Passthrough audio volume control
#1
Hi,

I am using the latest Raspbmc. I have configured my audio to pass through AC3, since my amp is capable of decoding.

The problem is that when audio is passed through, my volume controls on my universal remote no longer work. I get a message "Passthrough Audio in use" whenever I press volume up/down. On the one hand, this makes sense. But on the other, it puts me in a difficult position because the volume controls will work for some content, but not other content.

What is the recommended course of action in this scenario? I could remap my volume controls to always control my amplifier volume and just leave the XBMC volume at a fixed position. Is that what other people do?

Or should I just disable the AC3 passthrough altogether? The only reason I enabled it is because it's recommended when running on an rPi due to performance considerations.

Or should XBMC actually be changing the volume before passing through? Don't know if that's technically possible - I assume not.

Thanks
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#2
(2014-01-07, 02:30)gauche Wrote: What is the recommended course of action in this scenario? I could remap my volume controls to always control my amplifier volume and just leave the XBMC volume at a fixed position. Is that what other people do?

That's what I do.
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#3
Using only the receiver volume is the correct approach in my opinion.

I don't ever touch the XBMC volume.

You definitely do not want to disable AC-3 pass-thru on any other pass-thru your receiver can handle, not only for performance reasons, but also because you will get far better sound that way.

It makes sense to control the volume at the end of the chain, on the device that is actually processing and playing the audio.
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#4
When using passthrough XBMC does not touch (modify) the audio. It is therefore impossible to combine volume control with passthrough.

Personally, I set my XBMC volume around 80% because my hardware sometimes produces some nasty clipping at 100% with the non-passthrough stuff.
I then control all volume changes with the AVR.

Disabling passthrough is not recommended, especially not on a Raspberry Pi
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#5
(2014-01-07, 02:30)gauche Wrote: I get a message "Passthrough Audio in use" whenever I press volume up/down.
XBMC main job is to send audio to AVR and video to HDTV. After you received this message, XBMC did exactly what you asked it to do. It is up to your AVR and HDTV to finish the job. The best way to adjust volume is by using the expensive AVR remote.....
>Alienware X51- do it all HTPC
>Simplify XBMC configurations
>HOW-TO Bitstreaming using XBMC
I refused to watch movie without bitstreaming HD audio!
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