[jjd-uk]

You are all guessing, I try not to deal with guess work, a debug log will tell exactly what the drivers for the audio device report as the audio capabilities of the system, only from that can compatible configuration be determined without the guess work.

[McNutty]

Debug log_file (wiki) please, without that no one can properly advise.

here you go, http://pastebin.com/nstPdg3h

If you get lost.... I have an alternate method.

I have KODI on an old Core 2 Quad Win10 PC, nVidia 610 graphic card with onboard Realtek audio.

I connect the video to the TV Screen using HDMI
I connect the on-board audio to my AV amp using SPDIF Optical Cable.

As I only have a Onkyo TX-SR806 5.1 surround system I don't need to go beyond DTS and Dolby. This setup works perfectly for me and I can explain what needs ticking in KODI to get it going. (Basically WASAPI and Passthrough ticks blah blah)

I have to do things this way due to a fault in the amp which makes a mess of any HDMI feed.

Might give it a try if I can't get this to work, would rather use HDMI so as to have uncompressed 5.1.

It may be compressed, but I can't really tell any difference. Sounds bloody stunning to me

The Amp is also happily spotting the difference between DTS, Dolby, Stereo and Mono.

All I have done is set the cables as noted above, and then in the Audio Settings I do the following:
* Enable Passthrough - YES
* Passthrough output device to WSAPI:SPDIF
* Dolby Digital (AC3) capable receiver - YES
* Enable Doby Diguital (AC3) transcoding - YES
* DTS Capable Receiver - YES

You didn't need to use lavfilters or anything like that?

[BatterPudding]

You didn't need to use lavfilters or anything like that?

What's a lavfilter?

All I have done is to make sure the 5.1 is setup correctly in my Win10 OS. Then KODI is happy to handle it.

I will dig deeper if needed, but I am not doing HD Audio like your HOWTO guide, just DTS and Dolby Digital. And HD Audio gets converted by KODI to normal DTS or Dolby I think. Am happy to look deeper if you get fedup with the above messing around.

[BatterPudding]

Digging a bit deeper in the PC I notice I had installed K-Lite's Mega Codec Pac on Win8. Updated the PC to Win10 and it is still there, but when I start up a film in KODI those little icons don't appear on the Windows Tray. I thought KODI handled that stuff itself. I'll happiliy remove it all to show it isn't needed.

And a quick look at your log shows your amp is like mine. No DTS-HD which means no point reading a HOWTO about setting up DTS-HD when your amp will want it converted to plain old DTS.

[jac55]

You are all guessing, I try not to deal with guess work, a debug log will tell exactly what the drivers for the audio device report as the audio capabilities of the system, only from that can compatible configuration be determined without the guess work.

I am not guessing (but cannot be 100% certain that I am right. I am not familiar at all with this receiver) The receiver does not amplify the audio via the 2 HDMI inputs, it just passes the audio from the HDMI input on through to a TV or projector. RTFM.

EDIT - Here is a link to the operating manual (not too easy to find and here it is part of a bundled HT system) - Check out Page 21 for details about audio.

http://download.sony-asia.com/consumer/I...056131.pdf

[jac55]

Anything I can do about this? Or should I go back to trying to get my original method to work?

You will need to use the optical or coaxial digital input for best sound options from this receiver. Alternatively the rca analogue connections will work.

I think your Sony STR K1600 must be an older receiver manufactured just when HDMI was being implemented, and that is probably why the HDMI connection is not fully utilised (for both audio and video). A more modern AV receiver will make full use of the audio and video signals via HDMI and will generally come with DTS HD Master Audio, Dolby TrueHD (and now Dolby Atmos).

[jjd-uk]

Ok, so I tried your idea of HDMI > Receiver > TV but I get no sound through the receiver even though I can get sound through the TV. Any idea what's wrong?

Is this how you are presently connected? and connected like this you get sound on your TV from Kodi? As jac55 has pointed out, page 21 of the manual is pretty clear, HDMI can not be used to send audio to the receiver from an external component, if you want sound from an external component then you must use the Digital Audio (optical/coaxial) input on the receiver.

From this it's pretty clear you should probably connect:

PC -> HDMI -> TV (video chain plus allows audio on TV)
PC -> Digital Audio (optical/coaxial) -> Receiver (audio only)

You also need to make sure within Windows the digital audio device is set as the Default Device

[BatterPudding]

Ok, so I tried your idea of HDMI > Receiver > TV but I get no sound through the receiver even though I can get sound through the TV. Any idea what's wrong?

Is this how you are presently connected? and connected like this you get sound on your TV from Kodi? As jac55 has pointed out, page 21 of the manual is pretty clear, HDMI can not be used to send audio to the receiver from an external component, if you want sound from an external component then you must use the Digital Audio (optical/coaxial) input on the receiver.

From this it's pretty clear you should probably connect:

PC -> HDMI -> TV (video chain plus allows audio on TV)
PC -> Digital Audio (optical/coaxial) -> Receiver (audio only)

You also need to make sure within Windows the digital audio device is set as the Default Device

Try this image instead. This one shows the SPDIF as it should be on that older setup.

