No 5.1 surround sound from AAC audio through XBox One

Plex Players Streaming Devices
1

Here is my current setup:

Plex media server is a QNAP NAS
Playback consists of:
X-Box One connected to a Vizio 5.1 soundbar via HDMI cable.
1080p projector (no speakers) connected to Vizio soundbar via HDMI cable

My movie files are encoded as AAC audio. I only get stereo sound out of the Vizio soundbar. No Surround at all. Is there a setting I’m missing on the Plex Media Program on the XBox or do I need to consider changing the audio encoding? If the latter, suggestions on best way to do this and what file format to use?

Thanks.

2

Let me start with some obvious questions:

  1. Are those AAC audio streams themselves 6-channel AAC (5.1) or just 2-channel AAC (stereo)?
  2. Does your Vizio soundbar support 6-channel AAC playback (from what I remember, not all sounders support that and might simply play the default left/right channels instead -> stereo).

There’s a support article from Microsoft on how to configure the Xbox One to improve the experience with audio receivers

3

Now that I’m looking at the files in Plex, it does appear that they are identified as AAC Stereo files.

I do not know if the Vizio supports 6 channel AAC playback. I’ve searched on their support site and do not see any reference to this.

4

Try opening the original file with another player (e.g. VLC). There you should be able to confirm if the source material is only available in stereo. In that case Plex has no means to invent the missing information/channels for full surround sound.

5

If this is the case, I’m assuming there is no way to convert the file to include 5.1 audio.

6

You need to do that when you’re ripping the file in the first place.
If you’re e.g. using Handbrake, you can pick the target audio formats:

  • if the original sound is in AC3 – keep the original (pass-through)
  • if the original sound is in a different format not supported by the Xbox One (e.g. DTS?) you can either transcode to AC3 “5.1 channels” or AAC/HE-AAC “5.1 channels”
7

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