Surround sound movies

[EricB]

I have the intention to buy me a home cinema installation. In the meantime, I've been looking around Kodi to find the right addons for 5.1 movies. In combination with my RealDebrid account, I've found some excellent ones. But I noticed that when I play a 1080p and 5.1 movie (still without the surround system), there is some lightly stuttering (I have a T8). Is this because the file is much heavier ? I also have the intention to raise up my internet speed from 30 mbps up to 100 mbps. Would that solve the stuttering ?

 

[David Savage]

Sometimes this can be down to setting within kodi...
Try different setting with Audio and even Acceleration too...
Also try no XML, in progam setting use Xunity maintenance to delete your XML and see if this helps.
30mbps is fine for 1080 and 5.1, normally 8 and up is fine...so have a play with Acceleration first, I have all highlighted excepted MediaCodec (surface).
Plus inside kodi go to system, system and Audio output then look for keep audio alive and change that to Off.
Hope this helps..

 

[EricB]

I've changed the settings you described. As soon I watched a movie, I'll let you know if it helped (I will watch Demolition tonight, hopefully my T8 is not ready for demolition)

 

[David Savage]

Sometimes it's good to have a play around with the Acceleration setting.
If this doesn't work there's also in the same area system, video and audio output and change Adjust display refresh rate to on start/stop.

Best of luck

 

[EricB]

Sometimes it's good to have a play around with the Acceleration setting.
If this doesn't work there's also in the same area system, video and audio output and change Adjust display refresh rate to on start/stop.

Best of luck

Hi David. I followed your instructions, watched a 5.1 movie (still without home cinema of course, but that will change soon) and no stuttering anymore. I guess the accelaration has solved the problem. So that's excellent for the future.
Because I have a 6-year old Sony TV (KDL40HX700, full HD), I have the intention to buy me a Sony surround system (I guess that, staying with the same brand, is the best buy). My TV has HDMI's and a digital optical connection (two channel linear PCM, Dolby Digital). So I think I'm OK with this, isn't ?
Anyway, as soon as I have decided which type of surround system I will buy, I would like to contact you to know your opinion (to avoid buying a pig in a poke) and to know what's the best set up (how to connect HDMI/optical to TV and T8, setttings DTS/DD, and so on). I went through the forum and noticed that you are the Audio expert . Do you mind if I contact you then ?
Rgds.

 

[David Savage]

Yes, that's not a problem....best would be HDMI as keeps things easy. Plus if you have super fast Internet you can get DTS HD too.

Dave

 

[EricB]

Do you think 100 mbps is fast enough to get DTS HD ?

 

[David Savage]

Should be, I've got 13 mbps and get 5.1 and 1080p...all good. There quite a few around now as well. More Power in Phoenix, Maverick and tombraider add-ons have 5.1, some also have DTS-HD.

Dave

 

[EricB]

I know MorePower (which is very good), didn't knew Maverick and Tombraider. I will check.
As I am learning the surround matter step by step, is DTS then a higher level than Dolby ? So better sound quality ?

 

[David Savage]

Normally Dolby is good but DTS has a higher bit rate so yes should sound better.
DVDS with Dolby are around 375 bits were DTS is about 768 to 1528.
Blu ray has Dolby Atmos and DTS X now which is 7.2.4 the 4 is the hight channels and the 2 is the subs...sounds amazing. DTS X is supposed to be better, but there's more Atmos content available.
As for DTS-HD and Dolby true HD they are both high resolution so around the same...on these boxes it will be compressed heavily, but still sound great.

 

[EricB]

Normally Dolby is good but DTS has a higher bit rate so yes should sound better.
DVDS with Dolby are around 375 bits were DTS is about 768 to 1528.
Blu ray has Dolby Atmos and DTS X now which is 7.2.4 the 4 is the hight channels and the 2 is the subs...sounds amazing. DTS X is supposed to be better, but there's more Atmos content available.
As for DTS-HD and Dolby true HD they are both high resolution so around the same...on these boxes it will be compressed heavily, but still sound great.

