How to passthrough DTS/DD/PCM through the HDMI

[alejandrovk]

Hi there!

I'd like to know what is the best way to passthrough DTS/DD/PCM sound from the RPi to a AV receiver which is capable of all this.

Currently, I'm pluging my RPi to my TV with HDMI. My TV has SPDIF out which I'm using now to passthrought the audio to the AV receiver. I do get sound, but I'm not really sure if real DTS/DD is possible with this solution.

Another approach I'm considering is connecting the RPi to my AV and then the AV to the TV via HDMI....but not sure if this works or anyone tried...

Any ideas? Thanks!

Regards,
Alex

[rikardo1979]

the best way is to go RPi>AVR>TV over HDMI connection
if you go RPi>TV over HDMI and from TV>AVR over SPDIF is not easy to say what formats are passing out from your TV. You would have to check in your TV manual

[alejandrovk]

Hello Rikardo,

Hmmmm, ok I think I'lll do some testing first, to really check if I'm getting DTS/DD from my TV or just plain stereo. Just asking because otherwise I'll have to buy a looooooong HDMI cable (> 5m) to get from the RPi to my AV and another one for the way back...

I'll let you know how this ends up

Regards

[alejandrovk]

Hi there again,

I've connected my RPi to my AV and this one to my TV. While image and sound are excellent, I can only get Dolby Digital from the RPi to my AV....is this normal? I tried some movies that I know they have DTS and still getting DD all the time...any clues?

Regards,
Alex

[rikardo1979]

please post the following

• AVR model
• TV model
• how you are connected(just confirm if you use HDMI cable)
• media info of the file you are trying to play (use MediaInfo)
• details from your XBMC Audio settings (System>Settings>System>Audio output)
  

[alejandrovk]

Hello Rikardo,

AV is a SONY STR-KG800 [ http://sportsbil.com/sony/STR/STR-K/STR-KG800_v1.0.pdf ] ( I can confirm this encodes/decodes DTS with no problems, seen it many times with retail DVDs).
TV is Panasonic TXL32-U2E
Yes, I'm using 2 HDMI cables, one goes from the RPi to the AV and another one from the AV to the TV
Audio Output is set to HDMI and 5.1 in XBMC settings.
It seems that the files I was trying only had DD, since those were ripped versions with no DTS included. I can try though a couple small wavs I have to check if DTS is working or not (tried those with my previous HTPC and I can see DTS displayed in the AV) and let you know what happens.

Regards,
Alex

[alejandrovk]

Hello, I managed to make this work using 2 hdmi cables and I can confirm that I get DTS from the RPi. Now the only problem is that music and effects are WAAAY louder than voice, so I keep switching volume up&down....any idea how to fix this?? Is really annoying!

Regards,
Alex

[rikardo1979]

so as you are sure that you have all settings as it should and also your files include DTS sound than you would need to change your AVR settings as if RPi jus passing sound out with out touching, it means you cant set the volume for the channels or even you cant adjust the volume at all.
So you should be able to enhance volume of your central channel on your AVR, im pretty sure

[alejandrovk]

Just a side note, I can somehow fix this using my AV capabilities to increase/decrease channel volume, but still, I think this is more related with XBMC, because I never needed to do this on my previous HTPC.

[rikardo1979]

keep in mind that for each input on your AVR the different sound settings apply,so it is always necessary to spend some time to sett each input to make sure is good for your ears

[alejandrovk]

Agreed, this is fixed. One last question though.... I'm accessing my video files from a Samba network shared folder. Is there any way to tell XBMC to always "add" that location in the Videos section? I'm asking 'cuz everytime I turn on the RPi I have to include that manually and it is a pain. I turn on/off the RPi quite frequently since I only use it to watch movies, so having to do this all the time is time consuming

[rikardo1979]

if you add the source from smb under video section and scan your media into the library it should stick but if not than you probably running outdated XBian version where this was a known issue.
So please install the latest Alpha4 and do the update
http://xbian.org/forum/showthread.php?pid=1813#pid1813

[alejandrovk]

(5th Feb, 2013 08:06 PM)rikardo1979 Wrote:  if you add the source from smb under video section and scan your media into the library it should stick but if not than you probably running outdated XBian version where this was a known issue.
So please install the latest Alpha4 and do the update
http://xbian.org/forum/showthread.php?pid=1813#pid1813

Will try, thanks again for the help!

[mk01]

(24th Jan, 2013 04:50 AM)rikardo1979 Wrote:  the best way is to go RPi>AVR>TV over HDMI connection
if you go RPi>TV over HDMI and from TV>AVR over SPDIF is not easy to say what formats are passing out from your TV. You would have to check in your TV manual

it's even written in samsung manuals / yamaha avr manuals: tv can only send more channels if the signal is comming from it (live tv / smart etc). if TV is used to route the signal, it will always be stereo only !!!

if anyone has AVR, it's point is to act as media hub, everything should be routed via AVR, not TV set !!! tv is monitor, antena, CEC controller. nothing more !

[rikardo1979]

(15th Apr, 2013 01:40 PM)mk01 Wrote:  it's even written in samsung manuals / yamaha avr manuals: tv can only send more channels if the signal is comming from it (live tv / smart etc). if TV is used to route the signal, it will always be stereo only !!!

you are wrong here Most of the new TV's can pass out onto SPDIF the Dodby D but not DTS

Quote:if anyone has AVR, it's point is to act as media hub, everything should be routed via AVR, not TV set !!! tv is monitor, antena, CEC controller. nothing more !

The best way ofc, if your AVR have a connection abilities So there is no HDMI than is have not much use with RPi