LibreELEC 7.1.0 - Multichannel PCM Audio & EAC3(DD+) testing

[wrxtasy]

Newsflash: The HiFi Shield has been confirmed working out of the box with this .tar update

Thanks to the very talented AML LE / Kodi developer kszaq it looks like we have the long awaited Multichannel (>2.0) PCM Audio decoding on AMLogic LE devices for Kodi Jarvis + Krypton going forward. Also EAC3(DD+) will now passthrough as well.

I've only tested DD+ passthrough with my TV, and that works just fine
Also in this release is HEVC playback improvements, the 3840x2160p 160Mb/s HEVC Jellyfish test file now plays without issues.

HiFi Shield support is untested, it will either work or will not. No troubleshooting or extra problem solving for the Shield will be provided.

Those updating from a very old version of LE may find they need to replace the boot.ini file on the SD card as well:
https://github.com/wrxtasy/LibreELEC.tv ... r/boot.ini

LibreELEC-Odroid_C2.aarch64-7.1.0.HEVC.PCM.EAC3.Audio.tar

Enjoy !
W.

[hoppel118]

Hello wrxtasy,

does this release contain your 7.1.0?

Greetings Hoppel

[wrxtasy]

Yes. That is why its called LE v7.1.0.
Includes all the patches in the September .tar excluding the IR Power OFF/ON C2 testing from the "Turning C2 on with IR/CEC Remote" thread.

[Eneko]

EDIT: I'm Sorry, I need to edit. Still ok for me, but it is not all perfect

Tested with my Odroid C2 connected to a Yamaha RX-V671 by HDMI and it works perfectly.

Tested a 5.1 FLAC file and is handled as 7.1 PCM.
Tested mkv with 5.1 AAC audio and is handled as 7.1 PCM.
Tested m2ts with 5.1 DD+ (E-AC3) and is passedthrough as perfect 5.1 DD+.

No need for any transcoding, the option is even not there anymore.

Perfect update! Thanks!

[Pienoet]

Thanks wrxtasy! how does multichannel PCM works?

Does it needs to be enabled in audio settings?

[wrxtasy]

Believe it or not I don't have an AVR. I suppose you would have to disable any Passthrough first in Kodi Audio settings and set the Number of Audio Channels.

Eneko from above would be able to give you tips

[Pienoet]

Believe it or not I don't have an AVR. I suppose you would have to disable any Passthrough first in Kodi Audio settings and set the Number of Audio Channels.

Eneko from above would be able to give you tips

Allright thanks man!

So no AVR so you can't test any sudio?

[Eneko]

Thanks wrxtasy! how does multichannel PCM works?

Does it needs to be enabled in audio settings?

Nope, it just works

I'm not an expert at this but the way I understand it is that previously to this update, there where two audio issues:

1. Multichannel audio formats that are not managed by any AVR, like AAC of FLAC, where not encoded to the raw format of PCM and it's original channels (normaly 5.1) but where either encoded to PCM 2.0 or by using the option "AC3 Transcode" where transcoded to Dolby. Now, without any option needed, FLAC and AAC are directly transformed as PCM with their original channels. You can leave Passthrough on since it doesn't apply for these formats.

2. DD+ Passthrough was not supported but now it is, but this you need to check in the passthrough options of course.

[Eneko]

Believe it or not I don't have an AVR. I suppose you would have to disable any Passthrough first in Kodi Audio settings and set the Number of Audio Channels.

Eneko from above would be able to give you tips

Allright thanks man!

So no AVR so you can't test any sudio?

Yeah, I already mentioned in the Kodi forum we should all chip in to give Wrxtasy one...he deserves it

[hoppel118]

Yes. That is why its called LE v7.1.0.
Includes all the patches in the September .tar excluding the IR Power OFF/ON C2 testing from the "Turning C2 on with IR/CEC Remote" thread.

But why do you call all your releases 7.1.0 and why don't you go forward (7.1.1, 7.1.2, ...)?

Anyway, thank you!

[wrxtasy]

Test releases do not get bumped to a new version number until, well they have been tested and found deserving.
I actually name the .tar's something relevant for filing purposes, otherwise you end up with a bunch of meaningless development numbers.
It will happen, just not yet.

Patience grasshopper !

