Shield K1 and HD Audio? - Shield Tablet Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

I know it is a bit overkill for a tablet, but considering X1's performance (same gpu,just more cores), it would be nice to know if the K1 can passthrough Hd audio via it's hdmi port.
Anyone tried ?

HI there! I'm very sorry but I wasn't active in this forum at XDA before now. I've been experimenting with this topic for some time now.
YES, The Shield tablets (regardless of versions) can passthrough bit-perfect sound, both stereo or 5.1 (and higher, depending on your stereo equipment).
So here's the deal:
1. You'll need an HDMI audio extractor. I recommend Monoprice's HDMI audio extractors, although there are slightly less expensive models out there, you can't really trust their specs.
2. A standard HDMI audio extractor can passthrough both digital (coaxial or TOSLINK S/PDIF) or digital-to-analog out. For surround sound you'll want an HDMI audio extractor with surround sound outputs.
Essentially it comes down to the media player you'll be using.
I've tested MX Player (with the custom codec loaded), VLC Player for Android, and Kodi. All can do passthrough IF you're using an HDMI extractor that will be identified as such (stereo-only or surround-sound capable) via HDMI. This critical.
Older versions of Kodi they called the "****ty" builds used LPCM bit-hacking to force a passthrough via HDMI. Newer releases require that a HDMI device handshake occurs so the media player will allow an appropriate passthrough to occur.
Unless you will be playing .MP4 files w/ 5.1 surround sound, I recommend MX Player for most music and video files. Passthrough works well on it when set up correctly. VLC is ok too, but the interface leaves something to be desired in my opinion.
Kodi can decode/passthrough 5.1 and higher via HDMI from .MP4 and other files although the user interface is less simplistic.

Related

Need Help With Multi-channel Audio Output over micro-HDMI

For the TF700, can someone please recommend a media player that allows output of multichannel audio (i.e. 5.1) over the HDMI connection? I would like to play movies through a Samsung Home Theater System and MX Player is only outputting Stereo (I think) no matter what the audio format is. A separate codec would work as an option too. Any help or fix would be appreciated. Thanks.

Shield and HD Audio

I've been trying to find out what the DAC is in the Shield Tablet and if it will support high resolution audio but there is nothing on Nvidia's site and any audio related search just goes on about the speakers.
I'm going to load up some 192KHz/24bit FLAC files and see how it goes. Looks like it supports most formats but there is no mention anywhere of high resolution audio support. I hope if does not down sample.
Anyone have any experience?
Denonite said:
I've been trying to find out what the DAC is in the Shield Tablet and if it will support high resolution audio but there is nothing on Nvidia's site and any audio related search just goes on about the speakers.
I'm going to load up some 192KHz/24bit FLAC files and see how it goes. Looks like it supports most formats but there is no mention anywhere of high resolution audio support. I hope if does not down sample.
Anyone have any experience?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In same position, not much info to find about the DAC. My main usage plan is as car dashboard tablet, so i don't want to go all audiophile and guess i have to see how it will play out. Else i will probably just end up investing in a proper HDMI de-embedder.
It would however be nice to know just a little about the DAC.
It won't support high-res audio because Android doesn't, it'll resample everything to 48Khz, regardless of the capability of the DAC. The only exceptions are devices where the manufacturer has added support for it, from memory only LG and Samsung to date. If you want HD audio get a USB DAC and use USB Audio Player PRO (UAPP). I use my Dragonfly 1.2 with my Note 4 and Shield Tablet, it'll do high-res via UAPP (or Hiby or Onkyo music players, I prefer UAPP). Personally I have no need for HD audio, but the external DAC and amp runs rings around the audio quality and amplifier grunt in tablets and phones.

