*Official* Roku 2 Media Streamer Thread - Page 4

Just got word that it has shipped. Still promise date of Aug 10. I seriously doubt it will be here by then, but not a big deal.

This is first Amazon order I placed that took more than a day or so to ship (this took 5). I guess it could be high demand for this device???

D'oh! I saw the comment earlier about removing optical audio but I didn't realize they totally eliminated all digital audio except for HDMI. For some reason I spaced out and thought I saw the mini-plug was spdif. It's not...

My receiver is optical / coax digital audio only. I sold my XDS on craigslist today and stopped by Best Buy and grabbed the 2 XS. Looks like I may need to take it back and pick up another XDS

Yeah, this is all my fault for not paying better attention but it's sad to see the high end model eliminated audio options.

Have you tried it using analog audio from the Roku2 to your receiver? I believe the original Roku can only do 2.0 audio over optical, so you aren't loosing channels by going analog. And it's compressed streaming audio, so any sound loss shouldn't be noticeable.

I don't own a Roku so I don't speak from experience. I'm curious to hear what you or others think of this. I'm on the fence between a Roku2 XS and the Apple TV2, and the lack of optical jack on the Roku had me leaning toward the ATV2. Yet the Apple only does 720p, and I might want to use it on a 1080p TV.

Tough decision.

My main reason to move to the XS was the 5.1 audio on netflix. I don't see much difference otherwise. I don't want to part with my B&K AVR 507 any time soon because it's such a great performer. The only thing lacking on it is HDMI.

Yeah, I guess I could give that a try but it's killing me to not use all the options!

I hear you - my Denon doesn't have HDMI, so I can't get 5.1 either.

I believe ATV2 only does 2.0 audio over optical for Netflix. Anyone know if the PS3 does 5.1 Netflix over optical?

They both do 5.1 over optical. Also, from my experience the Apple Tv has been a piece of crap for Netflix streaming. Beautiful interface, but constant pausing and buffering issues. Search around

Someone on the Rokuforum brought up the fact that the netflix audio stream is DD+ which is available only via HDMI. That being said, I'm not sure a HDMI to TOSLINK (or other digital audio) would work if the receiver cannot decode it.

According to a ROKU Forum post here ROKU made available Firmware 4.1 build 1256 as of Mon Aug 01, 2011 10:38 pm. It apparently replaces build 1255.


Dana

Roku XS-2 HDMI to 1080P DLP set. I have a coaxial cable coming out of the DLP to an Onkyo 503 receiver and according to the the Onkyo it is receiving and pushing 5:1 both streaming Netflix and playing Mp4 videos and it sounds great.

That is correct. The Roku2 only does passthorugh with DD+. It does not transcode it to DD. So the only way to get the Netflix 5.1 audio from the Roku 2 is to use the HDMI output and have a receiver that can decode DD+. Otherwise you have to stick with the 2.0 pcm audio from the Netflix streaming.

It's still better than what the Revue does. It always sends out a 7.1/5.1(depending on your receiver)signal, even if you are only listening to stereo content, so your receiver is unable to apply any post processing like DPLIIx.

My Roku 2 XS had this problem and the update seems to have fixed it.

Just got my Roku 2.

One issue...I have a Sony XBR1 that apparently does not support HDCP through its HDMI ports.

Roku will not work with it. Works fine with the SD cable, but who wants that???

Also, It updated to 4.1 build 1259 this morning.

Any ideas what I can do to "fool" it into thinking I have HDCP?

Nothing outside of purchasing a "little black box"... back in the day they ran over 100 bucks. A little searching should bring you some details and current pricing.

As posted here:


Dana

Has the above been addressed yet?

Not as of yesterday. I finally returned mine as I got tired of the overblown contrast. It makes your TV look like it's in torch mode.

Did todays update address it? Anyone know?

No idea about the new one. I'm able to compensate since I can change the input I'm using for the Roku 2 to expect a PC signal instead of a video signal. I think even my tv is capable of this if I rename the input to pc.

I wrote Roku's feedback email concerning this, linking to aaronwt's post above. They wrote back saying they couldnt log into AVS (it was also down for me today too), but they were going to check with engineering on this issue.

Then tonight I got the follow email:

I appreciate this response, and have no problem supporting this company. I believe there will be a Roku 2 XS in my future.

Sweet, I have also been concerned about this and am hopeful to see it corrected, as I will not adjust my plasma's image to compensate for the Roku's error.

To give you an idea,

I streamed Mad Men (1080p/5.1 DD+) from Netflix on Roku1, Roku2, ATV2 & Revue.

Video:
Roku2 HD @1080p, Supports adaptive streaming, video quality is very Dark in dark scenes. **

ATV2 HD @720p, No adaptive streaming, video quality is very good

Revue HD @720p (up-converted to 1080p), No adaptive streaming, video quality is Excellent. I may add the SD content (up-converted to 1080p), almost like HD @720p!!

Audio:
Roku2 output 5.1 DD+ Over HDMI or 2PCM over HDMI & Analog out (simultaneously). NO optical out.

ATV2 output 5.1 DD Over HDMI & optical out or 2PCM over HDMI & optical out (simultaneously).

