I will try and help as much as possible - as this took me ages to fine tune.
You need to launch an external player to play BR ISO's. My choice was MPC-HC.
Then you need ffdshow to send the HD Audio tracks to your receiver. I assume you have a receiver that can decode HD audio?
You will also need Slysofts Virtual Clone Drive (free) to mount the ISO's.
I will try and detail the steps as follows:
1. Download MPC-HC from
here. Make sure you get the 64bit version if need be.
2. Get ffdshow. The version I used was rev3919 64bit
3. Download VCD from
here
Follows these steps.
1. Create a directory in C: called FOR_XBMC. So it will look like this. In that create a directory called BATCH_FILES. C:\FOR_XBMC\BATCH_FILES
2. In that directory create a batch file called PlayIso.bat.
3. Copy the following text into that file.
"C:\Program Files (x86)\Elaborate Bytes\VirtualCloneDrive\VCDMount.exe" /d=0 "%1"
choice /T 5 /D y > nul
"C:\Program Files\MPC HomeCinema\mpc-hc64.exe" "F:\BDMV\index.object"
"C:\Program Files (x86)\Elaborate Bytes\VirtualCloneDrive\VCDMount.exe" /d=0 /u
1st line mounts the iso file that you click on.
2nd line causes a pause of 5 seconds.
3rd calls MPC-hc to play the mounted file (in this case F
and plays the index.bdmv file (the main movie)
4th line unmounts the ISO when you close MPC-HC.
OK, no go to C:\users\yourpcname\appdata\roaming\xbmc\userdata
open Notepad and copy the following text in there
<advancedsettings>
<video>
<defaultplayer>externalplayer</defaultplayer>
</video>
<externalplayer>
<filename>c:\Program Files\MPC HomeCinema\mpc-hc64.exe</filename>
<args>-fs</args>
<forceontop>true</forceontop>
<hidexbmc>true</hidexbmc>
<hideconsole>false</hideconsole>
<hidecursor>false</hidecursor>
</externalplayer>
</advancedsettings>
save this as advancedsettings.xml. Some say you don't need this file, but hey, it works for me.
In Notepad again copy the following text.
<playercorefactory>
<players>
<player name="MPC-HC" type="ExternalPlayer" audio="false" video="true">
<filename>C:\FOR_XBMC\BATCH_FILES\PlayISO.bat </filename>
<args>"{1}" /fullscreen /close</args>
<hidexbmc>false</hidexbmc>
<hideconsole>false</hideconsole>
<warpcursor>none</warpcursor>
</player>
</players>
<rules action="prepend">
<rule filetypes="iso" filename=".*bluray.*" player="MPC-HC"/>
</rules>
</playercorefactory>
Save this as playercorefactory.xml
Take note to the 3rd last line. This pretty much tell XBMC to launch the external player when an ISO with a .bluray in the file name. ie U2_Live.bluray.iso
You MUST rename your BR ISO's to title.bluray.iso as that is what the rule in the 3rd line states.
OK, halfway there.
Next install ffdshow 64 bit to the default directory with all settings default.
At the end open up Audio Decoder Configuration.
On the left side scroll to the bottom and click on Output
Tick all the options under Passthrough SPDIF/HDMI.
Leave everything else default. Click APPLY and the OK.
Install MPC-HC to the default directory.
Open MPC-HC. Click VIEW and scroll down to OPTIONS.
On the left click FORMATS. On the right tick the box which says Blu ray playlist (bdmv,mpls). Once agan this wasn't in the guide that I followed, but it worlked for me.
On the left pane, scroll down to INTERNAL FILTERS. On the right under transform filters, untick H264/AVC (ffmpeg) as well as VC1 (FFmpeg)
On the right pane, click on EXTERNAL FILTERS. On the right click ADD FILTER. Search for ffdshow audio decoder and add it. CLick on PREFER.
Again, Click ADD FILTER and look for MICROSOFT DTV-DVD AUDIO DECODER.
This time click BLOCK
Click APPLY then OK.
So basically what is going to happen when you select your BluRay ISO in XBMC, XBMC looks at the playercorefactory.xml file. This then looks at the PlayISO.bat file which tells Virtual Clone Drive to mount the ISO and then tells MPC-HC to launch. MPC-HC uses ffdshow audio to send the HD audio to your amp.
Once the movie is finished and you exit MPC-HC the ISO unmounts and you are taken back to XBMC.
It seems very complicated, but once working, it works fine.
I just wish I could paste images into this tread so that
Hopefully I haven't forgotten anything..
Thanks to all those who have helped. Nearly all the above info has been pulled from various threads on this site so KUDOS to all who have spent time working this out.
Cheers