Hi David,
So I bought a 5.1 home cinema Sony (type BDV-N5200W). Will receive it in a week or so. It has 2xHDMI IN, 1xHDMI OUT, 1xOPT IN, 1xLAN. My TV (also Sony, full HD) has HDMI's and optical connection (two channel linear PCM, Dolby Digital). My box is a T8. Surround system and T8 will be connected with LAN (internet speed 100 mbps).
I would like to know the best setup to stream with Kodi (Dolby and DTS). A lot of questions, but perhaps it can be seen as a guide and may be usefull for other forum visitors I guess.

1) how to cable everything ? What to cable by HDMI, what to cable by Optical ? The most important setting I suppose.
2) advanced settings:

2.1 digital audio auto-detection : OFF of ON ? When I click ON : digital audio output is automatically set to SPDIF passthrough.
2.2 digital audio output : stands now on PCM. Have the possibility to 3 options : PCM/SPDIF passthrough/HDMI passthrough. What to choose ?
2.3 DTS settings : 3 options : downmix/scale/norme (is ON). What to choose ?
2.4 DTSHDMulAssedDecode : ON or OFF ?
2.5 DTSHDTTransencodeSet : 0-1-2 ?​

3) Kodi auio settings

3.1 Audio output device : is in grey. Says android, audiotrack. Will this change if home cinema is connected perhaps ?
3.2 Number of channels : I've read somewhere that this should be set to 2.0. So, althoug I will have a 5.1 installation, do I have to set it to 2.0 ? It's confusing.
3.3 Output configuration : optimized. OK ?
3.4 Stereo upmix : unchecked. OK ?
3.5 maintain original volume on downmix : checked. OK ?
3.6 resample quality : medium. OK ?
3.7 keep audio alive : 1 minute. OK ?
3.8 support 8 channel DTS-HD audio decoding : check or uncheck ? Says : ...is only available when DTS and HTS-HD audio passthrough is disabled. Which setting
is that ? Or is this whole setting not applicable for 5.1, so uncheck ?
3.9 enable audio DSP processing : check or uncheck
3.10 play GUI sounds : only when playback stopped
3.11 enable passthrough : check or uncheck ?
3.12 AC3 capable receiver : check or uncheck ?
3.13 enable AC3 transcoding : check or uncheck ?
3.14 DTS capable receiver : check or uncheck ? Says : enabling this will disable "support 8 channel DTS-HD audio decoding.
​

4) Others : as a try (and of course still without home cinema connected), I have enabled all (I think) the settings necessary but when i play a 5.1 movie I hear a loud buzzing sound that comes through my TV speakers with no audio. If I shut off the passthrough it works. Without a connected home cinema, this is normal I guess ? Nothing wrong with my TV I hope ?
5) Others : when I will watch a 5.1 movie (passthrough checked) and after the movie I switch to Live TV (2.0), do I have to uncheck the passthrough ? Every time I switch from 5.1 to 2.0, do I have to change something or can I leave all the 5.1 settings ?

That's it David. I hope you'll find some time to respond, this would certainly help me a lot. Tnx in advance.

 

[ChrisM]

@David Savage I've put up a post on Surround Sound in general at https://droidbox.co.uk/how-to/surround-sound-settings-on-your-android-powered-set-top-box/ , and updated the older https://droidbox.co.uk/how-to/optical-out-on-a-t8-with-kodi/ post a little.
If you get a moment, would you mind glancing over them - your prowess in these matters dwarfs my stereo-only knowledge/experience.
If I've missed something out, or the section about selecting different devices is incorrect, would you be able to throw a PM my way please?

[edit]
Ah, new post in this thread since I started writing.
@EricB On point 4) , definitely normal. Your TV would need to be able to process the data natively (not something I've normally seen around) with passthrough enabled.

 

[David Savage]

Hi David,
So I bought a 5.1 home cinema Sony (type BDV-N5200W). Will receive it in a week or so. It has 2xHDMI IN, 1xHDMI OUT, 1xOPT IN, 1xLAN. My TV (also Sony, full HD) has HDMI's and optical connection (two channel linear PCM, Dolby Digital). My box is a T8. Surround system and T8 will be connected with LAN (internet speed 100 mbps).
I would like to know the best setup to stream with Kodi (Dolby and DTS). A lot of questions, but perhaps it can be seen as a guide and may be usefull for other forum visitors I guess.

