Is Surround Sound possible through the optical out?

WD Legacy Products WD TV Live Hub Discussions
1

I’m interested in possibly purchasing the WD Live Hub for use with my older component TV/AV receiver. Neither support HDMI.

Can the optical output on the WD Live Hub send 5.1 audio to my av receiver which is capable of playing back dolby digital, and DTS surround sound? I got the impression from reading the literature that the optical out will only support 2 channel stereo. Some of the posts in the forum now lead me to believe otherwise.

Can someone clarify this for me? If it does support surround sound, what movie surround sound file types would I be able to stream from the USB drive built into the WD Live Hub, out the optical and into my av receiver successfully?

Any clarification would be extremely appreciated

2

Passthrough is supported for

AAC, Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, DTS, Dolby TrueHD, WMA Pro

You will need TOSLINK cable, and it is not included in package.

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3

foetus wrote:

Passthrough is supported for

AAC, Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, DTS, Dolby TrueHD, WMA Pro

 

You will need TOSLINK cable, and it is not included in package.

Remember that your amp/receiver needs to be compatible with these formats as well…

4

I’m not sure that the HD format can transit through optical… only through HDMI…

5

Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1 Surround Sound via Optical / Toslink works fine on my setup.

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6

Thanks Joey… that’s the acknowlegement I was looking for.

And… thanks again everyone else for interrupting your turkey day and adding your two cents.

efk3