[banesi]

Hello,
is there any box that have decent audio analog output with some form of native equilizer or/and Dolby virtual surround effects?

Using EQ apps available on Google Play Store doesn't help at all, they're all the same and making sound even worse.

Kodi abandoned any form of EQ in it's builds so I am looking to buy something natively supported in the OS.

Thanks.

[wrxtasy]

The ODROID N2 has an inbuilt high quality DAC with 3.5mm headphone jack audio output.
Then you can use The Volumio OS that has Plugins like an Equalizer.

All control is via a Webpage on PC, smartphone or tablet.

Volumio OS is available for a number of different platforms.

https://volumio.github.io/docs/User_Manu...lumio.html

https://forum.volumio.org/volumio-odroid...6-100.html

[fritsch]

Why not getting a normal AVR? Use it's builtin features and its analog out, while connecting to it via HDMI.

[banesi]

I am minimalist, hence I have active speakers with inbuilt amplifier. That is why I would love to have minimal setup.

@wrxtasy thanks for suggestion. I assume installing Kodi on Volumio OS is easy and refresh rate auto switching is working fine as well as rest of the goodies?

Are you aware of maybe Android or Android TV device with high quality DAC?

When I plugin my LG V series smartphone in my speakers sound is incredible, maybe to buy some used cheap LG V20 and use it for this purpose

[noggin]

I think wrxtasy was replying assuming you were using your platform for audio streaming - which is what Volumio is designed for.  You may be able to run Kodi alongside a Volumio install - but I'm not sure what purpose that would serve.

[wrxtasy]

I am minimalist, hence I have active speakers with inbuilt amplifier. That is why I would love to have minimal setup.

@wrxtasy thanks for suggestion. I assume installing Kodi on Volumio OS is easy and refresh rate auto switching is working fine as well as rest of the goodies?

Volumio is a completely seperate OS designed for high quality audio usage only. It's not an Addon or Plugin for Kodi.

If you wanted Kodi you would have to dual boot (using USB3 stick / SD card / eMMC) , and on the N2 that would mean using the inbuilt Petitboot to select either storage medium containing a seperate OS on N2 device bootup:

https://wiki.odroid.com/odroid-n2/os_images/petitboot

And to do that the simplest method is to use a Wireless USB dongle (emulates a Keyboard) remote like the ever reliable MINIX A2 lite.

I have to say I'm impressed by the analog audio quality emanating from the N2's inbuilt DAC - especially for the price paid for the device.
That inbuilt DAC works for Analog audio output as well when using CoreELEC Kodi)

Are you aware of maybe Android or Android TV device with high quality DAC?

I would not use any Android device for high quality audio.

(@fritsch correct me if wrong) The Android audio Mixer gets it's sticky fingers into the Mix and resamples all audio to output it at 48kHz.

Then you are dealing with Android Firmware - which on cheap Chinese sourced devices is spotty at best.

There might be someone using a customised Android - external DAC solution.

W.

[noggin]

[
I would not use any Android device for high quality audio.

(@fritsch correct me if wrong) The Android audio Mixer gets it's sticky fingers into the Mix and resamples all audio to output it at 48kHz.

Then you are dealing with Android Firmware - which on cheap Chinese sourced devices is spotty at best.

There might be someone using a customised Android - external DAC solution.

W. 

There are a number of Android-based HiRes audio players on the market these days (Hiby, Fiio etc. market them) which support 96k, 192k, 384k etc. 24 bit and native or PCM-transcoded DSD256/512 output using high quality DACs.

It's also possible to buy standalone USB DACs that Android tablets and phones support, along with Linux, Windows and MacOS computers, or HATs that offer somewhat similar functionality for the Raspberry Pi (there's a standard for DSD-over-PCM that allows you to feed a DSD native DAC via a PCM I2S or USB PCM path).

There are also DACs that integrate similarly with iOS devices (either via a Lightning->USB cable/adaptor or a USB-C connection on modern iPad Pros) though the internal Apple Audio APIs may not support >48K stuff and instead you have to use dedicated player apps for >48k and DSD stuff)

I'm not suggesting these are solutions to the OP's issues - but Android does support high quality audio replay these days.

I'm also not suggesting there is any point to HiRes audio (96/192/384 and DSD) - just that support is out there.

However that's got very little to do with Kodi - and I don't know if the routes used by the Android HiRes audio players are 'standard' and could be/are also used by Kodi.

[banesi]

Thank you for giving me some ideas how to improve my audio setup.

I have found this little dac audio box. Do you know if I can connect my Mibox to this device via optical cable and than to my active speakers?

I am satisfied with functionality of my Mibox, using Kodi, Netflix, Chromecasting and listening audio and it seems with this dac I could have what I initially wanted, slightly improved audio with treble/bass options. And will not break the bank in a process. 

[noggin]

Thank you for giving me some ideas how to improve my audio setup.

I have found this little dac audio box. Do you know if I can connect my Mibox to this device via optical cable and than to my active speakers?

I am satisfied with functionality of my Mibox, using Kodi, Netflix, Chromecasting and listening audio and it seems with this dac I could have what I initially wanted, slightly improved audio with treble/bass options. And will not break the bank in a process. 

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Personally I'm not sure Treble and Bass controls are ever a good sign on modern HiFi gear?

[banesi]

What modern HiFi gear have for sound adjustments?

I always liked Treble and Bass, maybe old school but it should be much better than using app equalizers from Play Store.