[Freestylerak]

Hello, 
I'm looking for new android TV box, because my OTT S905X is a little bit old and struggles with 4k. Now I'm running on Libreelec and Kodi Leia.

I would like to stay stick to Kodi and buy a H96 Max 4GB TV box. I really like Rockchip and in my opinion this box has great parameters.

I'm searching all day long informations about support audio passthrough in this box. I have Onkyo HT-S5805 receiver which supports all formats like Dolby Atmos, DTS HD etc.

I want to set Kodi to audio passthrough and receiver will do the rest, but I didn't find any relevant informations about if it's possible or not. Some websites says yes, some says no.

I don't want install Libreelec on this box, I would like use user interface which comes with this box, such as webbrowser, youtube, netflix, spotify, facebook and other apps. Now I have to switch to my TV OS to search something on web, because Libreelec can't do it, so I would like to have everything on TV box.

So anybody knows if it's possible to enjoy all kind of sound with this box?

Or anybody has a alternative to this box?

Thank you.

[wrxtasy]

I don't want install Libreelec on this box, I would like use user interface which comes with this box, such as webbrowser, youtube, netflix, spotify, facebook and other apps. Now I have to switch to my TV OS to search something on web, because Libreelec can't do it, so I would like to have everything on TV box.

So anybody knows if it's possible to enjoy all kind of sound with this box?

Or anybody has a alternative to this box?

Thank you.

Hi, welcome

"Everything on a TV Box"....

is where the wheels will fall off, you are simply trying to do too much on the one device. Buy a expensive Intel/AMD Windows PC if you want ultimate flexibility.
That will also run LibreELEC from a USB3 stick.

I would NOT recommend using a Web browser on it on any cheap ARM chipset TV box platform at all. You are in for a really horrible, slow experience.
Web browsing is what Desktop PC's or Tablets are for.

Most cheap ARM Chipset platforms will not run Netflix properly, if at all.
You need a (Android TV) Google Certified, and Netflix Approved device (click) these days.

For Android TV those are the Mi Boxes, NVIDIA Shield, Vodafone TV or Jetstream 4K Ultra.
Or the other Netflix alternatives the Fire TV's or Apple TV's.

I would avoid cheap Rockchip TV Boxes as well if you want decent support.

For Android TV Kodi - only the NVIDIA Shield or the 2016 Mi Box (model MDZ-16-AB) will give you HD audio passthrough.

The NVIDIA Shield would be the closest to matching you requirements, especially for 4K which needs Gigabit Ethernet. You will still need some sort of (air) mouse to web browse on a TV - even then it's going to be a painful experience.

---

You should run CoreELEC Kodi Leia (click) on the S905X device. If you add something like a USB3 > Gigabit Adapter it will easily handle 4K HDR and HD audio passthrough, inc. Atmos.

[Freestylerak]

I don't want install Libreelec on this box, I would like use user interface which comes with this box, such as webbrowser, youtube, netflix, spotify, facebook and other apps. Now I have to switch to my TV OS to search something on web, because Libreelec can't do it, so I would like to have everything on TV box.

So anybody knows if it's possible to enjoy all kind of sound with this box?

Or anybody has a alternative to this box?

Thank you.

Hi, welcome

"Everything on a TV Box"....

is where the wheels will fall off, you are simply trying to do too much on the one device. Buy a expensive Intel/AMD Windows PC if you want ultimate flexibility.
That will also run LibreELEC from a USB3 stick.

I would NOT recommend using a Web browser on it on any cheap ARM chipset TV box platform at all. You are in for a really horrible, slow experience.
Web browsing is what Desktop PC's or Tablets are for.

Most cheap ARM Chipset platforms will not run Netflix properly, if at all.
You need a (Android TV) Google Certified, and Netflix Approved device (click) these days.

For Android TV those are the Mi Boxes, NVIDIA Shield, Vodafone TV or Jetstream 4K Ultra.
Or the other Netflix alternatives the Fire TV's or Apple TV's.

I would avoid cheap Rockchip TV Boxes as well if you want decent support.

For Android TV Kodi - only the NVIDIA Shield or the 2016 Mi Box (model MDZ-16-AB) will give you HD audio passthrough.

The NVIDIA Shield would be the closest to matching you requirements, especially for 4K which needs Gigabit Ethernet. You will still need some sort of (air) mouse to web browse on a TV - even then it's going to be a painful experience.

---

You should run CoreELEC Kodi Leia (click) on the S905X device. If you add something like a USB3 > Gigabit Adapter it will easily handle 4K HDR and HD audio passthrough, inc. Atmos. 

Hi, thanks for response.

I just wondering. My old S905X can handle audio passthrough (sure it's on Libreelec, but it's working). But this device is poorly manufactured, it has overheating problem and just 100M ethernet.

So why Rockchip (which is so much better than S905X) can't just passthrough audio. I don't need decode audio on TV box, just send it to receiver. Why is this so hard for TV boxes.

I don't understand why Android can't do it, but on Libreelec it's working flawlessly. It's matter of drivers?

BTW. I have expensive Intel PC with Intel i7 8700K, 16GB RAM, SSD, decent graphic card, but this PC has of course a lot of power consumption and I don't want to turn him on, if I want to watch TV, that's for me just nonsense, if they are TV boxes on market for this purpose.

Thanks for explanation

[noggin]

I just wondering. My old S905X can handle audio passthrough (sure it's on Libreelec, but it's working). But this device is poorly manufactured, it has overheating problem and just 100M ethernet.

So why Rockchip (which is so much better than S905X) can't just passthrough audio. I don't need decode audio on TV box, just send it to receiver. Why is this so hard for TV boxes.

I don't understand why Android can't do it, but on Libreelec it's working flawlessly. It's matter of drivers?

My understanding is that it's a case of driver (and OS software) support not hardware support. HD Audio is really only present on ripped content - not content that is available via legitimate streaming sources - so HD Audio passthrough isn't a priority for manufacturers who target their boxes at OTT applications.