Hey I just switch of the TV speakers I know that!
I wasn't even using the soundbar with the device. Just plugged it in to help OP.
But now we know that the T5 Digital Audio Format settings don't function exactly as they should!
Lol, sorry "me old china"
!! I also put the info there more for the benefit of the OP or others who may possibly read through the contents of this thread at a later date than you too
. (But, nevertheless I'll back edit my original comment for the sake of clarity as well
.)
(I'd assumed that you had merely temporarily connected your T5 to your soundbar for the purpose of verifying the info for the OP. I didn't think that would be something
you would have easily missed or overlooked with your level of knowledge, (in general that is, let alone of these actual devices themselves or your own hardware )
.)
But now we know that the T5 Digital Audio Format settings don't function exactly as they should!
Or at least my understanding!!!
Additionally for the benefit of others.....
No, (having the hardware available to fully test these devices with an AVR supporting both HDMI or SPDIF), as you've just mentioned/questioned above the audio settings or the actual hardware on the T5 don't exactly behave entirely as would be expected, or even generally accepted as "normal" either when it comes to modern "audio or audio settings" on devices just like this I guess. (It can display some "odd" behaviour at times albeit nothing serious & the alternative options generally correct any problems, but these problems may not always be present at other times with the same settings in use too. Bit of a head scratcher that one!!)
I'm reluctant to directly compare it to certain other named devices (also from MINIX of course) as it does ultimately have the completely new & different Android TV OS. Google may have also wanted things a certain way or even had direct input in exactly how some of the available settings are presented to the user as part of the whole certification process etc. too. (I question rhetorically lol
???) However, it seems like the same options available on pure Android devices have also been added to the T5 but these options just don't always seem to behave quite as "specifically".
Ordinarily, & especially in comparison to, or even in line with countless other available devices we'd generally expect (given both the actual hardware options & the user selectable settings available on the device itself that is).
Auto - Would simply route all audio over HDMI by default as the primary audio & visual media interface. (Whether that may be (RAW) audio passthrough or pre-decoded PCM, & as per the actual source or app etc.)
SPDIF - Would route all audio this time as specified via the optical port/TOSLINK, (whether that may be again (RAW) passthrough or pre-decoded as per the source or app etc.).
PCM - Should have the T5 itself decode any & all audio as specified (regardless of the source or app settings etc.). In turn sends the pre-decoded audio/visual signals on as normal & expected to the final display (or certain audio hardware that can't actually support passthrough, (if applicable)).
However, lol, no it doesn't quite behave that way & It sometimes doesn't seem to matter if we select
auto or SPDIF for a start. If both an HDMI & TOSLINK cable are present, specifying SPDIF often makes no difference as would usually be expected & the audio still just routes normally via HDMI anyway
!! I've had some quite mixed results testing the T5 from the earlier firmware versions to date, but now as far as I can tell the T5 may possibly route the same audio to both outputs simultaneously regardless of the users selected preference. (Which begs the question of why bother having the separate or specific settings in the first place lol???)) It might as well just be down to
auto or PCM .
(I also did some additional testing with my AVR back when we first received the devices specifically with SPDIF & TOSLINK mainly to verify for others that it was all working as intended
). The only way I could actually force the audio to route over optical in my case (regardless of selecting SPDIF on the T5) was to directly configure my AVR itself to only receive an incoming optical signal in conjunction with the given HDMI input the T5 is connected to. Obviously, that won't be an issue for the vast majority with soundbars/external audio hardware just like yours that only support optical alone, but it's still a good example should others need it as a reference
.
Otherwise, setting the device itself to PCM does actually seem to behave pretty much as expected at least lol. It seems to override any app specific settings & the device itself decodes the audio first before sending it on as LPCM. (There are certainly circumstances where just such a setting would be useful.)
For any with audio hardware still unsure which settings are best.. If you're using HDMI, that's all you need & just set the device to auto. If your soundbar only supports SPDIF, hook it up & you can essentially try setting either auto or SPDIF. Some may work with either setting selected, others may actually need to specify it although why based on the results I've seen lol?? (Probably just down to one of those cases where certain hardware simply plays better together when compared with others, while some may require a little additional tinkering to get all the ducks lined up, so to speak. Oddly, in some cases it may be beneficial to simply choose SPDIF if that's all your hardware supports, some others may actually require it setting to SPDIF or it may not output sound at all. (For PCM, you'll need 2 old tin cans with holes punched in the bottoms & a long piece of string hehe
.)
how to configure minix t5 to output sound by spdif ,
spdif cable works for me on other devices
Have you made any progress following
@Villa 's advice with his soundbar configuration or are you still having difficulty getting audio?
Is your T5 definitely running the latest firmware version? (Please verify yours!)
Are you getting no audio at all via your soundbar or is the problem just with a specific app, or apps?
TOSLINK will support compressed 5.1 audio streams (i.e. lossy 5.1 AC3/DTS), but avoid setting PCM if possible initially as TOSLINK will only support a maximum of uncompressed stereo PCM. Try either SPDIF or auto, in that order at first. Try restarting the device immediately after changing the audio setting from one to another if there isn't an immediate change. (Ordinarily the change should be instant without such action required, but if you're still having issues, give it a try, sometimes the restart can simply trigger everything to how it should be.)
TOSLINK cables themselves can be problematic at times too!! (They're not exactly difficult to damage either in certain circumstances.). It may well be the case that a cable will perform fine with one device but have issues with another different device too. (It's certainly not uncommon.) Obviously, try another TOSLINK cable if you possibly can before writing anything off.)
Keep us updated how you're getting on
.