[Maaarv]

Hey guys!

I'm running Kodi 18.9 Leia on LibreELEC 9.2.6 on my HTPC.

My setup: HTPC with video and audio via Geforce GT1030 hdmi 2.0 output -> HDMI 2.1 -> HDMI 2.1 eARC on Philips OLED936 which comes with an integrated B&W Soundbar that supports DTS HD-Audio aswell as Atmos.

I'm planning to switch my sound setup in the future to go HTPC -> HDMI -> Soundsystem -> HDMI -> TV

But for now I would have expected that Kodi would show me the DTS capable receiver optons for DTS-HD Master Audio aswell as Dolby TrueHD, but it doesn't.
Only DTS and Dolby Digital capable receiver is shown.

On my Philips TV I enabled the option Multichannel (Bypass)

Can someone please explain to me why this is happening?

please see debug log

[black_eagle]

You are using LibreELEC which uses the pulseaudio soundserver.  Unfortunately, pulse is not able to passthrough DTS-HDMA or Dolby TrueHD.    See here for how to work around it https://kodi.wiki/view/PulseAudio#PulseA...figuration

[jjd-uk]

The problem is that your TV reports it's only capable of 2 channels.

[jjd-uk]

You are using LibreELEC which uses the pulseaudio soundserver.  Unfortunately, pulse is not able to passthrough DTS-HDMA or Dolby TrueHD.    See here for how to work around it https://kodi.wiki/view/PulseAudio#PulseA...figuration

Not true, LE uses Alsa by default, it does come with Pulseaudio also but that is used only for bluetooth audio for headphones.

[Maaarv]

ok, thanks for clarifying. How can I check if my TV reports only two capable channels?

So the solution would be a soundbar or AVR that support multichannel audio with HDMI in and out infront of the TV, right?

[black_eagle]

Not true, LE uses Alsa by default, it does come with Pulseaudio also but that is used only for bluetooth audio for headphones.

Ah, didn't realize that.  Thanks for the clarification.

[DaVu]

On my Philips TV I enabled the option Multichannel (Bypass)

What other options are available? Multichannel most likely means PCM. At least in regard of AVRs it's meant like that. 
Could we also please see a log which shows a movie playing? I would be interested which of the 2 devices are in use. As I see a difference in both of them: 
 

Code:

Device 1
    m_deviceName : hdmi:CARD=NVidia,DEV=0
    m_displayName : HDA NVidia
    m_displayNameExtra: PHL Philips FTV on HDMI
    m_deviceType : AE_DEVTYPE_HDMI
    m_channels : FL, FR
    m_sampleRates : 32000,44100,48000,88200,96000
    m_dataFormats : AE_FMT_RAW,AE_FMT_S32NE,AE_FMT_S16NE,AE_FMT_S16LE,AE_FMT_RAW
    m_streamTypes : STREAM_TYPE_AC3,STREAM_TYPE_DTSHD,STREAM_TYPE_DTSHD_MA,STREAM_TYPE_DTSHD_CORE,STREAM_TYPE_DTS_1024,STREAM_TYPE_DTS_2048,STREAM_TYPE_DTS_512,STREAM_TYPE_EAC3,STREAM_TYPE_TRUEHD
Device 2
    m_deviceName : hdmi:CARD=NVidia,DEV=1
    m_displayName : HDA NVidia
    m_displayNameExtra: HDMI
    m_deviceType : AE_DEVTYPE_HDMI
    m_channels : FL, FR
    m_sampleRates : 32000,44100,48000,88200,96000,176400,192000
    m_dataFormats : AE_FMT_S32NE,AE_FMT_S16NE,AE_FMT_S16LE,AE_FMT_RAW
    m_streamTypes : STREAM_TYPE_AC3,STREAM_TYPE_DTSHD,STREAM_TYPE_DTSHD_MA,STREAM_TYPE_DTSHD_CORE,STREAM_TYPE_DTS_1024,STREAM_TYPE_DTS_2048,STREAM_TYPE_DTS_512,STREAM_TYPE_EAC3,STREAM_TYPE_TRUEHD

The 1st device shows: 32000,44100,48000,88200,96000
The 2nd device shows: 32000,44100,48000,88200,96000,176400,192000

Maybe this changes after you selected a different option for that Multichannel-thingy you mentioned. 

Philips OLED936 which comes with an integrated B&W Soundbar that supports DTS HD-Audio aswell as Atmos.

Unfortunately this most likely is meant for the internal players. It all depends on the licenses of those TVs if external devices are also allowed to use that. But in the end...speaking of Atmos and soundbars, the benefit of a soundbar which claims to be able to support Atmos are pretty low. You can't expect much from such soundbar and especially not if it comes to Atmos. Atmos setups require a bunch of additional speakers well placed in your living room. That's something a soundbar will never be able to fullfill.

