Audio passthrough?

[Jecht_Sin]

So I finally ordered my new audio system. I'll get it on Tuesady!!  I discarded the soundbars and went for a Yamaha YHT 4940 which supports DTS-HD and Doby TrueHD in 5.1.

It has HDMI/ARC and 4 HDMI In ports with 4K/HDR 4:4:4 video passthrough so it won't be an issue to get the right audio from the HDMI devices. What about the audio from apps like Netflix, Plex, Kodi, Amazon Video, YouTube etc.? Does the audio get sent back as it is, with the apps automatically choosing the best audio format supported by the receiver? 

I know Plex has some specific options, but I'd like to know (in advance, before getting mad when setting it up) how it works in general, being quite noob on the topic. Plus I'd like to understand what does not work due to some bugs, as I keep reading around.

PS: Connecting the PS4 to the receiver and then to the TV would add any input lag? 

[Kuschelmonschter]

Enable passthrough in settings. You might have to switch to expert view in settings. Make sure channel configuration stays at 2.0 ( this is for non-passthrough only) and that you don't enable sync to display in player settings.

Keep in mind that Kodi uses the IEC API on Nougat which is broken on Sony. BTW which version of Kodi?

[Jecht_Sin]

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Kuschelmonschter wrote:

Enable passthrough in settings. You might have to switch to expert view in settings. Make sure channel configuration stays at 2.0 ( this is for non-passthrough only) and that you don't enable sync to display in player settings.

Keep in mind that Kodi uses the IEC API on Nougat which is broken on Sony. BTW which version of Kodi?

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Oh God. This is so annoying. I have found the options in Settings/System Settings/Audio. After enabling the passthrough in there the audio doesn't play at all. Not that the passthrough worked before, but at least it was sending out PCM 2ch audio. Now it still shows PCM 2ch but there isn't any sound. I imagine that it is due to the broken IEC API as you said.

The Kodi version is the latest (no betas). v17.4. I believe at this point my best shot is to convert/add in all UHD videos an DD+ 5.1 track with ffmpeg and stick with Plex. Then play 1080p content with the PS4 (wasting even more electricity...).

Just out of curiosity.. WHEN THE HELL THE BUG FIX FOR ANDROID 7.0 IS COMING OUT?? I am sick of waiting!

[Kuschelmonschter]

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Jecht_Sin schrieb:

I imagine that it is due to the broken IEC API as you said.

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Exactly.

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Jecht_Sin schrieb:

The Kodi version is the latest (no betas). v17.4. I believe at this point my best shot is to convert/add in all UHD videos an DD+ 5.1 track with ffmpeg and stick with Plex. Then play 1080p content with the PS4 (wasting even more electricity...).

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You can still sideload the custom s*h*i*t*t*y build, which makes use of the PCM hack. But be very careful with that. Turn down volume initially. Find those builds here.

Another option is SPMC (Kodi fork). You can select the passthrough API there which is quite handy. So you can force the RAW API there (which is what Plex uses...). A Krypton alpha of SPMC can be found here. I am not sure what SPMC17 Krypton does when chosing the IEC API, so whether it will use the new Nougat API or PCM hack. In case of PCM hack, it might give you DTS also. But be very careful with that. PCM hack is dangerous. So if you try it, turn down volume initially. Current SPMC16 release version from this page and the Play Store is based on Jarvis. So it should indeed use PCM hack in IEC mode.

[Jecht_Sin]

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Kuschelmonschter wrote:But be very careful with that. Turn down volume initially.

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I have setup the AVR  the option that when it turns on it starts at -40db (which is quite low even for night usage). But you know, I am not confident with that. How dangerous is it? What about if I am watching (or testing) a video with Plex and then I switch to Kodi with high volume? The last thing I want is to damage my lovely brand new AVR! I waited years to get it.

[Kuschelmonschter]

SPMC and switching to RAW is still an option though. You can then also enable AC3 transcoding which will give you multi-channel for DTS also...

[Jecht_Sin]

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Kuschelmonschter wrote:

SPMC and switching to RAW is still an option though. You can then also enable AC3 transcoding which will give you multi-channel for DTS also...

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Before lunch I had installed the one from Google Play (v16.6.0 I think) and let me just briefly say that AC3 worked, DTS-HD and Dolby TrueHD didn't. Still stuck with PCM 2ch, no matter which API I selected. I don;t remember if with or w/o passthrough. I am now syncing in Google Drive the apk for v17.4a8. I'll install and test it and let you know.

[Kuschelmonschter · Accepted solution]

These are the passthrough settings to use:

Passthrough API: RAW

Enable Dolby AC3: yes

Enable Dolby AC3 Transcoding: yes

Enable DTS: no

Enable DTS-HD: no

Enable True HD: no

DTS, DTS-HD, True HD should then get transcoded to Dolby 5.1 and output via passthrough.

[Jecht_Sin · Accepted solution]

Yes! I was testing it while you were typing. These are the settings that do work (which are the same you wrote):

I tested with a movie AC3, DTS-HD and Dolby TrueHD. They all went to HDMI ARC as DD 5.1. And DD+ (EAC3) pass through as DD+!

Then is it me or SPMC is actually faster than Kodi?? Not playing videos, the interface. It even seems to load faster (but that should be measured). From the little I used it it also seems pretty stable. Kodi keeps crashing in a way or anotehr anyway.

So I think this would do for now. Thanks a lot!!!  

[Kuschelmonschter]

SPMC is specifically tailored for the Android platform. From my experience it is more experimental than the official Kodi. But it also always depends on which versions you use of course. Both give a little and take a litte. Choose the one which suits you better .

[Jecht_Sin]

@Kuschelmonschter I can tell you,  I have now tested for hours SPMC v17 and still being an alpha it seems much more stable than Kodi. And also faster. Never a crash for starting. I added IPTV like in Kodi (but I still have to understand why the only channel I'm interested in - Paramount Channel - comes out with a black screen! Yes, I tried disabling the HW acceleration, no luck) and few other things. It works like a charm!

Then I have  discovered that if I add a folder via SSH, instead of DLNA, Kodi/SPMC builds its own library with all possible info... Only that for some reason any SSH connection I tested from my Mac to the TV is S L O W (about 3MB/s, 3.5MB/s the most). It works with 1080p videos but there is no way I can use SSH for UHD content. Then with the TV shows it is a mess, it only recognizes one show.

I also managed to make SPMC working with NFS, but then I can't jump position in the videos. Which really puzzles me, from what Android should care NFS partition shouldn't be much different from USB partitions (I mean, from the application layer, off course). And sure it must be faster. But I just tested it up to the point I managed to make it working (it doesn't immediately. Must restart the nfsd deamon in macOS with -N parameter). Maybe there are some NFS extra parameters that must be set.

So, with what I have in hand this is my optimal setup in terms of best AV quality:

• UHD/HDR Movies: SPMC via DLNA (from Plex server)
• HD Movies: SPMC via SSH
• TV Shows: Plex on PS4/SPMC via DLNA

I am not sure what it is going on with Plex, though. WIth some Hi-Res audio video demos I downloaded if an audio format isn't supported the server transcodes only the audio to DD/DD+ (but in some cases the video is broken. Black screen). WIth any UHD video I tested with unsupported audio it always transcodes both audio and video.