Help Needed - 5.1 mkv's over HDMI

WD Legacy Products WD TV Live & Live Plus
1

Hi,

thinking of getting the WD Live 1080p media streamer to stream files from a netgear NAS drive (mainly .mkv files with 5.1 audio)

the wd live will be connecting to a samsung lcd tv via hdmi and then my 5.1 surround sound system will be connected from the samung tv to the 5.1 sub via toslink optical cable

i was wondering if the hdmi connection on the wd live streamer will support 5.1 audio over hdmi as i dont want to connect the optical cable from the streamer to the surround sound as then i wont get 5.1 sound from the tv unless i switch over cables etc

any help would be appreciated

2

Yes, the live does indeed stream 5.1 audio through HDMI (assuming you have turned on “digital” in the preferences).  The manual seems to imply this isn’t the case (that it only works through the optical cable), but I have done extensive tests with both DTS and AC3 and both are streamed at 5.1 in both optical and HDMI cables.

3

thnx