NUC - Passthrough Atmos?
#1
Rainbow 
Hey guys,

Thinking about replacing my NVIDIA Shield with a new NUC i3/i5 Kaby Lake to try something new.

Only question I cannot seem to find a clear answer for is whether I will be able to pass through Dolby Atmos and DTS: X from it to my AVR like I do on my Shield?

Also, any comment on which model I should get? i5 or i3?
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#2
I know DTS X passes through, haven't tried an Atmos movie

Sent from my HTC 10
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#3
You should check out the dedicated Intel Kaby lake hardware thread: http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=...intel+kaby

Most of your question can probably be answered there.
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#4
(2017-04-21, 20:41)johnjohn22 Wrote: Hey guys,

Thinking about replacing my NVIDIA Shield with a new NUC i3/i5 Kaby Lake to try something new.

The only question I cannot seem to find a clear answer for is whether I will be able to pass through Dolby Atmos and DTS: X from it to my AVR like I do on my Shield?

Also, any comment on which model I should get? i5 or i3?

DOLBY ATMOS & DTS:X works in Windows 10 with Kodi.
MY CURRENT MEDIA PLAYER | MY HOME THEATER
MINIX NEO U22-XJ COREELEC v19 MATRIX | EGREAT A10 | NVIDIA SHIELD | LG 75 NANO90 DV/HDR+ | Sony 43 Android TV HDR
XBOX SERIES X  | PS4 PRO 4K | JBL 9.1 System 5.1.4 DTS:X/ATMOS 
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#5
(2017-04-21, 20:41)johnjohn22 Wrote: Hey guys,

Thinking about replacing my NVIDIA Shield with a new NUC i3/i5 Kaby Lake to try something new.

Only question I cannot seem to find a clear answer for is whether I will be able to pass through Dolby Atmos and DTS: X from it to my AVR like I do on my Shield?

Also, any comment on which model I should get? i5 or i3?

Windows? Yes, with 1.66 HDMI2.0 Firmware and latest drivers

Linux? Not currently

I have the NUC7i3BNK and not terribly impressed. I wouldn't replace your Shield with one, not yet at least
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#6
(2017-04-22, 20:13)Matt Devo Wrote:
(2017-04-21, 20:41)johnjohn22 Wrote: Hey guys,

Thinking about replacing my NVIDIA Shield with a new NUC i3/i5 Kaby Lake to try something new.

Only question I cannot seem to find a clear answer for is whether I will be able to pass through Dolby Atmos and DTS: X from it to my AVR like I do on my Shield?

Also, any comment on which model I should get? i5 or i3?

Windows? Yes, with 1.66 HDMI2.0 Firmware and latest drivers

Linux? Not currently

I have the NUC7i3BNK and not terribly impressed. I wouldn't replace your Shield with one, not yet at least

Well damn! I wanted to hook up my Lightberry straight to the NUC, to get rid of the Raspberry Pi I have running 24/7/365 only for controlling lights. But appearantly Hyperion only works under Linux.
And to get the right sound, I am limited to Windows? Lame!

Can you elaborate a little on what you are less than impressed with on your NUC? I'm stil on the fence...
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#7
(2017-04-23, 13:07)johnjohn22 Wrote: Well damn! I wanted to hook up my Lightberry straight to the NUC, to get rid of the Raspberry Pi I have running 24/7/365 only for controlling lights. But appearantly Hyperion only works under Linux.
And to get the right sound, I am limited to Windows? Lame!

Can you elaborate a little on what you are less than impressed with on your NUC? I'm stil on the fence...

- takes forever (~5s) just to post, let alone boot
- about 25% of the time it hangs on the firmware splash screen (and keyboard non-functional to enter setup) for either 10s or until reset
- requires booting Windows to update the DP->HDMI 2.0 firmware
- doesn't have native HDMI 2.0 output, requiring above nonsense
- currently doesn't support HD audio output under Linux

given the options available right now, I'd stick with the Shield if I had one, or maybe pick up a cheap S905(X) Amlogic device like the ODRIOD C2 if I wanted something to play with. Intel really dropped the ball with APL/KBL.

since I don't yet have a 4K display / need for 4K/HEVC decoding, I'm sticking with my bulletproof Chromebox for now.
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#8
(2017-04-23, 21:11)Matt Devo Wrote:
(2017-04-23, 13:07)johnjohn22 Wrote: Well damn! I wanted to hook up my Lightberry straight to the NUC, to get rid of the Raspberry Pi I have running 24/7/365 only for controlling lights. But appearantly Hyperion only works under Linux.
And to get the right sound, I am limited to Windows? Lame!

Can you elaborate a little on what you are less than impressed with on your NUC? I'm stil on the fence...

- takes forever (~5s) just to post, let alone boot
- about 25% of the time it hangs on the firmware splash screen (and keyboard non-functional to enter setup) for either 10s or until reset
- requires booting Windows to update the DP->HDMI 2.0 firmware
- doesn't have native HDMI 2.0 output, requiring above nonsense
- currently doesn't support HD audio output under Linux

given the options available right now, I'd stick with the Shield if I had one, or maybe pick up a cheap S905(X) Amlogic device like the ODRIOD C2 if I wanted something to play with. Intel really dropped the ball with APL/KBL.

since I don't yet have a 4K display / need for 4K/HEVC decoding, I'm sticking with my bulletproof Chromebox for now.
Thanks a lot, glad to hear some honest opinions!

