I use 5Ch Enhanced which auto detects the stream and displays the what is being sent to the amp.
My receiver basically remembers whatever the last setting it was on for two channel on a given input, which is usually handy. The only time I tinker with it is before or after listening to music (I hate faux surround applied to stereo music). This is nice, because I generally opt for something more sophisticated than DPL II.
Test was positive-ish. If I switch my amp to DSP Surround I get a popup that says Dolby Prologic II is being used. Sounds terrible though and very muted. If I switch back to 5 Ch Enhanced the sound is more natural and employs the centre channel, however the amp is doing all the processing and not applying Prologic II.
When I really want to hear quality audio on TV I switch to Live TV on my TV which passes the Dolby Digital stream to my AVR amp.
I can live with this until we get AC3 pass through, or I find another DVR solution :D. I kid, I kid.
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Does your receiver offer other matrix surround options from THX or DTS? I have found that DPL II is a bit dated and not as good as some of the others. I don’t remember which one I am using at the moment, but it might be DTS Neo.
Yes it does, and when configured the way I like the amp automatically figures out from the audio stream which decoder to use, be it DTS or Dolby Digital or whatever.
I don’t understand the genesis to this discussion. According to this thread, Tablo already has surround sound.
I see nothing in the documentation that says it does not support surround anywhere except the community forums. please reference this topic in some documentation. I have an AVR, I don’t need Tablo or the Roku to decode anything, I just need it to pass through to my AVR, and as far as I know Tablo supports this.
I can tell you definitively, the Talbo does NOT pass Dolby 5.1 to anything. There have been several threads of people unhappy about this, and Tablo has said that 5.1 is still on their roadmap, but no commitment of any timeframe.
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The Tablo transcodes the MPEG-2 video and 5.1 AC3 audio of the OTA stream to h.264 video and 2.0 AAC audio for universal playback on all devices.
And from Tablo on down-mixing 5.1 to AAC…
(And I use Dolby PLII to playback my Tablo source to my 5.1 speakers, which works just fine for OTA content in my setup)
TabloTVSep '14
@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).
ok, you’re telling me that everyone’s pissed about it, but you’re not telling me why. I can start a thread saying that I’m pissed off that Obama is taking my guns away, and i can probably get a lot of people to agree with me, but it’s simply not true. Likewise, just because there are threads on this discussion does not tell me that it’s true. You’re not telling me anything that proves there is no 5.1. I’m not doubting you nor am i trying to defend Tablo, I just want something written that says they do not currently pass 5.1. The reason I ask is because I have a 5.1 setup that is ONLY set up to receive DD (not DD+ or PLII). If it gets 2 channel stereo, then only my front two speakers output sound, my rear speakers are silent. When watching tablo, my rear speakers have sound coming out of them. My system does NOT simulate 5.1, it only receives raw 5.1 and outputs it without any modification, decompression, or transcoding. So I’m stumped as to why you all would say this. It SOUNDS true based on the threads, but then why is my system outputting what sounds like 5.1?
I copied Tablo’s response to this question in the post above- if you don’t believe them, then fine, don’t.
If your rear speakers have sound, it is through either Dolby Pro Logic decoding the 2.0 AAC, or another 5.1 simulation feature of your AVR. I can tell you for a FACT, based on my experience, Tablo’s own statements on this forum, and my knowledge of Home Theater equipment and Dolby, that Talbo does not pass Dolby 5.1.
Again, here is what Tablo says about their audio capabilities:
TabloTVSep '14
@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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The Tablo does not currently support discrete 5.1
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Here is an official response for you: “We transcode ATSC MPEG 2 to H.264. We currently transcode the AC3 to two channel AAC but hope to add an AC3 pass through in the near future.”
Sources:
Under Advanced & Technical Questions:
http://support.tablotv.com/hc/en-us
@mtrodrig84 - Not sure why you’re hearing sound from your rear speakers since we do not support full 5.1. But hey, sound from all speakers is good, right?! 
OMG I’m just finding out about this after I bought into Tablo. Having buyers remorse and feeling stupid now. I can live with the half-baked Roku “Preview” app for now, but no 5.1 really stinks.