1) how to cable everything ? What to cable by HDMI, what to cable by Optical ? The most important setting I suppose.
2) advanced settings:

2.1 digital audio auto-detection : OFF of ON ? When I click ON : digital audio output is automatically set to SPDIF passthrough.
2.2 digital audio output : stands now on PCM. Have the possibility to 3 options : PCM/SPDIF passthrough/HDMI passthrough. What to choose ?
3.3 DTS settings : 3 options : downmix/scale/norme (is ON). What to choose ?
4.4 DTSHDMulAssedDecode : ON or OFF ?
5.5 DTSHDTTransencodeSet : 0-1-2 ?​

3) Kodi auio settings

3.1 Audio output device : is in grey. Says android, audiotrack. Will this change if home cinema is connected perhaps ?
3.2 Number of channels : I've read somewhere that this should be set to 2.0. So, althoug I will have a 5.1 installation, do I have to set it to 2.0 ? It's confusing.
3.3 Output configuration : optimized. OK ?
3.4 Stereo upmix : unchecked. OK ?
3.5 maintain original volume on downmix : checked. OK ?
3.6 resample quality : medium. OK ?
3.7 keep audio alive : 1 minute. OK ?
3.8 support 8 channel DTS-HD audio decoding : check or uncheck ? Says : ...is only available when DTS and HTS-HD audio passthrough is disabled. Which setting
is that ? Or is this whole setting not applicable for 5.1, so uncheck ?
3.9 enable audio DSP processing : check or uncheck
3.10 play GUI sounds : only when playback stopped
3.11 enable passthrough : check or uncheck ?
3.12 AC3 capable receiver : check or uncheck ?
3.13 enable AC3 transcoding : check or uncheck ?
3.14 DTS capable receiver : check or uncheck ? Says : enabling this will disable "support 8 channel DTS-HD audio decoding.
​

4) Others : as a try (and of course still without home cinema connected), I have enabled all (I think) the settings necessary but when i play a 5.1 movie I hear a loud buzzing sound that comes through my TV speakers with no audio. If I shut off the passthrough it works. Without a connected home cinema, this is normal I guess ? Nothing wrong with my TV I hope ?
5) Others : when I will watch a 5.1 movie (passthrough checked) and after the movie I switch to Live TV (2.0), do I have to uncheck the passthrough ? Every time I switch from 5.1 to 2.0, do I have to change something or can I leave all the 5.1 settings ?

That's it David. I hope you'll find some time to respond, this would certainly help me a lot. Tnx in advance.

Take a look at link above its spot on...and very helpful.
If you need any more help let me know.

 

[David Savage]

In section 3. Kodi setting and 3, 13 you might need to highlight audio AC3 transcoding too.
DTS-HD you need to set up in Android setting, if you check droidboxs How to page first then let me know what your stuck on.

 

[EricB]

I didn't noticed there was a general post on Surround Sound . It will help me.
Just 2 things to be 100% sure :

- cabling : so one HDMI cable from TV to receivers HDMI output and a second HDMI cable from T8 to receivers HDMI input. That's it. OK ?
- setting number of channels : althoug I will have a 5.1 installation, I have to set it to 2.0. OK ?​

DTS settings 2.3 / 2.4/ 2.5 / 3.8/ 3.14 : I guess I will find it out when using it. Anyway, there is not so much DTS on Kodi I believe.

As always, great service from Droidbox (although some things can be better). I appreciate your help, I owe you one.

 

[David Savage]

Hi, normally AV receiver has one or two outputs so you can run a projector aswell.
As for inputs there's normally two or more, mine has six. So yes HDMI output to your TV and use the inputs for your droidBOX and other things you want...
ie: blu-ray, dvd and games consoles.

 

[EricB]

@David Savage I have a problem with my T8 and home cinema. Done the installation as described above and 5.1 sound works great on DTS. But I have no sound when playing AC3 5.1 movies (that's Dolby Digital I've read). Regarding settings I've tried about everything, also the home cinema supports DTS and Dolby Digital. I cannot connect the T8 to passthrough for AC3. Is this a T8 issue, an Android issue, a setting issue or something else ? Can you please help me. Tnx.

 

[David Savage]

Have you enabled AC3 transcoding as well see if this helps you.

 

[EricB]

I did, but it doesn't help.
AC3 works well when playing via laptop instead of T8.

 

[David Savage]

Out of kodi go to setting and advanced and make sure passthrough is set.
Plus check settings on your amp/receiver.
I'm off now so best of luck and back tomorrow.

Dave