Libreelec springs immediately to mind for Kodi on Pi.
HDMI has an audio out channel. Some versions also have an audio return channel but I don't believe Pi supports that.
As for using a Pi as an I2S slave, I'm not sure that's possible. All uses I've seen use it as an I2S master.
Streaming depends on which services you're trying to play, whether they use DRM, and whether said DRM is available on Linux on Pi.
As for which model PI, avoid the 1B, B+, 2B, 1A, 1A+, zero, and zeroW. They have limited RAM and a single core CPU. I have run Libreelec on an 1A+ but doing so is painful unless your drop the UI resolution down and not that much better when you do.
Avoid the entire zero series (including the zero2w) and all A/A+ models if you need wired ethernet. None of those have it onboard.
If you want bulk local storage go with a 4B, 400, Pi5 or 500. Those have USB3 and don't share USB bandwidth with ethernet. Nor do they share the USB2 bandwidth between the available USB ports like 3B+ and earlier do.
HDMI has an audio out channel. Some versions also have an audio return channel but I don't believe Pi supports that.
As for using a Pi as an I2S slave, I'm not sure that's possible. All uses I've seen use it as an I2S master.
Streaming depends on which services you're trying to play, whether they use DRM, and whether said DRM is available on Linux on Pi.
As for which model PI, avoid the 1B, B+, 2B, 1A, 1A+, zero, and zeroW. They have limited RAM and a single core CPU. I have run Libreelec on an 1A+ but doing so is painful unless your drop the UI resolution down and not that much better when you do.
Avoid the entire zero series (including the zero2w) and all A/A+ models if you need wired ethernet. None of those have it onboard.
If you want bulk local storage go with a 4B, 400, Pi5 or 500. Those have USB3 and don't share USB bandwidth with ethernet. Nor do they share the USB2 bandwidth between the available USB ports like 3B+ and earlier do.
Statistics: Posted by thagrol — Mon Aug 18, 2025 11:21 pm