[angelh]

Hi All,

I have tested different audio formats with AFTV/Kodi (latest aplha4) connected via HDMI to a Denon 3313 (AV Receiver) and compared the results to a raspberry pi (latest openelec 4.2.1) and WDTV Media Player (Gen3):

Example
[Device]: [Audio Format recognized by the AV Receiver]

File coded with Dolby Digital 5.1
AFTV/Kodi: Dolby Digital
Raspberry Pi: Dolby Digital
WDTV: Dolby Digital
AFTV: -

File coded with Dolby Digital + 7.1
AFTV/Kodi: PCM 2.0
Raspberry Pi: Muti-PCM
WDTV: Dolby Digital
AFTV: Dolby Digital+

File coded with Dolby TrueHD 5.1/7.1
AFTV/Kodi: PCM 2.0
Raspberry Pi: Dolby Digital
WDTV: Dolby True HD
AFTV: -

File coded with DTS-HD HR 7.1
AFTV/Kodi: DTS
Raspberry Pi: DTS
WDTV: DTS-HD HI RES
AFTV: -

File coded with DTS-HD MA 7.1
AFTV/Kodi: DTS
Raspberry Pi: DTS
WDTV: DTS-HD MASTER
AFTV: -


Summarizing:
- Only the WDTV sends the right format and correct stream to the AV Receiver with one exception (Dolby Digital+).
- At least the Raspberry with the lastest Openelec/XBMC provides Dolby Digital/DTS and Multi-PCM playing audio correctly. Compared to WDTV the receiver do not recognize the stream with the right name.
- Finally the AFTV with Kodi cannot play correctly Dolby True HD nor Dolby Digital+. They are getting recognized by PCM 2.0 (Stereo). Directly from the AFTV (no Kodi) the device sends correctly signal for Dolby Digital+ (like in "2012" or "Hunger Games"). So I guess the issue is related to Kodi for Dolby Digital+ content. I'm not sure if the TrueHD issue is related to hardware restrictions.

I thought maybe someone would be interested in above comparision

[evanspae]

Summarizing:
- Only the WDTV sends the right format and correct stream to the AV Receiver with one exception (Dolby Digital+).
- At least the Raspberry with the lastest Openelec/XBMC provides Dolby Digital/DTS and Multi-PCM playing audio correctly. Compared to WDTV the receiver do not recognize the stream with the right name.
- Finally the AFTV with Kodi cannot play correctly Dolby True HD nor Dolby Digital+. They are getting recognized by PCM 2.0 (Stereo). Directly from the AFTV (no Kodi) the device sends correctly signal for Dolby Digital+ (like in "2012" or "Hunger Games"). So I guess the issue is related to Kodi for Dolby Digital+ content. I'm not sure if the TrueHD issue is related to hardware restrictions.

I thought maybe someone would be interested in above comparision Blush

Thank you for doing these tests..........

Does anyone know if the RPI will ever plat True HD ie over its HDMI output??

[loekf]

Thanks for the effort.

I definitely tried MKVs with DTS-MA and Dolby TrueHD as well and AFAIK my receiver recognized them as DTS-MA and
TrueHD.

Have to test again, maybe something changed wrt FireTV firmwares & Kodi versions.

[loekf]

Thanks for the effort.

I definitely tried MKVs with DTS-MA and Dolby TrueHD as well and AFAIK my receiver recognized them as DTS-MA and
TrueHD.

Have to test again, maybe something changed wrt FireTV firmwares & Kodi versions.

Have to take it back. You are right. My HTPC shows settings for AC3-E, TrueHD and DTS-MA passthrough (capable receiver). These are mising on the FireTV Kodi build. Maybe its Android related ? AFAIK, the AudioEngine probes the HDMI device downstream for its capabilities if available.

[ars92]

Android isn't able to passthrough HD audio codecs,its kind of a known issue for some time now. Why won't the let passthrough is anyone's guess. I can understand them blocking decoding if those codecs due to licensing issues, but have no idea why block passthrough to hdmi....maybe AndroidTV will have that capability? Hopefully it does

[Ned Scott]

I believe it's more of an issue with the hardware itself. There actually are a few android boxes that advertise HD audio passthrough, but I have no idea if that is some kind of standard Android API or some special tweak that is done for that box, but the ability to do it or not is at least partially in the hardware on some level. I could be wrong, but given that older GPUs for x86 boxes also have issues with HD audio, it's probably not an OS-level issue (maybe a driver issue, though).

[ars92]

Quite sure it isn't hardware as I've seen many popular SOCs like the snap800 advertising HD audio support but not actually seeing it available,but there are some android boxes here and there which do support it. There is even the amlogic S802h which iinm supports HD audio while the normal S802 doesn't. Really hope to see some improvements in this area by manufacturers but i wouldn't hold my breath for it.

[Ned Scott]

Quite sure it isn't hardware as I've seen many popular SOCs like the snap800 advertising HD audio support but not actually seeing it available,but there are some android boxes here and there which do support it. There is even the amlogic S802h which iinm supports HD audio while the normal S802 doesn't. Really hope to see some improvements in this area by manufacturers but i wouldn't hold my breath for it.

What I mean is, there are likely some SoCs that can never do HD audio passthrough, no matter what software update they get. At the same time, yeah, there are probably some that do have the correct guts, but still don't have software/firmware support.

[ars92]

Quite sure it isn't hardware as I've seen many popular SOCs like the snap800 advertising HD audio support but not actually seeing it available,but there are some android boxes here and there which do support it. There is even the amlogic S802h which iinm supports HD audio while the normal S802 doesn't. Really hope to see some improvements in this area by manufacturers but i wouldn't hold my breath for it.

What I mean is, there are likely some SoCs that can never do HD audio passthrough, no matter what software update they get. At the same time, yeah, there are probably some that do have the correct guts, but still don't have software/firmware support.

Yeah thats the sad reality of most of the android boxes we have nowadays. But for me,it's a small sacrifice as i at least have a whole lot of other stuff that can be done on an android box,thans to the wealth of apps available. Was thinking of getting a chromebox or something which supports everything xbmc could do,but couldn't give up the app experience of an android box

[popcornmix]

Does anyone know if the RPI will ever plat True HD ie over its HDMI output??

No this is a hardware issue.
The Pi can decode TrueHD and output 8 channel PCM audio, but TrueHD software decode is quite expensive so needs a decent overclock.