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Full Version: Samsung TV Doesn't Support HDMI Optical Audio Pass Through
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Setup:

XBMC connected to TV via HDMI (Gigabyte GT210 GPU)
Optical Out from TV to Receiver

After hours of searching and trying to figure out why XBMC was failing when trying to play back anything AC3 Dolby Digital 5.1, I checked the manual to my tv. I was very dissapointed. The optical out on my tv will only output Dolby Digital 5.1 when the source is DTV (OTA HD). For everything else including cable box, DVD, XBMC, or anything HDMI it simply outputs stereo through the optical out. It seems a lot of people, including myself, were struggling with this problem thinking it was something like drivers, configuration, etc.

That being said what are others doing that have Dolby Digital 5.1 working with XBMC? Do you have sound cards that have an optical out and run this directly to the receiver? Does your tv support full HDMI optical audio out pass through? What are others doing in my situation? Is there an HDMI to Optical converter available?

Thanks!
I'm not surprise by it at all.....

The majority of HDTV's function is as follow:
- using the TV's internal digital tuners = 5.1 output
- any other audio input into TV (including HDMI) = 2.0 output

Ok...so that still begs the question...what setup are people using with XBMC on a PC to get Dolby 5.1? I"m not looking for detailed information just generally...
Your receiver doesn't have HDMI in?

I'm new to the whole surround sound arena myself. It's a whole new world of headaches that I was trying to avoid. I think optical out from the PC to receiver may be your best option. I know my receiver appears to also take the analog outputs from the computer as well.
I'm in the same boat with my samsung tv. Anything with hdmi audio going into the tv was only output in stereo to my surround sound system.

What I did was add a input switcher. It has hdmi and component inputs and outputs via hdmi and optical. I send the hdmi to my tv just for video and the optical to my surround sound system directly. Now I get surround sound from all my inputs.

I have my cable box, apple tv 2 and xbox 360 going through it. My dvd player is built into the surround sound.

You can find the switchers online.
(2012-03-26, 16:58)Kirky99 Wrote: [ -> ]Your receiver doesn't have HDMI in?

I'm new to the whole surround sound arena myself. It's a whole new world of headaches that I was trying to avoid. I think optical out from the PC to receiver may be your best option. I know my receiver appears to also take the analog outputs from the computer as well.

No its an older Yamaha Receiver that I bought before HDMI was around so no HDMI inputs Sad.
(2012-03-26, 16:59)GavinCampbell Wrote: [ -> ]What I did was add a input switcher. It has hdmi and component inputs and outputs via hdmi and optical. I send the hdmi to my tv just for video and the optical to my surround sound system directly. Now I get surround sound from all my inputs.

Ok that's it. I'll search for switchers at lunch then as I refuse to live without 5.1 on an otherwise perfect setup!
A very common problem. There's a "dual audio" patch here on the forums that let's you send the audio out to two devices.
Ok I'll do search for it. Thanks all for your help! I spent way too much time on this over the weekend.
(2012-03-26, 17:31)T-Rage Wrote: [ -> ]Ok I'll do search for it. Thanks all for your help! I spent way too much time on this over the weekend.
I installed one of this "4X1 HDMI® Switcher w/ Toslink & Digital Coaxial Port (Rev.2) w/ 3D support" at a friend house, and it work great.....

(2012-03-26, 18:03)bluray Wrote: [ -> ]I installed one of this "4X1 HDMI® Switcher w/ Toslink & Digital Coaxial Port (Rev.2) w/ 3D support" at a friend house, and it work great.....

Ha I just ordred a cable from Monoprice last week Smile. The switcher looks like a nice unit and is fairly priced and knowing it worked well for you is awesome. I guess it can't hurt to have a couple extra HDMI inputs.
One concern...do I need to worry about the TV telling the computer (XBMC) via the HDMI that is only supprts 2 channel stereo or do the switchers solve this problem. I'm figuring the setup would be computer to switcher via HDMI in, then switcher to TV via HDMI out and then optical out from the switcher to my receiver.
(2012-03-26, 18:03)bluray Wrote: [ -> ]I installed one of this "4X1 HDMI® Switcher w/ Toslink & Digital Coaxial Port (Rev.2) w/ 3D support" at a friend house, and it work great.....

Oh no...I just read this in the description in red:

* The S/PDIF Optical (Toslink) and Digital Coax audio output formats are based on the HDMI® audio output. If any of the sync devices (e.g., HDTV, Projector, etc.) connected to the output can only support stereo audio, then the S/PDIF Optical (Toslink) and Digital Coaxial outputs will be limited to PCM stereo audio.

That's exactly what I need it for. Now reviews are saying it works despite this statement but I have concerns...

(2012-03-26, 16:41)T-Rage Wrote: [ -> ]Ok...so that still begs the question...what setup are people using with XBMC on a PC to get Dolby 5.1? I"m not looking for detailed information just generally...

When the PC has DVI and HDMI out, but the amp isn't HDMI capable.

Connect PC's Digital SPDIF (optical or coaxial) directly to amp.
Connect PC to TV via the PC's DVI port, $3 DVI-to-HDMI adapter, and normal HDMI cable.

Do it this way because I have seen Windows have problems when using normal HDMI port, but you really only need the video from it.

And like others have said, the optical out port on the TV is usually only for it's own internal tuners (ATSC and Internet apps).