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+---- Thread: Android Passthrough Changes with v17 (/showthread.php?tid=289735)
RE: Passthrough Changes with v17 - vinayp - 2016-10-12
@fritsch Is there any way to compare the raw TrueHD frames being generated by Kodi on Android versus Linux? I'm trying to figure out why my Samsung soundbar is able to play TrueHD streams from Kodi on Linux, but not from Kodi on my Shield TV. Maybe its something simple like a bad MAT frame...
It's definitely specific to my soundbar since the TrueHD frames generated by Kodi on the Shield TV play fine on my other Onkyo receiver.
RE: Passthrough Changes with v17 - fritsch - 2016-10-12
Android: It's totally done by the OS - we have zero influence on that. We give in the RAW data and the IEC packaging is done by the OS. Nothing, absolutly nothing we can do. We hate that solution, it is inferior and sucks since the first day it was released.
With Android N this will change - though only for DTS / AC3 / EAC3.
On Linux we create the IEC packets all ourselves.
RE: Passthrough Changes with v17 - vinayp - 2016-10-12
I understand now. Thanks for the clarification.
RE: Passthrough Changes with v17 - fritsch - 2016-10-12
You are welcome. We will be happy to provide a decent solution the very moment the Android N audio gets another update. We are in contact with google, have sent files and gave ideas on howto fix the remaining issues for DTS-HD / TrueHD in combination with IEC. Answer is still pending, though.
RE: Passthrough Changes with v17 - fritsch - 2016-10-22
@ Rockchip dev:
here is a build that implements a 192 / 8 channel dts-hd / truehd passthrough. Something non standard yet, we are discussing with google and other companies to make it THE way to send high bandwidth passthrough audio: http://jenkins.kodi.tv/job/Android-ARM/9607/ it has googleandroid in its name and is currently building. There is another build with that name, 3 weeks older but with same functionality.
This won't work by design on any official firmware available today, but we design the future.
RE: Passthrough Changes with v17 - mo123 - 2016-10-23
(2016-10-22, 07:23)fritsch Wrote: @ Rockchip dev:
here is a build that implements a 192 / 8 channel dts-hd / truehd passthrough. Something non standard yet, we are discussing with google and other companies to make it THE way to send high bandwidth passthrough audio: http://jenkins.kodi.tv/job/Android-ARM/9607/ it has googleandroid in its name and is currently building. There is another build with that name, 3 weeks older but with same functionality.
This won't work by design on any official firmware available today, but we design the future.
Do you perhaps have the firmware audio patches needed also or can discuss what to add?
Will it only work on MM or also be possible to backport it to Lollipop?
I can forward it to RK next week so they can test it perhaps.
I hope Google doesn't decide on a different method for pass-through again later on.
RE: Passthrough Changes with v17 - fritsch - 2016-10-23
You can backport it to everywhere. If you look at the code, you see that speaker layout is 2 channels only when using IEC currently - just this needs to be changed to also allow 8 channels (so 2 and 8). Then under the hood you need to properly configure the audio device. See kodi's AESinkALSA on what stuff to append properly.
RE: Passthrough Changes with v17 - Livin - 2016-11-13
Guys, I think the answer is 'no' but Post #1 is not clear/complete (?) so maybe someone can update it to be 100% clear in this...
For FireTV v2, will Kodi bitstream / pass through: TrueHD and/or DTS-HD?
thanks!
RE: Passthrough Changes with v17 - fritsch - 2016-11-13
No, but it's not kodi's problem. The fw just does not support it.
RE: Passthrough Changes with v17 - Blurayx - 2016-11-20
The only issue i have at the moment is random audio dropouts on my Nvidia Shield TV. it mainly happens with 2.0 Dolby Digital source . when i start playing the file it works fine, The audio dropouts start when i skip forward or back. No issues playing the same media files with jarvis.
