5.1 sorround with Asus Xonar U5

[Perzonallica]

Hello guys!

I have an external USB sound card Asus Xonar U5. This is how it’s recognized by the raspberry pi 3 (OSMC April 2016.04-1):

So the problem is that, when I set the “Number of channels” to 5.1 (2.0 works fine) there is no sound. Sometimes I can hear the basic “GUI sounds” (clicks), but there are situations, when nothing is coming from the speakers. I tried the second option (surround21), but I only get white noise.
I tried to turn on DSP addons, but didn’t helped. But the interesting thing is, that when I was changing the audio settings, somehow I got it work. The sound from the background movie was actually in 5.1, I went to the rear speakers and YEAAH, the sound was coming from them too. But it didn’t last for long… When I stopped the movie, an annoying white noise appeared and I couldn’t get back the 5.1 surround again.

I have no idea if this is caused by the new update, but does anyone have this kind of sound card or external usb card? How did you set it up to work in 5.1? Thanks for any kind of info.

PS. Oh, and I tried to install pulsaudio too, but it didn’t solve anything, so I removed it.

[FrenchPI]

@En français

(Le 31/03/2018 - KODI 17.6 - Raspberry PI3 B)
Salut tout le monde,

Bien que la question date d’avril 2016, la réponse peut en intéresser plus d’un !
J’ai moi même acheté cette carte son externe (ASUS XONAR U5) et j’ai rencontré les même problèmes que vous autres : pas de son sur la sortie numérique.

La carte son est bien reconnue, de la même façon que sur les photos de Perzonallica mais seule les sorties analogiques en 2.0 fonctionnent.
La led qui indique l’activation de la sortie SPDIF sur la carte son XONAR U5 reste désespérément éteinte.
Je pense que OSMC reconnait la carte son ou tout du moins qu’il y a une carte son externe mais impossible pour autant de piloter la carte son correctement.

J’ai essayé également la carte son avec KODI 17.6 installé sur un notebook (Windows 10) : Tout fonctionne à merveille, la led de sortie SPDIF s’active dès lors que l’on selectionne la sortie SPDIF dans les paramètres de son de KODI.
Le son fonctionne en 5.1, en Dolby ou en DTS selon la source.

J’observe ma carte son dans tout les sens puis en dessous de la carte, je vois un micro interrupteur qui commute le port USB de 2.0 (Position initiale) en 1.0

Aussitôt je commute sur la position 1.0 et je rebranche la carte sur mon Raspberry et là miracle : je sélectionne la sortie SPDIF et ça fonctionne !
La led de sortie SPDIF est bien active et le son sort bien en 5.1 en dolby et en DTS.

La solution est donc d’utiliser la carte en USB 1.0

Voilà

(2018/03/31 - KODI 17.6 - Raspberry PI3 B)
Hello everyone,

Although the question dates from April 2016, the answer may interest more than one!
I myself bought this external sound card (ASUS XONAR U5) and I encountered the same problems as you: no sound on the digital output.

The sound card is well recognized, in the same way as the photos of Perzonallica but only the analog outputs in 2.0 work.
The LED that indicates the activation of the SPDIF output on the XONAR U5 sound card remains desperately turned off.
I think that OSMC recognizes the sound card or at least that there is an external sound card but impossible to control the sound card correctly.

I also tried the sound card with KODI 17.6 installed on a notebook (Windows 10): Everything works perfectly, the SPDIF output led is activated when you select the SPDIF output in the KODI sound settings .
The sound works in 5.1, Dolby or DTS depending on the source.

I observe my sound card in all directions and then below the card, I see a micro switch that switches the USB 2.0 (Initial position) in 1.0

Immediately I switch to the position 1.0 and I reconnect the card on my Raspberry and there miracle: I select the SPDIF output and it works!
The SPDIF output led is active and the sound is well in 5.1 dolby and DTS.

The solution is to use the card in USB 1.0

That’s it