Home Theatre Equipment & Windows 8
#16
(2014-09-23, 03:25)z31fanatic Wrote: Yeah, we should all run Android so we can only have legacy DD and DTS, or run Linux so we can go through a thousand steps to get HD audio.

Have you tried recent OpenElec builds? I've installed OpenElec - which is a light Linux distro optimised for XBMC - on both Intel and nVidia GPU based boxes and the installation is so much easier than Windows it's crazy. HD Audio is completely painless on both platforms.

It takes less than 5 minutes to install and once you are up and running you just select the correct HDMI audio device in SETTINGS->SYSTEM->AUDIO, enable passthrough and select DTS HD, Dolby True HD as supported passthrough codecs from within the GUI. (You may have to enable advanced/expert settings to see the passthrough options - again an option within the GUI) I have uninstalled Windows on my two main HTPC boxes and now just run OpenElec - it's so much less hassle. No annoying Windows updates... I'm also running OE on a couple of Chromeboxes - which are amazing with the new VAAPI deinterlacing builds of OE.

Of course there are perfectly valid reasons for running Windows on an HTPC (native Blu-ray support being an obvious one) - but I don't think the HD Audio issue alone is a reason to bash Linux when OE does such a great job of supporting it.

(Android on the other hand appears to be a bit of a work-in-progress for anyone who cares about AV quality - deinterlacing, HD Audio bit streaming, dynamic refresh rate switching etc. all appear to be issues.)
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#17
(2014-09-23, 11:08)RaggSokk3n Wrote: With a dedicated audio card you don't need bitstreaming your pc will be able to decode on the fly, this will also enable you to playback HD audio from a non HD audio receiver.
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=usb+hd+audio+adapter
Nice question dodge. I said HD bitstreaming. You suggest a USB audio device with analog outputs so he can run that into a receiver. Of course the low end ones don't have analog 7.1 inputs anymore, and the high end ones that do can't do bass management or time alignment on the multichannel analog input, so analog isn't a very viable solution.
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#18
(2014-09-23, 03:53)sgibbers17 Wrote: I got this from the XBMC nuc wiki

"The 2820 Baytrail will not bitstream HD Audio under Windows OS. This is a driver limitation as they don't support the PAP [Protected Audio Path] But under Linux, Ubuntu, openELEC. They work fine!"

http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=Intel_NUC

OP did not say which model NUC he has.

(2014-09-23, 03:34)Matt Devo Wrote: Installing OpenELEC is easier and quicker than Windows, and HD audio works out of the box for the majority of supported hardware

I know that. I tried Openelec just to see how it works. But I use my PCs for other things too, not just Kodi, so Openelec is not an option for me.

(2014-09-23, 14:05)Stereodude Wrote: Nice question dodge. I said HD bitstreaming. You suggest a USB audio device with analog outputs so he can run that into a receiver. Of course the low end ones don't have analog 7.1 inputs anymore, and the high end ones that do can't do bass management or time alignment on the multichannel analog input, so analog isn't a very viable solution.

I agree. Sound cards are a waste money nowadays.
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#19
(2014-09-23, 15:03)z31fanatic Wrote:
(2014-09-23, 03:53)sgibbers17 Wrote: I got this from the XBMC nuc wiki

"The 2820 Baytrail will not bitstream HD Audio under Windows OS. This is a driver limitation as they don't support the PAP [Protected Audio Path] But under Linux, Ubuntu, openELEC. They work fine!"

http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=Intel_NUC

OP did not say which model NUC he has.

(2014-09-23, 03:34)Matt Devo Wrote: Installing OpenELEC is easier and quicker than Windows, and HD audio works out of the box for the majority of supported hardware

I know that. I tried Openelec just to see how it works. But I use my PCs for other things too, not just Kodi, so Openelec is not an option for me.

(2014-09-23, 14:05)Stereodude Wrote: Nice question dodge. I said HD bitstreaming. You suggest a USB audio device with analog outputs so he can run that into a receiver. Of course the low end ones don't have analog 7.1 inputs anymore, and the high end ones that do can't do bass management or time alignment on the multichannel analog input, so analog isn't a very viable solution.

I agree. Sound cards are a waste money nowadays.

I posted on the 2820 because I remember seeing it earlier in the thread but didn't realize it wasn't the original poster.

But it is still true depending on the HD graphics that is on the processor desktop or NUC if you are using the onboard GPU that HD audio bitstreaming over HDMI will not be possible.

If the OP can post witch model NUC he has we could determine if bitstreaming over HDMI will work or if he needs a external 7.1 audio card. The only problem I can see is if his receiver can handle uncompressed 7.1 over optical, my receive will only output 7.1 to the speakers if it is over HDMI.
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#20
Optical SPDIF does not handle 7.1 audio in any format, compressed or uncompressed or in the imagination of some sound card marketing idiot.
If I have helped you or increased your knowledge, click the 'thumbs up' button to give thanks :) (People with less than 20 posts won't see the "thumbs up" button.)
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#21
(2014-09-23, 23:35)sgibbers17 Wrote: If the OP can post witch model NUC he has we could determine if bitstreaming over HDMI will work or if he needs a external 7.1 audio card. The only problem I can see is if his receiver can handle uncompressed 7.1 over optical, my receive will only output 7.1 to the speakers if it is over HDMI.

SPDIF doesn't have the bandwidth for anything uncompressed other than 2-ch PCM. Anything else is bitstream/compressed/lossy and limited to the same bandwidth as PCM (1536 Mb/sec). So lossy DD/DTS/DTS-ES is ok, but not lossless DD-THD/DTS-HD-MA

(2014-09-23, 23:38)nickr Wrote: Optical SPDIF does not handle discrete 7.1 audio in any format, compressed or uncompressed or in the imagination of some sound card marketing idiot.

FTFY
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#22
Or put simply: not buying the right hw in the first place leaves you with *option a* buy a new system *option b* buy a dedicated audiocard that might work for your setup.

(2014-09-23, 14:05)Stereodude Wrote:
(2014-09-23, 11:08)RaggSokk3n Wrote: With a dedicated audio card you don't need bitstreaming your pc will be able to decode on the fly, this will also enable you to playback HD audio from a non HD audio receiver.
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=usb+hd+audio+adapter
Nice question dodge. I said HD bitstreaming. You suggest a USB audio device with analog outputs so he can run that into a receiver. Of course the low end ones don't have analog 7.1 inputs anymore, and the high end ones that do can't do bass management or time alignment on the multichannel analog input, so analog isn't a very viable solution.

Of course you can't do as much with the sound on your receiver as the signal will be analog = decoded. The audiocard decodes and you'll be limited to the cards options when it comes to adjusting sound. The real drawback with a good dedicated usb audio card/dac is that it easily costs you twice what you paid for your htpc. That's money out the window unless you've got a really good but outdated receiver(like the Yamaha RX-Z9)
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#23
It would be nice if the OP came back in his thread and gave us more info. It would stop us from speculating Big Grin
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