Any advice
Thanks
RE: Passthrough Changes with v17 - Diplomat - 2016-11-27
OK, let me be the first to respectfully ask that you revert back to the old method of doing audio passthrough. I understand the motivation behind the change, but I think the benefits of reverting the code outweigh the drawbacks. I have a Fire TV and the new Kodi audio passthrough only does AC3 on it (and very badly). This makes the app unusable because proper audio passthrough is a crucial feature. If things stay the way they're in the beta, Kodi 16 will be the last usable version for a lot of users of FTV and a whole lot of other devices, as I'm sure you realize.
We all know the vast majority of current Android 4 or 5 media players will never be updated to Android 6+. And even the ones that do get updated, will have no guarantee the firmware will include proper DTS support anyway. That leaves Kodi's audio passthrough feature very inconsistent across devices.
As a developer myself, I believe the consistency of your software across multiple platforms is more important than only keeping code that you like. If that means having to do some workarounds or a hacks or include less than ideal code, that has to be the way. IME, the audio passthrough worked just fine on the older versions. It does not seem to me that there's a good reason to remove it.
RE: Passthrough Changes with v17 - Diplomat - 2016-11-27
(2016-11-13, 04:49)Livin Wrote: Guys, I think the answer is 'no' but Post #1 is not clear/complete (?) so maybe someone can update it to be 100% clear in this...
For FireTV v2, will Kodi bitstream / pass through: TrueHD and/or DTS-HD?
thanks!
No, it's even worse. And this must be clarified. The new beta not only does not add HD audio, but it removes most passthrough functionality on FTV. That means no more DTS output and broken AC3.
RE: Passthrough Changes with v17 - fritsch - 2016-11-27
So that basically means, you say: kill the ears of ~ 10 % while workarounding firmware / os inabilities? Just that I get it right.
And that your hardware / software combination does not support dts-hd / truehd is for sure not a kodi problem.
Your FireTV has NO passthrough capabilities beyond AC3, cause the vendor selling it did not care to implement it. The only thing he cares is AC3 and exactly this you get.
Just to see what happens, opened yesterday: http://trac.kodi.tv/ticket/17092 <- vendor update and ohhhh nooo - exactly what we want to avoid happens - users get noise on their ears ...
I won't for sure put any users at risk. Android people told me: Don't do that, it's harmful. There only needs to be exactly one guy that tries it and kills his ears ... and then I say: Just go to Diplomat, he pays your hospital and your year long hearing issues. Is that what you want? Really?
Something else: Enableing that method again is just 2 to 4 lines of code. Just do that for yourself and recreate the APK.
RE: Passthrough Changes with v17 - Livin - 2016-11-27
I had high hopes for Kodi on Android, and specifically FTV. I understand that the problems/issue stem from lack of platform consistency, not Kodi development gaps.
Thus, while I use ftv on my kids TV, I have moved back to Windows for the home theater.
It seems that, like it or not, the Windows platform has the most features, least problems, and least tweaking needed to make it 'just work', especially for power users of home theater and automation.
So, if you need pass through... Use Windows and be happy.
RE: Passthrough Changes with v17 - Ned Scott - 2016-11-29
(2016-11-27, 21:30)Livin Wrote: I had high hopes for Kodi on Android, and specifically FTV. I understand that the problems/issue stem from lack of platform consistency, not Kodi development gaps.
Thus, while I use ftv on my kids TV, I have moved back to Windows for the home theater.
It seems that, like it or not, the Windows platform has the most features, least problems, and least tweaking needed to make it 'just work', especially for power users of home theater and automation.
So, if you need pass through... Use Windows and be happy.
Reach out to MrMC on his forum and ask him what the current status is on that. The MrMC fork is basically Kodi v16 but with the v17 audio system, and the Fire TV platform is a major focus for him. If there is a way, he will find it. If he finds it, SPMC is likely to add that into their fork (if, for some reason, it is not accepted into vanilla Kodi).