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Full Version: Dolby Digital - getting audio dropouts when outputting to amp/decoder via SPDIF
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Been using XBMC/Kodi for quite a while (wow, can it be 2008 since I posted anything on the forum here?!), but for the first time I have got an Android box, MBOX-based - just looks like Cyanogenmod to me, don't know much about those different builds, but it's this model anyway: http://goo.gl/x41HVC. Kodi version is 15.2 Isengard.

Had the common teething trouble getting Dolby Digital 5.1 to my Yamaha AVR via SPDIF - it was only stereo initially - but got it working eventually with a combination of the right Android and Kodi passthrough settings (I am taking SPDIF direct from the Android box, not via TV or anything - I am not using HDMI at all, am connecting to a CRT, old-skool).

BUT, although I am getting Dolby Digital sound, unfortunately I am getting these audio drop-outs every few seconds - clearly the signal is being interrupted in some way as the Dolby Digital indicator on my amp turns off every time the sound cuts out and then comes back on when the sound returns. It's a similar symptom to what I used to get trying to use an excessively long/poor quality standard phono cable to connect a digital source to my amp (so used SPDIF instead and fixed the problem) - the sound used to cut out like that in the same way.

I am fairly sure the problem is with Kodi as I get DD working fine with MX Player running on the same box, i.e. there are no dropouts. But obviously I am keen to continue using Kodi for all my entertainment needs!

I have Googled rather extensively and can't seem to come up with many references to this specific problem. Anyone know where I might start? Would it be of any use to post a log?
OK, one bump and then I'll give up. So - 5.1 audio cutting out via SPDIF to external amp (Kodi problem only), no-one?
I can't help much. I'm here with the same problem. My MXQ box with coaxial digital audio with kodi works fine on DD, but my new Tronsmart box, which I have just set up (has a toslink DD source - optical) is dropping out the digital audio signal once every 7 to 10 seconds for a split second with the identical Kodi version (15.2 GIT:2015-10-17). I hope we will get help here.
If you're dealing with a Tronsmart Box, it would appear to be a problem with updating to the latest Kodi version. The DD works fine on the Kodi version that comes on the box.
(2016-01-03, 07:39)dsst Wrote: [ -> ]If you're dealing with a Tronsmart Box, it would appear to be a problem with updating to the latest Kodi version. The DD works fine on the Kodi version that comes on the box.

Oh, maybe I should roll back to the previous Kodi version on mine too. Will report back.
To update, I rolled back to 15.0 Isengard, same problem. Rolled back to 14.2 Helix, and bingo, now we seem to be getting somewhere, on the couple of test films I found I have Dolby Digital reproduction with no dropouts.

However, reproduction seems to be slowed down by around 15-20% (my random guess, based on the noticeably deeper voices and music). I need to find some more AC3 streams to test on, to see if it's not just a badly encoded video.

This slow reproduction, I don't suppose anyone has come across this problem? Shouldn't be the hardware struggling, my box runs on Quad-core A31 which should cope with most video/audio decoding tasks you can throw at it (my test films are Xvid, 786 Kbps / 664x280 / 23.976fps).
Got a Minix Neo U1 box just after Christmas, installed Isengaard (15.2) and connected it to my Sony TV via HDMI and to my Denon AV receiver with an optical cable. I get DD and DTS 5.1 channel sound that way, but like Markowe I am suffering audio dropouts every few seconds. They are very brief, but disrupt my viewing nonetheless. I read on another forum that someone had found a workaround by starting the video playing outside of Kodi, stopping it and then starting it again through Kodi. I can't confirm this works as I haven't tried it yet, but I do hope the Kodi folk are aware of this and have a fix pending.
I am sort of "relieved" I am not the only one with this issue, I am not sure if this is going to get noticed or whether it might be a good idea to file a bug report. It's just going to be hard to reproduce with it seemingly only happening on some systems. I guess that's what the debug log is for, I will go and do this asap and post the link to the report here.

EDIT: bug report posted: http://trac.kodi.tv/ticket/16536
Just as an update, unfortunately Kodi do not have anyone currently supporting Android versions - over on this thread some community members are working on trying to fix this or related problems on the v17 (Krypton) version - I really don't understand all the discussion, but am not optimistic right now... Have tried one of their v17 builds and the problem was even worse, just a DRRRRR noise through the speakers.
(2016-02-08, 12:32)markowe Wrote: [ -> ]Just as an update, unfortunately Kodi do not have anyone currently supporting Android versions - over on this thread some community members are working on trying to fix this or related problems on the v17 (Krypton) version - I really don't understand all the discussion, but am not optimistic right now... Have tried one of their v17 builds and the problem was even worse, just a DRRRRR noise through the speakers.

The build you are referencing works fine on AMLogic and on the Nvidia Shield. All code was pushed ot kodi's master ... whatever your issue is, is something not general ...
(2016-02-08, 15:09)fritsch Wrote: [ -> ]
(2016-02-08, 12:32)markowe Wrote: [ -> ]Just as an update, unfortunately Kodi do not have anyone currently supporting Android versions - over on this thread some community members are working on trying to fix this or related problems on the v17 (Krypton) version - I really don't understand all the discussion, but am not optimistic right now... Have tried one of their v17 builds and the problem was even worse, just a DRRRRR noise through the speakers.

The build you are referencing works fine on AMLogic and on the Nvidia Shield. All code was pushed ot kodi's master ... whatever your issue is, is something not general ...

Maybe I need to just check what the latest version is, I tried a build from a couple of weeks ago, I don't know when the code was pushed (this is kodi-16.0-Jarvis_rc3-armeabi-v7a you are talking about, I guess?).

BTW, this box runs on 4.4.2, was the Android version an issue?
Delighted to report my drop out issue has gone away since installing the very latest Minix-based Kodi and uninstalling the generic 15.2 (Isengard). I will NOT be updating that box again unless absolutely necessary....
That's great - I haven't yet tested one of the most recent builds. The 16.0 RC3 version I mentioned above DIDN'T do it for me, did you try a more recent build than that?
It is a major and unexpected breakthrough. I'd tried the Minix-specific flavour of Kodi before, but selected the download by browsing with an air mouse on the Android box itself. This led me to install an old version (13.3) which brought me no joy at all and I deleted it and stuck with the current vanilla Kodi (Isengard). Then a few days ago I posted something stroppy on the Minix forum, saying how I wished I'd sent the thing back to Amazon, and someone noticed my reference to the version I was using and pointed out my error. Once I'd set up the very latest one and got rid of Isengard I discovered the drop outs had ceased. I also found the auto refresh rate feature on the box was working (which cured a slight video stutter) and as a real bonus, no horrible noises are escaping through the HDMI cable to the TV so now I can choose whether or not to put the amp on and have sound either way. What a massive relief. I can only wish you the same success with your own software and hardware combination. I know from bitter experience what a massive pain it is…
I'm having sound issues as well. Have a M8S box version Android 5.1.1, as well as another box version 4.2. Both boxes have issues. The sound disappears at times while the video plays, it's like no sound movie, it's extremely annoying. I feel like it has something to do with buffering but I'm not sure. Any help will be greatly appreciated
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