Troubleshooting Play-Fi Surround

If instead of having peformance issues like stuttering or drop-outs, you're having an issue hearing the correct audio or any audio at all from the Surround Left and Right speakers in a Play-Fi Surround configuration, you can run through the following steps to troubleshoot. You should ensure:

  1. That you performed a Surround Sound Set-Up as described here. If you just paired to the speakers in the normal Play-Fi group mode, then this will not enable Play-Fi Surround.
  2. The Play-Fi Surround Master is set to the correct input to capture audio. Refer to your manufacturer for more information on the specific product's input configuration.
  3. The source content you're playing is 5.1 surround. If it's mono or stereo, you may not hear anything from the surround channels.
  4. The source device you're playing from is 5.1 surround capable. Some TVs or devices are not capable of outputting a 5.1 audio signal, even if the content you're playing is.
  5. The digital output is configured to a format the Play-Fi Surround Master supports. Some content types and/or Play-Fi Surround Masters may only support a DTS signal or only a Dolby signal, and if not configured properly, it's possible that no audio may be heard.

Once you've solved for all the above cases, if you still have problems, run a 5.1 call-out track, like those found on DTS demo discs. This will send a discrete audio call-out to each speaker in the Play-Fi Surround configuration, and if all can be heard from the proper position, then everything is fine.

If audio is heard on the Play-Fi Surround Master, but not the Surround Left and/or Right, try:

It's also possible (though mostly unlikely) that the home network enviroment is so crowded that absolutely no audio can get through to the Surround Left and Right speakers, in which case you may want to read our entry on Improving Surround Performance. Don't forget that the Play-Fi Surround configuration should be done in the same room, and moving the Surround Left and Right to a separate room from the Play-Fi Surround Master could also result in unexpected behavior.