Hi Folks,
Im looking to add a second android TV box to the household, having had huge success with the nvidia shield.
I was looking atthe Mi box, but I'm confused as to whether this box has SPDIF out of just a 3.5mm stereo jack out.
Is it a dual function port, do i need any "special" cables to connect it to my ageing amp in the "cinema room".
Thanks for your help as always.
H
Additional info I've gleaned from reading and from personal experience.
Even when (if?) Xiaomi updates the MiBox 3 to Android TV 8 (Oreo), one may not get the audio they want on the S/PDIF connection. Here's why: Netflix and Amazon Prime Video (perhaps others) are streaming in Dolby Digital Plus (aka: DD+, Digital D+). It turns out few streaming boxes down-mix that to Digital Dolby (DD), even though it's eminently doable. So far as I've been able to discover: Only many DVD/Blueray players (because they have to account for whatever a disc might have) and one particular 2016 Roku Ultra model.
I found all this out, the hard way, when I put a J-Tech HDMI/HDMI TOSLINK audio extractor on my Roku 3, confidently set the extractor to "5.1" and the Roku to "Dolby D/DTS" and expected to get DD. Nope. Dolby Pro Logic.
My guess , and it's only a guess, is that the MiBox 3, perhaps any Android TV box, will behave the same for those services. (N.B.: The J-Tech extractor did give me DD when using the Silicon Dust HDHomeRun app on my MiBox 3. So it does work.)
Update: Xiomi has rolled-out the Android 8.0 (Oreo) update for the MiBox 3. Audio situation remains the same: No transcoding of DD+ to DD.
Thanks all. I think I’m good with it now. Worst case I buy a cable I don’t need. Thank you again.
buy the 3.5mm to optical and you will be ok.
dont buy a mi box if you have an old-ish philips/sony tv. serious problems with color fuck ups https://xiaomi.eu/community/threads/mi-box-4k-mdz-16-ab-color-inversion-with-philips-sony-tv-sets.41145/
They have still not fixed this in years, even though it is a few lines of code. The box itself is also quite slow sometimes... Just be aware that you are going to have to compromise on this one
Just be aware that current stock of Xiaomi MiBox 3s are running Android TV 6.x, MarshMallow, and that does not support DD/DTS passthrough. Therefore all you'll get out of that TOSLINK S/PDIF output is Dolby Pro Logic.
Allegedly the new boxes being stocked at Walmart have Android TV 8.x, Oreo, and allegedly Android TV as of the previous version, 7.x, Nougat, did support DD/DTS passthrough.
Also, allegedly Xiaomi will eventually release Oreo as an OTA update for existing MiBox 3's.
Then again: They were allegedly going to release a Nougat OTA update. They never did.
So caveat emptor.
As for the mini TOSLINK <-> TOSLINK adaptor: I have two of Monoprice's here. They work, but fit on my existing TOSLINK cables is highly variable, with some snapping right in place, others taking a good deal of persuasion to get them on or off the cable ends.