Revue output 7.1 PCM Over HDMI & 5.1 DD over optical out or 2PCM over HDMI & optical out (simultaneously).
The optical port can output 5.1 DD regardless of what the source is!
The HDMI will only output 7.1 if the source is 7.1, if the source is 5.1 DD+ then the output only come out from front L/R speakers as PCM @ 48 Khz.


**The adaptive streaming, start at a low and ramp up (takes about a minute) each time after FF/RW very annoying! Not sure I'm sold on the adaptive streaming, since I never had any issues with rebuffering to begin with. (w/any device).


None of them is perfect, yet.

Cheers

The Roku2 is dark becuase it's sending out PC levels. When your input is set to expect PC levels from the device, the picture is great(as far as netflix streaming is concerned). Better than the Revue and Boxee Box which both play the lower 720P/2.0 PCM encodes.

The Revue always outputs 7.1 pcm over HDMI only it has active channels with no audio so there can be no post processing from the receiver. With Netflix it is only capable of playing the 2.0 PCM tracks right now(at least that is how mine is) Like the Boxee Box it doesn't play the 5.1 DD+ tracks yet like the Roku2 can.

I decided to try out the Roku 2 XS, and I'm initially very pleased with it so far.

Audio-wise, I'm glad I knew to expect no optical, so I avoided that dissapointment. Nonetheless, the 2.0 surround through analog into my Denon with Pro-Logic II in cinema mode sounds excellent. It would be nice if Roku made a more expensive model that had a Dolby Digital Plus decoder and output that 5.1 over optical, but I don't know if many people would want that option and I'm not sure it would sound that much better. I think Roku is probably making a smart move by keeping all units under that $100 sweet spot.

Video-wise, I found the picture to be impressive at 720p. The Netflix adaptive streaming seems to work well, although it is a little disconcerting at first seeing the initial compressed video. However, within 10 seconds the image improved, and at the 30 second mark it's good 720p HD. There's still noticeable color banding in gradations.

Also, yes, the image is dark, but only in night scenes. I watched the beginning on Disney's "Tangled", and the opening scene which takes place in a dark forest had a lot of details lost. I turned up the brightness on the TV which helped, but I'm looking forward to Roku's promised software fix for this.

I also watched some HD movie trailers on Flixster, which look and sounded very good. No adaptive streaming, it starts HD and so far no re-buffer problems. I watched a bit of "Pineapple Express" on the free Crackle movie channels, and it looked good - about DVD quality. This is a nice addition.

Also, played some Angry Birds, which is a fun game and even though it plays better on an iPhone, iPad or Ipod Touch, the Roku version was no slouch.

Toinght I'm going to try either a full Netflix movie (haven't seen "Pulp Fiction" in a while), or maybe use the $5 credit from Amazon movies and watch "The Adjustment Bureau".

Hi Everyone,
I'm a very long time AVSer, but haven't kept current on all the latest developments.
I want to be able to stream Netflix in 5.1 audio.
So, I just upgraded from the original Roku to Roku 2 XS.
I have a Sony STR-DA7100ES AVR that has always decoded everything that I threw at it.
However, when I try and send the Netflix 5.1 signal via HDMI, I get no sound and the display reads "Linear PCM (192 KHz)".
If I change back to "Stereo" output, I can use AFD to get a good Pro-Logic sound.
Is there any way to get true 5.1 decoding?
I'm sure this has been addressed somewhere before, but I couldn't find it. Can someone point me to a link? If it's not possible, then what do I need in to get to trans-code the signal, or is there a list of possible newer AVRs that will do it automatically?
Thanks in advance.

According to this, it looks like that receiver doesn't do Dolby Digital Plus, which is needed to do 5.1 from Netflix via HDMI.

Have you tried 5.1 on your Roku2 setup from a non-Netflix source, like Amazon? I'm not sure, but maybe the HD movie trailers on Flixter might be 5.1.

I have a Pioneer 94txh receiver, and it does decode DD+. I have not been able to get DD+ out of my Roku 2 yet, and I am about to give up on it. I have 5.1 in the Roku settings, and in the movie info screen (of a movie that has 5.1) in Netflix, I change drop down audio to 5.1 as well, so I think I am doing everything right on the Roku. I have been playing with every setting on my receiver, and can't get it to work. To be fair, I have not yet had the need to play anything DD+ on my receiver yet, so maybe there is something broken on it, but it flawlessly decodes all of the hirez audio from blu-rays.

Try a BD with a DD+ commentary track and see how that works.

Thanks Aaron- I was actually going to ask if anyone knows of any BDs that have DD+. I never realized that some of the commentaries are DD+. Do you know any off the top of your head that have a commentary track in DD+?

Thanks for the input (so to speak).
A lot of what seems to be happening is what I call "early adopter's syndrome..."
How about some feedback from other new Roku 2 XS owners? Has anyone successfully got their AVR to decode the 5.1 stream from Netflix?
Also, in reading the posts it seems that there are Roku people floating around this forum. Can any of you help?
Thanks.

I recieved a good, accurate, and timely response from Tom M., Product Manager at Roku. His email address is feedback@roku.com .