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Hello all,
I saw a similar thread to this but it didnt address my question so thought you guys could clarify.
I have a Bose lifestyle 535 series III attached to my HTPC and TV via HDMI. Running Kodi 17.6
Regarding the settings in System->Audio, Kodi asks for a Audio Decoder device and Audio Passthrough device
Both allow options for
Directsound: HDMI Bose LS-34 (Nvidia high definition)....
AND
WASAPI: HDMI Bose LS-34 (Nvidia high definition)
So should i use Directsound or WASAPI for Audio Decoder and Audio Passthrough or a combination?
Why?
Thanks
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Bibio
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the top section is for sounds in kodi gui. audio playback such as mp3, flac etc.etc via the built in player.
if you set the number of speakers in this section then all audio will be played back in that configuration including kodi gui sounds.
the bottom section is for audio playback of codecs in movies via the inbuilt player.
if you use an external player then these settings are null and void apart from the top section for kodi gui sounds.
the external player then takes over depending on your custom playercorefactory.xml so you set your audio device in your external player.
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I have a 5.1 system, two fronts, two rears, a center and a sub woofer and I have a Denon H6400X.
I have it set to WASAPI passthrough for top and bottom setting.
Do you recommend setting the number of speakers to 2 and I assume let the Denon decode or should I be setting the number of speakers to 5.1?
Thanks
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Bibio
Senior Member
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if you have an AVR then you always let that decode the codecs.
kodi can let you use two separate sound devices.
its easy to get confused with the two options.
the top options are there to configure audio playback without an AVR or device that can decode HD audio codecs externally.
the top options allow you to configure the amount of speakers you have attached to your audio device as not everyone has an HDMI device (TV / monitor) capable of decoding HD audio.
but they do have an onboard/dedicated sound card with a computer 2/2.1/5.1 speaker system, or they wish to listen via headphones.
in this instance you would setup the amount of speakers that you have attached to your onboard/dedicated sound card.
you have to remember that the top option will also send the kodi gui sounds to this configuration as well.
add to that you can also send the audio to your AVR via HDMI.
the bottom options are for decoding or passing through HD audio codecs only e.g. sound in movies.
again not everyone has an HDMI HD Audio capable tv/monitor. so you would use the onboard/dedicated sound card to decode the HD Audio.
but you can also send it via HDMI to an AVR to be decoded.
now for the tricky part. you can use two separate sound devices.
lets say your HTPC has a really good sound card and you like to listen via headphones. you would set the top section up for this.
but you wont receive kodi gui sounds via speakers only headphones.
when you want to watch a movie then the bottom section takes over so you set up the sound device you want to use for that purpose. lets say an AVR using the graphics card.
the bottom section passthrough is to send the hd audio codec to a dedicated sound device such as an AVR or soundbar via spdif or hdmi depending on the sound card/graphics card.
the codec selection is there so you can choose what codecs your dedicated sound device is capable of and as far as i'm aware kodi will "pseudo surround" the others.
yes its all very complicated if you want it to be but a bit of common sense goes a long way.
TBH i would like to have three options. 1 for kodi GUI sounds, 1 for non HD audio e.g. CD mp3 etc.etc and 1 for HD audio with each having the option of a separate sound device for playback.
I'm sure this will help many noobs to come
