the problem started maybe a month ago. I would go to the Plex app on the Roku and play a movie with DTS. The receiver would automatically switch to AV4, which is where it should go when using ARC. The display on the receiver would say DTS and everything worked beautifully.
Recently, the receiver stopped showing DTS when I tried to play a movie and I would get no sound. The receiver does switch to AV4 as it should, but then it seems like it’s not decoding the DTS signal. I tried all of the different audio settings on the Roku Ultra (auto detect, auto passthrough, Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital +, Dolby Digital and DTS, etc.) and I can’t get sound except with Dolby Digital or Dolby Digital +. I’m guessing that any of the other settings try to use DTS, which isn’t working right now and that’s why I don’t get sound. Even when I do use Dolby Digital, the receiver shows all the surround channels but in reality it’s only playing in stereo.
I’ve tried using the Plex app on the TV, but I believe LG does not support DTS so I get no sound with that option either. Can anyone confirm that there was a software update that caused this problem? I’m not aware of any changes I’ve made to the system. Any help would be appreciated. I attached my log and I’m no expert about reading logs, but I did see that it says “Failed to stream media, client probably disconnected” which might be related to my problem.
An update to the Plex Preview channel for Roku in the past couple of days noted that this bug had been fixed, so it’s on the way for non-Preview channel users soon.
I just tested on my system (Roku Ultra 4660X 9.4.0 4200-46 and Plex 1.21.1.3876), and I was able to play Breaking Bad S01E01 which I have stored in an MKV container with DTS-HD audio.
It’s not a movie, although I doubt that would make a difference. The Plex Preview release note said something about Roku Ultra 4800 so I may not even have the affected model.
Where did you find the release notes? I looked around and couldn’t find them. I checked and I have the 4800X. My movies are stored as MP4, but I wouldn’t think that would make a difference. Are you using ARC or do you have the Roku connected directly to the receiver?
I tried resetting the receiver to factory defaults and that didn’t help. I plugged in my old Roku 3 and tried it and everything works fine. So I think I’ve determined that the Roku Ultra is the problem. I guess I’ll try to contact Roku support and see if they can do anything.
Just as an FYI, your B7 does support DTS (DTS-HD decode and DTS passthrough), including the internal Plex app and others (e.g. Fandango NOW or LGMP aka “Photo & Video” support it),
The issue isn’t Plex (server or app), but rather a bug in the latest RokuOS firmware build (9.4.1-4222) of the 4800 - it causes faulty passthrough playback/output of DTS in certain connected configurations (e.g. directly to an LG TV w/DTS support) with any app, be it RMP/RMP Beta/Plex/Emby/etc
Every other currently supported model correctly passes DTS-encoded audio with firmware 9.4.0-4200 (latest non-4800 firmware) in the same connected configurations.
It’s likely that the issue arises from hardware/functionality differences in the 4800 that the firmware engineers havent fully accounted for, including both the RealTek SoC and the Dolby Atmos-level decoder and relevant code/configuration, including HDMI EDID/handshaking.
Make sure you do report it directly to Roku, and its more helpful if you also enable the DLNA server in Plex and also test/use RMP (Roku Media Player) as well when reporting the details: Roku support personnel cant just redirect you to the app publisher (Plex in this case) when RMP is being used/at issue.
chat or email: Roku (choose setup/ultra/other/need more help?)
Thanks for the reply - it was very informative. Are you saying that the Roku Ultra is causing DTS playback to fail even if I try to play directly through the Plex app on the TV? I don’t understand why the Roku would have any effect on the TV Plex app. But it appears that you’re correct because I reconnected my Roku 3 and now the TV Plex app is working fine. Why does the Roku have an effect on the TV Plex app?
I can’t account for the LG Plex app not providing DTS output for you with your B7, unless maybe you changed your global audio settings (Settings/Audio/DTS (DCA) or local (file) audio settings (More/Settings/Audio) within the LG Plex app, though apparently connecting the 4800 into the HDMI chain causes some problems in your setup
(I’ve seen reports for other 4800 users having strange/weird HDMI handshake problems with other devices if the 4800 is connected into their HDMI chain, with the Audio/HDMI setting being the culprit: “Auto detect” being the main problem, “Auto passthrough” sometimes as well - clearly the HDMI EDID detection/handshake routine is the source.)
Regardless, I highly suggest contacting Roku about the issue, making sure to give them the home theater connection configuration details, and making sure to test with RMP as well.
I did contact Roku last week and they weren’t able to fix the issue. I got passed off to a higher level of support so I’m waiting to hear back from them.
Hello. seems like this is the thread to mention I seem to have the same problem. I just got a new 4800x roku and can not direct play any videos with 5.1 DTS. I plugged my older 46xx roku back in and have no issues with the same 5.1 DTS video. I’ve compared and tried changing audio settings on the roku side and the plex side. All I get is static. Using the current plex and the preview. no difference.
I was going to try copying the video to a USB to see if i can play it without plex tomorrow. unless someone has already tried that.
If anyone has a solution, please let me know what it is.
thank you!
