Formuler Z7+ - Dolby and DTS

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  • 4. Instruction Articles

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  • Thanks droidbug. I have already tried this before. Soundbar has HDMI 4k pass through with ARC (Two HDMI ports). I will try the whole process again after a factory reset and come back if successful otherwise will wait for FW updates. Maybe there is a fix for this via an update.


    Volume leveling or normalizing is pain (especially at night) and I am also looking for a solution for that, anyone please help. Thanks in advance.

  • I'm sorry i do not know anything else to try.


    Problem is this forum is very quiet and support is non existent to be fair. Does not give me much confidence in this box for when something does go wrong. Not bashing admin on here but it's true, if Formuler want to sell these boxes in current price range then they need to up there game and offer better and much quicker support. Other manufacturers forums are buzzing with people and support staff in some cases and there boxes are on par in price range. The only ones on here doing much helping are the customers themselves.


    We keep being told about an update maybe at end of month, i want to know if this update brings many fixes/improvements or bring in even more bugs. We have been left in the dark, we don't really know when the update is going to come and to not know anything in regards to what's been and being fixed is frustrating to say the least. I use to web develop myself and know how pain staking it is when you are dealing with tens of thousands of lines of code and even more tracking down that obnoxious bug can be difficult even using the best IDE software and that's just your're own code. By the time we get this update my return window will be getting very close although i have paypal as protection if i end up needing to go down that route.


    I bought this box for the mytvonline app as to be honest i prefer it over others minus the issues and others also bought this box mainly due to the app.


    I love the box, i have only tried one before this and that was even worse, you had to install custom community maintained firmware (that has never been audited) over original firmware as most bugs were never fixed in original manufacturer firmware, then you had to install patches, add-ons to fix bugs that been around 3+ years, the entire process was awful and it took me 14 months before i could even consider another box it was that pain staking to deal with.


    Here's hoping for a good update coming to solve some of the issues, unfortunately any issues that been reported recently will not be making it into the firmware if it does come out at end of March simply as there would not be enough time to fix unless they are very minor and easy to track and fix bugs. Some of the bugs reported on here are anything but simple to fix so is going to take allot of time.

    • Official Post

    Hi,
    i wanted to help and promised the how to with pictures but i`m now at moment in Hospital and have surgery. So i must sorry for this delay, soon i will answer missed postings. Also sorry to hear that this support is not good enough. In future Formuler works on many changes, hope then will some users be happy er. By the way, in first years of Formuler (Linux) this forum was User to User forum with Help from all not only Mods and Admin, this changed completely with the Android Boxes.
    Formuler is working with big presser on Bugfixing and user requests, next update will come very soon.

  • Hi,
    i wanted to help and promised the how to with pictures but i`m now at moment in Hospital and have surgery. So i must sorry for this delay, soon i will answer missed postings. Also sorry to hear that this support is not good enough. In future Formuler works on many changes, hope then will some users be happy er. By the way, in first years of Formuler (Linux) this forum was User to User forum with Help from all not only Mods and Admin, this changed completely with the Android Boxes.
    Formuler is working with big presser on Bugfixing and user requests, next update will come very soon.


    That's good to hear @SAM , I didn't mean to sound harsh or anything incase it came across that way. Looking forward to the update. Hoping you a speedy recovery! :smiling_face: Cheers.

  • From doing a software then a factory reset yesterday there does seems to be issues with some services. This is from a factory reset nothing changed, installed totally fresh.


    1) IPTV Launcher randomly crashes quite regular.
    2) Accessing Location via android -> google - > Location causes white screen, becomes unresponsive. (only way to access is doe location search via (magnifying glass)
    3) Google play services again like IPTV Launcher randomly crashes.

  • Hi, I want to share an update. I changed my provider and while checking different groups, channels, I found one German channel (don't understand German) with Dolby sound. Just reminder, I was not able to install audio codec on my Z7+ (so this is just out of the box, without any additional software). Z7+ is great....Please see attached picture. It means that many feature are provider dependent.


    I would really appreciate, if someone can guide me, how to solve the problem of Volume leveling or normalizing. It is pain (especially at night). Thanks in advance.

  • Check your tv settings as i know my tv has this feature and i have it turned off. It should be somewhere in menu > settings > sound something like that, every tv brand is different. On that picture i see 'audio mode' i'm not near my box so cant check what settings are in there. To my knowledge there is no such settings on the box, they are more app specific, ie. media players, many have there own settings to adjust volume and auto volume levelling etc.

  • Check your tv settings as i know my tv has this feature and i have it turned off. It should be somewhere in menu > settings > sound something like that, every tv brand is different. On that picture i see 'audio mode' i'm not near my box so cant check what settings are in there. To my knowledge there is no such settings on the box, they are more app specific, ie. media players, many have there own settings to adjust volume and auto volume levelling etc.


