Doesnt HDMI audio provide as good quality as any i2s connector? Or do you just need i2s for interfacing with your own microcontrollers/older recieviers, which dont necessarily have hdmi (and thus copyright compliance, making it more expensive)?
Last I read Raspberry Pi should allow for 5.1 hdmi passthrough or at least DTS.
HDMI audio requires an extractor (so one more wall wart + device), and I'm using a Pi2 for home cinema. And I'm one of those with an "old" HiFi setup without digital input, just analog.
It does and that's how I have it set up. RPi source to receiver over HDMI. DTS 1080p movies playback beautifully with a slight overclock (on an original B).
Last I read Raspberry Pi should allow for 5.1 hdmi passthrough or at least DTS.