(2016-12-09, 21:58)fritsch Wrote: It's a workaround for shitty incapabilities of broken firmware :-( I am sad that the default state of such consumer devices are the way they are. Namely: PT hack is a risk BUT their provided implementation of official API sucks like hell :-) ... so that's the issues I have to face. And even worse: Every shitty device has another bug ... for some EAC3 5.1 work EAC3 7.1 fails. Or for some DTS 48.0 works, but DTS 44.1 / 96 fails ... and so on and so on.
I think I can be happy with Android 7 (for dts, ac3, eac3) and hopefully a official 7.2 with additional capabilities for dts-hd, truehd ... (google has plain forgotten that in Android N, I am on the way getting it into the official standard as we speak).
But - this won't work on the FireTV as the vendor does not implement it. Why should he - all the content he provides you does not have this capabilities at all :-)
This is what really frustrates me. I have done some development in the past (in the business environment and not on Android)! Yes, Android 7 will most likely give you more "native" audio support, and make things much easier as far as development. In reality, virtually no Android set-top-boxes will use this anytime soon, other than a brand new device that gets released. I have read the thread about the API 23 minimum support for DTS passthrough. Frankly, I am angry this decision was made when there are almost no Android Set Top Boxes out there that are running on anything greater than Lollipop (API 22). The Amazon FireTV is the most mainstream Android Set Top Box on the market. It is not our fault that Amazon won't update FireOS to Marshmallow (API 23) (and why should they when their current OS supports all of their current content requirements). It's not even a matter of users flashing a Custom ROM on the FireTV to get a newer Android build (there are no Custom ROMs). So the changes in Krypton essentially break DTS Passthrough for the most popular Android Set Top Box out there.
1.) Downgrade to 16.1 Jarvis is NOT a good solution. Using a previous version is never a good solution as you do not get any of the new features in KODI.
2.) Although there is a workaround it involves transcoding the DTS to AC3 (DD) which is also NOT a good solution as you lose true DTS passthrough and are doing lossy transcoding.
3.) If there is a "Danger" of loud white noise audio with DTS or whatever the hell the issue is with it on somebody's Android phone, and that is why DTS Passthrough "hack" was removed in Krypton, can't there be some kind of compromise? This is not an issue on the FireTV Set Top Boxes. DTS Passthrough works perfectly fine with the hack workaround implemented in 16.1 Jarvis. Is there not any way the code in Krypton can intelligently check the Android device it's installed on, and if it's on FireTV, enable DTS Passthrough as an option in KODI? And if not, don't display the option?
Bottom line is the FireTV devices may NEVER get any build of FireOS based on API version 23 (Marshmallow). And it seems like Team KODI doesn't seem to care much about this. I have been using KODI/XBMC for years, and the stance on the Android platform is pretty frustrating. I always ran Linux builds of XBMC in the past, and development seemed to always be focused on the Hardware capabilities of a device and NOT on the software capabilities.
The big advantage you get with Android is the ability also use many other streaming apps like HBO Go, WatchESPN, Showtime Anytime, Hulu, & Netflix on the same box a KODI. And with many skins, you can even add those apps to the Kodi Home menu.
If the compromise I mentioned above is not possible, is it possible to somehow have a build of Krypton (even unofficial) with the old audio subsystem from Jarvis? It just seems to me that it goes against the spirit of what KODI/XBMC has always been to just say "oh, we can't "officially" support this feature this hardware". DTS Passthrough was supported in Jarvis & Gotham and then "taken away" from users with Krypton. Taking working features away is a BAD thing. I understand it was a hack that made it work before, but it worked amazingly well of Android Set Top Boxes. I thought the spirit was to make KODI work across many devices. KODI doesn't have a "KODI Box" that it is developed specifically for, and that is one of the great things. It works well on various hardware. If the Dev Team doesn't want to have good support on Android Set Top Boxes, then just say "we don't support it", and don't have official builds. And before you go off about "support", I understand there is no official support for KODI. There is the user community, and I do understand the Dev team does this for fun in their free time. I just think that there could be a better solution for Android Set Top Boxes implemented in Krypton than just breaking DTS Passthrough support. Any team members thoughts, comments, and concerns are welcome. Thanks for the work you do and making KODI what it is today.