How configure HDMI passthrough on MX Player 1.9.1

Hi,
The release notes says that it Support HDMI passthrough of Audio HD codecs.
But I can not figure out how to configure it.
Thanks,
arindamchoudhury said:
Hi,
The release notes says that it Support HDMI passthrough of Audio HD codecs.
But I can not figure out how to configure it.
Thanks,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
HDMI pass through is automatically used when the connected device can decode Audio HD codecs like ac3, TrueHD, DTS, etc.
Thirumalai.K said:
HDMI pass through is automatically used when the connected device can decode Audio HD codecs like ac3, TrueHD, DTS, etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. Does it also work in HW+ mode?
arindamchoudhury said:
Thanks. Does it also work in HW+ mode?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes. HDMI Passthrough will be used when the codec is not supported by the MX Player & The same is supported by the device connected through HDMI.
We will improve it further in future to have more controls on the user side.
Thirumalai.K said:
Yes. HDMI Passthrough will be used when the codec is not supported by the MX Player & The same is supported by the device connected through HDMI.
We will improve it further in future to have more controls on the user side.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi dev. I tried with many 4k with AC3 or DTS streaming.. but i can't get audio work..
I use MX player 1.9.8 pro on my sony 9005 android tv, connected to the ampli by HDMI/ARC cable.
In codec menu, i check any kind of hardware supported codec.. and deselect SW render (only HW+ for video/audio).. but can't hear anything from my speaker..
With other app (for local file streamiing), amplifier automatically detect the audio format and give me on it display the correct format (DTS or DD).
With MX player pro and local/iptv streaming, i can't get it work.
Any idea?
Thank'you!!!
Thirumalai.K said:
Yes. HDMI Passthrough will be used when the codec is not supported by the MX Player & The same is supported by the device connected through HDMI.
We will improve it further in future to have more controls on the user side.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi
I must say that in 1.9.8 with HW+ there is no 5.1 sound passthrough to my Apmplituner No DD and no DTS.
In HW there is 5.1 passthrough to my Ampli but only DTS 5.1. Amplituner sees Dolby Digital but plays only in 2.0 - I don't know why but there is a problem with DD.
Best regards
I'm using android TV on Philips POS 9002
lukcinek said:
Hi
I must say that in 1.9.8 with HW+ there is no 5.1 sound passthrough to my Apmplituner No DD and no DTS.
In HW there is 5.1 passthrough to my Ampli but only DTS 5.1. Amplituner sees Dolby Digital but plays only in 2.0 - I don't know why but there is a problem with DD.
Best regards
I'm using android TV on Philips POS 9002
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm having the same problem. Has anyone found a solution?
kludi9999 said:
I'm having the same problem. Has anyone found a solution?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately, no. The only way is attempting to force pass through even if the hardware doesn't report the decoding capability. We will highlight this with our development and will get it prioritized for you.
MXPlayer said:
Unfortunately, no. The only way is attempting to force pass through even if the hardware doesn't report the decoding capability. We will highlight this with our development and will get it prioritized for you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh wow, thanks for response! I really appriciate for "prioritizing" this! I looking forward for update then .
Hi
How the work is going? When should except Update with Passthrough on MX Player?
Hdmi passthrough
Hi everybody,
I tried to play movies using default video player of the Android tv and it supports 5.1 Dolby digital passthrough via HDMI ARC. But passthrough using 3rd party video players like MX player, Kodi doesnt seems to decode the 5.1 audio where as PCM works just fine.
My TV: TCL 55 P8
AUDIO System: SONY HT IV300
Hi all,
I have also problem with audio passthrough over HDMI, I try to run Dolby Atmos on my Nvidia Shield, problem what I faced now is when I have video with Dolby Atmos it need HW+ to work but passthrough work only on HW decoder,
Also I cannot select subtitles from mkv video with HW decoder,
MX Player v1.25.8 (AndroidTV)
Device: Nvidia Shield
Audio: Yamaha RX-A2080
On going issue
This has been an on going issue with MX for years, I reported this over 3 years ago and still no solution. Stock reply is they're looking at it!
A simple forced pass through like VLC would do the job for most users with an amp but it's yet to come.
Even the pro version won't allow forced pass through.
Is this issue solved? What im looking for is play dolby digital movie in my android smart tv and get 5.1 sound from my sony e6100 home theater via HDMI ARC. It seems MX cant handle this.
Necro join. MX sends everything as dd2.0 regardless of any settings.
As mentioned above this has been a issue for years. When you mention it on other forums the common response is "Install the codecs" which doesnt work in this situation. A year or so ago I sent mxplayer support a email and got the arrogant response of "Mxplayer app is the ONLY app that properly detects if hdmi-passthrough should be enabled, otherwise very very bad things can happen." Well guess Im damn lucky my receiver hasnt burst into flames when pretty much any other player in existence uses it. Either the developer doesnt have the skill to correct this, or doesnt care. In my search I did find a similiar app that I hadnt heard of that works very well. Vimu Player.

MX Player on Android TV / Fire TV Stick 4K - stereo only?

