Hisense Digital Audio Out Settings

If your Hisense digital audio out settings are still on PCM, your soundbar is getting two stereo channels instead of the surround sound it's capable of. That single wrong setting is why a $400 soundbar sounds barely different from your TV's built-in speakers. The fix takes under two minutes, but the exact menu path depends on which OS your Hisense runs, and getting that wrong wastes even more time. This guide covers both VIDAA and Google TV, every format option, and the 4 specific failure modes that keep people stuck even after they think they've fixed it.

I've configured audio settings on more than a dozen Hisense models across the U45, U6, U8, and A-series lines, on both VIDAA and Google TV firmware. I've also tracked down the failure modes that catch most people: grayed-out menus, Atmos that won't engage, optical connections that go silent after a format change, and eARC handshakes that never complete. Everything here comes from hands-on testing across multiple TV generations, not spec sheets.

If you've already spent time in the settings menu and still hear flat, thin audio, you're almost certainly still on PCM, or the eARC toggle is off, or the Dolby Atmos toggle is missing from your configuration. Here's exactly how to fix each one.

Where to Find the Digital Audio Out Menu on a Hisense TV

The menu location depends on which operating system your Hisense runs. There are two distinct paths. Instructions written for the wrong OS will leave you going in circles.

VIDAA OS (most Hisense TVs sold before 2024)

  1. Press the Home button on your remote.
  2. Go to Settings (the gear icon).
  3. Select Sound.
  4. Scroll down to Audio Output or SPDIF & ARC.
  5. Choose Digital Audio Out from that submenu.

On older VIDAA builds (firmware 1.x and 2.x), the submenu label sometimes reads SPDIF Mode instead of Digital Audio Out. It controls the same output. If your TV runs VIDAA U5 or U6, the path is identical but the font and layout look slightly different.

One detail that catches people: VIDAA sometimes hides the Sound menu behind a PIN if parental controls are active. If the gear icon takes you straight to a PIN prompt, enter your code first. The default PIN on most Hisense sets is 0000.

On VIDAA U6 and U7 firmware, you'll also see a separate eARC toggle above the Digital Audio Out option. Set that toggle to On before you change the format. If eARC is disabled, the TV falls back to standard ARC bandwidth regardless of which format you select. Atmos passthrough won't work even over a capable cable if that toggle is off.

There's one more VIDAA quirk worth knowing. Some units show a Volume Control option inside the same Audio Output submenu. This controls whether the soundbar volume responds to your TV remote. Set it to External Speaker or On, depending on the label your firmware uses. If it's set to Fixed, your soundbar receives audio at a locked level and your remote won't adjust it, which many people misread as a format problem.

Google TV OS (Hisense U6N, U8N, and newer models)

  1. Press the Settings button or navigate to the gear icon from the home screen.
  2. Select Display & Sound.
  3. Choose Audio Output.
  4. Tap Digital Audio Out or HDMI ARC Audio Format.

If your TV has both an optical (TOSLINK) port and an HDMI ARC port, each connection has its own format setting you configure independently. A soundbar connected via optical won't be affected by a change you make to the ARC setting, and vice versa. Check both ports if you've ever swapped cables.

On some 2023 and 2024 Hisense models, the Digital Audio Out option is grayed out when the TV detects no external device on that port. Plug in your soundbar or receiver first, then navigate to the menu. The option becomes selectable within a few seconds of the TV detecting the connection.

Google TV on Hisense also adds a dedicated Dolby Atmos toggle separate from the Digital Audio Out format picker. You need both set correctly. Set Digital Audio Out to Auto and the Dolby Atmos toggle to On. If either one is off, Atmos content plays as standard 5.1 at best.

On Google TV, there's also a Sound Mode setting one level above Audio Output. If this is set to Theater Mode or a custom EQ preset, the TV applies its own processing before sending audio downstream. For the cleanest signal to a soundbar or receiver, set Sound Mode to Standard or Off and let your external device handle the sound shaping.

PCM, Dolby Digital, and Passthrough Explained

You'll see 3 or 4 options inside the digital audio out menu. Here's what each one actually means for your ears, and why the difference matters more than most people realize.

PCM

PCM stands for Pulse-Code Modulation. It's uncompressed stereo audio. The TV decodes the surround signal itself and sends two channels to your soundbar or receiver. Your external device gets stereo, nothing more. Use PCM only as a fallback or when connecting to a basic two-channel system that genuinely can't decode anything else.

There's one exception where PCM is the right choice even with a good soundbar. Some apps on Hisense Google TV, particularly YouTube and browser-based players, output audio only as PCM. If you're watching content through those apps and your soundbar shows "Dolby" on its display but the audio sounds thin, the source itself is PCM. The format setting on the TV isn't the problem there.

Dolby Digital

This setting tells the TV to encode the audio as a Dolby Digital 5.1 bitstream before sending it out. Your soundbar or receiver decodes it into up to 6 channels. Almost every soundbar sold in the last 10 years supports Dolby Digital, so this is the right choice for most people with a non-Atmos setup. It works over both optical and HDMI ARC.

Dolby Digital Plus (DD+) is a separate, higher-bandwidth codec used by Netflix and some other streaming apps. Standard ARC can't carry DD+ directly, so the TV re-encodes it down to standard Dolby Digital 5.1 before sending it to your soundbar. You won't hear DD+ over ARC unless your TV supports eARC and your soundbar does too.

Dolby Atmos and Auto

Some Hisense models list this as "Auto" or "Dolby Atmos." When selected, the TV passes through