[wrxtasy]

1. Multichannel audio formats that are not managed by any AVR, like AAC of FLAC, where not encoded to the raw format of PCM and it's original channels (normally 5.1) but where either encoded to PCM 2.0 or by using the option "AC3 Transcode" where transcoded to Dolby. Now, without any option needed, FLAC and AAC are directly transformed as PCM with their original channels. You can leave Passthrough on since it doesn't apply for these formats.

Yes exactly. The really good thing is with Kodi itself being able to decode those unsupported AVR Audio codecs, you now get lossless, bit perfect audio when Kodi decodes to Multichannel PCM and outputs that to an AVR, no more resampling and re-encoding to lossy AC3.

[jurand]

works with my setup!
I've run quick check of different audio codecs and there is only one issue I've found:
a file with audio
Stream #0:1(und): Audio: aac (HE-AAC), 48000 Hz, 5.1, fltp (default)
goes as 7.1 PCM (which is not bad), but I've selected "Best match" output configuration.
here is dmesg: http://sprunge.us/bQAi

Another file with 2.0 he-aac is played as 2.0 PCM.

[MidnightWatcher]

Do MP3s and video encoded in 2.0 stereo 44,100 KHz play properly now if Stereo Upmix is disabled?

[Eneko]

works with my setup!
I've run quick check of different audio codecs and there is only one issue I've found:
a file with audio
Stream #0:1(und): Audio: aac (HE-AAC), 48000 Hz, 5.1, fltp (default)
goes as 7.1 PCM (which is not bad), but I've selected "Best match" output configuration.
here is dmesg: http://sprunge.us/bQAi

Another file with 2.0 he-aac is played as 2.0 PCM.

Yes, I can confirm this. At first I didn't notice because since my AVR is configured for 5.1, the front display shows 5.1 PCM output with 5.1 AAC files. But if I go into my AVR's detailed onscreen info it does in fact show that the input is 7.1 PCM when the source file is only 5.1 AAC. This is fine for me, I won't notice the difference. But the 2 extra channels added is strange.

[kszaq]

You see 7.1 PCM on your AVRs when playing 5.1 PCM as this is how Amlogic kernel driver works: it selects either 2.0 or a maximum number of channels that is available on your AVR (in that case 7.1).

For example my AVR can only accept 5.1 PCM and that's what I get even when 7.1 is selected in Kodi.

I will do some test to see if this can be corrected via sysfs/driver calls.

[jurand]

my AVR max is 11.1 channels.. but I've selected 7.1 in Kodi - as this is the closest setting available. For me it also makes no difference wether it is sent as 5.1 or 7.1. Just a notice.

[infinity85]

Tested this new testbuild. Crazy, finally DD+ is working Awesome kszaq! And thanks wrxtasy for including the changes

What I noticed: Pretty often audio/video sync problems. It is quite slight... about 10ms perhaps... but it varies every time I start the video... sometimes its there, sometimes not. But as soon as I change the audiostream during playback (eg. from german to english), no matter whether DTS or DD... the audio is completely out of sync... many seconds. I have to restart the video at the same resume point and everything is in sync again. Also pausing the video helps sometimes to find sync again.

[jurand]

I have the same after changing audio track. But a quicker fix is to do a seek 10s back..

[atptlr]

I am facing sync issue and cache full error
Reverted back to August release again

[infinity85]

I am facing sync issue and cache full error
Reverted back to August release again

I have seen this cache full error as well, when started the first movie. Afterwards it was gone, but instead of this I had sometimes a black screen.

[Gerrit507]

Hello wrxtasy,
Thank you for the build, i'll test it this weekend

Is this fix also included in the LE sources? I'm asking because I want to build LE Krypton with this fix.

[Raybuntu]

I wonder how one can notice 10ms audio sync issues. I'm not mocking but you guys are pretty good spoting a/v sync issues. Obviously I can't. Keep up the good testing.

[wrxtasy]

C'mon RB, I've heard on the Grapevine, some LE C2 Kodi users have Bionic Vision, - you know just like the old:
Six Million Dollar Man !

[wrxtasy]

I have the same after changing audio track. But a quicker fix is to do a seek 10s back..

Known issue across all AMLogic Android and LibreELEC Kodi platforms. You simply cannot change Audio tracks within Kodi without stopping and restarting otherwise issues as discussed show themselves.

