Learn about sound modes

How to change sound settings on your Roku audio device

Roku® offers an assortment of audio devices all designed to add full, rich sound, dramatically improving the audio performance of your entertainment experience. You can fine-tune your music, movies, and TV show listening experience with different sound modes.

This article provides details about the various sound settings available with your Roku audio device(s) and instructions on how to adjust them.

• Note: The sound settings described in this article do not appear when a Roku TV Ready^™ soundbar is connected to your Roku TV™ system. To adjust sound settings for your Roku TV Ready soundbar, learn how you can access manufacturer-specific sound modes directly on your Roku TV system.

How to change sound settings

You can choose sound modes and change sound settings on your device or in the free Roku mobile app for iOS^® and Android^™.

How to change sound settings on your device

You can adjust sound settings from the Options menu when watching a movie, TV show, music, Bluetooth^® audio, or content from an external device (e.g., Blu-ray player, cable set-top box, game console) connected to your Roku TV system.

Use the following steps to change sound settings.

1. Start streaming or playing your content
2. Press Star on your Roku remote
3. Select Advanced sound settings or Sound settings
4. Choose your sound mode or change your sound settings

When you're done, press Back until the menu is closed.

• Note: You may not be able to change sound settings, in some situations, while streaming. Use the Roku mobile app to adjust sound settings instead.

How to change sound settings in the Roku mobile app

Use the following instructions to change sound settings in the Roku mobile app.

1. In the Roku mobile app, tap Devices
2. Select your Roku device
3. Tap Settings
4. Select Sound settings
5. Choose your sound mode or change your sound settings

The sound mode and sound setting changes are immediately applied.

How to use sound modes

Whether you are listening to music or watching a movie or TV show, you can select a sound mode with the optimal sound settings for whatever you’re streaming. Sound modes are not specific to any content, and the one you choose is purely based on your listening preference.

You can choose from the following sound modes.

• Standard: Basic audio mode for general use
• Dialogue: Conversations are easier to hear over background sounds
• Movie: Optimized for an immersive movie theater-like experience
• Music: Unaltered sound, authentic like the artist intended
• Night: Optimized for listening at lower volumes with less bass

• Note: The sound modes described above are only available when using a Roku audio device. When a Roku audio device is not connected, other sound modes are available on your Roku TV, but the choices vary based on the manufacturer.

What sound settings are available on my Roku audio device?

Sound modes are a collection of settings optimized for specific listening experiences, but you can still change the following individual sound settings.

• Speech clarity: Boost dialogue content relative to other sounds (e.g., background music, car crashes, etc.)
• Volume modes: Automatic leveling and night mode offer varying levels to lower volume on loud scenes and boost volume on quieter scenes
• Treble: Increase high frequencies for a "brighter", more detailed sound, or lower them for a softer sound.
• Bass: Adjust low frequencies, or the sounds you feel, such as loud explosions in a movie or the bass drum kicks in a concert performance.

With a Roku Streambar Pro or Roku Smart Soundbar, you can also adjust the Virtual surround setting to create a spacious sound experience with everything you watch. If you connect Roku wireless speakers as surround sound speakers to your Streambar or Smart Soundbar, then you can also change the Expanded stereo and Surround level settings.

Learn more about these settings in the sections below.

• Note: Not all sound settings are available on all devices.

How to use speech clarity

When watching a movie or a TV show, conversations can get lost with other sounds in a busy scene. Speech clarity works by boosting dialogue separately from background noise, allowing you to hear important conversations without needing to adjust the volume.

There are four speech clarity options:

• Off: Speech volume is not changed.
• Low: Speech volume is slightly increased over background noise.
• High: Speech volume is greatly increased over background noise.
• Auto: Speech volume is automatically adjusted based on what you're watching.

Speech clarity is only available when using a Roku audio device. For more information, read the detailed article about how to use speech clarity.

How to use volume modes

Movies and television shows can have a wide range of sounds that may be challenging to always hear, especially when it is late at night, or you are in an environment with others nearby. When your Roku audio device is connected, the volume modes listed below let you enjoy a more even listening experience.

• Leveling: Hear more consistent sound levels across various types of entertainment, making it less jarring when a commercial comes on or while switching channels.
• Night: Lower the volume level for louder scenes and boost it for quieter ones, letting you watch late-night TV without disturbing others.

Volume modes are supported on select Roku streaming players and Roku TV models, even when not using a Roku audio device. For more information, read the detailed article about volume modes.

How to use virtual surround

When listening to your Roku Streambar Pro or Roku Smart Soundbar, you can turn on virtual surround to enjoy a rich and immersive sound experience from all your favorite entertainment. When a Dolby audio (5.1) surround format is detected, all the surround channels are processed individually and recombined for a spacious and cinematic effect that moves around your room. When listening to a stereo source like music, left and right channels are upmixed and processed intelligently to create an enhanced audio experience that brings you closer to the performance.

Virtual surround is available when you use one of the audio devices listed below on its own or paired with the optional Roku Wireless Bass or Roku Wireless Bass Pro.

• Roku Streambar Pro (model 9101R2)
• Roku Smart Soundbar (model 9101)
• onn.™ • Roku Smart Soundbar (model 9100)

If you have Roku wireless speakers connected to your Streambar or Smart Soundbar, Virtual surround is not an option since you have a real surround sound system. If you wish to adjust surround sound settings with this configuration, you can use the expanded stereo setting described in the next section.

How to change expanded stereo settings

If you are using a Roku surround sound system, you may not hear audio in the surround speakers when listening to content that is in stereo sound (and not a surround sound format). To hear audio from your wireless speakers in these cases, you can change the expanded stereo sound setting during playback to one of the following choices:

• Movies and TV: Makes stereo sound feel like surround sound.
• Music: Uses all speakers to fill your room with stereo sound.
• Off: Stereo sound only plays from front speakers.

• Note: Music is not typically in a surround sound format along with some movies and TV shows. You can generally look at the details of a piece of content for an audio description such as "5.1", "Dolby Digital Plus 5.1", "Dolby Surround", or "Dolby Atmos". If the content does not specifically say it includes a surround sound format, then it likely does not.