After talking it over with one of our display experts, it seems like it’s falling back to PCM. It’s possible that the ‘Auto’ setting doesn’t work with your setup. In this case, we’d suggest trying the “Pass Through” instead. Hope this helps!

I Just got this TV (65”) and it updated to firmware V306, and noticed this exact issue.

I have an older Pioneer VSX-921 and have tried everything but cannot get surround to work properly. (5.1 speaker/sub setup)

I initially tried toslink and noticed only the front and Center channels working on “Auto Surround”, with no indication of surround. Used Netflix test pattern to test audio channels. Netflix was confirmed to be on 5.1 audio as well. This happens whether I choose Pass Through or Auto for my digital output setting.

If I choose PCM, Netflix switches to the stereo audio instead, as expected.

I then tried ARC since the receiver supports it. Same deal, it ends up where the surround speakers don’t output anything.

ARC (and Control on the Pioneer) was the weirdest testing. Power cycling (as indicated by Pioneer’s manual) was necessary, and at least twice during my testing the receiver seemed to pick up a proper surround output on ARC (it would flash on the receiver) but then flip back to non-surround after a couple of seconds. I did try different HDMI cables but this didn’t help. I also tried both auto and pass through here.

Incidentally, the Control aspect during ARC testing was a mess. It would randomly mute the receiver and lose the link between the TV’s volume and the receiver’s. However, power and standby worked well.

For now I’m using the Pioneer’s advanced surround “Extended Stereo” with the digital optical out to at least feed the surround speakers which works OK, but it’s a bit annoying how this isn’t working properly.

I’m having the same issue with this TV, I’ve spent hours messing with every setting and configuration possible but I can’t get this TV to output a surround sound signal to my Samsung HT-E6730W receiver. My setup was working perfectly fine with my V505-H1 TV however, this TCL TV has been a nightmare and now even CEC control has stopped working. Returning it to BestBuy, suppose this is what you get for $210 on a Black Friday deal. I really hope they update this review to reflect the problems with this TV and its surround sound outputting as I would have never purchased this TV if I knew it wouldn’t work in my setup.

Either they tested this on an older firmware that was broken with new updates or they didn’t test this correctly. It refuses to output anything over optical except stereo pcm. When connected to a sonos playbase that only has optical, no TV apps, or TV signal deliver a 5.1 signal, whether on pass through or auto.

I then tested a 2016 roku ultra which still had an optical port. When testing with the roku ultra directly connected by optical to the sonos, everything is 5.1 dolby as expected. But when trying to pass the same signal through the TV, it reverts back to stereo pcm. This is both on auto and pass through settings.

This means I annoyingly have to rotate the optical cable to the TV to get stereo sound for watching TV and then back to the roku for surround on apps.

The TV needs to retested and this review updated.

Hello all,

We will be updating and retesting our test unit for audio passthrough shortly. Stay tunned for our results and hopefully we can clear this up.

Thank you for bringing this to our attention!

Dec 12, 2022 12:19 PM By  Kyle Bartlett

Hello all, We will be updating and retesting our test unit for audio passthrough shortly. Stay tunned for our results and hopefully we can clear this up. Thank you for bringing this to our attention!

I figured it out. It is indeed a firmware issue. I manually downloaded v335 which been available since September but yet to be pushed Ota. It unlocked new sound settings and partially fixed surround over optical. It now works on TV, Netflix and Amazon video. Does not work on peacock or paramount. It also STILL does not pass surround over optical from my roku ultra.

Hi Noel, I am glad to hear the update resolved some of your issues. We do not have a Roku Ultra in office so we cannot help you on that front. We still have a retest open on this unit. Thanks for getting back to us with your updated situation!