[AppleTV2] HOW-TO to enable AC3 and DTS output for Apple TV 2

bruienne · 2011-01-23 05:27

Just tinkered around a bit in /var/mobile/Library/Preferences/XBMC/userdata/guisettings.xml and flipped these two on, hoping it'd work, and it did:

In the <audiooutput> section, change "false" to "true" on the following entries:

<ac3passthrough>false</ac3passthrough>
<dtspassthrough>false</dtspassthrough>

I am now getting AC3 passed through from the SPDIF out to my 7.1 receiver. Overall video playback is also a lot smoother now that it's not downmixing to 2.0 audio it seems.

HTH.

bruienne · 2011-01-23 05:29

DTS passthrough works too, just to close the loop on that one. I am happy with the results of this simple tweak.

HTH.

Halopend · 2011-01-23 05:32

Well that's magical, I'm pretty sure I read a post by someone responsible for porting xbmc to ios that it didn't work and the reason turns out to be a malformed preference file? Sweet.

bruienne · 2011-01-23 05:38

I actually also flipped on the AAC passthrough since the ATV2 hardware seems to support some/all of the codec; leafing through my video library for some AAC-encoded stuff right now.

rflores2323 · 2011-01-23 05:52

what about thru hdmi?

bruienne · 2011-01-23 06:02

I don't have an HDMI-capable receiver or plasma, running it HDMI to DVI-D and using the SPDIF to go to the receiver. Others may be able to confirm whether HDMI also passes the multichannel streams.

HTH.

SkuiD87 · 2011-01-23 06:03

Excellent find!

I have a slightly unrelated question.

Is there anything in the settings that can be tweaked to fix the downmixing problem? My entire library is in 5.1 and the Apple TV is for the secondary TV in the house. Dont really want a surround sound system in there so I depend upon downmixing for this to me useful.

Would really appreciate the help.

Thanks!

Rauf27 · 2011-01-23 06:04

Just checked it. Works!
Thank you!

johoja · 2011-01-23 06:28

Rauf27 Wrote:Just checked it. Works!
Thank you!

Works for hdmi too?

Rauf27 · 2011-01-23 06:38

johoja Wrote:Works for hdmi too?

My atv connected to home theater by optical audio cable.
During video playback i checked audio output - optical/coax and hdmi.
Same result for each selection. Full 5.1 sound.

bruienne Junior Member Posts: 7 Joined: Jan 2011 Reputation: 0	2011-01-23 05:29 Post: #2 DTS passthrough works too, just to close the loop on that one. I am happy with the results of this simple tweak. HTH.
	find quote

Halopend Junior Member Posts: 19 Joined: Apr 2009 Reputation: 0	2011-01-23 05:32 Post: #3 Well that's magical, I'm pretty sure I read a post by someone responsible for porting xbmc to ios that it didn't work and the reason turns out to be a malformed preference file? Sweet.
	find quote

bruienne Junior Member Posts: 7 Joined: Jan 2011 Reputation: 0	2011-01-23 05:38 Post: #4 I actually also flipped on the AAC passthrough since the ATV2 hardware seems to support some/all of the codec; leafing through my video library for some AAC-encoded stuff right now.
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rflores2323 Posting Freak Posts: 1,949 Joined: Jan 2009 Reputation: 2	2011-01-23 05:52 Post: #5 what about thru hdmi? ATV1 with crystalbuntu V1 (11.eden). Theater remote URC MX-810, droidx wtih xbmc remote, or transformer tf101 with YATSE. 2 x ATV2 (V12.0 Eden).
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bruienne Junior Member Posts: 7 Joined: Jan 2011 Reputation: 0	2011-01-23 06:02 Post: #6 I don't have an HDMI-capable receiver or plasma, running it HDMI to DVI-D and using the SPDIF to go to the receiver. Others may be able to confirm whether HDMI also passes the multichannel streams. HTH.
	find quote

Rauf27 Member Posts: 54 Joined: Nov 2010 Reputation: 0	2011-01-23 06:04 Post: #8 Just checked it. Works! Thank you!
	find quote

johoja Fan Posts: 569 Joined: Aug 2009 Reputation: 0	2011-01-23 06:28 Post: #9 Rauf27 Wrote:Just checked it. Works! Thank you! Works for hdmi too?
	find quote

Rauf27 Member Posts: 54 Joined: Nov 2010 Reputation: 0	2011-01-23 06:38 Post: #10 johoja Wrote:Works for hdmi too? My atv connected to home theater by optical audio cable. During video playback i checked audio output - optical/coax and hdmi. Same result for each selection. Full 5.1 sound.
	find quote