I recently purchased a Denon AVR-X1600H to upgrade my setup. It prominently advertises support for these 3D sound formats: Dolby Atmos, Dolby Atmos Height Virtualization Technology, DTS:X and DTS Virtual:X. However, on its product page, it also claims to support the DTS HD Master audio codec.
I have some DVD and Bluray ripped movies where the audio is DTS or DTS-HD or DTS-HD MA
Plex client is installed on the Samsung TV - my preferred way of playing movies
Issue
When I play DTS-HD or DTS-HD MA content on my TV using the Plex client installed on it, the AVR indicates that it’s playing back Dolby Surround audio.
When I plug in my laptop to the AVR (via the front HDMI input of the AVR), duplicate my screen, and play the same movies via the plex client on my laptop, I have the option on the AVR to decode audio in DTS:X or DTS Neural:X (but still no DTS-HD or DTS-HD MA - even though this is the audio codec used on the movie files).
Displaying video playback info in the TV’s Plex client reveals the following issues:
So it looks like Plex is transcoding the DCA/DTS audio to AAC format, because:
Codec dca is excluded per settings DTS: false
Questions
Given that my AVR supports decoding DTS:X and DTS-HD MA, and that it seems provide the option to select DTS-HD mode (in its manual), does this mean that it also supports DTS-HD?
What is causing the audio transcoding issues in the above screenshot, and how can I resolve them?
It could be as simple as your Samsung TV not recognizing that the connected AVR can deal with DTS. Therefore it falls back to its own capabilities (=no support for DTS).
It could be as simple as your Samsung TV not recognizing that the connected AVR can deal with DTS. Therefore it falls back to its own capabilities (=no support for DTS).
Thanks Tom. So then:
a) How can I verify this?
b) Assuming this is the issue, how can I make the Samsung TV recognise that the AVR supports DTS?
c) Assuming this is the issue and it can’t be fixed, what is the recommended alternative way of playing videos on my TV so that DTS HD MA works? Eg. connecting an Nvidia Shield or laptop to the AVR/TV.
Don’t waste your time on buying a new cable, it wont work. Your TV probably does not support the HD formats and it does not matter if your AV receiver does as the TV most likely does not support passthrough audio. I have a Samsung 8600 series and it does not pass through the HD audio formats and only supports the basic formats. This is fine if you don’t have a fancy surround sound system. That is why I stopped using the TV Apps. If you want to be able to stream anything using plex where everything is supported, get yourself a Nvidia Shield TV. The AI upscaling and ATMOS support sold me on it and never going back.
I have a Samsung 8600 series and it does not pass through the HD audio formats and only supports the basic formats.
When I go to the Digital Audio Output Format setting on my TV, it only allows me to choose between ‘Auto’ and ‘PCM’. I do have a ‘Passthrough’ option, but it is disabled. Could this just be because I’m not using an HDMI 2.1 cable?
If you want to be able to stream anything using plex where everything is supported, get yourself a Nvidia Shield TV. The AI upscaling and ATMOS support sold me on it and never going back.
So you’ve connected your Nvidia Shield TV to your AVR? If so, are you using the eARC port on the AVR?
And wouldn’t you need an HDMI 2.1 cable for connecting the Nvidia Shield TV to your AVR so it supports Dolby ATMOS, DTS:X etc.?
You have to use an HDMI cable and no it does not need to be 2.1, that is for gaming and their is still no set standard for this between the manufactures. TOS link will only give you base DTS and AC/3. Yes I use eARC, the shield turns my TV and Receiver on and off and selects the correct input on the receiver when the shield powers up.
You might search google about your TV to see how to get passthrough working and to see if it supports the HD audio formats but I think in most cases only the base formats are supported even with passthrough.
eARC is only needed if you are connecting your input devices to the TV or using the apps and sending the audio back to the receiver over the TV’s HDMI out cable. The TV that was listed does support eARC.
With the shield, you connect it to the receivers input and run all your apps on the shield instead of the TV so you get all the audio and video features the shield has to offer.
I did look at the TV that was listed and it does not support Atmos or DTSX so if that is what is wanted then another device such as the Shield will need to be used.
Random note, if you want to know what is supported via ARC/eARC on your TV, rtings is your friend. Here’s their review for the Samung Q80T:
Scroll down to the “Audio Passthrough” section. Here’s the listing for the Q80T:
ARC: Yes (HDMI 3)
eARC support: Yes
Dolby Atmos via TrueHD via eARC: Yes
DTS:X via DTS-HD MA via eARC: No
5.1 Dolby Digital via ARC: Yes
5.1 DTS via ARC: No
5.1 Dolby Digital via Optical: Yes
5.1 DTS via Optical: No
So it looks like Samsung has no native DTS support on their Q80T line. Dolby is fully supported.
Thank you all for your help. I have an interesting update.
I connected my Samsung Q80T TV to the AVR via an HDMI 2.1 cable. As a result, the Passthrough option for the Digital Audio Output Format setting on my TV became available.
However, it seems like @Cafe_Diem and the Rtings website are correct:
Scroll down to the “Audio Passthrough” section. Here’s the listing for the Q80T:
ARC: Yes (HDMI 3)
eARC support: Yes
Dolby Atmos via TrueHD via eARC: Yes
DTS:X via DTS-HD MA via eARC: No
5.1 Dolby Digital via ARC: Yes
5.1 DTS via ARC: No
5.1 Dolby Digital via Optical: Yes
5.1 DTS via Optical: No
So it looks like Samsung has no native DTS support on their Q80T line. Dolby is fully supported.
Even after using an HDMI 2.1 cable (and the HDMI eARC ports), my AVR still wasn’t decoding DTS.
Final Questions
Why does the AVR appear to decode audio as DTS:Neural:X instead of DTS HD MA when playing a DTS HD MA video file on my laptop’s Plex client?
I tried to change the decoding method, but there was no option for DTS HD or DTS HD MA.
DTS Neural:X is a processing protocol like Dolby Pro Logic that expands (upmixes) the signal to all the speakers. So it’s something being processed by the receiver, but not something being sent over eARC (very likely the receiver is just receiving stereo, and Neural:X is upmixing it to your speakers). A comparison between it and Dolby surround:
Edit: Others have noted it above, but if you’d like full DTS-HD and TrueHD, your best option is probably a Shield that plugs directly into the receiver, which then outputs HDMI to the TV.
I have looked at several spec sheets for your TV and some say it supports passthrough and others do not so it is unclear but from what you are explaining it does not sound like it and are back to what I was suggesting originally which is get yourself a Shield. You will not be disappointed.
I ended up purchasing an NVidia Shield TV Pro, connecting it to my AVR, and using the Plex client on it. It supports all of the Dolby and DTS audio codecs, and plays 4k videos like a charm.
The issue does indeed seem to be that Samsung doesn’t support DTS passthrough as several people pointed out.
