Can H8 convert audio to DD 5.1 for compatibility with Sonos Playbar?

[dailydisco]

Hi,

I saw on the Q5 forum that someone was asking whether that box could convert audio to DD 5.1 on the SPIDF connection. Like that poster, I am looking to add a Sonos PlayBar. The PlayBar has a limitation of SPIDF input only and Dolby Digital 5.1. It looked like the Q5 cannot convert to DD 5.1 (I otherwise would have a lot of things that are True HD or DTS-HD). It was mentioned on that thread that the H8 could do this. I looked for a manual and could not determine whether the H8 can actually transcode or convert DTS,  DTS-HD, or Dolby True HD to DD 5.1 when using the optical connection (SPIDF).

Can someone confirm that the H8 can actually do this? If not, does anyone know of a device that can do this?

Thanks!

Dailydisco

[Nice Monkey]

I don't see the desired setup as very realistic. Specifically conversion from DTS to DD is normally not done as it amongst others requires license for DD encoding.

What is normally found/done:
- Stripping HD formats of DD and DTS to the original Core format is pretty standard. So on SPDIF this is what comes out. DD and DTS in native format.
- Decoding DD and DTS to LPCM is a standard feature also. Should work with a SPDIF interface too. If Your Playbar can handle LPCM also in MCH that is  the way to go.

DTS is already around for 10 years or so. Even on DVD it is commonly used and yes you can hear the difference easily as being superior. For various HD formats that is not the case for everybody for all sources as it requires good ears  (I am too old for this). I would consider using a different sound system and forget about DTS ==> DD downgrades because that is what it would be.

[dailydisco]

Are you sure about this? Since reading, I was looking at the Kodi forums and they specifically talk about setting for two channel audio (DD 5.1 travels over two channels which is why it works over toslink apparently) and transcoding on the fly to AC3 aka DD 5.1. Believe me, I though about getting rid of my Sub and Play 3s but I am heavily invested for music in Sonos and adding a playbar makes more sense for me.

I saw on the Q5 forum that someone asked a similar question as mine and the Himedia folks pointed to the H8 as the better option since it has a seemingly more complete implementation of Kodi it would seem.

If a Himedia person could confirm it would be great. Even better if someone with an H8 can confirm that changing the settings tells their AVR it is getting DD instead of DTS then I am totally onboard with a H8 since my alternative is using my Mac mini with Kodi.

[Nice Monkey]

I am pretty sure about this. I don't know any media player or AMP/Receiver for that matter which downgrades DTS MCH ==> DD MCH.
In the past we occasionally saw also MPEG audio on DVD but that is gone totally.

I do know about some tricks to port a signal over SPDIF just for transport. I have even seen Firmware upgrades over SPDIF. The receiving end must understand this though.

SPDIF supports DD in 5.1 and EX modes next to DTS in 5.1 and ES modes natively. Most content on BD is today in DTS not DD for quality reasons. The magical exception is DD Atmos  as DTS-X came a bit late.  Time for some new gear I am afraid.

[dailydisco]

Okay, so I can't speak to the H8 itself, although based on the recommendation in the other Q5 forum where someone from futeko recommended the H8 since it runs Kodi natively and not in a wrapper from what I could understand, I can confirm that DTS can be transcoded by a player. Here is what I did:

Based on reading the Kodi forums, I could tell that there is a setting in Kodi that asks whether a receiver is DD capable and DTS capable. In a sub-setting for DD capable, it asks if you would like things transcoded to DD (AC3).

I downloaded Kodi for my macbook... then using the SPIDF mini adaptor plugged into the headphone/digital port, I connected to my AVR in our main room. I played a file that has DTS-HD... with the setting in Kodi for transcode to DD (AC3), the DTS-HD file displayed on the AVR as being Dolby Digital. I confirmed via listening with my analog audio analysis equipment (aka, my ears) that there were unique sounds coming out of the surround speakers as would be expected in the scene on that file. I also tested the same thing flipping the settings to indicate that it was also a DTS-capable receiver, and the AVR showed DTS on the display and had the same results (sounds where you expect them).

The only thing I haven't done is try this on an actual Sonos PlayBar (my friend has one so I will probably bring my computer over and give it a try) but from reading in another forum entirely, someone was using Kodi with a PlayBar to accomplish this.

I know that getting entirely different equipment may be a good option for some folks, and I am indeed annoyed like many others that the PlayBar can't do DTS... but this is a great option for folks who for whatever reason are using this PlayBar in a 5.1 setup and want consistent Dolby Digital surround. In my situation, the wireless music in this particular room is important and it is very family friendly to use.

I don't know that I can trust the H8 to do this since I have not seen anyone show that it can. As stated in the Q5 forum, they recommend even using a Raspberry Pi running Kodi... so that is what I am going to do... ordered the Raspberry Pi 3 along with a Digi board that provides SPIDF connection.

Anyway, good luck to others... can confirm that "native" Kodi transcodes to AC3 (which is seen as Dolby Digital 5.1 on receivers and still sounds great or at least good enough for some people).

[joliverio]

Okay, so I can't speak to the H8 itself, although based on the recommendation in the other Q5 forum where someone from futeko recommended the H8 since it runs Kodi natively and not in a wrapper from what I could understand, I can confirm that DTS can be transcoded by a player. Here is what I did:

Based on reading the Kodi forums, I could tell that there is a setting in Kodi that asks whether a receiver is DD capable and DTS capable. In a sub-setting for DD capable, it asks if you would like things transcoded to DD (AC3).

I downloaded Kodi for my macbook... then using the SPIDF mini adaptor plugged into the headphone/digital port, I connected to my AVR in our main room. I played a file that has DTS-HD... with the setting in Kodi for transcode to DD (AC3), the DTS-HD file displayed on the AVR as being Dolby Digital. I confirmed via listening with my analog audio analysis equipment (aka, my ears) that there were unique sounds coming out of the surround speakers as would be expected in the scene on that file. I also tested the same thing flipping the settings to indicate that it was also a DTS-capable receiver, and the AVR showed DTS on the display and had the same results (sounds where you expect them).

The only thing I haven't done is try this on an actual Sonos PlayBar (my friend has one so I will probably bring my computer over and give it a try) but from reading in another forum entirely, someone was using Kodi with a PlayBar to accomplish this.

I know that getting entirely different equipment may be a good option for some folks, and I am indeed annoyed like many others that the PlayBar can't do DTS... but this is a great option for folks who for whatever reason are using this PlayBar in a 5.1 setup and want consistent Dolby Digital surround. In my situation, the wireless music in this particular room is important and it is very family friendly to use.

I don't know that I can trust the H8 to do this since I have not seen anyone show that it can. As stated in the Q5 forum, they recommend even using a Raspberry Pi running Kodi... so that is what I am going to do... ordered the Raspberry Pi 3 along with a Digi board that provides SPIDF connection.

Anyway, good luck to others... can confirm that "native" Kodi transcodes to AC3 (which is seen as Dolby Digital 5.1 on receivers and still sounds great or at least good enough for some people).

Great testing and findings, many thanks for sharing your results here in this Forum

[Nice Monkey]

The good news is it works. The bad news it violates licenses without paying for them. I have seen more things in KODI doing so. This may run into legal problems sooner or later which would be a pity.  I have seen other very good open source projects coming to a hold due to this.

So there are two sides to this coin. But I learned again something, thanks for that.