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Full Version: AAC incapable receiver, convert to AC3 with XBMC
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Hi,

I am running XBMC with Win 7 and digital audio output to my Onkyo 7.1 receiver via optical cable. Most audio formats work such as DTS, Dolby digital, AC3 work flawlessly.

But recently, I had a .mkv movie file with AAC. The sound is very low and only seems 2 dimensional. And this problem not only affects XBMC but also other media players such as GOm or VLC. I did some research and realized that my Onkyo recevier cannot decode AAC and I have to convert AAC to AC3 on the fly in order to achieve decent sound.

Despite many effort, I don't seem to get any better result.

Could someone elaborate what I need to download and to change in audio settings in order to make it work?

Your help is greatly appreciated.
The only media program I know of that converts AAC to AC3 on the fly is Plex. I would personally love to have Plex's convert DTS to AC3 feature in XBMC......
XBMC will transcode any format (AAC, DTS, MP3,...) to AC3 on the fly in the next stable version. It's already available in the development SVN releases if you feel adventurous.
Setup your audio output as 'digital' or 'optical/coaxial', check "AC3 capable receiver" and any other that your receiver supports. That's it, listen to your AAC5.1 content in 5.1!
Well at least that's good news regarding xbmc next version capable of AAC-->AC3 on the fly. For the time being, perhaps I shoudl avoid AAC encoded files. Thanks for the update!
CrystalP Wrote:XBMC will transcode any format (AAC, DTS, MP3,...) to AC3 on the fly in the next stable version. It's already available in the development SVN releases if you feel adventurous.
Setup your audio output as 'digital' or 'optical/coaxial', check "AC3 capable receiver" and any other that your receiver supports. That's it, listen to your AAC5.1 content in 5.1!
Starting from what SVN I can get it?
pretty sure the last official nigtlies had this feature http://mirrors.xbmc.org/nightlies/ or if your on linux use the svn ppa
Jezz_X Wrote:pretty sure the last official nigtlies had this feature http://mirrors.xbmc.org/nightlies/ or if your on linux use the svn ppa

28147 from http://mirrors.xbmc.org/nightlies/ is not working at all
what command I should use to get latest SVN via PPA?
Quote:sudo add-apt-repository ppa:team-xbmc-svn/ppa && sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install xbmc
The PPA hasn't been updated in a while because of changes to the codebase, but you can get up-to-date debs from here:

http://sshcs.com/xbmc/

I'm using a build from there and it is amazing. I'm going to be using 5.1 Vorbis from here on out.