Bro, this is KODI thread.. Ask in or create a thread in the appropriate section..

Why are you comparing stereo sound from RCA analog cable with Bluray 5.1/7.1 sound using Optical or HDMI ?  .

most online streams are either 2.0 or 1.0 incl kodi and china sites.

a minority in kodi are dd/dts 5.1.

in general, do not expect good audio with online streaming.

for that, stick to yr BR discs or downloaded stuff.

My 1st thought too.. You would think one who bought or uses an AVR would at least understand sound & formats available. Noob or not.. An AVR system sounds better than TV speakers... Well that's a shocker.. 

No offense meant... Some questions need not be asked especially if the answers are one Google search away.

Yup.. Just realized download option eat up my internal storage.. So watch now option wayyyy much better..

AVFAN, I see, current online streaming audio is not really that good/advanced. Pity. Maybe with 4K, audio will be better?

I have googled to find out how to set the audio in Android (also found out how to do that in Kodi but still not working. Maybe like AVFAN says, the files are mostly stereo files) and replies were mainly on setting the audio in mobile phones. So, asked here for help.

On RCA cabling, I bought my Onkyo (5.1) 13 years ago and but then I don't think we have HDMI cable. May be I am wrong. No HDMI plugs on my old Onkyo. Even with RCA, I can get surround, 5.1, etc. I can get surround, 5.1 with RCA before via BR and thus wondered why I cannot get it via streaming on RCA.

let me help u understand it completely.

online streaming can't have the best audio yet because it takes a much higher broadband speed and most people don't have it. hd video is already difficult for most users, let alone dd/dts or hd audio.

yr old avr should have only toslink (optical) and coaxial (rca) input. hdmi did not exist then. it also has red/white rca stereo input.

yr device (h8) has hdmi (good for hd video and hd audio which i suppose u now connect direct to tv), toslink (dd/dts only, cannot do dtshdma/ddtruehd) and stereo red/white (rca).

with red/white rca, u get only stereo. the "surround" effect is just "all channels stereo" - an avr giving u as good as it can with a stereo stream.

if u connect device output via toslink to avr, you should get dd/dts if the stream is such and for usb playback. stereo streams will be almost like the same as using red/white rca.

"After failing in getting any sound with the optical cable" - this may be due to yr box audio audio setting. try the different settings available - auto, spdif, lpcm.
*** I have tried HDMI, SPDIF & LPCM earlier. No success. If current limitation is due to streaming audio technology, think I will just stick to RCA. Then wait for my next system upgrade to get 70-80% of what technology has to offer.

if required, please post further in the android/himedia box thread!
*** Will do.

While a video is playing in KODI, press the letter "O" for codec info or "M" for onscreen player controls (OSD). To find out video & sound format being played.
*** Only have remote and mouse to my H8. Will try that once I have a keyboard.

There is no such thing as 5.1 stereo sound. "Stereo" means two channels of sound. RCA can only handle two channels.
*** Understood. My current setup is 5.1 and I am only getting sound from the front 2 speakers. Nothing from the center and 2 side speakers with my current streaming setup. If I said "5.1 stereo" earlier, my apology.

So you'll get stereo with RCA cables, not 5.1 surround.
*** Really? I hooked up BR player and also ASTRO via RCA to the AVR. Got surround. Maybe my ears are playing with my mind. Ha.

Many receivers will have audio listening modes that allow stereo sound to be sent to all 5 speakers. Dolby Pro Logic is an example of just such a surround sound simulator. So the "5.1" you are getting is simply a simulation & not the real deal as intended.
*** This explains how I got surround via the RCA. Only simulated surround. Ha.

IMO, the best connection for HD surround sound is actually thru an HDMI connection. Even most TVs with optical out will only send out stereo sound. Plus optical (box) to optical (AVR) is also plagued by the limitations of a toslink connection.

S/PDIF is based on the professional AES3 interconnect standard. S/PDIF can carry two channels of uncompressed PCM audio or compressed 5.1/7.1 surround sound (such as DTS audio codec); it cannot support lossless formats (such as Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio) which require greater bandwidth like that available with HDMI or DisplayPort.
*** Thanks for a quick lesson on Audio 101! Ha.

Plumberly , if the source is only stereo (you can see the info in the playback Window), then whether you select 5.1 or even 10.1 (haha , just a joke) you will still get only stereo.
*** Understood. I thought audio from streaming is like audio from playing BR until AVFAN explains that they are mostly just stereo.

Btw, when you selected 5.1 in your Kodi Settings did you read the on-screen notes that appeared when you placed your mouse/pointer on the selection button ?

It says this 5.1 settings is only for analogue 5.1, that 's probably for PC that uses 5.1 anologue channels to it's speakers.
*** Not using PC for this. Using H8.

Enabling passthrough will have no effect on the above settings, since it's analogue.

If you want to play Dolby or DTS 5.1 source, connect Optical cable from your PC/Android Device to your old AVR (which does not have HDMI).

From your Kodi settings, select 2 channels (yes, you heard right ; again read the notes to know why, it's a special mode), then enable passthrough,  and don't forget to select the correct Audio Output Device and Passthrough Device to SPDIF that matches your Android/PC connection.

Also don't forget your SPDIF output is properly enabled and configured  in your PC/Android Box.

And most important, your source must be Digital 5.1 before you can get 5.1 decoding from your AVR.
*** Thanks. This was the light at the end of the tunnel for me as I assumed wrongly that streaming audio is by default 5.1

Then wait for my next system upgrade to get 70-80% of what technology has to offer

online streaming kodi or otherwise is NOT going to give u good audio.

to enjoy the best audio, get a new AVR! then get bluray material.

yr device can handle:

Audio codec : DTS, DOLBYDIGITAL PLUS, AC3 ( support DTS-HDMA passthru, Dolby TrueHD 7.1 passthru and ATMOS passthru )

Noted and thanks, Sifu!

Need to get $ visa from the Home Minister for my toy! Ha.

hello sifus, i want to ask...
Kodibuntu can install wifi card right?
my kodi cannot detect my DWA-510 Dlink   

logged in to lubuntu,but i cannot seem to discover how to install. actually im linux noob 
dont have that device manager thingy like windows?

tried to google but always find link on raspberry pi wifi card. 

oh btw, if this helps, im running on AMD athlon x2 2gb ram with onboard graphics (dont laugh pls im poor lol)

I'm using both alldebrid and realdebrid. RealDebrid return more links however not all are workable. Expect buffering also especially for those 1080p DTS/Dolby 5.1 link. Guess it depends on host as on some day I didn't get buffering but some I did. Will continue with realdebrid for long term (currently subscribe for 15 days only).

Official realdebrid site since I wanted to test it. Tried to get from forumite here but currently no stock.

Guys, I have tested 2 builds of kodi, the beast 1.5 and Schism TV.
Not sure what i'm doing wrong but I cant get SALTS to load anything (cant find source or link fail) on The Beast
but on Schism TV, I do not face that problem. 
I thought both SALTS will uses the same source link?

I juz bought zidoo tv box, and theres a kodi app there but unable to run at all... anyway I ll take my time to read all the sifu guidance here from page 1 till the end to learn it.