Hello wrxtasy,
Thank you for the build, i'll test it this weekend

Is this fix also included in the LE sources? I'm asking because I want to build LE Krypton with this fix.

No its not in LE Krypton sources for the C2. I've been a bit busy getting the PCM Audio updates into Jarvis for the S905 WeTek devices.
I will try and start looking at updating the LE Kodi Krypton master when I get a spare moment.

[infinity85]

I wonder how one can notice 10ms audio sync issues. I'm not mocking but you guys are pretty good spoting a/v sync issues. Obviously I can't. Keep up the good testing.

C'mon RB, I've heard on the Grapevine, some LE C2 Kodi users have Bionic Vision, - you know just like the old:
Six Million Dollar Man !

(This guy is a german, isn't he? I think it's a german nut driven plastic whatever guy... but: he can see the sync probs because of german "Gündlichkeit" )


Well yeah, perhaps it was 10 to 50ms , but I think it is oscillating between positive and negative sync difference, that is why it is so noticable and I simply spotted it because I did not see any sync problems until I updated to this testbuild and then it seemed to be varying every time I start the video over and over again.

Regarding changing audio tracks during playback: Now that you mention it, I remember you saying that once in one of the threads or in kodi.tv forum... perhaps it is worth mentioning in main opening post

Anyway, the capabilities of this board are simply awesome. Now the only drawback to raspberry seems to be just the 3D capabilities, but everything is just simply super great because of the efforts you all put into it

[wrxtasy]

Anyway, the capabilities of this board are simply awesome. Now the only drawback to raspberry seems to be just the 3D capabilities, but everything is just simply super great because of the efforts you all put into it

Funny you should mention that as this bit at the bottom is what I added today - from Kodi forums...

Q. I want a Kodi media player, priced around $100 or less for use with my 1080p TV, that will play any 1080p content I throw at it with few limitations ?

• RPi3: runnning LibreELEC Kodi. The Gold standard in Software support and with Kernel drivers for all manner of attached external hardware......
• Direct competitor in this space is the ODROID C2.
• LibreELEC / Kodi Jarvis running on various AMLogic S905 platforms - A/V playback has now surpassed the RPi3 in virtually everything but Frame Packed 1080p 3D video.

[infinity85]

it's simply reality . Funny coincidence indeed

[Gerrit507]

What are those 3D issues exactly? I haven't encountered any issues with 3D videos in general but I let my TV handle the picture. I can remember that my Rpi recognized that it's a 3D movie and also changed the menu to 3D, like it should be, but I still have to change the TV to the right 3D mode, or is there an easier way that the rpi / odroid handles the 3D picture and not the TV?

[infinity85]

What are those 3D issues exactly? I haven't encountered any issues with 3D videos in general but I let my TV handle the picture.

See this thread (and especially noggins answer): http://forum.odroid.com/viewtopic.php?f ... 88#p132386

In short: The Odroid can handle 3D, but not as framepacked (not sure about this, though) or at least not at full hd. MVC (wich is actually like a video container, which contains material for both eyes with each 1080p and saving disk-space on the second-eye-side by storing only the differences to the first eye) is decoded correctly, but the output to the TV is only in half resolution. That means, that each eye will have output of 720p (2*720p = 1080p) at current state. The raspberry developers have managed to integrate the capability of outputting 1080p for each eye = same (full) resolution as hardware bluray players output framepacked 3D. Unfortunately I don't think that this will ever be addressed on the Odroid . I had hopes at first as well, but the seems nobody there, who is skilled enough in terms of AMLogic SOC stuff. All those developers are truly a big advantage of Raspberry community.
(I hope I did not write too much nonsense in my explanation above )

I can remember that my Rpi recognized that it's a 3D movie and also changed the menu to 3D, like it should be, but I still have to change the TV to the right 3D mode, or is there an easier way that the rpi / odroid handles the 3D picture and not the TV?

