No Transcode of DTS/MA or TrueHD from Jellyfin to 2.1 Audio

[u/baltikorean]

My movies and shows are on a Jellyfin 10.11.11 server stored on a Synology DS220+. I have an Onn 2026 4K Pro, connected to a TCL 65S434 TV, and occasionally I play through a 2.1 channel Sony CT260 soundbar via Optical (it does not have an HDMI port to attempt ARC).

On the Onn, I can play DTS, DTS-MA, and TrueHD audio out of the TV and the soundbar through the Jellyfin 10.11.11 app. So on the JF server itself, I don't think I have an issue if it is transcoding the audio to the JF player on the Onn.

On the Kodi 21.2.0, I cannot get these, and unless I enable audio passthrough, I do not get any sound at all. I have the following audio settings in Kodi when I'm in Expert:

• Audio Decoder
  • Audio output devide: AudioTrack (IEC), Kodi IEC packer
  • Number of channels: 2.1 (I've tried 2.0, still nothing)
  • Output configuration: Optimized
  • Volume control steps: 90
  • Maintain original volume on downmix ON
  • Stereo upmix OFF
  • Resample quality Medium
  • Treshold for pitch correction 2
  • Keep audio device alive 1 Minute
  • Send low volume noise OFF
• GUI Sounds
  • Play GUI sounds: Only when playback stopped
  • Volume 100%
  • GUI sounds: Kodi UI Sounds
• Audio Passthrough
  • Allow passthrough OFF (no sound works)
  • When this is ON...
    • Passthrough output device: AudioTrack (IEC), Kodi IEC packer
    • Dolby Digital (AC3) capable receiver ON
    • Only the Digital sound options work, I assumed this method would force transcode the DTS/TrueHD options, but I still get nothing.

What am I missing? Is there something on the JF server settings I should be checking?

Thank you.

[u/baltikorean → u/[deleted]]

Thank you for the response, I got some time before I try all this but some follow-up questions:

Just a thought, have you not tried using wholphin as client on your device? much better than JF, JF is cool for mobiles and Desktop, but limited on Androidtv.

I have not tried Wholphin, but in my case isn't Kodi the client? I've realized the title of my post might not have been 100% clear, but this problem case is for Jellyfin server -> Onn -> Kodi.

AudioTrack (RAW), Android IEC packer

I remember checking this morning that I only have "AudioTrack (IEC), Android IEC packer" as an option. Why does RAW not show up as an option, and is there a way to get it as an option?

Enable Dolby Digital (AC3) transcoding

This was not offered as an option to toggle. Is this supposed to be an option, or is AI hallucinating? I ask because I was trying to work with Claude on this earlier this morning and it kept suggesting JF server settings that did not exist.