    Thanks again droidbug. As I mentioned earlier that my TV support DTS TruVolume and SurroundSound and Volume Leveling or Normalizing will work only with DTS. I have tried everything on my TV but no success. I installed audiocodec exactly as per your instructions one more time and left it there for more than 24 hours but MTO was keep crashing every 5 minutes or so. I have two providers and it happened with both. So finally I did a factory reset and now crashing has stopped. I dont't know where is the problem, maybe it was due to that audiocodec. So now I am just using my Z7+ as it came without any extra application as only purpose of this box is to watch tv with 4K content.


    I have a question, some times a popup appears asking to download an external codec (see picture), so what should I do with it?

  • Can i ask what app you are in when that popup appears? ie. mytvonline/mxplayer or something? i have not seen this myself but only have had my box for approx two weeks myself. If it's related to mytvonline app or MXPlayer then i would go ahead and install so the codec can be installed. As i have not seen this myself i do not know if it's from an app you may have downloaded or something but you did mention you have factory reset the box, so i assume it is appearing when you are watching something via mytvonline? maybe that channel that supports dolby sound? if so then it probably asking you to install the codec so it can then play the audio.

  • Yes, It was MTO as I dont's use any other applications. This pop up is quite frequent on different channels but I always ignore it. I think it is nothing to do with audiocodec. I m using this box since January and this popup is common since beginning.

  • Yes, It was MTO as I dont's use any other applications. This pop up is quite frequent on different channels but I always ignore it. I think it is nothing to do with audiocodec. I m using this box since January and this popup is common since beginning.


    Ok i have never came across this and assume it's the mytvonline app needing you to install a codec as it pops up when in there although again never popped up for me so raises suspicion.


    At this point i will tag @SAM as he may know if this is related to the app or possibly something else as to install the codec you have to download the addon linker as all previously mentioned.


    The only thing i can think of at this point is in mytvonline in settings menu you can choose external player on or off, if on (should be off by default) and when you play VOD it then asks what player you want to use, now if that was on and it was only happening on VOD then i would assume the external player is requesting to install the codec as it would be using an external player to play the VOD content, but from what i gather this happens on live tv to? in this case i am not sure.


    Give it sometime, i have tagged Sam and rest assured he will reply once he is back online.


    Edit:


    I uninstalled addon linker in hope it would uninstall the codec as cannot see codec under android > apps (even with system apps showing) and tried mytvonline and nothing appeared about installing a codec.

  • I have the box for a week and I already saw this popup when I changed to Nat Geo channel from my current provider! After downloading the codec, my TV gives the info that sound is on Dolby Digital when watching this specific channel! Nice...
    Using MTO btw!

  • I have the box for a week and I already saw this popup when I changed to Nat Geo channel from my current provider! After downloading the codec, my TV gives the info that sound is on Dolby Digital when watching this specific channel! Nice...
    Using MTO btw!


    oh really, well i will check later when by my box as i got these channels although i'm not sure if my provider stream channels with dolby digital, with this in mind it obviously needs the codec to play dolby digital audio. With this in mind @FanZ7+ i would go ahead and install. Thank you @MarioCaires :smiling_face:

    • Official Post

    This is Box message to install missing codec, if this appear you must install, otherwise you don`t have supported audio.

  • Hello I’m sorry I do see the instructions. I’m not tech savvy at all.lol. What do you think is the easiest way for someone below novice level? Lol. I’m worried i will mess something up. By the way what should my settings be? I have HDMI raw and HBR Raw 5.1? Thanks again. Very much appreciated.

  • Hi, I want to share an update. I changed my provider and while checking different groups, channels, I found one German channel (don't understand German) with Dolby sound. Just reminder, I was not able to install audio codec on my Z7+ (so this is just out of the box, without any additional software). Z7+ is great....Please see attached picture. It means that many feature are provider dependent.


    I would really appreciate, if someone can guide me, how to solve the problem of Volume leveling or normalizing. It is pain (especially at night). Thanks in advance.


    Thanks again. I am confused here as I am not tech savvy as well. Please see my earlier post where I mentioned that I have Dolby sound without any external codec and I just checked same channel and I am still getting Dolby (with popup). I have Discovery (with popup) with Dolby. I also checked National Geographic,no Dolby but the popup is there. So I am getting Dolby to some channels without any codec as I have not done it yet as per @SAM advice. The popup is there since beginning and I kept ignoring it.


  • Thanks again. I am confused here as I am not tech savvy as well. Please see my earlier post where I mentioned that I have Dolby sound without any external codec and I just checked same channel and I am still getting Dolby (with popup). I have Discovery (with popup) with Dolby. I also checked National Geographic,no Dolby but the popup is there. So I am getting Dolby to some channels without any codec as I have not done it yet as per @SAM advice. The popup is there since beginning and I kept ignoring it.


