NUC6I7KYK (Skull Canyon NUC): No 5.1 over HDMI

[dforb1]

santiagodraco Wrote: http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?pid=2335438# pid2335438 Received my Skull Canyon tonight, Windows 10 installed, Kodi installed and successfully tested running a 3D Bluray. Just a quick test but more to come. Had an issue where it displayed as over/under for some reason but bringing up the Samsung 3D menu fixed that. Not sure why.However I am having an issue with audio. Have the sound device (HDMI) configured as 7.1 but it will only output stereo to the Denon AVR-6200. This is using the sound test (other channels other than left/right produce no sound and the Denon still shows stereo). When running KODI I get no sound. Looks like a driver issue or something else? Anyone have any thoughts?I'd like to get this working so I can fully test with both 3D and HD audio passthrough. So close! Thanks!

I am also an early adopter and I have this very same issue where only stereo audio is available via the HDMI port. I tried several different HDMI 2.0 compliant cables just to see if the cable was the culprit but no luck. I have no issues whatsoever with my other older NUC5i7RYH outputting multichannel surround audio via my Denon AVR-S910W receiver. I tried both the latest and the previous released graphics driver, which would contain the Intel Display Audio driver, but still no luck.

I logged a case with Intel over the phone at their support contact number 916-377-7000, option 3. If you are experiencing this same issue, I recommend you join with me in bringing this to Intel's attention. The agent I spoke to had not yet heard about this issue so please do your part and let your voice be heard so this gets high on their priority list.

[SZuck]

5.1 is being output for me to my Pioneer Elite receiver.

Have you set the Control Panel sound settings in Windows to 5.1?

[dforb1]

Yes, I did indeedy. I tried configuring the Sound settings in Windows to 5.1 at every sampling rate from 44.1 KHz to 96 KHz (strangely enough, 192 KHz is unavailable). Suspecting it may be a bandwidth issue, I even lowered the display resolution to 1080P (1920x1080). In every single case, there was no sound coming out of any of the channels over HDMI.

I wager dollars to donuts this may be an issue unique to Denon receivers because my receiver is a Denon AVR-S910W and the other fellow's was a Denon AVR-6200. The odd thing is I and this other user never encountered this issue with other NUC's. My wild guess is that either the Skull Canyon NUC or the Denon receivers are not fully compliant with the HDMI 2.0 hardware specification as they purport to be and the other has low tolerance for slight variances from specification. I bet it is the NUC that is the culprit in this case because in the same Kodi thread I referenced, the other user notes 5.1 audio works fine for the Skull Canyon NUC over its Displayport output.

The beta BIOS I just received today from Intel unfortunately did nothing to alleviate the issue. I will keep everyone posted if and when a solution is discovered.

[SZuck]

I remember when the HDMI spec was new many receivers and other equipment had driver issues. It took a long time for HTPC HDMI issues to get sorted.

I hope you get a quick fix!

[dforb1]

Thanks! Still no fix yet. Hopefully, the time to fix this issue firmware or driver side is less than two weeks max.

[idata]

Sorry, but I highly doubt the receiver is the issue. More than likely it is the Skull Canyon NUC (NUC6i7KYK). I have a Roku 4 that runs 60p with multi-channel audio via HDMI 2.0 compliant cable/connection on my DENON AVR-S910W with NO ISSUES. However, the Skull Canyon fails to produce multi-channel audio on the same receiver (with graphics set to 30p or 60p). On the contrary my older Broadwell-CPU NUC (NUC5i7RYH) works and plays just fine with the same AVR. It also has a selectable format up to 24-bit audio @ 192000 Hz (Studio Quality). If you look at the selectable/supported audio formats on the Skull Canyon (NUC6i7KYK) it only goes up to 24-bit @ 96000 Hz (Studio Quality).

You'd think audio on this new and VERY EXPENSIVE would be at par with the older version of the NUC. However, not so, and the fact that you can't even get one sound out of the thing when it is set to 5.1 and only stereo sound when set to 7.1 makes any of the audio formats completely useless as well as the device itself as far as a home theater media PC is concerned. My gut feeling is there is a possible bug in the Intel Skull Canyon NUC's firmware that needs to be addressed that is preventing proper handling of the communication link between the NUC and AVR. However, I leave it up to the team at Intel to decipher this MAJOR malfunction (where's Scotty when you need him ).

Hopefully, Intel ramps it up and gets this fixed or I may need to RMA this one back to the vendor for a refund. There's already a paltry review on Amazon regarding this very issue.

[dforb1]

Bump. No fix yet. Intel, are you listening?

[dforb1]

Bump. This thread already has over 2890 views, and this is more than many threads here that are two years old or more. Intel, please respond.

[Ronny_G_Intel]

Hello All,

I work for Intel Customer Support and we are looking into this report. I will get back to you as soon as possible.

Thanks,

Ronny G

[Chris_V_Intel]

Hi all, as Ronny said we are looking into this. If possible can you try to use the Mini DisplayPort out? Of course you'd have to get an adapter (make sure they let you return it! ).

