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April 5, 2020 - 12:27am
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JonathanL
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Dolby Digital plus to Dolby Digital transcoding?

Hi,

Do any of you folks know if there's a digital streaming device on the market that will transcode Dolby Digital plus to Dolby Digital? Preferably with a Toslink port.

I recently purchased a Roku Express for streaming Netflix (which I was told would do the job), together with a Musou HDMI audio extractor. However I'm only getting 2 channel PCM audio, not 5.1.

My understanding so far is that Netflix streams DD+ which my pre-amp doesn't support (only DD & DTS). I'm assuming that neither the Roku nor the Musou include the necessary codec. I'd rather not change my pre-amp as I'm very happy with the sound for both music & Blu-rays. I just need to find a solution for Netflix, but I've been unable to find anything on the market so far. I'm no expert in digital streaming, so maybe I'm looking in the wrong direction. Are there any other solutions out there?

Current config:
Roku -> Musou -> TV, connected via HDMI
Musou -> pre-amp, connected via Toslink
Result: 2 ch PCM

Blu-ray player -> Pre-amp, connected via digital coax or Toslink
Result: 5.1

Thanks

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April 5, 2020 - 7:14pm
mtymous1
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Have you tried...

...going optical out from the TV instead?

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April 5, 2020 - 8:59pm
JonathanL
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Sadly not, that's where I

Sadly not, that's where I started. I originally just bought the Roku and had the TV connected to the pre-amp via Toslink, but had the same problem. I contacted Sony tech support & they told me it's a limitation of the model TV I have - it'll only output 2 channel PCM on it's Toslink port. That's why I bought the Musou. Tbh, I've pretty much given up on the idea of finding a hardware solution. I guess I could buy a cheap controller (like a Raspberry Pi) and do the transcoding in software, but I didn't want to go through the hassle if there's an off the shelf solution available

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April 10, 2020 - 6:14pm
mtymous1
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Another solution candidate....

...would be to take a software approach.

Should be able to get DD via the browser and with the right audio device settings. If not, can also using an intermediary application like Kodi, JRiver, or even WMC.

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