[Maaarv]

The Philips TV has the following options:
Stereo, Multichannel and Multichannel (Bypass). This is from the manual:

Set the audio out signal of the TV to fit the sound capabilities of the connected Home Theatre System.
• Stereo (uncompressed): If your audio playback devices have no multichannel sound processing, select to only output stereo content to your audio playback devices.
• Multichannel: Select to output multichannel audio content (compressed multichannel sound signal) or stereo audio content to your audio playback devices.
• Multichannel (bypass): Select to output Dolby Digital Plus or DTS content to your audio playback 51 devices or Home theatre system. - Make sure your audio playback devices support Dolby Atmos feature. - SPDIF output (DIGITAL AUDIO OUT) will be disabled when streaming Dolby Digital Plus content

Here are the logs (I had to split them). I played a movie with DTS-HD MA

part 1
part 2

Which part of the log tells me that the TV reports 2 PCM channels?

I know that I can't expect much from the soundbar regarding Atmos but I actually hoped that I can passthrough HD audio when this is what the soundbar supports.
Even when the sound won't satisfy me... at least I want it to work correctly

[jjd-uk]

m_channels only report FL, FR so 2 channel Front Left Front Right stereo.

I'm not 100% sure as I don't know the code, but I believe for the options to be exposed 2 criterea need to be satisfied, firsts is for a max sample rate of 192Khz and secondly for 8 channels to be available as that's what is required for full fidelity TrueHD or DTS-HD. That setting description does not make any mention of HD audio, nor does the product page at https://www.philips.co.uk/c-p/65OLED986_...kins-sound so perhaps the Atmos support is limited to the Dolby Digital+ based variant that streaming services use.

[jjd-uk]

Log says it's trying to use hdmi:CARD=NVidia,DEV=0 which is restricted to 96KHz so that's never going to work. You need to try the hdmi:CARD=NVidia,DEV=1 device which at least supports 192KHz as I'm not 100% if there's a strict enforment of 8 channels.

[Maaarv]

Thanks for clarifying.

Where does that second device actually come from? When I select it I am able to select all the passthrough options but have no sound then. Is this the 'not connected' GPU without the Philips TV and the first one the actual connected one that gets restricted by the TV?
But why does it say 2 channels only then for Device 1 in the log?





From the options on the Philips TV, what's the correct option then? Isn't it 'multichannel' then?

[DaVu]

Where does that second device actually come from?

If I'm not mistaken, that should be another ouput on your 1030. What kind of outputs does it have. Does it have 2 HDMI outputs? If yes, switch the cable to the other one. 

From your screenshots, and what Kodi detects, it's clear that you don't have any audio while selecting the other device from the Kodi GUI. The Kodi GUI tells you which device is connected to the TV (hence the addition "PHL Philips FTV on HDMI" next to the device). So please check which kind of outputs you have on your 1030

Multichannel (bypass): Select to output Dolby Digital Plus or DTS content to your audio playback 51 devices or Home theatre system. - Make sure your audio playback devices support Dolby Atmos feature. - SPDIF output (DIGITAL AUDIO OUT) will be disabled when streaming Dolby Digital Plus content

This setting has an effect if you connect your TV to some dedicated AVR/5.1 Systems/Home Theatre Systems. As Kodi is a device which wants to use the "internal" sound system of your TV, this setting shouldn't have any effect. I highly guess your TV has an HDMI ARC port. This setting will affect this port if an AVR (or any other Home Theatre system) is connected to it. As you said, that's not the case for that soundbar if it´s internal. 

At least, that's the way I understand it.

[Maaarv]

The 1030 has one HDMI and one DVI output only. That's why I'm a bit confused here.

Guess I'll invest in an AVR or Soundbarsystem in the near future then that supports lossless audio and HDMI passthrough to my TV.

But just to make sure. LibreELEC won't have any problems here regarding DTS HD-MA and Dolby TrueHD passthrough, correct?

[jjd-uk]

While I do use LE I haven't got in depth Linux knowledge as my dev work is done on Windows, however it just occured to me that Nvidia card support on Linux is not great, so not sure if that could be an issue. Might be worth also asking on the LE forum whether HD audio is supported for Nvidia.

[DaVu]

But just to make sure. LibreELEC won't have any problems here regarding DTS HD-MA and Dolby TrueHD passthrough, correct?

AFAIK LibreELEC supports HD audio on Intel and NVidia. I guess we would have heard of many reports if it doesn't. I'm using an Intel machine as my HTPC with LibreELEC and I don't have problems in general in regard of using passthrough. I can't speak for Atmos or DTS-X as my pre-amp doesn't support it.