Yep, I think that this has to do with Frame Packed stuff. Afair the Raspberry outputs 3D always in FramePacked, so TV's usually automatically recognize this and this triggers the automatic switch in 3D mode in TVs. On Odroid something is different, probably it has something to do with the stuff I tried do explain above. However... wrxtasy included a patch some months ago from koying (Android Kodi developer), who had somehow managed to get this auto 3D switch implemented. Since then it is working indeed, but there is something odd with the settings. read this post: http://forum.odroid.com/viewtopic.php?f ... 50#p145239
...Long story short: If you leave the 3D settings in wrxtasys build on default state, it will ask you for the 3D Mode whenever you start a 3D movie. If you simply confirm the question (because it should actually always offer the correct mode), then the TV will autoswitch in 3D mode like you are used to have it from Raspberry. This bug (non working "preferred" setting) makes me really wonder, as the basic capability is actually working...I imagine having a script that simply presses "OK" automatically whenever I get the question about the 3D mode... then It would always autotrigger the TV. So this sounds really like a simple bug :/

[jurand]

I've noticed a problem in this build: after a few minutes (3-5 min) playing a flac file weird noises can be heard. After stop and play a few minutes without noises and then again the same issue.
Rolled back to LibreELEC-Odroid_C2.aarch64-7.1.0.Aug.img.zip - no such issue there.
here is dmesg tail: http://sprunge.us/VFbN

[wrxtasy]

What are those 3D issues exactly? I haven't encountered any issues with 3D videos in general but I let my TV handle the picture.

Unfortunately I don't think that this will ever be addressed on the Odroid . I had hopes at first as well, but it seems (that) nobody there, who is skilled enough in terms of AMLogic SOC stuff.

The problem is that the AML devs either don't have 3D devices or that they simply are not interested in devoting limited free time to niche 3D 1080p Frame packed development.

[infinity85]

totally understandable. Also I think it might be not such a trivial solution, otherwise other devices besides originals RPis would've got the capability.

[wrxtasy]

Slight update to the AML M8 Audio config file:
This needs to be copied into the /storage/.config directory until I get around to recompiling.

SSH Login and:

Code: Select all

cd .config

wget https://github.com/wrxtasy/LibreELEC.tv.7.0/blob/Hub-test/projects/WeTek_Hub/filesystem/usr/share/alsa/cards/AML-M8AUDIO.conf

reboot

[infinity85]

May I ask what this is about?

[Raybuntu]

May I ask what this is about?

It's the correct channel mapping for 7.1 sound.

[dru]

Confirmed that DD+ is working for me. Only noticed an issue yesterday when trying to play a file, installed this patch and worked as expected

Thanks wrxtasy

[maxximusss]

Multichannel FLAC plays fine. But not playing 24/192 flac files.
Sample #20 from this page http://kodi.wiki/view/Samples - AVR say no input (Yamaha RXV-371)
Can anyone check this?

[infinity85]

The mentioned sample Beck - Sea Change (DTS-HDMA 24-192kHz 5.1 (45sec).flac plays fine on my onkyo TX-NR616 with latest LibreELEC 7.1.0 and the above mentioned quick patch by wrxtasy. My Receiver shows MCH PCM 7.1

[maxximusss]

Hm, this is strtange.
Try August release - same problem.
But from Rpi2 AlexELEC plays fine.

My log from Kodi https://www.dropbox.com/s/z8xj0dmt89c3b ... I.log?dl=0

P.S.: Sorry for my English.

[infinity85]

What kind of connection are you using to your AVR?

*S/P-Dif?
*HDMI?
*Is the C2 connected directly to your Yamaha?

Assuming you are using a direct connection via HDMI cable, then the problem could be the HDMI cable. Perhaps you should try another one.

I think an another HDMI cable is worth a try even if the 192kHz FLAC works on your RPi2 because, as far as I remember, the raspberry is not capable of outputting 192kHz (max is 96kHz I believe). (Again) if I remember it correctly this missing 192kHz capability is the reason that no Raspberry has ever had DTS-HD or TrueHD support. To come around this the RPi delevopers integrated a PCM decoder capability, which could decode DTS-HD and TrueHD into PCM and then output those as digital PCM bitstream to the AVR. BUT doing this, only frequencies <=96kHz are arriving at an AVR.

Of course there might be some other bug in LibreELEC/AMLogic kernel or build, but for the first it could be worth a try to take another (at least HDMI 1.4) cable and see if it solves the problem. Would like to hear if and how you solved the problem somewhen

[jaro_kr]

Using same sample file in my setup:
odroid c2 + october release > directly connected to >Denon AVR-4311 > TX-P65vt60 have relesult as such:

whem I have run just flac file - no sound : on avr no input is showed
when mkv file is played dts-ma showed on avr and is played fine

cable is't an issue - tried several good quality cables

f.e. flac file is played correctly if it does not exceed the value of 48kHz/24bit (2 channel).

any ideas?

