# Question about 5.1 audio with TiVo Bolt OTA



## Katatak (May 18, 2016)

Hi again folks,

Another question from the newbie. ;-)

So I got the new Bolt, and now have it all set up. I'm very happy with it. Everything works as I had hoped. My question though is, is it possible to get 5.1 digital audio from the HD antenna? 

Currently I have the antenna connected directly to the back of the Tivo box, and then an HDMI cable from the TiVo to my Sony AV surround unit. I get sound, but it's not 5.1. It's only coming in as 2 channel audio. I get 5.1 audio from the streaming services (Amazon, Netflx, etc), but not when watching live tv.

Is it even possible to get 5.1 audio from the antenna? If so, any instructions on how to change my set up would be greatly appreciated. 

Thanks so much!
Kat

P.S. Both the tv and the AV surround unit have toslink capabilities. Should I have hooked that up for the audio?


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## NashGuy (May 2, 2015)

Yes, lots of HD programs via antenna have 5.1 audio and that should transmit to your receiver just fine over HDMI. You may need to go into the settings menu on your TiVo and set output to Dolby Digital. If that doesn't fix it, perhaps you need to switch some kind of setting on the receiver. I have no problems with 5.1 audio from OTA with my older TiVo Roamio.


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## gor88 (Jan 3, 2008)

Another thing to consider is whether or not your local channels broadcast in DD5.1. I have discovered that some of the smaller markets have major network affiliates broadcasting HD resolution, but only DD2.0.

The link below is to rabbitears.info, which can give you specific information about the tv stations in your area.

http://rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=wjtv

Just change the callsign to one of your stations and the website should pull the list of stations in your Nielsen TV market. Clicking on the callsign will show the details of the station, including the audio format of each subchannel.


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## Katatak (May 18, 2016)

gor88 said:


> Another thing to consider is whether or not your local channels broadcast in DD5.1. I have discovered that some of the smaller markets have major network affiliates broadcasting HD resolution, but only DD2.0.
> 
> The link below is to rabbitears.info, which can give you specific information about the tv stations in your area.
> 
> ...


Very helpful website! I checked our main stations (NBC, ABC, CBS) and all of them state they broadcast in 5.1 audio. So something is definitely wrong with the way I have things connected.

I did check the settings on the Trio as NashGuy suggested. It is set for dolly digital. So is the surround unit. As I mentioned, Tivo streaming services have 5.1 audio without issues, it's only the signal from the antenna I'm having problems with. I'm not really sure how to correct this.


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## worachj (Oct 14, 2006)

List your Sony AV model and someone will help. Its most likely your audio mode setting on you AV reciever.


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

Katatak said:


> I did check the settings on the Trio as NashGuy suggested. It is set for dolly digital. So is the surround unit. As I mentioned, Tivo streaming services have 5.1 audio without issues, it's only the signal from the antenna I'm having problems with. I'm not really sure how to correct this.


Off the wall suggestion. Record 1 hour of CBS. Check the file size. For MPEG-2 it should be between 7GB and 8GB. If it's much lower you may not be receiving DD 5.1. But this is a new one for me.


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## Katatak (May 18, 2016)

worachj said:


> List your Sony AV model and someone will help. Its most likely your audio mode setting on you AV reciever.


My AV unit is Sony 7.2 Channel Home Theater AV Receiver Model: STR-DN1050

When we had our DirecTV service everything came in fine at 5.1. I haven't changed any of the settings on the AV unit since switching to the Tivo box. All I did was plug the HDMIof the Tivo into the same port on the receiver that I used for the DTV box.


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## worachj (Oct 14, 2006)

Katatak said:


> My AV unit is Sony 7.2 Channel Home Theater AV Receiver Model: STR-DN1050
> 
> When we had our DirecTV service everything came in fine at 5.1. I haven't changed any of the settings on the AV unit since switching to the Tivo box. All I did was plug the HDMIof the Tivo into the same port on the receiver that I used for the DTV box.


Found this in the trouble shooting section of the manual. Since you just added the Bolt you may want to check this. The receiver could have reverted back to a default mode when you changed from DirectTv to the bolt.

*Dolby Digital or DTS multi-channel sound is not reproduced.
*	Check that the DVD, etc. you are playing is recorded in Dolby Digital or DTS format.
	When connecting the DVD player, etc., to the digital input jacks of this receiver, make sure the digital audio outputsetting of the connected device is available.
	Set [Audio Out] to [AMP] in the HDMI Settings menu.
	You can only enjoy High Bitrate Audio (DTS-HD Master Audio, Dolby TrueHD), DSD and Multi Channel Linear PCM with an HDMI connection.


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## Katatak (May 18, 2016)

worachj said:


> Found this in the trouble shooting section of the manual. Since you just added the Bolt you may want to check this. The receiver could have reverted back to a default mode when you changed from DirectTv to the bolt.
> 
> *Dolby Digital or DTS multi-channel sound is not reproduced.
> *	Check that the DVD, etc. you are playing is recorded in Dolby Digital or DTS format.
> ...


Ok, I'll try that. Thanks!


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## ncted (May 13, 2007)

HDMI is still a dog's breakfast when it comes to compatibility. In my experience, all of the streaming services use DolbyDigital+, which is different than the Dolby Digital that you get OTA. Worst case, you may have to switch to Optical.


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## Katatak (May 18, 2016)

ncted said:


> HDMI is still a dog's breakfast when it comes to compatibility. In my experience, all of the streaming services use DolbyDigital+, which is different than the Dolby Digital that you get OTA. Worst case, you may have to switch to Optical.


That was actually my next question. I have an optical cable. Do I just connect to the back of the tivo and the AV unit? Will that audio cancel out the audio from the HDMI?


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

Katatak said:


> That was actually my next question. I have an optical cable. Do I just connect to the back of the tivo and the AV unit? Will that audio cancel out the audio from the HDMI?


If it was a Yamaha I could give you the steps to change the audio source for any HDMI input. Perhaps someone with the Sony can do the same. The optical will not affect the HDMI audio unless you can force it.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

ncted said:


> HDMI is still a dog's breakfast when it comes to compatibility. In my experience, all of the streaming services use DolbyDigital+, which is different than the Dolby Digital that you get OTA. Worst case, you may have to switch to Optical.


There should be no reason to switch to optical. EVen my old Sony speaker bar, from 2008, has no problem getting 5.1 DD from the Bolt, over HDMI.

The Sony DN-1050 is only two years old. It should have no issue over HDMI if my eight year old Sony speaker bar has no issue.


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## Katatak (May 18, 2016)

aaronwt said:


> There should be no reason to switch to optical. EVen my old Sony speaker bar, from 2008, has no problem getting 5.1 DD from the Bolt, over HDMI.


Ok. I think I'm going reset all of the audio on the AV unit back to factory settings and start over. Maybe something got changed along the way that I didn't notice.


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

Katatak said:


> Ok. I think I'm going reset all of the audio on the AV unit back to factory settings and start over. Maybe something got changed along the way that I didn't notice.


You might get help here:
http://www.avsforum.com/forum/90-re...9747-official-sony-str-dn850-1050-thread.html


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## Katatak (May 18, 2016)

JoeKustra said:


> You might get help here:
> http://www.avsforum.com/forum/90-re...9747-official-sony-str-dn850-1050-thread.html


Well, I read all of your suggestions and went through all the settings from scratch both on the TiVo and the AV unit. I have no idea what I did, but now it works!:up:

So thank you everyone!


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