Frankly I’m taken aback by the cavalier attitude I’m seeing towards the priority of 5.1. This should have been a critical success factor for launch. The 2-channel Dolby Pro Logic suggesting is borderline insulting.
So as I understand it, because there are some folks with second-rate TV’s and no desire for full channel sound, then we ALL must endure our audio being nerfed to 2.0?! What’s up with all of you that think only ‘audiophiles’ have AVRs? I’m wondering if you think HD1080 is important? Seriously though, my crummy 720p TV in my bedroom I got from WalMart plays 5.1 just fine from my Roku over HDMI.
@TabloTV, Please add an option to record all audio streams as received natively (5.1 or otherwise). Leave it off by default so all the newbs with junk TVs can hear stuff. Let the rest of us that actually care turn it on. Heck, if for some reason one of my TVs now or in the future won’t play sounds from an AC3 audio stream over HDMI, I will gladly get rid of said TV or buy an el-cheapo AVR and speaker combo.
Thank you all for reading my rant.
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Well said. I wish they would do as you stated…
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The Tablo was designed to work with portable devices first and foremost (tablets, smartphones, and laptops), so there really wasn’t a need for 5.1 surround sound. Support for televisions came later, though it did support the AppleTv and Roku at launch. Chromecast came next, and finally FireTv and AndroidTv. Also, the Tablo was designed to compete with SimpleTv, another device that does not support surround sound.
“Crummy TV sets” has nothing to do whatsoever with the Tablo. No TV set (that I know of) has 5.1 surround sound through their internal speakers (if there is one, please put in a link). You have to have some sort of AVR to get surround sound.
What I recommend is that anything you must have 5.1 sound on, watch it live via an antenna connected to your TV / AVR system.
- I am not a newb.
- My HDTV is not junk, it’s a 52" Sony Bravia. For some reason, it will not decode 5.1 AC3 sent to it over HDMI.
- My HDTV only has Stereo speakers, so 2.0 is fine.
- So yes, 2.0 will suffice for the masses.
- If it took you more than 30 days to realize you were NOT getting 5.1 audio from your Tablo, this feature is NOT that important to you. If I’m wrong and it’s less than the 30 days, then you can just return the Tablo no?
- I do want 5.1 audio, but until then, we can wait, it’s not a deal breaker.
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I have an AVR, and while discrete 5.1 would be nice it CERTAINLY is not the end of the world. There are other issues I see as more important (Like getting the guide to show two weeks, rather than one day, for one). Clearly there is a group that see the 5.1 issue as critical, but there is a group that sees the guide issue as critical, and a group that sees the TabloConnect login issue as critical, etc. etc. Every one of those groups has people that think that the issue that is most important to THEM is the most important issue PERIOD!
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It’s clear that I made a mistake then. I apparently drew the wrong conclusions when reading the marketing material. I have no desire to watch OTA on my phone. It’s a nifty feature, but of little value to me. I want a solid back-end networked DVR that my family can operate and isn’t tied to a cable subscription. OTA has everything we need for conventional television so I’m very much wanting a cable-quality experience (regarding the equipment, not the compression quality) without the high monthly expense.
When I say crummy TV sets I am referring to those that cannot take an HDMI transport stream with 5.1 audio and play it through its internal 2-channel stereo speakers. I have no expectation that my WalMart 32" in my bedroom will start playing surround sound. But it will play perfectly acceptable crappy stereo sound if I play a stream through my Roku which contains only a 5.1 channel track. What I do fully expect, is my 60" in the living room with a modest AVR setup (<1k $USD) sound as it should and as I’ve become accustomed to since I dunno, like 15 years ago?
What I recommend is that anything you must have 5.1 sound on, watch it live via an antenna connected to your TV / AVR system.
Not a suitable workaround. I want 5.1 whenever 5.1 is broadcast – live, timeshifted, or played back from scheduled recording. My antenna drops to my network panel, and I have no desire to split and run to various jacks around the house. No sir, no thanks. I want a whole-home DVR that gets it done.
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