[MadSaid]

That's my intention I've already got D2550/GT610 and i3-3217U AIO-style motherboards in tiny cases. There will be even better.

isnt lack of bit-streaming HD audio in Openelec a major disadvantage

The same still holds true that if you want OpenELEC + HD audio bistreaming you don't get AMD. The D2550/GT610, Celeron 847 or i3-3217U systems are then a better choice. If you're going to run Windows or don't care about HD audio bitstreaming then Kabini should be a winner,

I have a denon receiver that only accepts Optical and coaxial input (DTS 5.1 and Dolby Digital 5.1). Will I have issues with HD audio on Openelec?

[Dougie Fresh]

HD audio bitstreaming in this case refers to Dolby True-HD and DTS Master Audio which are functions of the GPU. That function needs support in the GPU driver which is missing on Linux.

For SPDIF (Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1) which you have that's a function of the audio chip on the motherboard so the CPU (AMD or Intel) doesn't matter. It's if the audio chipset is supported that matters in your case. I think the usual Realtek or VIA chips in most motherboards are supported in Linux for 5.1 audio formats.

[MadSaid]

HD audio bitstreaming in this case refers to Dolby True-HD and DTS Master Audio which are functions of the GPU. That function needs support in the GPU driver which is missing on Linux.

For SPDIF (Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1) which you have that's a function of the audio chip on the motherboard so the CPU (AMD or Intel) doesn't matter. It's if the audio chipset is supported that matters in your case. I think the usual Realtek or VIA chips in most motherboards are supported in Linux for 5.1 audio formats.

Thanks, so if I understand this correctly... As long as Linux has a driver for the audio chip I will have no issues playing files, even if they have HD audio. The optical out will be 5.1, which is supported by my receiver. Correct?

[Dougie Fresh]

I haven't tried your exact setup since I use HDMI but my MKVs with HD audio play on my stereo bedroom TV so something (XBMC presumably) is grabbing the right audio track for my setup. I believe HD audio streams also have a "core" which is Dolby Digital or DTS. I think it's just a matter of proper configuration.