[popcornmix]

anyone know if the ethernet and USBs are on the same bus like previous models?

Yes, apart from the arm core, it is very much the same chip.
The faster arm core does help getting closer to 100Mb/s throughput from ethernet.
Pi1 could get close with iperf, but when Pi was busy or more complicated protocols were used that number would drop. That should be less of an issue now.

[jpc0480]

Raspberry Pi B2 sold out in Holland... is just 2 hours

Just ordered mine from: https://www.sossolutions.nl/raspberry-pi...-0001.html

[Exist2Resist]

just ordered two of these puppies!
Would anyone know as to whether there could be DTS-MA/TrueHD pass-through on the new Pi or is it likely to be stuck with the same limitations as before? (I'm guessing that because the GPU is the same, its unlikely there will be a difference)

The VideoCore part of Pi 2 is the same and that contains the HDMI hardware.
So I'm afraid no DTS-MA/TrueHD passthrough.

However the increased performance means software decode of TrueHD is not a problem, and we can output 8 channel PCM, so 8 channel audio is supported.

That's awesome and good news here is hoping the software decoding will be available in the new OpenElec build.

[noggin]

So if you have DTS HD MA tracks and can decode them to FLAC 5.1 (or transcode to Dolby True HD if an encoder exists?) on a Windows box you're fine for 48kHz tracks really aren't you? (And 192kHz multichannel will be down sampled, though stereo won't be?)

I think ffmpeg can only extract/decode the DTS core, so I think DTS-HD MA can be passed through as 5.1 channel core, or decoded to 5.1 channel core and output as PCM.
If can transcode the audio to 8 channel PCM, (or flac or whatever) then Pi2 will decode and output 8 channel PCM.
If ffmpeg supports software decode of DTS-HD MA in future, then Pi2 will be able to decode 8 channels and output as PCM.

I think there are Windows solutions which will use a .dll from a third party Blu-ray player app to decode DTS HD - though this isn't Open Source.

[doveman2]

Will there be an OpenElec Gotham build for the Pi 2? My brother has to keep using Gotham for now as the only skin really suitable for his CRT TV isn't Helix compatible yet.

I ordered him a B+ and was planning to get a HiFiBerry DAC+ for it but I've also ordered a Pi 2 now as that will be a much nicer upgrade for him, so was thinking of cancelling the order for the B+ but if there's no Gotham for the Pi 2, he'll have to use the B+ instead.

[jeffjoker]

I m also interested in this new Rasp 2 as support for Kodi ( I LOVE IT BTW )

I really need to know if this is gonna be enough to software decode actual not/badly decoded videos (I have several, not just h265, mainly mangas and computer generated images)

[popcornmix]

Will there be an OpenElec Gotham build for the Pi 2? My brother has to keep using Gotham for now as the only skin really suitable for his CRT TV isn't Helix compatible yet.

Gotham is no longer supported.
I suspect that taking the new Helix image and replacing SYSTEM with the one from Gotham image may work (not optimal, as it won't be built with armv7/neon, but will still be faster than running on Pi 1). That was how I originally got OE running on Pi 2. However I seem to remember a commit going in that complained if kernel and SYSTEM were different versions, so that may be an issue if it can't be disabled.

[Scratch]

US - Newark elem14 is out of stock. Next available is Feb 18. Late to the party again
Oh well ordered and cannot wait

[Ned Scott]

pew pew, lasers!

I mean, Pi's!

Here's a wiki page for collecting information: Raspberry Pi 2 (wiki)

[MikeKL]

Just ordered mine, was already happy with overall Video/Audio performance playback of Kodi on a couple of model B's using TVheadend backend/frontend (DVB-T usb stick) on one and TVHeadend frontend on the other, along with a few streaming apps. Can't wait to see overall improvements with a Pi 2 with I am sure, hours of effort expended on Kodi openelec (openelec team, popcornmix and Milhouse)

Thank you for continually updating and improving the user experience to all versions of the Pi :-) long may it continue.

[Patrics83]

Source

I can't wait to try it out!

[stuCONNERS]

Shame I just got a chromebox, very very tempted to get rid and go back to one of these again, Especially if it can run front and backend for pvr.

[yaqh]

got the b+ model. is it worth getting this, is it gona make a major difference on xbmc http stuff.

[doveman2]

Gotham is no longer supported.
I suspect that taking the new Helix image and replacing SYSTEM with the one from Gotham image may work (not optimal, as it won't be built with armv7/neon, but will still be faster than running on Pi 1). That was how I originally got OE running on Pi 2. However I seem to remember a commit going in that complained if kernel and SYSTEM were different versions, so that may be an issue if it can't be disabled.

Understood, thanks for the tips. I guess I need to try and find my brother another skin that he'll be able to use on his CRT as xTV-SAF doesn't seem likely to get an upgrade anytime soon and I don't really want to leave him on Gotham and miss out on all the great work you've done on Kodi 14 and 15.

[noggin]

got the b+ model. is it worth getting this, is it gona make a major difference on xbmc http stuff.

Suggestion that the UI - things like navigating menus, the general responsiveness etc. will be significantly improved. If you're happy with you B+, then stick with it. If you find you get a little annoyed by things taking a little too long to happen, then the Pi 2 B may well be a worthwhile upgrade. Overall video quality on normal content is unlikely to change, though in some cases audio decoding/transcoding may be possible where previously it wasn't. (Decoding Dolby True HD to PCM 5.1 for instance)