[dforb1]

Someone at the Kodi forums found that a Displayport to HDMI adapter has no issue with multichannel audio, as quoted below. However, using an adapter is a workaround and not a solution. I do not expect a $650 product to have an HDMI port that is not fully compliant and does not work as it says it does ("Up to 7.1 multichannel digital audio via HDMI"). Please give us an ETA on a fix to the HDMI port!

http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=266316&pid=2335869# pid2335869 http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=266316&pid=2335869# pid2335869

santiagodraco Wrote: http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?pid=2335869# pid2335869 A few updates (and some responses to questions above).

Regarding the audio issue (stereo only, no audio in Kodi):

1. Over HDMI I only get stereo audio. Windows audio settings are set correctly. If using mini-displayport to HDMI adapter I get full 7.1 with passthrough. IE eveything works with Displayport but NOT HDMI.

2. Kodi works and passes through HD audio great with Displayport.

3. Displayport is not a solution for me as it only gives 30hz and not 60hz. This could be an adapter issue but remains to be seen as I have not found one that states 60hz at 4k.

4. I've reinstalled graphics drivers to no avail. I have not yet tried a different HDMI adapter, will try that today.

5. WASAPI was selected. Note that I mentioned the audio issue is in Windows itself (and Kodi by extension).

6. 4k and 1080p both have the issue.

Regarding Kodi/3D:

1. Quality is excellent.

2. 3D movies start in over/under, not sure why. Driving me nuts. Once I hit the 3D button for the Samsung display it corrects.

3. HDMKV: how can I verify that I am running in 10bit 4k on the NUC? I don't see anywhere to enable 10bit vs 8. My hardware supports it (Denon 6200 and Samsung 8500).

[GBaka1]

cvare wrote:

Hi all, as Ronny said we are looking into this. If possible can you try to use the Mini DisplayPort out? Of course you'd have to get an adapter (make sure they let you return it! ).

Works using a mini DisplayPort to HDMI adapter but not directly.

Also, I'm having a similar issue with HD audio passthrough, both TrueHD and DTS HD are listed under the supported formats but aren't being transmitted over the HDMI connection, only when using the DisplayPort to HDMI adapter. All other formats (DD, DTS) work fine.

My AV receiver is Yamaha RX-A1050

[pt84]

Apparently still a problem fwad

[SZuck]

Does multichannel audio work if you output 1080p to your display?

That could be a temporary workaround (assuming it works) that wouldn't result in much image quality loss with most sources.

[dforb1]

I already tried this. See the above posts.

"Suspecting it may be a bandwidth issue, I even lowered the display resolution to 1080P (1920x1080). In every single case, there was no sound coming out of any of the channels over HDMI."

...as have others. Check the Kodi forum thread I linked above.

[idata]

I have an 6i7KYK, and I'm setup with 7.1. I went to playback devices -> configure and selected 7.1, ran their sequential test with sound out of each speaker and all was good. My box is connected to a Yamaha RX-A2000. Running Windows 10.

[dforb1]

I am seeing more and more that the Skull Canyon NUC (NUC6I7KYK) has a protocol issue where it is not fully compliant to the HDMI 2.0a standard. It does not matter if users follow the very same steps to set their speaker configuration to 5.1 or 7.1 channels in the Windows audio settings. AV receiver surround sound compatibility is all across the board. At this point, all the reported Denon receivers do not work (AVR-S910W; AVR-X6200); most of the Yahama receivers (RX-A1020; most notably, CX-A5100, a $2499 receiver!) do not work, though one does (RX-A2000). Every Pioneer receiver (unspecified Elite model and Elite SC-68) reported online so far works.

Intel needs to gather and organize this information, and then drill down and find out what the non-working models all have in common that is causing this issue. This information I gathered above is a good starting point if they have not begun this preliminary groundwork yet.

On a side note, in the end, Intel is a company and we are the customers, and we do not need to be apologetic fanboys when each individual has invested a large sum of money and the product is not fully compatible and functional as advertised. If Intel's product is truly of high quality craftmanship, it will stand on its own. Intel is obliged to investigate the issue and fix it to meet the advertised functionality, and customers have the right to report the problems verbatim and not sugar coat things. These are the cold hard facts, and no level of zealous brand loyalty will change them.

[Chris_V_Intel]

Thank you for your information gathering, we are aware of this, and are looking into.

[idata]

Awesome! Thanks for your timely support. Look forward to some good news soon from your team. Thanks!

Additional info as of 5/23:

As a side note, I obtained and tried out a Mini Display Port-to-HDMI 2.0 adapter to try and see if it worked with the display port and the results were the same as with the HDMI, so the problem seems to be non-specific in terms of the graphic port used.

[Chris_V_Intel]

Int13, exactly. At this point this will ONLY work via DP (or DP to HDMI in this case). The team has found the issue and a fix is in the works. I can't promise a time, but we are much closer than before.

[idata]

Downloaded and installed the latest drivers and BIOS and still no sound via HDMI (DENON AVR-S910W) with my 5.1 configuration. I presume based on what I read that they only fixed it for the DP and not HDMI (direct connection)?

I presume the HDMI fix is the one you (cvare) indicated is still in the works with progress being made, correct?