[maxximusss]

Confirm this. No play audio files high than 48kHz/24bit - no input on AVR.

P.S.: on RPi 2 with same HDMI cable plays fine up to 24/192.

[infinity85]

Are we testing the same sample here?
http://kodi.wiki/view/Samples --> FLAC 5.1 24-bit 192kHz audio-only sample (thanks HomerJau) --> https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B67BGV ... hFXzA/view -->Beck - Sea Change (DTS-HDMA 24-192kHz 5.1 (45sec).flac

Plays fine at least on my setup with recent october build and Onkyo TX-NR616 AVR with a HDMI 2.0 Cable. My guess about the cable being the issue is not because of high or low quality cables, but about the used standard (HDMI 1.3, HDMI 2.0 etc.). But the issue might certainly be something else and I'm just having luck that it works on my AVR. I remember that 2 years ago OpenELEC had an issue with DTS passthrough on my AVR, but not on denons hmm... they got it fixed, so perhaps this here is similar and onkyo is on the lucky side this time.

Here's the OSD output of my Onkyo playing the above mentioned Multi Channel FLAC:

IMG_20161017_125413.jpg

(71.36 KiB) Downloaded 2664 times

And here's the same file played on the Raspberry Pi2:

IMG_20161017_130330.jpg

(83.48 KiB) Downloaded 2664 times

As far as I know the Raspberry Pi series is not capable of outputting 192kHz / 24Bit if multichannel. It downsamples depending on the bandwidth. Stereo should work with 192/24.

So comparison with Raspberry Pi does not really help here. Perhaps better post the settings you've changed in Kodi/Settings/Audio tab.. my be there is something different.

@jaro_kr
You say mkv file is played fine... could you please provide the information your AVR displays about the played audio stream? I mean like I did with the OSD screenshot. What sample rate and how many channels does the AVR see there, if playing the mkv. Perhaps mkv is downsampled and although it has 192/24 inside, your AVR only gets 48kHz or so sent from the C2.

If I try the FLAC, then I have M-PCM 192/24 bit with 7.1 like screenshot shows (but media info says it is a 6ch flac, not 8ch hmm...)
If I play the mkv, then Receiver switches to DTS-HD MSTR 192kHz with 5.1 channels (matches the media info: 6ch). So this takes less bandwidth, just as an example. (I still guess, that the cable might make a difference, but who knows hm :/).

[wrxtasy]

Audio test version .tar here to 5.1 ch PCM Audio from kszaq, this version also has HDMI-CEC switching off the TV when the screen saver kicks in. (Config in Settings > Input > CEC Adapter)

Also default CPU Guv'nr is now "ondemand" its a nice compromise between speed and SoC heat.

LibreELEC-Odroid_C2.aarch64-7.1.0.test.5.1.PCM.audio.tar

[wrxtasy]

Are we testing the same sample here?
As far as I know the Raspberry Pi series is not capable of outputting 192kHz / 24Bit if multichannel. It downsamples depending on the bandwith. Stereo should work with 192/24.

So comparison with Raspberry Pi does not really help here. Perhaps better post the settings you've changed in Kodi/Settings/Audio tab.. my be there is something different.

That is my understanding as well for the RPi.. (read the link below for Audio limitations on RPi PCM Multichannel)

http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid ... pid1997864

The Pi/Pi2 only supports an HDMI audio bandwith for up to 4x192kHz streams, which isn't enough bandwidth to carry a max bitrate DTS HD-MA or Dolby True HD stream, which can carry 5.1 at 192kHz / 24 bit, and as they are lossless compression they can't guarantee to reduce the data rate at all times by a third. (Complex audio won't compress that much)

[infinity85]

[...]
http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid ... pid1997864

The Pi/Pi2 only supports an HDMI audio bandwith for up to 4x192kHz streams, which isn't enough bandwidth to carry a max bitrate DTS HD-MA or Dolby True HD stream, which can carry 5.1 at 192kHz / 24 bit, and as they are lossless compression they can't guarantee to reduce the data rate at all times by a third. (Complex audio won't compress that much)

Ah thanks for this reference... remembered I read this once, but couldn't find it for pointing to it in lasts posts.

