Magnifi Max SR surround sound chromecast

Frankfolsche

I just can't seem to get Dolby digital to work from a chromcast plugged in through hdmi in the soundbar.
I've tried this using netflix, the nexflix app does not recognize that the soundbar supports dolby digital. But when i connect it to my other chromecast on a onkyo 5.1 receiver it does recognize it. This makes me believe that the problem lies with the soundbar.
To illustrate this i made a video, showing the nextflix app displaying 5.1 when connected to my living room setup (onkyo receiver) and not showing the 5.1 symbol connected to my bedroom setup (magnifi max sr).
https://1drv.ms/v/s!An77HnLC2SaLhJAoc3b93z1GZdd89A


How every i'm able to get the soundbar to play dolby digital through my laptop using the win 10 netflix app

Why are the chromecast netlix and the magnifi max SR not playing nicely together..


Does anyone had any tips.

[Deleted User]

Hello,
Let me send this to an engineer at Polk for help.
Cheers, Ken

Frankfolsche

KennethSwauger wrote: »

Hello,
Let me send this to an engineer at Polk for help.
Cheers, Ken

Hi Kenneth,

Did you get anything back? I'm thinking about buying a Magnifi mini too but only if I can play 5.1 through it.

Frank

[Deleted User]

No reply yet.

[Deleted User]

Hello,
I received this message:
"My first question would be what color is the light on the front of the Magnifi Max? It should be green for Dolby. Nextflix doesn’t pass anything but Dolby Digital unless specified manually in Netflix."

Frankfolsche

Hi,

I received feedback from polk customer support.

"MagnifiMax will support DD (5.1) and DTS

Netflix will offer only DD+ and Stereo Sound with their films
As DD+ is not supported by MagnifiMax only Stereo sound is selectable in Netflix app (cromecast selected as playback unit and connected to MagnifiMax)"

So it means the Magnifi series cannot be used with Netflix using surround sound. (unless you use a device that can decode DD+ to DD this also means that need to pay to dolby so no cheap device available.)

I think this is very disappointing of Polk especially because DD+ specification is about 10 years old now and even my 6 year old onkyo receiver supports it.

Looking online the best suggestion i've seen is to buy a new receiver that does support DD+.

rooftop59

That stinks, but the problem is also with the chromecast. My MUCH older amazon fire tv (first gen) allows one to pass through whatever sound codex the app is sending through to the receiver (such as DD+), or to limit it to DD 5.1 or stereo. Even my one year old Samsung smart tv (which has 4k apps that work very well) can only pass through 5.1, so it is either downconverting DD+ from netflix or netflix has adjusted the app for Samsung TVs. So, if your chromecast offered this downconvert option (or if you buy a roku or fire tv) you can choose DD 5.1, and that would be much cheaper than new receiver or soundbar. Just make sure that whatever streaming device you purchase offers that option.

[Deleted User]

A further explanation:
"My guess is that Netflix is playing Dolby Digital Plus, not just Dolby Digital. We do not support Dolby Digital Plus at this time, although that may change in the future. If this is the issue, he can go to settings in Netflix and tell it to output Dolby Digital and not DD+."
Polk is going to duplicate this issue and confirm what you are experiencing.

rokkit0

Did this problem ever get resolved? I just bought a magnifi max that will not show as 5.1 GREEN on my roku ultra only orange.. Disappointing