When you say 5 secs to post, what do you mean? Like to put it to sleep mode?

I have a UHD TV and Atmos speakers, so I really need to get the most out of that, along with my Lightberry ambilight.

So there is something I don't quite understand. Will I need to run an adapter from the display port to hdmi to get HDMI 2.0 / HDCP 2.2? And the firmware update you mention here, is that a one time thing or do I need to come back into Windows continually?

Seems the i5 and i7 models of the Kaby Lake NUCs are delayed, so they might be addressing some of the issues here?
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#9
(2017-04-23, 22:11)johnjohn22 Wrote: Thanks a lot, glad to hear some honest opinions!

When you say 5 secs to post, what do you mean? Like to put it to sleep mode?

I have a UHD TV and Atmos speakers, so I really need to get the most out of that, along with my Lightberry ambilight.

So there is something I don't quite understand. Will I need to run an adapter from the display port to hdmi to get HDMI 2.0 / HDCP 2.2? And the firmware update you mention here, is that a one time thing or do I need to come back into Windows continually?

Seems the i5 and i7 models of the Kaby Lake NUCs are delayed, so they might be addressing some of the issues here?

I mean it takes 5s or so for the firmware to init and for the display to show from the time you press the power button when fully shut down, then it boots the OS (sometimes). Resuming from sleep is the normal 1-2s or so.

The KBL NUCs have both mini-DP 1.2 and HDMI 2.0 outputs; the HDMI 2.0 output is internally converted from DP via a 3rd party chip (Megachips 28xx or something), and the firmware for that converter is what has to be done from Windows, whenever an update is available. So far there have been 3 updates since release, IIRC.

The i5/i7 NUCs may ship with newer system/HDMI firmware, but I doubt they are delayed to fix these issues -- probably just a normal supply allocation thing.

I don't see why an ODRIOD-C2 or similar Amlogic S905 wouldn't do what you need in the near term
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#10
I've had my i3 KL NUC for a few a days, quite pleased so far. I do get DTX, I have no Atmos material to see if that passes.

Sent from my HTC 10
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#11
(2017-04-23, 22:20)Matt Devo Wrote:
(2017-04-23, 22:11)johnjohn22 Wrote: Thanks a lot, glad to hear some honest opinions!

When you say 5 secs to post, what do you mean? Like to put it to sleep mode?

I have a UHD TV and Atmos speakers, so I really need to get the most out of that, along with my Lightberry ambilight.

So there is something I don't quite understand. Will I need to run an adapter from the display port to hdmi to get HDMI 2.0 / HDCP 2.2? And the firmware update you mention here, is that a one time thing or do I need to come back into Windows continually?

Seems the i5 and i7 models of the Kaby Lake NUCs are delayed, so they might be addressing some of the issues here?

I mean it takes 5s or so for the firmware to init and for the display to show from the time you press the power button when fully shut down, then it boots the OS (sometimes). Resuming from sleep is the normal 1-2s or so.

The KBL NUCs have both mini-DP 1.2 and HDMI 2.0 outputs; the HDMI 2.0 output is internally converted from DP via a 3rd party chip (Megachips 28xx or something), and the firmware for that converter is what has to be done from Windows, whenever an update is available. So far there have been 3 updates since release, IIRC.

The i5/i7 NUCs may ship with newer system/HDMI firmware, but I doubt they are delayed to fix these issues -- probably just a normal supply allocation thing.

I don't see why an ODRIOD-C2 or similar Amlogic S905 wouldn't do what you need in the near term

Well the thing is, I would like a single computer to:
-Run my Emby server
-Handle downloading
-Basically be my NAS, for the limited file sharing/storing I do
-Be my primary media client (KODI /w Emby for KODI) connected to a UHD TV, Atmos sound system and Lightberry ambilight system

And I want something that is pretty open to modification. I am super tired of messing with Emby etc on my NAS, which constantly messes up permissions etc. so much work through SSH, that I am not all that good at.
Same goes for the NVIDIA Shield. I tried for ages to get it rooted so it can boot straight into SPMC/KODI as that is all I use, but the closed architecture of Android is killing me. And it is a nightmare to do more than basic customization of KODI because the file system is inaccessible.

So basically I want to be able to replace three units with one. My NAS that I use for downloading/storing, my Raspberri Pi that I use for controlling Lightberry with Hyperion and my Shield that is my player.

So I will be selling the other devices most likely if I find something good, so I am not too worried about paying for, say, the i5/i7 NUC if it just works flawlessly.
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#12
(2017-04-24, 12:41)johnjohn22 Wrote: Well the thing is, I would like a single computer to:
-Run my Emby server
-Handle downloading
-Basically be my NAS, for the limited file sharing/storing I do
-Be my primary media client (KODI /w Emby for KODI) connected to a UHD TV, Atmos sound system and Lightberry ambilight system

And I want something that is pretty open to modification. I am super tired of messing with Emby etc on my NAS, which constantly messes up permissions etc. so much work through SSH, that I am not all that good at.
Same goes for the NVIDIA Shield. I tried for ages to get it rooted so it can boot straight into SPMC/KODI as that is all I use, but the closed architecture of Android is killing me. And it is a nightmare to do more than basic customization of KODI because the file system is inaccessible.