On my setup your LibreELEC-Odroid_C2.aarch64-7.1.0.test.5.1.PCM.audio.tar behaves exactly the same as the recent october release. Same results as described in my last post.

Regarding HDMI CEC switching off my TV it is also the same, unfortunately. I'm curious what others will say about it after testing, perhaps it'll work there. How does it behave on your system? Does the TV simply turn off, or is it going into no-signal-mode? Well, anyways, that's a topic for the other thread, sorry

[jaro_kr]

Are we testing the same sample here?
http://kodi.wiki/view/Samples --> FLAC 5.1 24-bit 192kHz audio-only sample (thanks HomerJau) --> https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B67BGV ... hFXzA/view -->Beck - Sea Change (DTS-HDMA 24-192kHz 5.1 (45sec).flac

Plays fine at least on my setup with recent october build and Onkyo TX-NR616 AVR with a HDMI 2.0 Cable. My guess about the cable being the issue is not because of high or low quality cables, but about the used standard (HDMI 1.3, HDMI 2.0 etc.). But the issue might certainly be something else and I'm just having luck that it works on my AVR. I remember that 2 years ago OpenELEC had an issue with DTS passthrough on my AVR, but not on denons hmm... they got it fixed, so perhaps this here is similar and onkyo is on the lucky side this time.

Here's the OSD output of my Onkyo playing the above mentioned Multi Channel FLAC:

IMG_20161017_125413.jpg

And here's the same file played on the Raspberry Pi2:

IMG_20161017_130330.jpg

As far as I know the Raspberry Pi series is not capable of outputting 192kHz / 24Bit if multichannel. It downsamples depending on the bandwidth. Stereo should work with 192/24.

So comparison with Raspberry Pi does not really help here. Perhaps better post the settings you've changed in Kodi/Settings/Audio tab.. my be there is something different.

@jaro_kr
You say mkv file is played fine... could you please provide the information your AVR displays about the played audio stream? I mean like I did with the OSD screenshot. What sample rate and how many channels does the AVR see there, if playing the mkv. Perhaps mkv is downsampled and although it has 192/24 inside, your AVR only gets 48kHz or so sent from the C2.

If I try the FLAC, then I have M-PCM 192/24 bit with 7.1 like screenshot shows (but media info says it is a 6ch flac, not 8ch hmm...)
If I play the mkv, then Receiver switches to DTS-HD MSTR 192kHz with 5.1 channels (matches the media info: 6ch). So this takes less bandwidth, just as an example. (I still guess, that the cable might make a difference, but who knows hm :/).

- i wasn't able to reply quickly -sorry, i'm outside my home... anyway, what i tried was on a same file definitely, mentioned by you : Beck - Sea Change (DTS-HDMA 24-192kHz 5.1 (45sec).flac
and audio playback I was able to hear, only when it was set in odroid c2 in System/Settings/audio output/output config. to fixed configuration and not much as 44.1 sampling rate - number of channels 7.1 or 2.0 (doesn't matter).
In the other hand I have another player - dune hd duo - connected with this avr system - same file, i'm able to play and sound is audible with passthrough configuration as well as pcm with highest possible rate (192/24) in both cases.

[Da Alchemist]

I do not want to spoil this Party, but i think there is still an error in the channelmapping. I tried the October update and the update in this thread from the 18. october , i did download the channelmap conf via wget mentioned in this Thread.

When i ssh to the machine and do

Code: Select all

speaker-test -D hw:0 -c 8

there is clean pink Noise, but mainly on the front speakers. I can here permanent pink noise coming with lower volume from the other connected speakers, but the signal is not going the circle way round ( Kodi is set to 8 channel Output) . My AVR, an Onkyo 606, states correct 7.1 MultichannelPCm and because the Signal is not distorted, you won´t here his Error while playing Music.

Is there still an asound.conf or .asoudrc file somewhere causing trouble?

Regards

[infinity85]

Hmm...
I tested the sound check samples from this site: http://kodi.wiki/view/Samples for DD+, TrueHD and DTS HD MA and all seem correct.

but your mentioned command sounds indeed very weird.