TCL with SONY S40R - Does not provide 5.1 Surround

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So I have been wanting a new sound system (5.1 surround sound) for a while now. After 1 year of Struggle (Not financially, but in convincing my wife) finally I bought a Sony HT S40R. Yes, I know its not something audiophiles recommend, but its all I need for my daily use. I hook it up to my TCL 55P8 model TV through HDMI ARC, and it obviously did not give sound. So I enable CEC and it worked. Sound is good. Only a while later, upon playing 5.1 content I realized I am not getting 5.1 channel output. Its just stereo. When I played the test tone HT works just fine, all Speakers works as intended and in order. I played test content through YouTube, USB, Amazon Prime and even downloaded a true 5.1 test file. Everything is the same.

I am guessing my TV Is not providing the 5.1 output, (I tried Optical cable as well, with same effect). There are only 3 audio settings in the TV, namely, Passthrough, PCM and Auto. Though TCL claims Dolby Digital with 5.1 support is provided it does not seems to be available anywhere. Am i missing something here? Can any of you guys with better knowledge help out. I have racked my brain, or whatever I have of it, for 24hrs and no solution. Also I have even tried resetting the TV to Factory and nothing worked out. I have noticed that there are times when the R and L outputs the rear channel sounds as well.

I am in dire need of help.
 
So I have been wanting a new sound system (5.1 surround sound) for a while now. After 1 year of Struggle (Not financially, but in convincing my wife) finally I bought a Sony HT S40R. Yes, I know its not something audiophiles recommend, but its all I need for my daily use. I hook it up to my TCL 55P8 model TV through HDMI ARC, and it obviously did not give sound. So I enable CEC and it worked. Sound is good. Only a while later, upon playing 5.1 content I realized I am not getting 5.1 channel output. Its just stereo. When I played the test tone HT works just fine, all Speakers works as intended and in order. I played test content through YouTube, USB, Amazon Prime and even downloaded a true 5.1 test file. Everything is the same.

I am guessing my TV Is not providing the 5.1 output, (I tried Optical cable as well, with same effect). There are only 3 audio settings in the TV, namely, Passthrough, PCM and Auto. Though TCL claims Dolby Digital with 5.1 support is provided it does not seems to be available anywhere. Am i missing something here? Can any of you guys with better knowledge help out. I have racked my brain, or whatever I have of it, for 24hrs and no solution. Also I have even tried resetting the TV to Factory and nothing worked out. I have noticed that there are times when the R and L outputs the rear channel sounds as well.

I am in dire need of help.
The passthrough is the option to select, It will send the original bitstream from tv to sony HT. Then the sony HT will decode the bitstream and convert it to pcm and then send to the appropriate channels. what is source in the setup? If your tv has in-built apps they might not support 5.1 surround sound for platforms like prime video/netflix.
 
"Only a while later, upon playing 5.1 content I realized I am not getting 5.1 channel output. "

What content did you play? That content should be changed to 5.1 Dolby if you are able to access it's settings. Like say Netflix will have audio settings for each title. Which platform you are playing it with?
 
"Only a while later, upon playing 5.1 content I realized I am not getting 5.1 channel output. "

What content did you play? That content should be changed to 5.1 Dolby if you are able to access it's settings. Like say Netflix will have audio settings for each title. Which platform you are playing it with
Thanks! I tried playing content through YouTube (probably 2.0) and Prime. Also then a 5.1 video file and a test DTS audio file from USB through VLC player. No setting in TV that helps show what its outputting and Not sure if my TV is outputting 5 channels in the first place. I tried, for sake of it with my PC, SPDIF port output. Same effect there. PC itself only showed 2 channles.
 
Try Toslink instead of HDMI. Many TVs boast of many outputs but fail in some. I had same problem with my LG and HT RT3, where its HDMI sometimes outputs 5.1 sometimes not. Some honorable member suggested this to me. Though I have not tested yet, you can try
 
Try Toslink instead of HDMI. Many TVs boast of many outputs but fail in some. I had same problem with my LG and HT RT3, where its HDMI sometimes outputs 5.1 sometimes not. Some honorable member suggested this to me. Though I have not tested yet, you can try
Thanks for your time and reply. I already tried the TOSLINK, with similar result. UPDATE: I managed to get 5.1 from Netflix content using the passthrough and HDMI. Worked amazingly well. But no other app, including KODI, Amazon prime, vlc can play in surround. I guees ill make do with what i have.
 
Thanks! I tried playing content through YouTube (probably 2.0) and Prime. Also then a 5.1 video file and a test DTS audio file from USB through VLC player. No setting in TV that helps show what its outputting and Not sure if my TV is outputting 5 channels in the first place. I tried, for sake of it with my PC, SPDIF port output. Same effect there. PC itself only showed 2 channles.
I managed to get 5.1 from Netflix content using the passthrough and HDMI. Worked amazingly well. But no other app, including KODI, Amazon prime, vlc can play in surround. I guees ill make do with what i have.
 
Thanks! I tried playing content through YouTube (probably 2.0) and Prime. Also then a 5.1 video file and a test DTS audio file from USB through VLC player. No setting in TV that helps show what its outputting and Not sure if my TV is outputting 5 channels in the first place. I tried, for sake of it with my PC, SPDIF port output. Same effect there. PC itself only showed 2 channles.
I managed to get 5.1 from Netflix content using the passthrough and HDMI. Worked amazingly well. But no other app, including KODI, Amazon prime, vlc can play in surround. I guees ill make do with what i have.
 
I managed to get 5.1 from Netflix content using the passthrough and HDMI. Worked amazingly well. But no other app, including KODI, Amazon prime, vlc can play in surround. I guees ill make do with what i have.
You can try Amazon Fire Stick and check if any other app works -I'm planning to do the same.
In my case my Sony Bravia outputs 5.1 for Amazon Prime app only [my soundbar is Samasung 5.1 A67E]. Youtube/Sony Liv/Zee 5/Star/Discovery apps do not output 5.1 [I've not tried Netflix].
 
So I have been wanting a new sound system (5.1 surround sound) for a while now. After 1 year of Struggle (Not financially, but in convincing my wife) finally I bought a Sony HT S40R. Yes, I know its not something audiophiles recommend, but its all I need for my daily use. I hook it up to my TCL 55P8 model TV through HDMI ARC, and it obviously did not give sound. So I enable CEC and it worked. Sound is good. Only a while later, upon playing 5.1 content I realized I am not getting 5.1 channel output. Its just stereo. When I played the test tone HT works just fine, all Speakers works as intended and in order. I played test content through YouTube, USB, Amazon Prime and even downloaded a true 5.1 test file. Everything is the same.

I am guessing my TV Is not providing the 5.1 output, (I tried Optical cable as well, with same effect). There are only 3 audio settings in the TV, namely, Passthrough, PCM and Auto. Though TCL claims Dolby Digital with 5.1 support is provided it does not seems to be available anywhere. Am i missing something here? Can any of you guys with better knowledge help out. I have racked my brain, or whatever I have of it, for 24hrs and no solution. Also I have even tried resetting the TV to Factory and nothing worked out. I have noticed that there are times when the R and L outputs the rear channel sounds as well.

I am in dire need of help.
Try pass through setting with optical cable. Problem solved
 
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