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[Windows] AudioEngine testers - Windows platform only - Printable Version

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RE: [Windows] AudioEngine testers - Windows platform only - Morphello - 2012-11-23

(2012-11-22, 19:15)atlind01 Wrote: I am repeating Johny's response:

There's no DSP in XBMC that handles upmixing. The only thing that's available is downmixing to stereo for some scenarios. Setting the output channels to 5.1 does NOT change the channel layout of a stereo source.

I'm not sure how to make it clearer for you.

Image

Image

Do I need a few more arrows?


RE: [Windows] AudioEngine testers - Windows platform only - thrak76 - 2012-11-23

To be fair, output stereo to all speakers is not a stereo --> 5.1 upmix. It's 5 channel stereo. Maybe useful for some music (not for me though), but not a good choice for movies, but to each his own.


RE: [Windows] AudioEngine testers - Windows platform only - Morphello - 2012-11-23

(2012-11-23, 06:33)thrak76 Wrote: To be fair, output stereo to all speakers is not a stereo --> 5.1 upmix. It's 5 channel stereo. Maybe useful for some music (not for me though), but not a good choice for movies, but to each his own.

Am I using the wrong terminology? I want my 2.0 sound to be expanded to 6 channels, then transcoded to AC3, sent to my receiver which will then play the expanded sound.

If the sound expansion is basic, and is simply a downmixed stereo stream being repeated on each speaker, including the sub, then that's what I want.

If the upmix mirrors stereo left to rear left, stereo right to rear right, downmix stereo stream to centre and LFE to the sub, well then that would be absolutely perfect. However I wasn't expecting that.

I want the original feature found back in the original XBMC for xbox, that simply expands stereo to every speaker. As it says.


RE: [Windows] AudioEngine testers - Windows platform only - jjd-uk - 2012-11-23

(2012-11-23, 09:38)Morphello Wrote:
(2012-11-23, 06:33)thrak76 Wrote: To be fair, output stereo to all speakers is not a stereo --> 5.1 upmix. It's 5 channel stereo. Maybe useful for some music (not for me though), but not a good choice for movies, but to each his own.

Am I using the wrong terminology? I want my 2.0 sound to be expanded to 6 channels, then transcoded to AC3, sent to my receiver which will then play the expanded sound.

If the sound expansion is basic, and is simply a downmixed stereo stream being repeated on each speaker, including the sub, then that's what I want.
That's exactly what should be happening with that "Output stereo to all speakers" set.

When I last tested it was unrefined and applied to all audio whether from music or videos. I made a feature request so it could be set for music only like was available on the Xbox but the developers have been busy with other stuff.

For those that say use your receiver, well in my bedroom setup I have a 15 year old receiver (was retired from main lounge setup 5 years ago) which doesn't have a output stereo to all channels option, only stuff like Pro-Logic which is naff on music.




RE: [Windows] AudioEngine testers - Windows platform only - jjd-uk - 2012-11-23

(2012-11-20, 06:29)Morphello Wrote: Updated to Beta-1. Still having the same issues.

Here is a fresh log: http://xbmclogs.com/show.php?id=15066

Everything's outputting in its native format correctly, I get passthrough for DTS and DD. Volume control works, volume amplification does not.

Nothing upmixes to 5.1 however. I'm not exactly sure what to do or what to try. Is there some way I can verify my bug so I can post it through Trac, or can I just post a description with list of hardware and a debug log?
Looking at your log.

Line 61 shows "INFO: CSoftAE::LoadSettings - Stereo upmix is enabled" so AE is reading the "Output stereo to all speakers" you've set.

Line 74 shows "DEBUG: CSoftAE::InternalOpenSink - Using speaker layout: 2.0"

So if I'm understanding right AE is thinking your speaker layout is 2.0 so it won't upmix to 5.1, do you have 5.1 speaker layout configured in your XBMC audio settings?





RE: [Windows] AudioEngine testers - Windows platform only - Morphello - 2012-11-23

(2012-11-23, 13:22)jjd-uk Wrote:
(2012-11-20, 06:29)Morphello Wrote: Updated to Beta-1. Still having the same issues.

Here is a fresh log: http://xbmclogs.com/show.php?id=15066

Everything's outputting in its native format correctly, I get passthrough for DTS and DD. Volume control works, volume amplification does not.

Nothing upmixes to 5.1 however. I'm not exactly sure what to do or what to try. Is there some way I can verify my bug so I can post it through Trac, or can I just post a description with list of hardware and a debug log?
Looking at your log.

Line 61 shows "INFO: CSoftAE::LoadSettings - Stereo upmix is enabled" so AE is reading the "Output stereo to all speakers" you've set.

Line 74 shows "DEBUG: CSoftAE::InternalOpenSink - Using speaker layout: 2.0"

So if I'm understanding right AE is thinking your speaker layout is 2.0 so it won't upmix to 5.1, do you have 5.1 speaker layout configured in your XBMC audio settings?

