Kodi Community Forum
OS X Audio Channels completely broken in XBMC 12.1-13.0 for OSX - Printable Version

+- Kodi Community Forum (https://forum.kodi.tv)
+-- Forum: Support (https://forum.kodi.tv/forumdisplay.php?fid=33)
+--- Forum: General Support (https://forum.kodi.tv/forumdisplay.php?fid=111)
+---- Forum: Mac OS X (https://forum.kodi.tv/forumdisplay.php?fid=56)
+---- Thread: OS X Audio Channels completely broken in XBMC 12.1-13.0 for OSX (/showthread.php?tid=170159)

Pages: 1 2


Audio Channels completely broken in XBMC 12.1-13.0 for OSX - wegi - 2013-07-30

So, there I go: 13.0 alpha 1 is constantly crashing on Mac OSX 10.8.3 on my Mac Mini (2012) -> Solutions:

in 13.0 alpha 2 there is NO AUDIO OUTPUT at all when playing a STEREO movie...

in 12.2 there is NO STEREO output at all to my Yamaha 5.1 receiver via HDMI (and I didn´t change any settings!!)

in 12.1 my LEFT SPEAKER ONLY is getting an audio signal when playing a STEREO movie...

in 12.0 everythings seems ALL FINE, stereo is stereo and 5.1 is 5.1

What happened? This is a complete regression from 13.0 to 12.0. I am aware, that audio (especially 5.1 and hdmi) is
no easy thing in OSX, but it´s getting WORSE with each and every release.

I also tried numerous nightlys including the one from today. no luck with the audio thing...

would be much appreciated, if anybody could give me a hand! THX!!

My Setup:

LG 60" LA6208 LCD TV
Yamaha 5.1 DD/DTS Receiver HDMI
Mac Mini (2012) plugged in via HDMI (picture and audio)

xbmc:
speaker: 2.1
DD: check
DTS: check

OSX;
AudioMidi Setup: 2 Channels


RE: Audio Channels completely broken in XBMC 12.1-13.0 for OSX - Ned Scott - 2013-07-30

In XBMC change your speakers to 2.0 instead of 2.1.


RE: Audio Channels completely broken in XBMC 12.1-13.0 for OSX - Memphiz - 2013-07-30

Calm down a bit next time ... we are not doing regressions by intention - there are complex reasons for that (especially for audio) and we are aware of the fact that osx audio engine is crap.


RE: Audio Channels completely broken in XBMC 12.1-13.0 for OSX - wegi - 2013-08-01

(2013-07-30, 09:21)Ned Scott Wrote: In XBMC change your speakers to 2.0 instead of 2.1.

Thank you, I knew that this IS WORKING! But does this mean, the subwoofer won´t "woof" any more?

(2013-07-30, 12:56)Memphiz Wrote: Calm down a bit next time ... we are not doing regressions by intention - there are complex reasons for that (especially for audio) and we are aware of the fact that osx audio engine is crap.

I´m well aware of that it is no easy task to program the audio-interface-stuff in OSX. I wrote that in my first post.

But it´s one thing, that it is difficult. The other is the continuous REGRESSION from 13.0 back to 12.0...

PS.: And of course we all know, that this regression are not made by intention. that was never my point.


RE: Audio Channels completely broken in XBMC 12.1-13.0 for OSX - ixion - 2013-08-01

I have a Macmini mid-2010 (Macmini4,1 MC270LL/A) connected via HDMI and running OSX 10.8.2 and XBMC 12.2. This is what works for me:

Audio Output: Optical/Coax (yes, you would think this should be set to HDMI, but this is what makes it work)
Speaker Configuration: 7.1
Boost Volume: OFF
Output stereo to all speakers: OFF
Dolby Digital Capable: ON
DTS Capable: ON
Multichannel LPCM: grayed out (not supported by Optical/Coax setting)
Audio Output Device: HDMI
Play GUI sounds: Only when playback stopped

With these settings, MP3 stereo music plays fine and DTS/AC3 works for movies. The only downside of the above is that you lose multichannel LPCM (although I have not tested it). For me, this is an acceptable workaround until the issues are fixed.

Separate issue: I get an audio drop out during music cross fade. Workaround: turn off cross fade.


RE: Audio Channels completely broken in XBMC 12.1-13.0 for OSX - Ned Scott - 2013-08-02

Subwoofer will still woof :)

Low frequencies from the stereo channels are filtered to the subwoofer in most stereo setups. A dedicated track for subwoofer when using less than 5.1 isn't something I've even seen in the wild.


RE: Audio Channels completely broken in XBMC 12.1-13.0 for OSX - Memphiz - 2013-08-02

As annoying as it is. Fact is - we don't have any osx audio devs. You can jump in circles as long as you want - but this won't change anything sadly.


RE: Audio Channels completely broken in XBMC 12.1-13.0 for OSX - wegi - 2013-08-02

(2013-08-02, 03:04)Ned Scott Wrote: Subwoofer will still woof Smile

Low frequencies from the stereo channels are filtered to the subwoofer in most stereo setups. A dedicated track for subwoofer when using less than 5.1 isn't something I've even seen in the wild.

Thanks for the info!!

(2013-08-02, 09:20)Memphiz Wrote: As annoying as it is. Fact is - we don't have any osx audio devs. You can jump in circles as long as you want - but this won't change anything sadly.

That´s a shame... Sad I hope you´ll find an audio dev who wants to rework the complex osx audio code... for free...


