EAC3 - 8 CH Audio (Fire Stick 4K)

[darrenkdean 29]

Setup:

• Fire Stick 4K, Directly into HDMI of TV
  • Test #1: Optical Audio from TV to Sony Sound Bar
  • Test #2: Optical Audio from TV to Onkyo Receiver (7.1 audio setup)
  •  
• When attempting to play a 4K HEVC with EAC-3 8 CH audio, the Emby Server shows the movie is playing, but on the TV the movie is just black with no audio.
  • Forcing the bit rate down to force transcoding makes it playable.
  • 4K HEVC with EAC-3 5 CH does not have any issues.

I've tried a number of settings on the firestick & in the Emby App, but outside of forced transcoding, can't seem to get this to work.  I'm fairly certain it's the EAC-3 8 channel audio causing the issue.  Thoughts on this?  (logs attached)

 

ffmpeg-directstream-3e175975-d9db-4eae-81d5-60cab2c718cf_1.txt embyserver.txt

[Happy2Play 8351]

My understanding is this is due to limitations of optical bandwidth.   So the equipment can handle the codec, but the connection method cannot.

There are a few other topics on optical connections around the forum.

https://www.the-home-cinema-guide.com/optical-digital-audio.html#:~:text=Optical audio connections support the following audio formats%3A

[darrenkdean 29]

42 minutes ago, Happy2Play said:

My understanding is this is due to limitations of optical bandwidth.   So the equipment can handle the codec, but the connection method cannot.

There are a few other topics on optical connections around the forum.

https://www.the-home-cinema-guide.com/optical-digital-audio.html#:~:text=Optical audio connections support the following audio formats%3A

Interesting.  Thank you for the article.  Will see if I can't reroute audio via HDMI instead of optical & test that option.  Much appreciated.

Best-

Edited December 31, 2021 by darrenkdean

[ebr 14958]

Hi.  Yes, Optical cannot handle 7.1 audio I don't think but the app should react better to that situation.  Have you forced any options on the device to say it supports that format?

[darrenkdean 29]

On 12/31/2021 at 10:56 AM, ebr said:

Hi.  Yes, Optical cannot handle 7.1 audio I don't think but the app should react better to that situation.  Have you forced any options on the device to say it supports that format?

No.  No settings were forced.  Best guess is that the newer TV supports pass thru of 7.1 audio & the sound bar isn’t able to communicate that it does not support EAC3 (8CH) vis optical audio.

The Firestick 4K is plugged directly into the TV, so as to provide 4K & HDR with optical audio running from the TV to soundbar.  Interesting enough, when I reroute the cabling using HDMI ARC, it recognizes & transcodes the audio.  Probably time to just get a new soundbar that supports 4K pass thru.  Happy New Year!!

[ebr 14958]

16 hours ago, darrenkdean said:

Interesting enough, when I reroute the cabling using HDMI ARC, it recognizes & transcodes the audio

Hi.  Yes because one of the things HDMI does is include information back to the source about what is supported.  So HDMI is always the preferred way to go if possible.