Hi all.
I try to get MX Player to play dolby 5.1 or dts sounds on my TV.
Specs:
- TV: Philips OLED POS 9002 with Android Oreo
- Sound: Bose Soundtouch 300 Soundbar with rear speakers, connected optical. Can play Dolby Digital and DTS.
- App: either direct (using USB) or via DS Video and streaming from NAS. Latest version from Google Play Store.
No matter if I use a custom codec (mx_neon.zip) or not and any decoder (hw+, hw, sw), if I try to play certain test vidoes from here: https://kodi.wiki/view/Samples
especially the channel checks and it is some sort of upmix from stereo, but definitely no disctinct channel selection.
To be exact: I did not test all variations (custom, standard, all decoder) so far...
--> it seems there is exactly the same behavior with my new Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K - only stereo as well...
Is there anything that I can test or do or try to get it work. Besides the sound issue, DS Video and MX Player are working very well, it would be a pity that due to sound issues I can not use it for anything else than stereo.
Thank you for any hint.
Best regards
ww
webwude said:
Hi all.
I try to get MX Player to play dolby 5.1 or dts sounds on my TV.
Specs:
- TV: Philips OLED POS 9002 with Android Oreo
- Sound: Bose Soundtouch 300 Soundbar with rear speakers, connected optical. Can play Dolby Digital and DTS.
- App: either direct (using USB) or via DS Video and streaming from NAS. Latest version from Google Play Store.
No matter if I use a custom codec (mx_neon.zip) or not and any decoder (hw+, hw, sw), if I try to play certain test vidoes from here: https://kodi.wiki/view/Samples
especially the channel checks and it is some sort of upmix from stereo, but definitely no disctinct channel selection.
To be exact: I did not test all variations (custom, standard, all decoder) so far...
--> it seems there is exactly the same behavior with my new Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K - only stereo as well...
Is there anything that I can test or do or try to get it work. Besides the sound issue, DS Video and MX Player are working very well, it would be a pity that due to sound issues I can not use it for anything else than stereo.
Thank you for any hint.
Best regards
ww
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We regret the inconveniences caused by the delay in our response. Unfortunately, MX Player does not support audio audio passthrough mode over SPDIF at the moment. However, it is applicable only to the HW+ / SW decoder.
HW decoder directly makes use of Android mediaplayer framework on the device. So, If it is implemented to use audio passthrough mode, it should work as expected. Please check whether there any system settings that can enable the audio passthrough made. Enabling it may let you allow passing the audio directly to the external audio system.
Thank you for your reply.
The soundbar is connected either optical or via HDMI ARC.
As it is working with the internal media player and with Kodi (enabling all passthrough options), but not with VLC (same effect), it might be a bug of the current firmware (there is a similar bug concerning 1920x800 video and the black bars which is present with third-party-apps as Kodi, VLC and MX player, but not with Amazon prime video and the internal player). I opened a ticket at Philips. Let's see how it develops.
As mentioned: as it works with the internal player it seems that the overall settings are correct.
...
5.1 sound is only stereo on Philips android TV
MXPlayer said:
HW decoder directly makes use of Android mediaplayer framework on the device. So, If it is implemented to use audio passthrough mode, it should work as expected. Please check whether there any system settings that can enable the audio passthrough made. Enabling it may let you allow passing the audio directly to the external audio system.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the same problem with philips 43pus7304 android TV. Internal player and Nova Video Player can play 5.1 AC3 sound, but mx player and vlc can't - my av receiver shows that input signal is only stereo. I tried it via hdmi arc and optical - the same result. Please fix this - mx player is the best of all, but such a bug!
I tried all kinds of settings in your player ant tv - but problem is somewhere else but not in settings. Also I tried default decoder and mx_aio.zip.
I seem to having the same issue at the moment. The internet player on the app I'm using is fine, I'm getting DD plus showing. When I change to use an external player, either Mx or VLC or always shows as stereo 2.0.
Tried various settings and codecs and so far no luck.
Any ideas?
I’m having this same issue on FireTV 4k
Did anyone find a solution for this issue?
Has there been any updates to this issue?
Still no update in sight? There are so many topics on this
I have the same problem on sony A8 oled. With inbuilt player I get 5.1 to AV receiver. Mx player and vlc stereo only. The problem is that the inbuilt player won't stream from a NAS while mx player and vlc will, but stereo only. So I have to copy files to tv.
Any ideas?
Thank you
