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SILICON SILIC CHIP www.siliconchip.com.au Editorial Viewpoint Default sound settings can ruin the streaming experience Publisher/Editor Nicholas Vinen Technical Editor John Clarke – B.E.(Elec.) Technical Staff Bao Smith – B.Sc. Tim Blythman – B.E., B.Sc. Advertising Enquiries (02) 9939 3295 adverts<at>siliconchip.com.au Regular Contributors Allan Linton-Smith Dave Thompson David Maddison – B.App.Sc. (Hons 1), PhD, Grad.Dip.Entr.Innov. Geoff Graham Associate Professor Graham Parslow Dr Hugo Holden – B.H.B, MB.ChB., FRANZCO Ian Batty – M.Ed. Phil Prosser – B.Sc., B.E.(Elec.) Cartoonist Louis Decrevel loueee.com Founding Editor (retired) Leo Simpson – B.Bus., FAICD Silicon Chip is published 12 times a year by Silicon Chip Publications Pty Ltd. ACN 626 922 870. ABN 20 880 526 923. All material is copyright ©. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the written consent of the publisher. Subscription rates (Australia only) 6 issues (6 months): $77.50 12 issues (1 year): $145 24 issues (2 years): $270 Online subscription (Worldwide) 6 issues (6 months): $55 12 issues (1 year): $105 24 issues (2 years): $200 For overseas rates, see our website or email silicon<at>siliconchip.com.au * recommended & maximum price only Postal address: PO Box 194, Matraville, NSW 2036. Phone: (02) 9939 3295. ISSN: 1030-2662 Printing and Distribution: 1 Huntingwood Dr, Huntingwood NSW 2148 54 Park St, Sydney NSW 2000 2 Silicon Chip Our TV is around 10 years old now. While the picture still looks fine, its built-in “smart” features are slow and outdated. So a couple of years ago I bought an Amazon Firestick 4K, which plugs into an HDMI port and provides modern smart-TV functionality. While we use the TV’s internal speakers for everyday viewing, for movies and live concerts I have the TV’s optical output connected to my CLASSiC DAC (February-May 2013; siliconchip.au/Series/63), then into an Ultra-LD series amplifier and the Majestic loudspeakers (June 2014; siliconchip.au/Series/275). This setup provides excellent audio quality. Recently, I was watching some live concert recordings through VLC on the Firestick (streamed from a computer over WiFi) and noticed that the audio sounded very muffled. It was like someone had placed a blanket over the speakers, with a clear loss of high-frequency detail. This was odd, because I knew the concert recordings used PCM audio (ie, not digitally compressed), and when I played that same PCM audio directly through the DAC, it sounded fantastic. So it wasn’t the recording; it was something wrong with the playback chain. The audio path in this case is: File Server ▶ WiFi network ▶ Firestick ▶ TV ▶ TOSLINK ▶ DAC ▶ Amplifier ▶ Speakers. I knew the first couple of steps wouldn’t be a problem, nor anything from the TOSLINK output onward. That narrowed the problem down to either the Firestick or the TV. I went through the TV’s audio settings but couldn’t find anything suspicious. On the Firestick, navigating to Settings ▶ Display & Audio ▶ Audio didn’t reveal many options. However, there was one called “Surround Sound”, which was set to “Best available”. The other options were “PCM”, “Dolby Digital Plus” and “Dolby Digital”. I changed this setting to PCM and the problem immediately disappeared. Playing back the same concert video now produced crisp, clear audio, exactly as expected. What surprised me even more is that watching TV shows and movies through the Firestick now also sounds better than it did previously, particularly in terms of dialogue intelligibility. This makes me wonder why “Best available” is the default setting, when it clearly isn’t the best option for systems connected to a proper amplifier and speakers. As far as I can tell, this “best available” mode enables additional audio processing such as compression and EQ that is optimised for small, tinny speakers. While that may help on basic TV audio systems, it actively harms sound quality when used with a decent hi-fi setup. Even more oddly, the Firestick felt the need to adulterate the audio even when the source was already in PCM format. I would have expected it to simply pass the audio through unchanged, but clearly that isn’t what happens. So if you have a decent sound system connected to your TV, it’s worth checking the entire signal chain and not assuming the default settings are optimal. I’ve always found dialogue on this setup a little muffled and simply put up with it, assuming poor mastering was to blame. Now I know better. I wish I had realised this a long time ago as it would have made a lot of the media I’ve viewed a lot more enjoyable. It’s hard enough to understand what’s said in modern movies and TV shows without the audio being artificially muffled! by Nicholas Vinen Subscription Prices, effective 01/06/2026 New Prices Print Print+Online Print Print+Online Print Online 6-month $77.50 $87.50 $95 $105 $115 $55 12-month $145 $165 $180 $200 $220 $105 24-month $270 $305 $335 $370 $410 $200 New Zealand RoW Australia Prices from June 1st, 2026; all prices are listed in Australian dollars (AUD). RoW = Rest of World Australia's electronics magazine siliconchip.com.au