Earlier this month, some Fire TV and Fire TV Stick owners began experiencing an issue where they no longer received surround sound audio when viewing Amazon videos on their devices. The issue did not seem to affect other services like Netflix and HBO, and also wasn’t limited to a specific software version. I hadn’t posted about the issue yet because I have been trying to determine which devices and software version were affected, since reports were all over the place. Now it appears the issue originated from Amazon’s servers, which would explain why even those who blocked software updates and were on older versions of Fire OS were also experiencing the issue.
Amazon customer service is now telling Fire TV owners that the issue has been resolved on Amazon’s servers and that surround sound audio should be working correctly. If you’re still experiencing the issue, you should go into your device’s settings and clear the data and cache of the Amazon video app under the Manage Applications menu.
@AFTVnews
AFTVnews
haven’t you got reports of loosing 4k video playback ? i have been without 4k for 2 or 3 weeks and i don’t know how to fix it or why it stopped going to 4k
Try a different movie to see if its file specific. I had a show go to 1080p on the 10th episode. All previous episodes were 4k, and other shows were 4k, but these particular episodes remained 1080p, despite Amazon’s claim that they were 4k.
I have had a strange issue where the AFTV2 stops sending audio (HDMI receiver detects no audio flags on input) PLUS video plays at 2X or 3X the regular speed. This happens on any video from any service. I tried changing video and audio settings in the hope that the glitch would get fixed.
It has done this twice and the only recourse is to reboot the box. I have the latest firmware.
Oh, so it wasn’t just me then! All shows and movies I tried (even owned movies in my Library) were all in stereo and not Dolby Digital Plus even though the DD+ symbol was lit up on my AV receiver.
I played the same TV shows and movies with the Amazon Video app on my Roku 3 and sure enough I was getting DD+ surround. I’ve been using the Roku since then. Good to know they addressed it on the Fire TV.
@Elias:
It would be helpful if you updated the Amazon Fire Forum link on the main page to:
http://www.amazon.com/forum/fire/ref=cm_cd_et_md_pl?_encoding=UTF8&cdForum=Fx2L8EBNTOXFSA7&cdMsgID=MxMRDP3V3AB9UC&cdMsgNo=55&cdPage=3&cdSort=oldest&cdThread=Tx1PL21L5VKNAPX#MxMRDP3V3AB9UC
It appears the “fix” is not at all straightforward. Therefore, some users will continue to be frustrated if they do not follow a very specific procedure.
Amazon merrily rolls-out new “eye-candy” high-end features while expected standards such as Dolby Surround break and are eventually fixed(?) without comment, or even much help from their support staff. I don’t get it!?!
Walker
Since we talk about bugs: am I the only one who got that nasty HDCP bug back after some firmware update a few weeks ago on the fire tv 2? It was there in the beginning, some update fixed it for months, another update brought it back. This is so annoying. I know about this fix by just getting an HDMI splitter that just kills HDCP to get rid off that problem but I refuse to spend one cent of my money because the manufacturer of my device can’t fix such a basic thing permanently. I sometimes wonder if Amazon tests actual retail devices. Or why can such a major pain in the ass remain unfixed?
Starz featured series “Outlander” is only coming through for me in default stereo. Seriously!?! Does anybody but home theater geeks care about surround sound, anymore?
To me surround sound is a basic feature which should work. I am not a home theatre geek, but occasionally I want to settle down and watch a film with the AV amp fired up. I expect it to work in surround sound
Would I buy a blu-ray disc and be content if it only setero sound even though it advertised surround sound….answer is no.
Amazon should not be expecting us to laud all the bells and whistles which this box can deliver (for some*) and forgive when Amazon breaks some of thebasic features.
*Alexa is not available in the UK.