Just for the sake of update on alternative options.
I've spent 2 days trying to find the working solution to stream my files from NAS on Amazon FireTV stick with 5.1 audio output.
My setup:
FireTV Stick > HDMI Audio Extractor box > TV
HDMI Audio Extractor > Optical > Logitech Dolby Digital 5.1 (Z906)
While Amazon Prime and Netflix play 5.1 just fine, I was struggling to make it work with NAS stored files.
ES File Explorer, MIXplorer, Xplore built-in players do not support audio passthrough
MX Player - while it has some options for audio passthrough - I have failed to make it work, in the end I was getting stereo downmix no matter what I've tried in settings
VLC player - same as for MX Player
Nova player - found a hint in this thread and tried it. Indeed, it was the first success. But partial. AC3 passthrough worked fine, but AAC/DTS tracks were failing, so with passthrough enabled - no sound for AAC/DTS
I continued searching for alternatives and finally found almost perfect solutions: Vimu media player
It's not free, by 3 bucks don't hurt.
While Vimu also supports passthrough for AC3 only... it has BUILT-IN transcoding support to convert AAC/DTS/DTS HD/etc. into AC3!!! And I confirm it works! Also it has very clean interface to browse your Network storage devices, so you can skip using File managers and navigate through your library directly from Vimu. However I am missing a bit some of the functionalities from Nova like metadata / description/posters fetching from online databases.
The only Vimu feature which was not working well for me was 'Preferred Audio language' - despite of having English enabled, it was still playing first track by default.
Hope someone will find this helpful and will save some time
Dusha999 said:
Just for the sake of update on alternative options.
I've spent 2 days trying to find the working solution to stream my files from NAS on Amazon FireTV stick with 5.1 audio output.
My setup:
FireTV Stick > HDMI Audio Extractor box > TV
HDMI Audio Extractor > Optical > Logitech Dolby Digital 5.1 (Z906)
While Amazon Prime and Netflix play 5.1 just fine, I was struggling to make it work with NAS stored files.
ES File Explorer, MIXplorer, Xplore built-in players do not support audio passthrough
MX Player - while it has some options for audio passthrough - I have failed to make it work, in the end I was getting stereo downmix no matter what I've tried in settings
VLC player - same as for MX Player
Nova player - found a hint in this thread and tried it. Indeed, it was the first success. But partial. AC3 passthrough worked fine, but AAC/DTS tracks were failing, so with passthrough enabled - no sound for AAC/DTS
I continued searching for alternatives and finally found almost perfect solutions: Vimu media player
It's not free, by 3 bucks don't hurt.
While Vimu also supports passthrough for AC3 only... it has BUILT-IN transcoding support to convert AAC/DTS/DTS HD/etc. into AC3!!! And I confirm it works! Also it has very clean interface to browse your Network storage devices, so you can skip using File managers and navigate through your library directly from Vimu. However I am missing a bit some of the functionalities from Nova like metadata / description/posters fetching from online databases.
The only Vimu feature which was not working well for me was 'Preferred Audio language' - despite of having English enabled, it was still playing first track by default.
Hope someone will find this helpful and will save some time
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank You for this information, you are absolutely right, Vimu does pass the Dolby 5.1 and probably Dolby Atmos(I don't have a receiver for Atmos) on thru my LG tv to my receiver from my 4k Firestick! I was only able to get Netflix and Prime to do that until I loaded Vimu and it plays my local movie files from my server perfectly. Had previously tried MXPlayer, VLC, and several others to no avail! Thanks again!
Dusha999 said:
The only Vimu feature which was not working well for me was 'Preferred Audio language' - despite of having English enabled, it was still playing first track by default.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This issue was resolved in the latest update

Trouble with passthrough via AV system

Hi, I've been using Chromecast with Google TV on Yamaha RX-V685 receiver
When using the MXplayer, my AV doesn't get DD or DD+ just only 2.0ch PCM.
I've tried installing codec from XDA and used HW decoding but I can't get the surrounding system.
Then I experemented on the VLCplayer, this got the passthrough right.
Does anybody have the same problem? or did I set something wrong?
No support for native 5.1 channel audio even after enabling Passthrough, for AV syste
I am facing the same issue, Using MX player in firestick connected to Yamaha AV receiver, Firestick supports up to Dolby Atmos 7.1.
I also tried with Codec package but no help. Mx player neither decoding 6 channel audio nor allowing passthrough. it converts all audio to 2 channels.
Tested .MP4 & .MKV files. Whereas few other players are able to decode all 6 channels from .MP4 &.AVI files but not .MKV.

Categories

Resources