The push back from Tablo on surround sound functionality is quite disappointing and disheartening.
I spent a lot of money buying the 4-tuner Tablo and was very surprised that surround sound was not available after I installed Tablo.
This is a big step backwards in my attempt to cut the cord and get rid of DirecTV. I guess I misunderstood the intent of Tablo - seems like the target model is aimed at mobile users, not folks with HDTVs, surround systems and Rokus.
So far this experiment is not working, and I am few more disappointments away from returning my Tablo tuner and hard drive to Newegg.
The intent of the Tablo is to provide TV functionality on as many devices as possible in your home. On that basis, it works quite well. But there are compromises, and surround sound is one.
If a customer is interested in watching OTA TV on just a single set and wants a device to replace his/her cable/satellite DVR as closely as possible, there are better choices out there. The Tablo is best for watching TV on multiple TVs, tablets, and web browsers, and since I have all three, I love it.
Add me to the pro-surround sound list.
Surround sound is a very important feature to me. I would even be willing to help implement it.
Is there an updated ETA on surround sound?
@Max No updates yet - stay tuned, and thanks for your patience!
Another vote for Surround Sound
Personally, I would buy the Tablo today if it had surround sound capability. I’m sitting on the sidelines until something more definitive is announced. I made a login just to post this, as I feel the lack of AC3 passthrough is the biggest weakness with the Tablo (you are taking a free data stream and making it worse…) and probably the biggest reason more people will not buy the Tablo.
My main family room has an HD TV and surround, and that’s where I watch most TV (using Roku). It would be cool to stream to our laptops and computers also, but that’s not as important as having the best TV experience at the spot where most of the TV is watched.
+1 for digital surround pass-through.
Out of curiosity… do any/some/most stations broadcast a Dolby surround encoded 2.0, or is it straight stereo? I haven’t had the opportunity to fire up the Tablo channel in our theater but imagine we will once the new seasons start. I can decode Dolby Pro Logic I/II. Can’t say I care too much about AC3 if I already get surround through 2.0 channels.
@cedarrapidsboy - We do mixdown the full 5.1 to two channel AAC which preserves the surround info. A Dolby pro-logic decoder should be able to retrieve it (although not as well as a discrete 5.1 AC3 digital stream).
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@cedarrapidsboy - We do mixdown the full 5.1 to two channel AAC which preserves the surround info. A Dolby pro-logic decoder should be able to retrieve it (although not as well as a discrete 5.1 AC3 digital stream).
I’ll do some listening. This is a pleasant surprise.
I too am surprised and disappointed that there is no support for surround sound. Please move it up the priority list. Thanks for all the good work so far…
@cedarrapidsboy - We do mixdown the full 5.1 to two channel AAC which preserves the surround info. A Dolby pro-logic decoder should be able to retrieve it (although not as well as a discrete 5.1 AC3 digital stream).You guys should have stated this from the beginning.
Also, did you mean Dolby Pro Logic II decoder? (Pro Logic is only 4 channels). This is good enough for the time being :-bd
@cedarrapidsboy - We do mixdown the full 5.1 to two channel AAC which preserves the surround info. A Dolby pro-logic decoder should be able to retrieve it (although not as well as a discrete 5.1 AC3 digital stream).You guys should have stated this from the beginning.
Also, did you mean Dolby Pro Logic II decoder? (Pro Logic is only 4 channels). This is good enough for the time being :-bd
Unfortunately, I think the Roku only is capable of 5.1 if it’s in AC3 format. If it’s a 2 channel AAC, does anyone know if your receiver can still extrapolate the information coming from a Roku?
Unfortunately, I think the Roku only is capable of 5.1 if it's in AC3 format. If it's a 2 channel AAC, does anyone know if your receiver can still extrapolate the information coming from a Roku?
Full disclosure. I’m an idiot. Now, I am familiar with Handbrake and when it does an AAC 2.0 down-mix, you have to decide to do mono, stereo, or one of the pro logics (from the CLI: mono/stereo/dpl1/dpl2). If Tablo isn’t specifically encoding dpl during the down-mix than I really doubt you’ll get anything from your audio receiver than an ignorant spreading of the strict stereo signal.
To beat a dead horse… a confirmation on the specific encoding during the down-mix would be super nice.
If it's a 2 channel AAC, does anyone know if your receiver can still extrapolate the information coming from a Roku?
Oh, and as long-time Roku user – YES. Roku passes it unmolested to the receiver. If the 2.0 stream is Dolby Pro Logic encoded… and your receiver supports DPL… than it will sound great!
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Based on these tips I went ahead and purchased a Tablo, and I’m happy to report that surround sound works for me. I cycled through the DPL settings on my receiver and have surround sound coming from the Tablo through a Roku 3. Haven’t had a chance to try it on good source material, like an NFL game, but on the talk shows there is audience noise coming from the surround speakers so I can tell it works.
Surround sound, DTS, etc is VERY important to me
Surround sound, DTS, etc is VERY important to me
I’m not aware of any OTA channels having DTS. It’s just AC-3 (Dolby Digital).