Fire Stick TV 4K MAX DTS-HD MA (DTS:X) pass-through is not working

[moozart 3]

Dear all,

I did some experiments on my brand new Fire Stick TV 4K MAX with different formats. According to the specs it can pass-through DTS-HD (basic profile). I tried with the Emby client playing this demo and audio stays muted, video plays normally. 

However using Kodi v20.2 (Kodi as external player, but still using Emby client) audio works perfectly and receiver detects as DTS:X. I looked at the server logs and in both cases there is no transcoding.

Any idea what could it be?

 

[moozart 3]

I can enable debug logs / screenshots if that helps.  But debug info says DIRECT for both audio and video and logs are quite clean.  The Fire Stick is connected in the HDMI IN of the receiver and the receiver via eARC port of the TV.

[rbjtech 5284]

I'm assuming you have set the DTS-HD Passthrough option in the emby AndroidTV client ?

[moozart 3]

17 minutes ago, rbjtech said:

I'm assuming you have set the DTS-HD Passthrough option in the emby AndroidTV client ?

Yes, affirmative. It is on. 

[ebr 16169]

Hi.  According to that we are bistreaming the audio.  Is the stick plugged directly into the receiver?

[moozart 3]

46 minutes ago, ebr said:

Hi.  According to that we are bistreaming the audio.  Is the stick plugged directly into the receiver?

Yes it is. 

[rbjtech 5284]

Worth putting the FireTV into Development mode - and check what the device itself thinks is being output.

https://developer.amazon.com/docs/fire-tv/developer-tools.html

[moozart 3]

2 hours ago, rbjtech said:

Worth putting the FireTV into Development mode - and check what the device itself thinks is being output. 

Not much of difference except no audio on Emby.  Unfortunately audio info is displayed as null.. 

 

Emby

Kodi

 

 

Edited November 30, 2023 by moozart

[rbjtech 5284]

13 hours ago, moozart said:

 Unfortunately audio info is displayed as null.. 

Exactly - this is the FireTV Reporting what Audio it is using (OS level) - thus this is what it is reporting/passing to emby.

Kodi uses much lower level drivers, and does not use the OS ones - thus it may work using Kodi.

You can try and remux the file but I suspect if the FireTV does not recognise it - nor will Emby.

Edited December 1, 2023 by rbjtech

[moozart 3]

I wonder why the same video works with Plex which also uses ExoPlayer. Direct play, no transcoding. 

So right now DTS:X works on Plex and Kodi but muted on Emby. 

[Luke 42077]

21 hours ago, moozart said:

I wonder why the same video works with Plex which also uses ExoPlayer. Direct play, no transcoding. 

So right now DTS:X works on Plex and Kodi but muted on Emby. 

Hi.  Can you try sideloading our standard android app on the same device and see how that compares?

https://emby.media/emby-for-android.html

Thanks.

 

[moozart 3]

On 04/12/2023 at 19:01, Luke said:

Hi.  Can you try sideloading our standard android app on the same device and see how that compares?

https://emby.media/emby-for-android.html

Thanks.

 

Tested with the version you told me but unfortunately still no sound.  App version 2.0.98a  and server version 4.7.14.0.

[ebr 16169]

16 hours ago, moozart said:

App version 2.0.98a 

Hi.  That is still the TV app.  Can you try with the one Luke linked to?

[moozart 3]

Sure thing. I was not aware the package name was different. Tested again still no sound. 

[rbjtech 5284]

40 minutes ago, ebr said:

Hi.  That is still the TV app.  Can you try with the one Luke linked to?

The OS is reporting no Audio (see the post above), not sure how plex and kodi are playing it .. (raw ?  bypassing the OS/Exo codecs ?)

btw - Just tried DTS-HD:X on my FireTV 4K+ and it plays just fine (Latest Emby for AndroidTV/FireTV Beta App)  - shows DTS-HD (direct) as per OP's original post.

Edited December 6, 2023 by rbjtech

[moozart 3]

But Plex also uses the ExoPlayer and it is working for the same file. Can you try this demo yourself? I'm not sure, maybe it is just this file that has something wrong with it. 

[rbjtech 5284]

On the FireTV, the Demo file is being client side software decoded (says so in the SFN) - looking at the file - this is a 24bit DTS-HD:X file.   All the other DTS-HD:X files I have (from 4K Rips) are either 16 or 18 bits.  They play 'Direct'.

Playing back the Demo file on my main system - using a Shield Pro/Denon AVR - it plays back Direct - and the AVR confirms it is DTS-HD:X MA

So I don't think there is anything wrong with the file - somewhere in the DTS passthough, things are getting lost - because if DTS was not available on the end playback device - then Emby would not even give you the option for DTS passthrough ...

Shield screen grab below -

Edited December 6, 2023 by rbjtech

[kaledi 41]

Has this been resolved.  I've just obtained a Fire TV Stick 4K Max.

I have exactly the same issue with DTS and DTS HD audio not playing (no sound).  The Fire TV stick is connected directly to a Marantz AVR.

Also, I've noticed that some files are being transcoded because 'max bit rate is being exceeded' and this appears to be 80 mbps, but no settings have been set to limit this.

All files and audio play perfectly fine without transcoding when played via Shield TV Pro (2019)

[moozart 3]

@kaledino it is not, I still have the issue.  For such files, I'm using Plex. Because it works as expected there. 

[Luke 42077]

36 minutes ago, moozart said:

@kaledino it is not, I still have the issue.  For such files, I'm using Plex. Because it works as expected there. 

HI, wouldn't you rather have a personal media server and not one that puts your information into the cloud?

[Luke 42077]

On 12/4/2023 at 1:01 PM, Luke said:

Hi.  Can you try sideloading our standard android app on the same device and see how that compares?

https://emby.media/emby-for-android.html

Thanks.

 

HI, can you try this again by downloading the latest version? Thanks !

[kaledi 41]

Thanks Luke - yes, I shall try the standard app.  I've noticed there are some other issues with this Fire TV Stick.  I've started a new thread as it isn't just about audio.

[signde 26]

Interesting note about Kodi using lower level drivers. I did not know that - learn something new everyday.

At any rate - I've tried DTS-HD files with the latest standard android app. It does not make a difference.

[moozart 3]

I can confirm that version 3.3.73 works as expected on Fire TV Stick 4K Max. Thanks for fixing it, guys!

@LukeI've bought the app Emby For  Fire TV in the past but it seems it has been discontinued, since no updates are provided on Amazon App Store. 

I remember to have paid an one time fee to watch content via it, also did the same for my Android TV.  Has this option being removed? In other words, the only alternative is a Premiere subscription, right?

Thanks in advance!

[signde 26]

I am seeing no improvement with 3.3.73 for Android installed on the AFTV 4K Max 2023.

DTS-HD/DTS-X all still get no audio.