U9 ViewHD Newest Ultra HD 4K HDMI Audio Extractor 4K@60Hz, HDR, Dolby Vision | 3.5mm Headphone Stereo Output | Toslink Optical Audio DD+ Output | HDCP 2.2 | HDMI 2.0 | 18Gpbs | | Model: VHD-UHAE

Apple TV 4K doesn’t come with an optical out. I wanted to play content in 5.1 Dolby. So I was thinking about wiring my receiver to the tv using the tv’s optical out. But then that would require changing the sound output on the TV from TV speakers to optical out. Then I would have to go through a bunch of settings to switch back and forth between tv speakers and optical depending on what I was watching.This U9 ViewHD Ultra HD 4K allowed me to bridge the HDMI Connection retain DolbyVision, and adds an optical out to my receiver. It was plug and play. I didn’t toggle the switch on the U9 ViewHD I left it as it came out of the box. Plugged in two 2.1 HDMI Belkin High Speed cables and also connected the optical cable to my receiver. Tuned my Apple TV to HBOMax and got 4K Dolby vision and Dolby Digital. The U9 ViewHD is made of high quality material. And it’s much smaller than it looks in the pictures. It’s small size is good to keep my setup looking minimal.

I saw so many reviews of people saying how well this works, pulling the audio stream out of a signal over HDMI and allowing it to be sent elsewhere via optical. Sounds great, until it doesn't work!I tried multiple configurations with this:1) PC -> Extraction box -> TV & Receiver (Display Port to HDMI through active adapter)2) PC -> Extraction box -> TV & Receiver (HDMI Port)3) PC -> Extraction box -> Receiver (HDMI) +AND+ PC -> TV (separate HDMI)4) PC -> Extraction box -> Receiver (Display port to HDMI through active adapter) +AND+ PC ->TV (HDMI)5) PC -> Extraction box -> Receiver (HDMI) +AND+ PC ->TV (Display port to HDMI through active adapter)6) Chromecast -> Extraction box -> TV and ReceiverI have also attempted all of those configurations with the Audio Stream switch in all 3 positions.As you can clearly see in my screenshot, the device is recognized as a HDMI splitter and it absolutely does not recognize many of the audio stream formats that the listing claims, such as, "Supports HDMI high bit rate (HBR) Audio pass through Audio sample rates up to 192kHz."While my system recognizes that this device supports DTS, DD, and DD+, for whatever reason they still only get sent out as 2 channel streams.No matter what I do, my computer WILL NOT recognize this as anything more than 2 channel.I tried using a Chromecast to make sure it wasn't just my computer having an issue, but still no 5.1 channel audio.And yes, all of my drivers and software are up to date.

Update: was so happy with the original VHD-UHAE (5.1 audio, 4k and Dolby Vision) I thought I would try the VHD-UHAE2 to get DTS ,7.1 etc. it said it would still have Dolby vision. Used the same hdmi cords as the VHD-UHAE and Dolby Vision did NOT work. Audio did output at DTS. Bought brand new hdmi cords cause That was their trouble shoot solution. Still didn’t work. Returned the UHAE2 and sticking with just the 5.1 original..... Wow, never thought this would actually work. I got a new 4K TV but my audio receiver was over eight years old. Doesn’t allow for 4K video to run do it. So instead I thought I would use my TVs optical out to go to the receiver. Huge audio issues with lag. Same with the fire stick. Thought I will try this before spending $400 on a new receiver. Turns out the investment was totally worth it. $40 versus 400, huge savings. Haven’t had a lot of success getting DTS to run through it but dolby digital is perfect.

Its essential if you want to run an optical audio cable from your Apple TV or Fire TV Cube to your surround sound system. It works great but the optical cable it comes with is kind of flimsy.

After years of using the same AV equip, cables and config, out of nowhere my ATV 4th started to have signal issues. I could not get 1080p anymore, the image would drop almost immediately. I found out that my old cheap hdmi extractor was the culprit. When bypassed, 1080p works without any problems.I found this 4k 60hz audio extractor from ViewHD and decided to give it a try.The unit seems well built and way smaller compared to the one I have.I hooked it up with my ATV, set it to “2-ch” (for my house amplifier) and it worked fine. Did not need to reconfigure anything. I was actually surprised that my ATV changed the rez back to 1080p automatically.I will keep testing this thing for a couple more weeks as I need 2 more. If anything changes, I will update my review.

Works well to spit out audio to an older AV receiver. My receiver had issues with some video sources so I was looking to just provide it with audio and send video direct to the TV. I had no issues with the U9 ViewHD, it did what it says it will do. Passed 4K HDR10 to the TV with no issues (have not tested with DolbyVision). DD+ does work, but it seems some (many?) receivers will not support it from optical SPDIF in, a newer receiver I also tested wouldn't accept DD+ from SPDIF. That's not the U9 ViewHD's fault, just something to beware of.

When I first installed this item, it worked well. But soon after the 30-day return date, it stopped working. Usually, it will work for a short time, maybe a day or two, then it will stop working again.

Literally worked for one second, then screen went all grey and fuzzy. There was also a weird crackling sound coming from the unit. Requested a replacement, will give this one more chance, see how it goes. Using this for my new Apple TV 4K, well trying to anyway.UPDATE: The replacement unit was also defective, showing the exact same issues as the first one. Definitely will not be ordering from this company ever again.