So basically I want to be able to replace three units with one. My NAS that I use for downloading/storing, my Raspberri Pi that I use for controlling Lightberry with Hyperion and my Shield that is my player.

So I will be selling the other devices most likely if I find something good, so I am not too worried about paying for, say, the i5/i7 NUC if it just works flawlessly.

I think many of us would counsel against trying to get one device to do everything (and paying over the odds to do so).

Most of us separate player duties from file storage duties (and lots of us also run separate TV back-ends) I think people who download often do this on their file server rather than their Kodi player hardware. Many of us run on a shorter upgrade cycle for our Kodi player hardware than we do for file storage, TV back-end etc.
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#13
(2017-04-24, 16:47)noggin Wrote:
(2017-04-24, 12:41)johnjohn22 Wrote: Well the thing is, I would like a single computer to:
-Run my Emby server
-Handle downloading
-Basically be my NAS, for the limited file sharing/storing I do
-Be my primary media client (KODI /w Emby for KODI) connected to a UHD TV, Atmos sound system and Lightberry ambilight system

And I want something that is pretty open to modification. I am super tired of messing with Emby etc on my NAS, which constantly messes up permissions etc. so much work through SSH, that I am not all that good at.
Same goes for the NVIDIA Shield. I tried for ages to get it rooted so it can boot straight into SPMC/KODI as that is all I use, but the closed architecture of Android is killing me. And it is a nightmare to do more than basic customization of KODI because the file system is inaccessible.

So basically I want to be able to replace three units with one. My NAS that I use for downloading/storing, my Raspberri Pi that I use for controlling Lightberry with Hyperion and my Shield that is my player.

So I will be selling the other devices most likely if I find something good, so I am not too worried about paying for, say, the i5/i7 NUC if it just works flawlessly.

I think many of us would counsel against trying to get one device to do everything (and paying over the odds to do so).

Most of us separate player duties from file storage duties (and lots of us also run separate TV back-ends) I think people who download often do this on their file server rather than their Kodi player hardware. Many of us run on a shorter upgrade cycle for our Kodi player hardware than we do for file storage, TV back-end etc.
True that, and I for the most part agree on that policy. But I feel like I am a very light user of my NAS, and seeing that my NAS is super terribly spec'd, I thought a good NUC could easily handle it in the background.

I'd like to have just one device to keep things more simple, save money on the power bill etc :-)
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#14
(2017-04-24, 16:51)johnjohn22 Wrote: True that, and I for the most part agree on that policy. But I feel like I am a very light user of my NAS, and seeing that my NAS is super terribly spec'd, I thought a good NUC could easily handle it in the background.

I'd like to have just one device to keep things more simple, save money on the power bill etc :-)

but you're not making it simpler, you're making it way more complex by trying to have one box do 2 completely different things. Get a S905 running LibreELEC for playback, and an (older) i3 NUC for your NAS duties. Or, if you really want one device, and are OK running Windows, then a KBL NUC should fit the bill.
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#15
(2017-04-24, 16:58)Matt Devo Wrote:
(2017-04-24, 16:51)johnjohn22 Wrote: True that, and I for the most part agree on that policy. But I feel like I am a very light user of my NAS, and seeing that my NAS is super terribly spec'd, I thought a good NUC could easily handle it in the background.

I'd like to have just one device to keep things more simple, save money on the power bill etc :-)

but you're not making it simpler, you're making it way more complex by trying to have one box do 2 completely different things. Get a S905 running LibreELEC for playback, and an (older) i3 NUC for your NAS duties. Or, if you really want one device, and are OK running Windows, then a KBL NUC should fit the bill.

Alright I went ahead and picked up the new NUC7i5BNH, actually it just got released here and arrived in the shop, the same exact day I picked it up. I put 1x8 GB RAM in there, just to leave the option open to double. And I put a 250 GB M2 Samsung Evo SSD and a 500 GB Toshiba 2.5" SSD in there. So I gotta a pretty sweet box now I guess.

I installed Windows 10, updates everything, including the HDMI drivers, and decided to try out ubuntu. I can confirm what you also wrote, no HD audio pass through in Linux. Everything else works great though. In Windows 10 everything works thus far.

I experience extremely quick boot times. Actually you are probably right that the time to post the bios is probably what takes the longest. But still we are about 15 seconds for a cold boot till I can use my desktop. To me that is pretty damn good. But I haven't owned a pc for years.

Anywho, do you feel like the Linux passthrough crap is going to be sorted? Only reason I want to use Linux is to be able to run Hyperion for my home built ambilight. I might be able to do something else with that part of my setup then, cause it seems Windows 10 works pretty well otherwise.
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NUC - Passthrough Atmos?0