VMS/IPC1100 HDMI Surround Sound Doesn't Work
ByteCrawler1
Enthusiast - Level 2

In short, Surround Sound (Dolby Digital) audio does not output from the HDMI connector on the VMS1100 or IPC1100P2. It doesn't matter what setting I try (either in the hidden menu to manually set it to Passthrough or in the standard menu of setting audio output to Surround). I've triple checked my settings, I've triple checked I'm loading content that is Dolby Digital, it just does not work for me.

 

Here is my setup. I have a Samsung 6350 LED TV (2014) with 2 standard HDMI inputs, 1 HDMI-ARC, and 1 HDMI-DVI. I have a Sonos Beam plugged in to the HDMI-ARC. I have my IPC1100P2 plugged in to 1 standard HDMI, and a FireTV plugged in to the other standard HDMI.

 

On the FireTV I load up the Netflix app and choose the series The Punisher (which has Dolby Digital audio). Once the show starts, I confirm my audio settings on the Samsung TV, it allows me to choose Dolby Digital because the TV is detecting a Dolby Digital signal coming from the HDMI of the FireTV. I then open up the Sonos app and check what type of audio is being inputted to the Beam, it says Dolby Digital.

 

On the IPC1100P2, I load up Netflix. I start playing The Punisher. I go to check the Samsung audio settings, it will NOT let me choose Dolby Digital (its greyed out). The reason why its greyed out is because the TV is not detecting a Dolby Digital signal coming from the HDMI. I then open up the Sonos app and check what type of audio is being inputted to the Beam, it says Stereo.

 

I confirm that the IPC1100P2 can output Dolby Digital from the Optical Out while watching The Punisher on Netflix. I plugged the Optical to HDMI adapter that came with the Sonos Beam into the Optical Out on the IPC1100P2. I connect the HDMI cable to that adapter and the other end to the Beam. I open the Sonos app and check what type of audio is being inputted to the Beam, it says Dolby Digital.

 

In short, these Quantum boxes DO NOT output surround sound via HDMI. I’ve tried swapping HDMI cables. I’ve tried brand new High Speed HDMI cables. I’ve tried swapping HDMI inputs on the TV. I've tried HBO with a movie playing that supports Dolby (it shows the Dolby icon in the guide). It just does not work.

 

I have a decade of on the job experience dealing with this kind of stuff and I’ve completely hit a wall. So my questions is how many others out there are experiencing this same broken functionality? What are your thoughts? Does anyone NOT have this problem? What type of TV do you have? Is it a receiver setup? I fully know this could be a compatibility issue with the Samsung TV. Unfortunately I have the same model TV connected to all 4 of my STBs so I can’t test that variable. But I know the TV does support it, because it works with the FireTV. It could be a compatibility/handshake issue between the VMS/IPC1100P2 and the Samsung 6350. Who knows!

 

Thanks!

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Correct answers
Re: Has Anyone Gotten VMS/IPC1100 HDMI to output Dolby
ByteCrawler1
Enthusiast - Level 2

For anyone that cares I fixed the problem using this device:

https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=13347

I have the Fios HDMI Out and Optical Out going into the inputs on the device and have it set to insert the Optical audio. Then HDMI Out from the device to my TV's Input. It gave me the ability to select Dolby Digital audio for the source from the TV's menu which then passed Dolby Digital audio to the Sonos Beam as confirmed by the app. The audio is now exceptionally better when viewing content with Dolby Digital audio.

My guess is Fios disabled Dolby Digital audio outputting from HDMI due to commented issues with losing audio to an AVR when viewing channels with mixed PCM & Dolby Digital content (probably changing the handshake of the HDMI). Since I couldn't get any answers I worked around it. Hope this helps any others who run into this.

View solution in original post

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Re: VMS/IPC1100 HDMI Surround Sound Doesn't Work
ByteCrawler1
Enthusiast - Level 2

No one else has any input on this? I'm the only one trying Dolby Digital via HDMI and having an issue?

If you do have Dolby Digital via HDMI from the FiOS box working, can you let me know your setup?

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Has Anyone Gotten VMS/IPC1100 HDMI to output Dolby
ByteCrawler1
Enthusiast - Level 2

So this is my second attempt to try and poll the community for answers. Compared to my first post where I described the issue and everything I did to troubleshoot, I'm going to keep this one short and sweet.

Has anyone reliably gotten a VMS1100 or an IPC1100p2 to output Dolby Digital from the HDMI connection and NOT the optical connection?

Here is the original post:

https://forums.verizon.com/t5/Fios-TV-Technical-Assistance/VMS-IPC1100-HDMI-Surround-Sound-Doesn-t-W...

Thanks!

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Re: Has Anyone Gotten VMS/IPC1100 HDMI to output Dolby
ByteCrawler1
Enthusiast - Level 2

For anyone that cares I fixed the problem using this device:

https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=13347

I have the Fios HDMI Out and Optical Out going into the inputs on the device and have it set to insert the Optical audio. Then HDMI Out from the device to my TV's Input. It gave me the ability to select Dolby Digital audio for the source from the TV's menu which then passed Dolby Digital audio to the Sonos Beam as confirmed by the app. The audio is now exceptionally better when viewing content with Dolby Digital audio.

My guess is Fios disabled Dolby Digital audio outputting from HDMI due to commented issues with losing audio to an AVR when viewing channels with mixed PCM & Dolby Digital content (probably changing the handshake of the HDMI). Since I couldn't get any answers I worked around it. Hope this helps any others who run into this.

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Re: Has Anyone Gotten VMS/IPC1100 HDMI to output Dolby
therealduke
Newbie

I have the same problem with the stb to Sony 4K pass-through sound bar

my fire cube pass Dolby to the bar but very distorted Dolby Fromm the stb.  All action scenes are muffled no matter what settings are used

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Re: Has Anyone Gotten VMS/IPC1100 HDMI to output Dolby
clem21
Community Leader
Community Leader

Did you try going direct to the TV with the fios box, then either HDMI ARC or optical from TV to soundbar?

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Re: Has Anyone Gotten VMS/IPC1100 HDMI to output Dolby
BDZ1
Newbie

I had the same issue. 70" LG led TV with LG Surround sound bar connected with optical out. Changed HDMI input audio format on LG TV to bitstream. Now it works. 

Sounds great.

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