    In that case select 'do not show again' then 'ok' when it appears that should stop it from reappearing, it must be installed otherwise you would not be able to hear the audio on channels with dolby audio so i would not worry about it. Also you will only have Dolby sound if that channel is streaming dolby. I just checked and i found a channel (discovery science hd & discovery velocity hd) with Dolby Digital and it asked me to install codec, other channels though like Nat Geo etc are not streamed with Dolby Digital for me with my provider so dependant on each channel if it is streaming with dolby and you're provider from my understanding.

    • Official Post

    I don`t understand why you not install it, its necessary for dd channels. Once you agreed it`s installed and the message pop up does not appear any more, of course box restart is also needed to take affect.

  • Thanks everyone. I am sorry if I have not make my question or problem more clear in my previous posts. Let me recapture it from posts.


    As topic of this thread is Dolby and DTS, I will divide it in two segments. I am not a tech savvy but will try my best.


    Dolby, as I mentioned earlier I am getting DD without any codec and DD is not my focus. So an external codec is nice to have but
    currently not my requirement.


    DTS, as mentioned earlier,I am using Yamaha sound bar which support DD/DTS with a Vizio 4K tv with DTS TruVolume and SurroundSound and has Volume Leveling (consistence volume) or Normalizing feature but it only works with DTS.


    I installed Formuler audiocodec exactly as per instructions one more time and left it there for more than 24 hours but MTO was keep crashing every 5 minutes or so. I have two providers and it happened with both. So finally I did a factory reset and now crashing has stopped. I don't know where is the problem, maybe it was due to that audiocodec. As codec is zip file and I don't know what audios will it support. Is DTS part of it? If yes, Will this codec will solve the problem of fluctuated volume (too high or too low) when changing channels. It is pain (especially at night). Or anyone has some other solution. See at the bottom of attached pic.


    I have read somewhere that licensing is a required for codecs, is Formuler doing anything about it? If it has already been addressed
    and Formuler codec includes DTS then how to solve the issue of MTO crashing after installing audio codec. Thanks in advance.


  • Dolby, as I mentioned earlier I am getting DD without any codec and DD is not my focus. So an external codec is nice to have but
    currently not my requirement.


    As previously mentioned install the codec and the popup will go away, whether or not you can hear the audio or not. From what i understand you have no issue with DD.



    DTS, as mentioned earlier,I am using Yamaha sound bar which support DD/DTS with a Vizio 4K tv with DTS TruVolume and SurroundSound and has Volume Leveling (consistence volume) or Normalizing feature but it only works with DTS.


    I installed Formuler audiocodec exactly as per instructions one more time and left it there for more than 24 hours but MTO was keep crashing every 5 minutes or so. I have two providers and it happened with both. So finally I did a factory reset and now crashing has stopped. I don't know where is the problem, maybe it was due to that audiocodec. As codec is zip file and I don't know what audios will it support. Is DTS part of it? If yes, Will this codec will solve the problem of fluctuated volume (too high or too low) when changing channels. It is pain (especially at night). Or anyone has some other solution. See at the bottom of attached pic.


    The audio codec zip file contains both DD and DTS codecs. Install it but not sure it will sort the volume levelling out, it seems like to me though this is to do with a setting elsewhere.


    I have checked a vizio 4k tv manual out just a moment ago and did some research on DTS TruSurround and DTS TruVolume, from what i understand from the tv manual is DTS TruSurround is meant to give the feel of 5.1 surround sound using your tv internal speakers only.


    Screen_Shot_2.png


    According to the manual the Volume Levelling uses DTS TruVolume. Now doing some research it seems people find they actually make the sound worse so first i would try by turning auto volume levelling off, the manual does not say that DTS TruVolume requires the audio to be DTS, the manual says 'Volume leveling uses DTS TruVolume to maintain consistent volume levels during transitions between program content, AV formats, and input sources.'


    What confuses me is if you have a sound bar the audio should be being sent to the sound bar for processing, so i would be looking at the sound bar settings not the tv settings.


    on formuler box go to cog (icon) > android > sound > HDMI Output > What is it on, auto? try RAW as this will send the raw audio to the soundbar to process, if you select LPCM i believe the formuler box will process the audio before sending it to the sound bar. I guess it depends if you want the formuler box or the sound bar to process the audio, if it on auto try RAW then LPCM and see if there's any difference.


    If the above changes nothing and the volume is still high/low when switching between channels still then it must be a setting on your soundbar as there is no other settings to be able to try on the formuler box and your tv. Your sound bar is where i would be looking.




    I have read somewhere that licensing is a required for codecs, is Formuler doing anything about it? If it has already been addressed
    and Formuler codec includes DTS then how to solve the issue of MTO crashing after installing audio codec. Thanks in advance.


    It was me who mentioned somewhere about licensing previously, just ignore that, the addon-linker which needs to be installed so you can install the audio codec zip file contains both DD and DTS, so yes please install it.


    Download Addon Linker from the database, extract the .rar file on a fat32 formatted usb stick and install through file manager on the formuler box. Open Addon linker app -> go to Addon Download -> chose audio_codec_pack.zip and install.After successful install (message), reboot/restart your box. Now you will have DD and DTS.