Howdy. I just upgraded to v17.6 -- pretty slick, but I'm still picking a few nits. Can anyone recommend audio settings for a Win7 PC connected via HDMI to a Sony TV that processes surround sound, and b) the Sony TV is connected via Toslink to an AVR that can process up to 7.1 surround. The TV speakers are turned off and we listen via the AVR.
After referencing the audio section of the wiki, I've been driving my wife crazy with all the Output Device and Passthrough options and I still can't get 5.1 to play.
FWIW WMC plays surround for the same TV channels (connected from the PC to the AVR via separate Toslink).
Thanks in advance!
Passthrough would be best handled directly into the AVR via HDMI, not filtered through the TV and back into the avr (then you're at the mercy of the audio section in the TV) let the AVR handle both vid/audio.
Pat -
Thanks for the reply. That makes sense, but straight HDMI connections limit mixing capabilities - the current config allows continued video playback from Kodi while independently playing audio from an alternate source thru the same AVR. This happens a lot during football season.
Any further recommendations within the constraints of this config?
As you are connecting to AVR from TV via SPDIF then you won't ever get 7.1 audio, and the SPDIF is the weak link in the chain. SPDIF is only capable of 2.0 uncompressed PCM audio therefor you must configure your HDMI connection to the TV as 2.0 in Kodi, note that this is uncompressed bandwidth so since Dolby Digital and DTS are compressed formats it's possible to send 5.1 in those formats through the 2.0 uncompressed pipe.
See
https://kodi.wiki/view/Audio_quickstart_guide and use
TV (AC3) column.
jjd - Thanks for the recommendation, and I understand 5.1 is as good as I'll be able to get. I did check out that wiki page and promptly tied myself in knots comparing it to my config. I'll try it this evening and advise back.
Note that DTS is advised to be disabled in that Quickstart guide as the majority of TV are not able to receive DTS on HDMI and pass it to the SDPIF output, however there are some high end TV's that do. If you select "Enabled Dolby Digital transcoding" then any format not supported (any set to disabled) will get transcoded to Dolby Digital (AC3) so you can still get 5.1.
Fair point, specs for my TV include both DTS and Dolby. Just to make this idiot-proof, I'm going with 'WASAPI Sony TV' for both 'device' and 'passthrough', let me know if I'm (still) misunderstanding. Thanks!
Yep to make sure you get proper passthrough the WASAPI option for the audio device must be used, DO NOT USE the Directsound option, that's only there as mixed used environments where running other programs via Windows might be the primary usage.
By the way, manufacturers of TV's are not always completely upfront regarding audio capabilities, just because it say it has DD/DTS support this does not mean it will support these in all scenarios. Some only support these via an terrestrial aerial, satellite or cable signal, some may only do these via a usb device, or perhaps via an inbuilt dlna client app.
I bit the bullet - uninstalled / reinstalled Kodi with the Mimic skin, followed above steps -- all good. Thanks for the assist!