THANK YOU for replying to me. I really appreciate it.

Unfortunately, I have everything I can have set to 5.1. Output is natively 5.1 on device WASAPI:SPDIF (since my motherboard lacks the physical coaxial slot). DTS and DD are selected, since that's what my receiver can do. Here are the exact settings i've got.

I have literally tried enabling and disabling every setting and every setting combination.

Outside of XBMC, i've got it set to simply 16/44 output. I've tested every known setting in the OS and it all works. I current have MPC setup to transcode and upmix stereo to AC3 5.1 with the enhancements I mentioned in the previous post. I find it extremely nice (especially having volume normalization and LFE for my daughter's horribly encoded spongebob episodes), except of course the interface and difficulty of use as a media program.

XBMC does passthrough audio perfectly. Have several DTS and DD movies to test with, all work perfectly, and each has volume control as well (from within XBMC). This is why i'm stumped. If XBMC is setting itself to 2.0, is there a way I can force it?


RE: [Windows] AudioEngine testers - Windows platform only - jjd-uk - 2012-11-23

I'm no expert in the reading of the logs but thought I'd chip in since no one else had been able to help, but it does seem to me that XBMC thinks you've a 2.0 speaker layout.

You could try renaming your guisettings.xml to something like guisettings-old.xml while XBMC is closed, then when restarting XBMC a new guisetting.xml is created, unfortunately as you've may have guessed this will send to back to default settings for everything but the reason for this is to prove whether there was something not right with the old file. Restore all your audio settings in XBMC then retest, if no change you can close XBMC, delete the new guisettings.xml and rename the guisettings-old.xml back to recover your settings.


RE: [Windows] AudioEngine testers - Windows platform only - atlind01 - 2012-11-24

(2012-11-23, 14:24)Morphello Wrote:
(2012-11-23, 13:22)jjd-uk Wrote:
(2012-11-20, 06:29)Morphello Wrote: Updated to Beta-1. Still having the same issues.

Here is a fresh log: http://xbmclogs.com/show.php?id=15066

Everything's outputting in its native format correctly, I get passthrough for DTS and DD. Volume control works, volume amplification does not.

Nothing upmixes to 5.1 however. I'm not exactly sure what to do or what to try. Is there some way I can verify my bug so I can post it through Trac, or can I just post a description with list of hardware and a debug log?
Looking at your log.

Line 61 shows "INFO: CSoftAE::LoadSettings - Stereo upmix is enabled" so AE is reading the "Output stereo to all speakers" you've set.

Line 74 shows "DEBUG: CSoftAE::InternalOpenSink - Using speaker layout: 2.0"

So if I'm understanding right AE is thinking your speaker layout is 2.0 so it won't upmix to 5.1, do you have 5.1 speaker layout configured in your XBMC audio settings?

THANK YOU for replying to me. I really appreciate it.

Unfortunately, I have everything I can have set to 5.1. Output is natively 5.1 on device WASAPI:SPDIF (since my motherboard lacks the physical coaxial slot). DTS and DD are selected, since that's what my receiver can do. Here are the exact settings i've got.

I have literally tried enabling and disabling every setting and every setting combination.

Outside of XBMC, i've got it set to simply 16/44 output. I've tested every known setting in the OS and it all works. I current have MPC setup to transcode and upmix stereo to AC3 5.1 with the enhancements I mentioned in the previous post. I find it extremely nice (especially having volume normalization and LFE for my daughter's horribly encoded spongebob episodes), except of course the interface and difficulty of use as a media program.

XBMC does passthrough audio perfectly. Have several DTS and DD movies to test with, all work perfectly, and each has volume control as well (from within XBMC). This is why i'm stumped. If XBMC is setting itself to 2.0, is there a way I can force it?

Have you checked post#428 onwards, I think it is page no is 44. see whether it gives you any clue.



RE: [Windows] AudioEngine testers - Windows platform only - R... - 2012-11-24

Tell me, please, which means "bitstreaming support in PAPlayer (XBMC's music player)"?


RE: [Windows] AudioEngine testers - Windows platform only - Morphello - 2012-11-25

Thanks atlind01 and jjd-uk, I think I have found the issue. I'll quote what DDDamian said back on page 44 and highlight the relevant parts:

(2012-05-12, 19:21)DDDamian Wrote: - XBMC always starts with analog 2.0 as that format is guarenteed to be supported, and that's how it first initializes
- 5.1 is the correct windows setup for spdif connection
- it shows 2.0 for spdif as that is all spdif is capable of for pcm - for AC3/DTS it will play 5.1 fine

- as mentioned, AAC is not natively supported yet, expect issues with that if your amp doesn't support it
- you can use different non-passthrough/passthrough devices if you want in settings

Ok so what seems to be happening is that SPDIF is <ONLY> being detected as 2.0, no matter what (as reported by windows), and therefor nothing is getting transcoded.

