# force netflix app to output dolby digital not dolby digital plus?



## Alf Tanner (Jan 18, 2014)

I just upgraded my office computers sound card to a Denon receiver and 5.1 setup. One of my Tivo Minis is also in the office and I'd like to listen to that audio through the receiver.

It's not possible because of how windows/hdmi/receivers play together to connect the mini via hdmi without losing my second computer monitor screen (it's connected to the monitor HDMI out on the receiver. Long story short: I could stand to lose that monitor occasionally to watch stuff on the tivo, but if I put the tivo connected via optical I can still see the picture from another HDMI input (in this case the computer) while listening to the audio from the optical input, and then switch back seamlessly to the computer audio via a button on the receiver.

A lot of what I watch is netflix/amazon and occasionally vudu. Is there a way to force the Netflix app to only output regular vanilla DD 5.1 so that I dont have to turn it down to stereo in order to watch from the mini and still get audio from the optical cable?



EDIT said:


> I'm sorry, I forgot that part... using an audio extractor between the mini and the TV to add optical 5.1 output to the mini:
> 
> http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BIQER0E/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A2IX3RNQE846HA
> 
> The mini hdmi out would go from the mini to the audio extractor, then the HDMI output from the audio extractor would go to the TV and the optical out from the extractor to the optical input of the receiver.


----------



## Arcady (Oct 14, 2004)

What optical cable? The Mini has no optical output. I guess I'm not understanding how you have things hooked up.


----------



## Alf Tanner (Jan 18, 2014)

Arcady said:


> What optical cable? The Mini has no optical output. I guess I'm not understanding how you have things hooked up.


I'm sorry, I forgot that part... using an audio extractor between the mini and the TV:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BIQER0E/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A2IX3RNQE846HA

The mini hdmi out would go from the mini to the audio extractor, then the HDMI output from the audio extractor would go to the TV and the optical out from the extractor to the optical input of the receiver.


----------



## Alf Tanner (Jan 18, 2014)

The main purpose of the receiver is for HD audio via HDMI from the computer. Since HDMI has to send video and audio, when one of the receiver inputs is connected via HDMI from the graphics card on my computer it has to be set up as a second monitor in windows. This forces me to always have to use the video from that input as the outputted video from the receiver HDMI out to my second desktop monitor. 

It's possible to listen to the audio from a different input on the receiver while using the video output of the computer, except for in the case of the second audio source being another HDMI input.


----------



## Arcady (Oct 14, 2004)

Okay, I get what you hooked up. The problem here is that toslink optical can't do anything higher than DD 5.1. If you send it stuff like DD+ or DTS-HD, etc. then it will probably give no sound or maybe downconvert to 2 channel audio.

Does the receiver have HDMI inputs? That's the only way you will pass DD+ audio from the TiVo to the receiver, unless you buy a Dolby-licensed converter that can take DD+ and convert to 5.1. Those boxes cost a few hundred bucks.


----------



## Alf Tanner (Jan 18, 2014)

Arcady said:


> Okay, I get what you hooked up. The problem here is that toslink optical can't do anything higher than DD 5.1. If you send it stuff like DD+ or DTS-HD, etc. then it will probably give no sound or maybe downconvert to 2 channel audio.
> 
> Does the receiver have HDMI inputs? That's the only way you will pass DD+ audio from the TiVo to the receiver, unless you buy a Dolby-licensed converter that can take DD+ and convert to 5.1. Those boxes cost a few hundred bucks.


That's the point I'm at, which is why I was wondering if I could force netflix to only output 5.1 instead of DD 5.1+

I just decided to use HDMI and mess with the settings in windows as needed to fix whatever settings change when It changes the display settings on the computer.


----------



## Johncv (Jun 11, 2002)

Dumb question, why not just get an HD TV and mount it on a wall and connect the TiVo to that?? I assume this is your office and you can do that.  I would never get any work done if there was TV.


----------



## namwoljr (Aug 8, 2014)

I too, would really like to choose Dolby Digital over Dolby Digital+ when HDMI is used for audio. You'd think this would be a simple feature to add for Tivo. They've paid for their Dolby license, and you can already get Dolby Digital over Toslink, so I don't see why this can't be a selectable option.


----------



## namwoljr (Aug 8, 2014)

I will happily eat my words right now. Just hooked up my 54" Vizio sound bar, and Tivo does convert DD+ to DD over HDMI, and I have full surround sound with Cable, Netflix, Vudu, and Amazon Prime. Problems solved, and now it's time to buy an automatic HDMI switch!


----------



## Alf Tanner (Jan 18, 2014)

Johncv said:


> Dumb question, why not just get an HD TV and mount it on a wall and connect the TiVo to that?? I assume this is your office and you can do that.  I would never get any work done if there was TV.


I do have a HDTV on the wall, but I like the surround sound, which is how the rest of my office is ''wired up''. The best option I had for not causing issues in windows with the hot plug feature of HDMI was to run optical to the receiver from the tivo (with attached extractor) and map that sound to the HDMI input associated with my windows computer when I needed it.

HDMI and windows dont play that nicely. Pin 19 on the HDMI cable detects ''hot swapping'', when you switch between inputs on a receiver its the same thing as unplugging the cable temporarily. When that happens all your icons from your second or third desktops get moved around or added to your other desktop, and whatever you were doing on the other desktop at best gets switched to the main screen or at worst crashes your computer.


----------



## Alf Tanner (Jan 18, 2014)

namwoljr said:


> I will happily eat my words right now. Just hooked up my 54" Vizio sound bar, and Tivo does convert DD+ to DD over HDMI, and I have full surround sound with Cable, Netflix, Vudu, and Amazon Prime. Problems solved, and now it's time to buy an automatic HDMI switch!


That is very good news. Very good news.


----------

