AAC Sound Support?

  • I have installed Libreelec on a brand new Chromebox by Asus. I have passthrough enabled going to an Onkyo TR-646. I'm unable to play anything that has an AAC soundtrack. I can't find anything here that seems systemic. Anyone else experiencing this?

  • You should describe your setup (connections, signal chain etc) in detail and post your FULL Kodi audio settings.

    The Kodi audio settings are not particularly intuitive and most likely you simply have a wrong setting.

    AAC passthrough is not supported any more so with AAC soundtracks Kodi must decode first, then you have a choice between output the PCM or convert to AC3.

  • Thanks for this, it made me triple check. I had the right output set for pass through but not the main audio out.

    Thanks for the help!



    You should describe your setup (connections, signal chain etc) in detail and post your FULL Kodi audio settings.

    The Kodi audio settings are not particularly intuitive and most likely you simply have a wrong setting.

    AAC passthrough is not supported any more so with AAC soundtracks Kodi must decode first, then you have a choice between output the PCM or convert to AC3.


  • You should describe your setup (connections, signal chain etc) in detail and post your FULL Kodi audio settings.

    The Kodi audio settings are not particularly intuitive and most likely you simply have a wrong setting.

    AAC passthrough is not supported any more so with AAC soundtracks Kodi must decode first, then you have a choice between output the PCM or convert to AC3.


    Ok think u have everything set up right but not sure about the transcode option. When would it be an advantage to use this with respect to AAC? I have a modern AV Amp that can handle all the usual formats. Would putting the transcode option on mean that AAC tracks would get converted to AC3?


  • Ok think u have everything set up right but not sure about the transcode option. When would it be an advantage to use this with respect to AAC? I have a modern AV Amp that can handle all the usual formats. Would putting the transcode option on mean that AAC tracks would get converted to AC3?

    Yes. Turn on transcode unless you enjoy Pro Logic or Stereo.

  • Yes. Turn on transcode unless you enjoy Pro Logic or Stereo.


    Thanks for reply, well after doing some more research I've settled for NOT turning on the transcode option. I'm a wanna be an audiophile and someone mentioned that usually most AAC sound sources have already been converted from the original DD or DTS, to then havr to transcode it back again to DD means even more loss of qualify at the end of the chain.

    So even though my amp won't light up and say Dobly digital is maybe better to leave it as AAC, that's my understanding anyways, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong [emoji4]


  • Thanks for reply, well after doing some more research I've settled for NOT turning on the transcode option. I'm a wanna be an audiophile and someone mentioned that usually most AAC sound sources have already been converted from the original DD or DTS, to then havr to transcode it back again to DD means even more loss of qualify at the end of the chain.

    So even though my amp won't light up and say Dobly digital is maybe better to leave it as AAC, that's my understanding anyways, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong [emoji4]

    Can't give any further info if we don't know your setup.


  • Ok think u have everything set up right but not sure about the transcode option. When would it be an advantage to use this with respect to AAC? I have a modern AV Amp that can handle all the usual formats. Would putting the transcode option on mean that AAC tracks would get converted to AC3?

    The purpose of transcode to AC3 is for when you want 5.1 multi-channel out to an amp, but are using spdif (optical/coax) connection.

    Spdif only supports multi-channel via AC3 or DTS. So this is the only way you can get 5.1 to your amp from a multi-channel AAC, LPCM, Opus, etc source.

    There are some other reasons why you might want to do it. Usually related to specific equipment quirks/limitations. For example; some TVs will passthrough an 5.1 AC3 signal but not 5.1 DTS. One of my TVs has some dumb thing where it will passthrough only a "DTS 2:5 Neo" signal, not a full DTS 5.1 signal. So in this case I might prefer to convert to AC3 in order that a surround signal reaches my amp.

    Edited once, last by trent (January 8, 2017 at 11:29 AM).

  • I have Samsung TV connected and Intel NUC with Libreelec both connected to Yamaha AVR amp both are connected via HDMI. Yamaha amp has two physical speaker connected 2.0 configuration.

    Transcode option does work even with hdmi. I just tried a AAC 5.1 source which was converted to ac3 with transcode option on. But as I did earlier probably doesn't makes sense for me as u want to hear sound in best possible way. I got caught up in wanting my amp to light up with the Dolby digital lights but, if transcoding introduces another lossy compression stage then I'll stick with the AAC.

    Edited once, last by mwake (January 8, 2017 at 7:22 PM).

  • You are connected to amp via HDMI so you don't need transcode to AC3. HDMI can send multi-channel LPCM.

    In any case you only have two speakers, so the entire issue is irrelevant.

    Please read again: The main purpose of transcode to AC3 is for when you want to send multiple discrete channels to an amp, but are using spdif (optical/coax) connection.

    You are doing neither so you simply have no need for this option.


  • You are connected to amp via HDMI so you don't need transcode to AC3. HDMI can send multi-channel LPCM.

    In any case you only have two speakers, so the entire issue is irrelevant.

    Please read again: The main purpose of transcode to AC3 is for when you want to send multiple discrete channels to an amp, but are using spdif (optical/coax) connection.

    You are doing neither so you simply have no need for this option.


    Thanks all for info! Appreciated!