(2012-05-15, 18:14)DDDamian Wrote: With the exception of <transcodeto> and <allchannelstereo> the advancedsettings entries listed in post #2 of this thread are active. Transcoding is automatic now depending on other settings, and <allchannelstereo> is now a guisetting under System>Audio Output>Output Stereo to All Speakers (requires "receiver accepts multichannel lpcm"). I'll update the second post shortly. We're working on better logic and a seperate gui window for various settings to streamline it and provide easy access to upcoming DSP settings.

So output stereo to all is requiring multichannel LPCM to be reported by windows. Since my system isn't being recognised as 5.1, it's simply never attempting to encode anything to AC3, and pushing it all out as 2.0 PCM. The 5.1 GUI setting does nothing effectively.

By my limited understanding of the situation, the code needs to be changed so that if SPDIF 5.1 is selected with Output Stereo to All Speakers, the encoding chain will take all non AC3/DTS audio and Decode > Expand to 5.1 > DRC/Volume Control > Encode AC3 > Output. Basically force it to occur. Otherwise any AC3/DTS is passed through, otherwise everything is turned into 2.0 PCM.

That "better logic" DDDamian mentions several times, seems to skip SPDIF entirely. That or SPDIF is being ignored because windows reports 2.0 channels (since you cant set windows to anything but for SPDIF).

I'm sure a transcoding is actually occurring, because everything that isn't AC3/DTS is getting output properly to 2.0 pcm.

I also guess, since the feature freeze has occurred, the DPS settings aren't going to be implemented until the next version. What would be the chance of all those lovely features like LFE to sub, Voice enhancement and Night Modes will be coming to the SPDIF output?

My encoding chain for AC3 Filter is below. It's probably doing a step or two unnecessarily and i'm probably losing quality, but its inaudible.

(AC3 - 48000) -> Decoder -> (Linear PCM 2/0 (stereo) 48000) -> Processor -> (Linear PCM 3/2.1 (5.1) 48000) -> Encoder -> (AC3 3/2.1 (5.1) 48000) -> Spdifer -> (SPDIF 3/2.1 (5.1) 48000) -> Dejitter -> (SPDIF 3/2.1 (5.1) 48000)

FFdshow is also doing similar to MP3 and other formats, just using the mixer to bring it to 5.1 with some processing effects then encoding to 5.1 AC3


RE: [Windows] AudioEngine testers - Windows platform only - smf007 - 2012-11-25

Is does appear that the output stereo to all channels is now busted. It had been working several months back.


RE: [Windows] AudioEngine testers - Windows platform only - TJSilva - 2012-11-28

(2012-11-23, 04:01)Morphello Wrote:
(2012-11-22, 19:15)atlind01 Wrote: I am repeating Johny's response:

There's no DSP in XBMC that handles upmixing. The only thing that's available is downmixing to stereo for some scenarios. Setting the output channels to 5.1 does NOT change the channel layout of a stereo source.

I'm not sure how to make it clearer for you.

Image

Image

Do I need a few more arrows?

Can I suggest that string be changed to "Upmix stereo to all speakers"? Less confusing that way, I think.


RE: [Windows] AudioEngine testers - Windows platform only - TJSilva - 2012-11-28

I have had a problem where I drop the volume to barely audible, and when I RW/FF or start playing another clip (with "Play next file" activated on Settings), the audible volume jumps up. As soon as I touch the volume keys to correct, the volume goes back to normal. I've searched Trac and the forum and found nothing like this. Should I report it? This is Frodo Beta1, by the way.

I'll try to gather more information in the meantime.


RE: [Windows] AudioEngine testers - Windows platform only - Kakumei - 2012-12-01

Is AudioEngine going to be updated to handle Dolby Digital Plus bitstreaming? It seems that deselecting AC3 Capable receive allows you to decode DD+ streams while still bitstreaming TrueHD, but the only XBMC build (Frodo nightlies don't support it yet) that I've seen support E-AC3 is the Eden patch by DanielaE (http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=121877).

I understand that E-AC3 is pretty rare, but it would make my HD-DVD pile seem a bit more shiny Smile I also understand how it might be a difficult task. The best commercial HD-DVD software (TMT) didn't even support bitstreaming of it in TMT5. Thanks in advance! Also apologize if I missed a previous related post about it, I searched this thread for it and found no real mention of the matter.

FYI: testing done on Windows 7 with Radeon HD 5450 and Radeon HD 6950 with various drivers from this year.


RE: [Windows] AudioEngine testers - Windows platform only - Bertuz - 2012-12-01

Guys,

I need some help with a SACD Flac rip! During playback i have alot of very hard cracks out of my speakers, when i use foobar200 it plays normal. I have my Xbmc in WASAPI mode. It only occurs when i play very large FLAC files. Some are 300mb per file. Other smaller flac files play without problem

Any idea!??

Spec
Zotac Zbox A02
Hdmi to Marantz sr5006 + Kef IQ90