TiviMate on Chromecast with Google TV: soundbar audio settings
Getting TiviMate running on a Chromecast with Google TV takes a few minutes; getting the sound right on a soundbar or external speakers takes a little more thought, but it is a one-time job. You will need the Chromecast remote, access to the Google TV settings menu, and the TiviMate app already installed from the Play Store. If you have not set up TiviMate yet, the process starts with adding your provider details — the credentials that arrive by email after you sign up with Pro IPTV UK — as a playlist source the first time the app opens.
This guide focuses entirely on audio: where Google TV hands off sound to your soundbar, what TiviMate controls independently, and what to do when the two disagree.
How Google TV sends audio to a soundbar
The Chromecast with Google TV does not output audio on its own — it passes a signal through the HDMI cable to whatever display or receiver is connected. If your soundbar is connected directly to the TV via HDMI ARC or optical, the TV acts as the go-between. If the soundbar is connected to the Chromecast's HDMI output directly (less common, but possible with an HDMI splitter or receiver), the Chromecast talks to it without the TV in the chain.
To confirm how audio is routed, go to Settings → Display & Sound → Audio on the Google TV home screen. Under Audio output, you should see the name of the connected device — either your TV's speakers or an external device the TV has detected. If the soundbar supports HDMI ARC and is plugged into the TV's ARC port, it usually appears here by name once CEC is active.
Turn on CEC if it is not already. On Google TV, the setting is under Settings → Display & Sound → Advanced display settings → HDMI-CEC. Without CEC, the Chromecast cannot tell the soundbar to wake up or change volume when you use the Google TV remote, which makes daily use frustrating.
Which audio format should you pick
Google TV lets you choose the audio format it passes to the soundbar. The option is at Settings → Display & Sound → Audio → Audio format preference. The choices are typically Best available format, Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, and PCM (stereo).
Best available format tells the Chromecast to pass whatever the content provides — Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, or stereo — and let the soundbar decode it. This works well if your soundbar handles multiple formats without switching modes noisily.
PCM is stereo only. It always works, it never causes dropout, and it is the right choice if your soundbar struggles with bitstream formats or makes a click when the audio stream changes type. The trade-off is that you lose surround encoding.
Dolby Digital (5.1) is a reasonable middle ground if your soundbar supports it and you want surround sound without the occasional handshake issues that Dolby Digital Plus can cause over ARC. Note that HDMI ARC carries Dolby Digital 5.1 but not Dolby Atmos or Dolby Digital Plus reliably — for those formats you need eARC, which only some TV models support.
If you hear dropout, silence between channels, or a low buzzing tone, switch to PCM first. That rules out a format mismatch before you investigate anything else.
Frequently asked questions
- TiviMate plays video but there is no sound through the soundbar — what should I check first?
Open Google TV settings, go to Display & Sound, then Audio, and confirm the audio output is set to your soundbar or TV ARC port rather than internal speakers. Also check that the TV's own speaker output is set to external or audio system, not built-in.
- Should I use Dolby Digital or PCM for a mid-range soundbar?
PCM is the safer starting point — it works with every soundbar and avoids format handshake issues. If your soundbar lists Dolby Digital 5.1 as a supported input and your TV has an ARC port, Dolby Digital is worth trying for surround sound.
- Audio and video are out of sync in TiviMate — how do I fix it?
During playback, tap the screen to bring up the player overlay and look for the sync offset slider. Try enabling the hardware decoder under TiviMate's playback settings, as this corrects sync on most streams without needing a manual offset.
- Does changing the audio format in Google TV affect all apps, not just TiviMate?
Yes — the audio format preference in Google TV settings applies at the system level, so every app including TiviMate outputs through that setting. If you change it for TiviMate, it will also affect any other streaming app on the same Chromecast.
Audio settings inside TiviMate
TiviMate has its own audio controls that work on top of whatever Google TV passes to the soundbar. To reach them, open TiviMate, tap the screen while a channel is playing to bring up the player overlay, then press the remote's options or settings button (the icon that looks like three horizontal lines or a cog, depending on your TiviMate version).
The relevant settings here are:
- Audio track: if a channel carries multiple audio tracks (a commentary language, a secondary language, or a clean feed), you switch between them here. The option is also covered in more detail for a different app in choosing subtitles and audio tracks in IPTV Smarters Pro.
- Player type: TiviMate can use its built-in player or hand playback off to an external player installed on the Chromecast. The built-in player handles most streams without trouble, but if audio is out of sync or missing entirely, switching to the external player option sometimes resolves it.
- Hardware decoder: found under Settings → Playback in TiviMate's main menu. Enabling the hardware decoder offloads video and audio decoding to the Chromecast's chip. This usually improves audio sync on higher-bitrate streams.
Audio sync problems — where the voice arrives a fraction after the lips move — are almost always fixed by toggling the hardware decoder or adjusting the Audio/Video sync offset slider, which is accessible from the same player overlay during playback.
When the soundbar volume does not respond to the remote
If pressing the volume buttons on the Google TV remote moves a volume bar on screen but the soundbar stays silent or plays at a fixed level, the problem is almost always CEC or the TV's audio output mode.
Check the TV's speaker setting first. Most TVs have a menu option such as Sound output or Speaker settings that defaults to the internal speakers. Set this to External speakers, ARC, or Audio system — the exact label varies by TV brand. When internal speakers are selected, the TV ignores the soundbar regardless of what the Chromecast requests.
If CEC is on and the speaker setting is correct but volume control still does not work, check whether the soundbar itself has CEC volume control enabled. Many soundbars have a switch — sometimes physical, sometimes in a setup menu — that must be on for the TV or Chromecast remote to control its volume.
A household where the Chromecast sits behind a large TV and the soundbar is on a shelf below it sometimes has HDMI signal issues caused by a poor or long cable. Swapping the cable for a shorter, higher-quality one resolves intermittent audio drop that looks like a software problem but is not.
Checking streams and channel categories
Once the soundbar is working correctly, the audio quality you hear depends entirely on how the stream you are watching was encoded. Sports streams — a cricket match, for instance, or a darts session — are almost always stereo. Films and some dedicated film channels are more likely to carry a 5.1 mix.
If you want to browse by genre rather than scroll through a long list, TiviMate's category and favourites tools keep things organised. The same logic applies if you use another app: the guide to sci-fi channels: categories, favourites and search walks through how to group channels so you are not hunting through hundreds of entries every time.
Stream quality over your home connection matters too. A congested Wi-Fi band can cause audio stuttering that sounds like a codec problem but clears the moment you move closer to the router or switch to a 5 GHz band. The Chromecast with Google TV supports both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz Wi-Fi; if audio breaks up during busy evening hours, 5 GHz is worth trying.