OP's old amp is of similar age to mine, which means a simple KODI setup exactly as you are describing, but with the following image...

[McNutty]

All I have done is set the cables as noted above, and then in the Audio Settings I do the following:
* Enable Passthrough - YES
* Passthrough output device to WSAPI:SPDIF
* Dolby Digital (AC3) capable receiver - YES
* Enable Doby Diguital (AC3) transcoding - YES
* DTS Capable Receiver - YES

These are windows settings, yes? I'm using windows 7 and don't think I have these options might be time to upgrade.

Ok, so I tried your idea of HDMI > Receiver > TV but I get no sound through the receiver even though I can get sound through the TV. Any idea what's wrong?

Is this how you are presently connected? and connected like this you get sound on your TV from Kodi? As jac55 has pointed out, page 21 of the manual is pretty clear, HDMI can not be used to send audio to the receiver from an external component, if you want sound from an external component then you must use the Digital Audio (optical/coaxial) input on the receiver.

From this it's pretty clear you should probably connect:

PC -> HDMI -> TV (video chain plus allows audio on TV)
PC -> Digital Audio (optical/coaxial) -> Receiver (audio only)

You also need to make sure within Windows the digital audio device is set as the Default Device

Try this image instead. This one shows the SPDIF as it should be on that older setup.

OP's old amp is of similar age to mine, which means a simple KODI setup exactly as you are describing, but with the following image...

Yeah that's how I originally had it but couldn't figure out how to get the bitstreaming working properly, I was trying to follow this guide which is why I was trying to use HDMI.

[BatterPudding]

Totally re-writing this post...

First, your 2007 Sony Amp cannot handle DTS-HD, so no point in following a guide about it.

The Debug log shows your amp can't handle it. Also your manual shows your amp can't handle it. You are like me with an old amp which predates BluRay but is still happy to handle DTS.

The cables bit
Connect HDMI cable from video card to TV
Conenct SPDIF cable from sound card to Amp

The Windows Bit
Go into Control Panel and set the Default audio in there.


Select the SPDIF option and hit SET DEFAULT.
Now, while still on SPDIF, select PROPERTIES.


If your Amp is like mine, go to the second page, SUPPORTED FORMATS, and tick DTS Audio and Dolby Digital. I also ticked the sample rates of 44.1kHz and 48.0Khz.

Notice you can highlight DTS Audio and press the TEST button. You should now hear each of your 5.1 speakers making a sound in turn.

Repeat test with the Dolby Digital option.

If this works, your speakers are setup fine in Windows. This is exactly the same in Win7, 8.1 or 10. The above image is from Win10, but looks exactly the same in Win7 with the same options available on the pages.

The KODI bit
Now to KODI. Start KODI and go into the SYSTEM settings. Make sure EXPERT mode is on and then look into AUDIO OUTPUT.

At the bottom half of this page you need to ENABLE PASSTHROUGH. This is what allows your audio to take a different route down the SPDIF.

* Enable Passthrough - YES
* Passthrough output device to WSAPI:SPDIF
* Dolby Digital (AC3) capable receiver - YES
* Enable Doby Diguital (AC3) transcoding - YES
* DTS Capable Receiver - YES

So they are KODI settings. This is where you are telling KODI what your Amp can do.



This is working well on my setup as a DTS film will light up the DTS lights on the amp. Ditto a Dolby Digital soundtrack, that will also light up correctly.

[McNutty]

I don't even have that supported formats tab in windows 7, looks like I just overcame my resistance to windows 10.

[BatterPudding]

I don't even have that supported formats tab in windows 7, looks like I just overcame my resistance to windows 10.

I can give you the screenshot from my identical Windows 7 PC if you want. I checked it before making that post. This is a basic onboard Realtek soundcard using their own drivers.

[BatterPudding]

I don't even have that supported formats tab in windows 7, looks like I just overcame my resistance to windows 10.

At which point are you actually having problems? I can assist from there.

On my Win7 PC I open up my Sounds control panel and see a very similar layout with identical dialog boxes. On this Win7 PC I only have Classic Analog output to standard 2.1 speakers, and the SPDIF (which isn't connected to anything). Though this one is through a Creative SB X-Fi.

The point being - a different brand of sound card is still giving me those same options in the Windows Control panel no matter if Win7 or Win10.


To see that Supported Formats tab it is important to SELECT the SPDIF item first.

In fact, in that above example, DOUBLE CLICKING on the Digital Audio (S/PDIF) entry would open up that next set of property pages where the Supported Formats options are.

Just for the hell of it, I just messed with my Win10 box a bit and unticked those supported formats, and sure enough KODI stopped putting audio out and the amp is not picking up the DTS signal. Pop the ticks back and all is fine again.

[McNutty]

Bizarre that tab is completely missing in my Windows 7, anyway I upgraded to 10 and now have surround sound so it's all good, thanks for the help.

[BatterPudding]

The tab would probably have returned with a reinstall of the audio driver, but the important thing is everything now works. Even if it was a slightly longer route to get there