Audio Passthrough on Xbox

[nralego8 0]

Hello! I have been testing out the new Emby app for the past few weeks on my Xbox Series X. One thing that has been frustrating for me is passthrough audio is not working using the Emby app. I know it works with my setup in general because passthrough works fine with multiple audio codecs (Dolby True HD, DTS:X, etc.) using Kodi. Is this a known issue, or is there something else for me to configure on my end in the Emby app?

Thanks, in advance,

nralego8

[softworkz 5066]

49 minutes ago, nralego8 said:

Hello! I have been testing out the new Emby app for the past few weeks on my Xbox Series X. One thing that has been frustrating for me is passthrough audio is not working using the Emby app. I know it works with my setup in general because passthrough works fine with multiple audio codecs (Dolby True HD, DTS:X, etc.) using Kodi. Is this a known issue, or is there something else for me to configure on my end in the Emby app?

Bitstreaming is normally not necessary on the Xbox because the Xbox is able to decode those formats and sends the decoded audio channels as uncompressed audio to the TV or receiver.

Kodi has a long history on Xbox - well, it's even their origin - and in earlier days, passthrough of the bitstream was the only way to get the audio to the TV/receiver.

[nralego8 0]

Gotcha, makes sense. I've been using Kodi for a long time, so I'm definitely familiar with that background. Does this response mean there's no way to allow bitstreaming on the Xbox Series X (i.e. like you can on Windows, NVIDIA Shield, etc.)?

Bitstreaming is a nice to have for me because it allows me to easily check my receiver's screen to see what audio codec is playing. I understand that the Xbox can decode the audio just fine, but I would prefer to have it working just like I would on Windows with bitstreaming.

[Mahinepua 81]

Can the Xbox decode Atmos channels and pass via pcm? I didn’t think that was possible hence letting the receiver decode.

Edited January 19, 2025 by Mahinepua

[softworkz 5066]

15 minutes ago, Mahinepua said:

Can the Xbox decode Atmos channels and pass via pcm? I didn’t think that was possible hence letting the receiver decode.

I think it can decode it and even encode it again, but I'm not sure whether this requires buying the Dolby Atmos extension from the store

[Mahinepua 81]

I think it might need the extension yes

[softworkz 5066]

24 minutes ago, nralego8 said:

Bitstreaming is a nice to have for me because it allows me to easily check my receiver's screen to see what audio codec is playing. I understand that the Xbox can decode the audio just fine, but I would prefer to have it working just like I would on Windows with bitstreaming.

When researching about Xbos and passthrough there are countless posts from users reporting issues with that and reporting passtrhough not working for many apps. Unfortunately we don't have the capacity for dealing with this at the moment, since it's not like turning around a switch. It would require deep research and substantial work.