RE: Audio Channels completely broken in XBMC 12.1-13.0 for OSX - macuniverse - 2013-08-11

Hi all,

First time here but long time XBMC user ;-)

If you are connecting your Mac audio/video to your AVR through HDMI I suggest the following:

Before running XBMC run "Audio MIDI Setup" on your Mac. You can find it in "Applications/utilities" folder. Set it to 2 Channel audio. Set the sample rate and channel freq to match your AVR. In my case it is set to 24bit/192KHz

Run XBMC and set your speaker config to 2.0 as suggested before. My understanding is, regardless of this setting, HDMI passes digital signal to your AVR and AVR knows how to handle that signal; including 2.0, 2.1, 5.1, etc

I tested mp3 and Flac files and they worked fine. I also tested 5.1 DTS, DD and they worked as well.

Hope this helps.


Info: OSX 10.8.3, Mac mini 2011, AVR Onkyo 818, XBMC 12.2, speakers 5.1 Audio setup

My XBMC Audio Settings:

Audio Output: HDMI
Speaker Configuration: 2.0
Boost Volume: OFF
Output stereo to all speakers: OFF
Dolby Digital Capable: ON
DTS Capable: ON
Multichannel LPCM: YES
Audio Output Device: Default
Play GUI sounds: Only when playback stopped


RE: Audio Channels completely broken in XBMC 12.1-13.0 for OSX - Loiosh - 2013-09-04

(2013-08-11, 18:12)macuniverse Wrote: Before running XBMC run "Audio MIDI Setup" on your Mac. You can find it in "Applications/utilities" folder. Set it to 2 Channel audio. Set the sample rate and channel freq to match your AVR. In my case it is set to 24bit/192KHz

Run XBMC and set your speaker config to 2.0 as suggested before. My understanding is, regardless of this setting, HDMI passes digital signal to your AVR and AVR knows how to handle that signal; including 2.0, 2.1, 5.1, etc

I tested mp3 and Flac files and they worked fine. I also tested 5.1 DTS, DD and they worked as well.

This will work for DTS/DD, DTS-MA and DD-Plus. This does not work for any LPCM recording including movies like Ratatouille and most earlier Disney and Pixar films. Sadly, we're still out of luck until there's a mac audio programmer willing to fix this bug.


RE: Audio Channels completely broken in XBMC 12.1-13.0 for OSX - jopie - 2013-09-05

I am completely baffled by this. I have a MacMini system (mid 2011) with Frodo 12.2 which worked fine and than all of a sudden (no XBMC or OSX updates afaiaa) things go hopelessly awry. After watching a show and switching to music afterwards it suddenly comes out on the left channels only. When I switch the receiver to stereo all I get is sound from a single (left) speaker. When I switch the receiver to surround I get surround in the left speakers only. None of the solutions mentioned before in this thread work for me. When I quit XBMC and use another program like VLC or Spotify to play music on the Mini all is as it should be. Any ideas?


RE: Audio Channels completely broken in XBMC 12.1-13.0 for OSX - jopie - 2013-09-05

I have solved the problem for the time being. I quit XBMC, started the AudioMidi setup and double checked the settings and noticed the frquency was still the same (44100 Khz) but that the number of channels had mysteriously changed to 8 channel 8-16 bit. I changed it back to 2 channel and presto XBMC was back to normal. Hope this might be of use to some of you at least.


RE: Audio Channels completely broken in XBMC 12.1-13.0 for OSX - macuniverse - 2013-09-05

(2013-09-05, 02:17)jopie Wrote: I have solved the problem for the time being. I quit XBMC, started the AudioMidi setup and double checked the settings and noticed the frquency was still the same (44100 Khz) but that the number of channels had mysteriously changed to 8 channel 8-16 bit. I changed it back to 2 channel and presto XBMC was back to normal. Hope this might be of use to some of you at least.

Yes, this is my experience as well. Only Left channels work. I also quit XBMC and check the AudioMidi and the number of channels mysteriously set to 8 (even though I set it to two channels before starting XBMC). I have no idea what causes it to change.

A real pain. Until someone fixes this (and the crawling video issue) I've starting using MPlayerX for movies and Vox Player for audio.

For a short while I tried Win8 XBMC on Mac Mini under Bootcamp but gave up after few days of Windows use as it reminded me again why I've started to use a Mac in the first place 9 years ago ;-(


RE: Audio Channels completely broken in XBMC 12.1-13.0 for OSX - jopie - 2013-09-05

I too am experimenting with W7 under Bootcamp but I am running JRiver Media Center there (trial version). So far, I am quite impressed, especially since it can actually handle Film, Audio AND Pictures. But like you said, it is still Windows.

The development of XBMC scares me a little: new projects are tackled with much enthusiasm but others are left behind (Pictures) or never properly dealt with (audio issues in OSX) because there is little or no interest in developing it or there are no developers who can handle it. That is also why I am looking at both the Windows and Linux side of things, because they appear to be better maintained. The fact that we are told time and again on the Mac support site that the audio engine of OSX stinks and that there are no developers who can handle it does, at the end of the day, not inspire me with much confidence about the future of XBMC on OSX. Of course I am very grateful for what has been done by all the developers until now, which is why I suggested in a different thread that they might want to look into some sort of crowd-funding so that at least they can get paid for their efforts and these efforts can get coordinated so problems get fixed. Be that as it may, I do hope a solution is found because XBMC is simply too good to give up without a fight.


RE: Audio Channels completely broken in XBMC 12.1-13.0 for OSX - User 34959 - 2013-09-05

What do you mean by "switching between stereo and surround"? Do not complicate your situation. Set everything to 2.0 (OSX & audio midi setup), enable passthrough and disable multichannel pcm and it _should_ work reasonable well and should give you working passthrough for DD/DTS and stereo PCM.

Based on the comments made by Davilla and Martijn in one of the other threads maybe there's still hope for OSX getting ActiveAE as well.