Bought a RPi 2 - now having audio issues (HDMI pass through)

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Aaroona

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#165953 25-Feb-2015 18:24

I'm in a bit of a pickle - I bought a Raspberry Pi which arrived today. Got it all up and running with OpenElec, but I've noticed that pass through isn't working correctly.

I'm guessing that my TV is not capable of decoding DD or DTS, thus I lose audio - I genuinely thought my TV was capable of it, but apparantly not.

So I'm now trying to work out what my next move is...

1. Sell the RPi and put it down to learning.
2. Is there a splitter of sorts that allows me to split the audio out from HDMI, decode it with that "box" then pass it through to my surround sound?

Unfortunately, my surround system I bought recently doesn't have HDMI in, so I can't use that...

HALP! Any ideas?

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#1246641 25-Feb-2015 19:17

Assuming your home theatre (or TV) has optical digital in you could try one of these...

Hifiberry digi plus standard version

Edit: Is there anyway of mixing down the audio to PCM through HDMI? TV should accept that?

Blanch

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#1246648 25-Feb-2015 19:35

Don't use pass through, select hdmi in the kodi audio settings

B1GGLZ

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#1246649 25-Feb-2015 19:37

I found the same problem with my Panasonic Blu Ray and Sony TV. DTS and HD Audio from the Blu Ray passes thru the TV to the amp as Stereo. I had to use optical audio out to the amp and HDMI to the TV. 5.1 audio from DVD is no problem. Unfortunately the RPi doesn't have optical out.

Aaroona

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#1246660 25-Feb-2015 20:05

Blanch: Don't use pass through, select hdmi in the kodi audio settings

It is set to HDMI. The problem is, it doesn't output DTS/Dolby, only PCM, which is not what I want.
The only way to even get other options to show, is to enable pass-through.

Wade: Assuming your home theatre (or TV) has optical digital in you could try one of these...

Hifiberry digi plus standard version

Edit: Is there anyway of mixing down the audio to PCM through HDMI? TV should accept that?

It does have Optical in. So I could give that a try... PITA though since it won't fit into the RPi case :(

Wonder if anyone else has run into the same issue as me... don't feel like dropping another $60 odd, without being certain it'd work..

My setup previously was:

Samsung TV with Wifi, connected to UPNP --> Digital out to Surround Sound System..... I was able to output Dolby/DTS to my TV that way, and it played through my surround sound no problems.

New Setup:

RPi plays MKV --> connected to TV via HDMI --> TV connected to Surround Sound via Optical.

mcraenz

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#1246728 25-Feb-2015 22:23

IMHO the TV should play no part in the audio path. All you need is a receiver with HDMI and support for all the current common codecs. All current and future problems will be solved. So sell what ever audio system you currently have, cut your losses and get a proper receiver. You won't regret it.

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Aaroona

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#1246731 25-Feb-2015 22:26

mcraenz: IMHO the TV should play no part in the audio path. All you need is a receiver with HDMI and support for all the current common codecs. All current and future problems will be solved. So sell what ever audio system you currently have, cut your losses and get a proper receiver. You won't regret it.

The receiver isn't too much of an issue.. It does have optical IN, it's just now my issue is getting Optical out on the RPi, I guess... My receiver can do Dolby/Dolby+/DTS/HD.. just a matter of connecting it all up...

If I were to replace it, what would you recommend then in the ~$300 range, that would do what I'm asking?

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richms

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#1246732 25-Feb-2015 22:30

HDMI audio extractors do exist. Basic inline box that takes HDMI in, gives HDMI and optical out of them. Often they will solve HDCP at the same time.

Richard rich.ms

Aaroona

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#1246735 25-Feb-2015 22:35

richms: HDMI audio extractors do exist. Basic inline box that takes HDMI in, gives HDMI and optical out of them. Often they will solve HDCP at the same time.

