[donkeykong]

Hi
Can I just ask ask how this is possible. I thought a license was needed? How does the software decoding work before it hits my sound card or does my sound card decode?
I'm just trying to understand the software. Also this may be a silly question but if I'd like to create an audio app what should I be coding it in?
Thanks

[PatK]

You are entering a world of aspects that a mere mod would have trouble summarizing, but to belay any fears I found this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libdca is a free library for decoding, and It's likely there are other documents for various.

The audio is either decoded in software by Kodi directly (if it's one of the codecs it handles https://kodi.wiki/view/Features_and_supported_formats ) or your graphic card audio section (could also be a dedicated sound card) does the decoding in hardware routines built into the card (again these might have codec limits depending on lic and agreements), then there is wasapi straight-pass through, which just pushes the signal untouched to another appliance like an AVR or TV which also has it's own set of licenses.