No DTS-HD sound from Zidoo z1000 pro

I can't really know if the "Audio is not supported" message is from the Zidoo or the LG C1, or perhaps from the processor telling the TV it can't process that RAW data so the TV is just displaying that message based on the eARC handshake. (I assume what Zidoo calls RAW, is what is usually called Bitstream). I haven't seen that message before and I don't have another TV to put in its place to see what it says.

But none of this really matters because the the Oppo passes DTS through the TV to the processor just fine. And my amp shows DTS, so it confirms it's not translated to another codec first by the Oppo. I hook up the Zidoo to the same cable as the Oppo (replace the Oppo with the Zidoo) and now DTS, LPCM and DD no longer work. And as I mentioned earlier, I already hooked the Zidoo up to the processor directly, and that didn't work any different than going to the TV first. So the TV is not a factor.

If it's settings somewhere, I have yet to find it on the Oppo (or the PC) or the Zidoo and that's what I'm hoping someone on this forum might be able to solve. But as it looks now, it appears to be a problem either with the Z1000's in general, which is doubtful because I don't hear others complaining about it, or my specific unit is DOA so if I don't get this solved soon, I will replace it with another one before my return/replace policy with Amazon runs out. I really thought it would be a setting somewhere though.

 

If you google LG C1 DTS passthrough EVERY single post will tell you it's not possible. And the Audio is Not Support is from the TV.
Audio Decoder -HE-AAC, AAC, MP2, MP3, PCM, WMA, apt-X, LPCM, MPEG-1, AC3(Dolby Digital), Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby AC-4
Doesn't decode = will not passthrough. So what you say you are getting is literally impossible. Unless you got some unique C1.

 

2 questions:
1. If the Oppo recoded the audio to PCM, would my Marantz still say DTS? Because I see DTS on the Marantz.
2. When I connect the Zidoo straight to the Marantz as you're recommending as a solution, I still get the same error message.

 

Okay I just did it on the Oppo. I can tell you exactly what mine did. Oppo Set for Audio to be Bitstream. For Jurassic World which is DTS-X. Will pretty much DTS-HDMA with meta data.
Oppo > TV > Soundbar. Because it fails to passthrough because of the TV the Oppo automatically remixing it to what my soundbar recognises as "Multi Channel PCM". Even when you press and hold "Info" on remote on screen will show it's doing DTS-HDMA. But it's done a mix to PCM. Your Marantz might be recognise this remixing as DTS is my guess.
Oppo > Soundbar > TV. Soundbar displays DTS-X which is correct.

On the Zidoo > TV > Soundbar. Will get no audio and a popup at the bottom saying Audio Not Supported. Seems like Zidoo does not have a fallback feature like the Oppo for when it fails to bitstream.
Zidoo > Soundbar >TV. Soundbar displays DTS-X.

So my suggestion is do BOX > AVR > TV and trouble shoot from there.

 

Unlike the Oppo, the Zidoo is not licensed to decode to multi channel PCM so the best you would get in this scenario is stereo PCM, but only if Audio is set to Auto (or Stereo LPCM).

If Audio is set to RAW, this forces bitstream only and you'd get silence.

 

This is the confusing bit.

No, if the Oppo was decoding to PCM the Marantz would say Multi-CH IN (or similar)

Can you post the EDID with the Zidoo connected like this:

Zidoo > Marantz > TV

And let's see what that says...

 

Interesting discovery (for me anyway): The Oppo -> TV -> Marantz: when I play a DTS movie, I get sound but the Oppo converts the audio to PCM surround. I never noticed this and I do get height channels still, somehow. Another good reason to connect the Oppo and Zidoo directly to the Marantz.

So I went back and connected the Zidoo -> Marantz -> TV and found that it does indeed handle all the DTS flavors now, so I apologize - I don't know what I was smokin' when I tested this setup last time. So the only thing left is the PCM flavors which still don't work, as you expected, Mr. MarkSwift. Interestingly enough, the Marantz shows PCM input but I get no sound (see attached photo). And I also attached the EDID export while connected in this manner (to the Marantz vs. the TV). Thus far the movies I own that have PCM tracks, they also have DD tracks so there's at least an alternative to reading lips.

So since it looks like we finally got the movie playback problems solved, I finally tried music - I have a large collection of FLAC and MP3's (and some old WAV's I haven't yet converted to FLAC), and none of them make any sound whatsoever. And yet the amp switches to PCM Stereo, so it seems the Zidoo is at least trying to send something that is stereo. Baffling! I looked through all the audio settings and couldn't find anything to resolve this, and all the experimenting with those settings I tried didn't help. Doing some research and I see that each of the lossless audio formats (FLAC & WAV) are transmitted as PCM to the amp by whatever device is playing the music, so if the Zidoo can't do PCM then how is this thing supposed to play lossless music files? Even the MP3's didn't make a peep. HDMI=RAW, Downmix=off, Sample rate=on.

 

Turn the volume up on the Zidoo.

(then turn Settings/Audio/Volume Direct Mode <ON> )

 

now that we have under agreement that the C1 does not play or passthrough DTS. I'd also recommend you look at your media player settings on your PC. Sounds like that is also doing PCM conversion. By Default most of the software on PC does not bitstream either. You have to do into Audio Render and change it. Otherwise it will convert everything to PCM even Formats that are supported.

 

How do I turn the Zidoo volume all the way up? It’s doing CEC to effectively turn the Marantz processor volume up. And we don’t that animal getting past 80db volume! And I already have the “Volune direct mode”=On.

 

The Zidoo volume control only affects audio output in PCM (Flac/MP3/AAC etc), but if Volume Direct is on then volume is at max, so that's not the problem.

 

So I finally solved the silent music problem.
It turns out this strange toggle did the trick: "Media player controls TV volume" in the settings under "Other". Once I turned it on, the music played fine - at the full volume the Marantz was set to. I don't understand the logic here as it relates to playing music differently than playing movies, but with "Media player controls AVR volume" off and TV volume on, both music and movies play fine, but the remote no longer controls the room's audio volume. And you can't have both switches on (which makes sense, I suppose - but I've never seen these settings on any other AV device). If anyone understands the logic behind this, I would love to hear it. But now I have to go program my old Harmony remote to control everything in this new setup since I don't want to play with 2 or 3 remotes.
This device is so nice; but these quirks... frustrating. It still have some rough edges to work out. Or at least write a user's manual that has some meat on the bones. Thankfully I have the help of you guys on this forum.

 

Music will generally be PCM so volume can be controlled, movies will generally be a proprietary encoded codec (Dolby/DTS) and so it cannot.

Also, CEC is the work of the devil and should never be used. Unfortunately that negates the use of ARC.

 

Yeah, I read that music would be transmitted via PCM typically. But as the Zidoo isn't licensed to do PCM, according to MarkSwift (above), and the fact that LPCM is the last codec that still doesn't work on my setup, I don't understand how it's able to send PCM for music to the Marantz, but that's what the Marantz is saying it's getting when I play music.

And I would have to completely agree... CEC has been nothing but a thorn in my side - always one thing or another that just doesn't work right, and not work consistently. Even on new high end components. It's another baffling thing in today's world of connective technology. I'm a software developer which makes it even more difficult to understand, even given the fact that many competing companies are involved and it's hard to get a consensus that way. But jeeze!

 

I didn't say that - I said the Zidoo is not licensed to decode proprietary codecs (DTS, Dolby etc) to multi channel PCM.

PCM isn't a codec, it's a DtoA method - licensing is not relevant.