I presume something like this may do? Thoughts??

mcraenz

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#1246736 25-Feb-2015 22:35

Aaroona:
mcraenz: IMHO the TV should play no part in the audio path. All you need is a receiver with HDMI and support for all the current common codecs. All current and future problems will be solved. So sell what ever audio system you currently have, cut your losses and get a proper receiver. You won't regret it.

The receiver isn't too much of an issue.. It does have optical IN, it's just now my issue is getting Optical out on the RPi, I guess... My receiver can do Dolby/Dolby+/DTS/HD.. just a matter of connecting it all up...

If I were to replace it, what would you recommend then in the ~$300 range, that would do what I'm asking?

Optical is of yesteryear. HDMI is the way to go. Can't recommend a model as haven't been in the market for some time. For that money I'd look for a 2nd hand Yamaha on trademe.

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richms

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#1246739 25-Feb-2015 22:40

Aaroona:
richms: HDMI audio extractors do exist. Basic inline box that takes HDMI in, gives HDMI and optical out of them. Often they will solve HDCP at the same time.

I presume something like this may do? Thoughts??

The one I used as a HDCP remover didnt have analog outputs. I dont know what that one will do if it gets a bitstream. At least there is a chance it will get 5.1 stuff since it has the switch on it.

The one I used just said it could do DTS, AC3 and stereo to the source, didnt have a switch, and we never actually used the optical out, just used it because of its other properties.

Richard rich.ms

Aaroona

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#1246747 25-Feb-2015 22:49

mcraenz:
Aaroona:
mcraenz: IMHO the TV should play no part in the audio path. All you need is a receiver with HDMI and support for all the current common codecs. All current and future problems will be solved. So sell what ever audio system you currently have, cut your losses and get a proper receiver. You won't regret it.

The receiver isn't too much of an issue.. It does have optical IN, it's just now my issue is getting Optical out on the RPi, I guess... My receiver can do Dolby/Dolby+/DTS/HD.. just a matter of connecting it all up...

If I were to replace it, what would you recommend then in the ~$300 range, that would do what I'm asking?

Optical is of yesteryear. HDMI is the way to go. Can't recommend a model as haven't been in the market for some time. For that money I'd look for a 2nd hand Yamaha on trademe.

Hmm... while I do agree that HDMI is better, with my current setup and what I'm wanting to accomplish, I don't think it's the most economical route. I'd be happy to get Optical working again - coming from analogue only about a month ago, its a huge step up anyway. I think given what has been said here, My options are either a splitter/extractor or a Hifiberry....

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mcraenz

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#1246753 25-Feb-2015 23:17

What about a USB optical/coax device?

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/PCM2704-USB-fiber-optic-coaxial-analog-output-USB-sound-card-decoding-plate-DAC-USB-Power-free/1958057557.html

http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/Brand-new-5-Channel-5-1-Optical-USB-Sound-Card-adapter-converter-Free-shipping/1428004_32221094619.html

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richms

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#1246755 25-Feb-2015 23:30

I had issues trying a USB sound device on the pi - it would have tiny dropouts all the time. Reading up many people had issues which is why those sheilds that went onto the other connector to use the i2s output were so popular.

Richard rich.ms

mcraenz

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#1246758 25-Feb-2015 23:59

richms: I had issues trying a USB sound device on the pi - it would have tiny dropouts all the time. Reading up many people had issues which is why those sheilds that went onto the other connector to use the i2s output were so popular.

This is why I wouldn't bother with a pi and will just stick to an htpc. With an htpc you can always make it do whatever you want. With a pi it seems like from day one you're pushing the limits of what the thing can do. The only reason I can see to use a pi is power consumption.

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davidcole

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#1246778 26-Feb-2015 07:30

Kinda annoying....but what about ripping apart the mkv, reencoding the audio as ac3/mp3 and putting a 2nd audio track back in to the mkv? So you'd have DTS as track 1 and ac3/mp3 as track 2.

Doesn't cos any money, just a bit of time.

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