Here is the final entry of the forum post I was hoping to follow - if only I had this mysterious "Settings Level" option. I'm having exactly the same problem as the original poster "Pissant" and the instructions he was given, although well written and knowledgeable, will not work if you don't have the "Settings Level: Expert" option in the first place.
I'd welcome any suggestions.
TechSpin wrote:I'm a little late to this party, but in case you or others are still scratching your head on this one, here's 3 tips for optimizing xbmc/kodi audio output:Pissant wrote:Hi!
Iv'e just bought myself an Asustor AS-202TE. I choose this since my TViX died on me and the Asustor has HDMI...the best of 2 worlds I thought, a NAS and a mediaplayer, with HDMI.
There is kinda of an annoying problem though, I have a 7.2 system but when watching media through the 202 I only get 2.0 sound...flat, no bass
I've read countless supportforums on how to set up the soundpart under System --> Audion Output.
All the pictures on these forums shows a number of settings that I do not have on my 202, like:
* Speaker Configuration
* Dolby Digital (AC3) capable reciever
* DTS capable reciever
and so on...
All I got is "Audio Output" (where I can choose between HDMI, Optical/Coax and Analog and nothing else whichever i choose) and "Play GUI sounds"
Can I do something or do I have to live with this? And oh, I'm extremley new to this NAS-thing so my understanding of technical terms isn't that good
Regards /P
INTRO: First, you must be in expert mode to see all the available xbmc/kodi menu options. Secondly, many follow-on settings are interactively-dependent on what you selected in a previous setting, and probably why you couldn't see those additional receiver capability choices just yet. And finally, even though you made all the proper selections in the main System-Settings-Audio Output menu, your audio may still sound "off," but this can easily be remedied in the audio menu that's available only during video playback. Details and a walk-through are below, and if there is any interest in this post I can throw in some follow-up screenshots as well.
1) "Settings Level Expert" First, many settings, including those critical for optimizing audio/video, are only available in Expert mode. To enable it, go to xbmc/kodi's main System - Settings - Audio Output menu, then click on "Settings Level" in the lower left corner of the window, toggling through (keep clicking on it) until you see "Settings Level Expert" You are now in Expert mode which unlocks and un-hides all parent menu items for all system settings.
2) Once you are in Expert mode, select the "Number of Channels" that best reflect your receiver's capability (2..0, 5.1, 7.1, etc). Next, choose appropriate settings for your particular needs, but make sure that the "Enable passthrough" option is enabled and the correct passthough device is selected. (Note: the default is Digital S/PDIF, but if you are using HDMI for audio, then you must select the HDMI option) You will then see the sub-menu for all those additional pesky receiver options such as Dolby Digital, DTS, etc. Confirm your settings and exit, BUT YOU ARE NOT FINISHED YET...
3) Now, start playback of a known, working high-quality video, then pause it. Click on the "speaker" icon to open the video's audio settings menu. Make sure that "Stereo Upmix" is enabled, then scroll down and make sure you click "Set as default for all videos." At this point you should now have whatever audio quality and surround separation your A/V rack is capable of producing.
Once all your xbmc/kodi audios settings are set properly, you can also try scrolling through your receiver's surround sound presets to find the sweet spot for individual video playback, just as you would for any other video source.
Hope that helped...