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grnt
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2013-01-14, 06:26
(This post was last modified: 2013-01-14, 06:30 by grnt.)
Fresh install of XBMC on new hardware / software.
Hardware is a HP N40L with a ATi 5450 video card passing through audio and video. Audio is fine on all my SD stuff, HD stuff stutters and doesn't play audio at all. (Although I think this is a side effect of the stuttering.)
Software is WHS2011 using Shark007 codec with x64 components. XBMC is Frodo RC3 and is being piped out via HDMI straight to my TV which then passes audio through to the amp. The weird thing is running the same files in Windows Media Player is flawless, no stutter, sound is perfect not missing a beat. I'm wondering if maybe XBMC isn't using the codecs correctly? I assume once the movie starts there isn't much extra overhead from XBMC as it's all in the background and considering when I check my CPU useage etc when running the movies in WMP I don't seem to be close to maxing anything out I am wondering where I might be able to trouble shoot this. By "HD" I'm talking predominantly "720p" content 1280xwhatever so it's not overly large video. Are there any settings I should tinker with in the actual settings.
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grnt
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2013-01-14, 08:46
(This post was last modified: 2013-01-14, 09:12 by grnt.)
Further fiddling has shown that changing the audio source from HDMI to Analog seemed to fix the problem, my question is how can I confirm that it is still passing through 5.1 DTS / AC3 streams? I put my ear to each speaker and it sounded as if the sound was surround (not just forcing it all channels) but really hard to tell. If I run a debug when I play the file what should I be looking for specifically? Obviously analogue disables all these options but I am hoping this is simply because it is passing everything through regardless.
Seems if I disable all the decoding options for HDMI it works, WASAPI and direct sound make no difference, it might be because it's being piped to my TV before my amp and it doesn't like passing through a decoded signal....maybe......
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nickr
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Looking at your pastebin, (I am no windows guy believe me!) but it appears that xbmc only detects 2 audio devices, both of which only support two channels (FL,RF = front left, front right) - see right at the beginning of the file.
Quite why this would be so would be for someone more versed in windows than me - but would explain why setting to analog sorted it.
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2013-01-14, 10:29
(This post was last modified: 2013-01-14, 10:31 by steelman1991.)
Unlikely with the combination that you have and the connection chain, that you will get anything other than 2.0 channel from your set-up (unless your receiver does pseudo 5.1 and creates a multi-channel surround mix from a stereo source).
Very few TV's are capable of passing through a DD stream and even fewer, if any can pass through DTS. If you can it would be better to connect via HDMI from PC > Receiver > TV.
Also have a look at the sticky on HD Audio in the Windows Forum, for some guidance on how best to set-up. Incorrect audio settings can produce the issues you describe.
EDIT - just saw your recent post - the issue surrounds all the hardware and the connections, although you have a video card that supports those formats, the method you choose to connect and send those streams doesn't.
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jjd-uk
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2013-01-14, 14:56
(This post was last modified: 2013-01-14, 14:56 by jjd-uk.)
I've looked at your log and what's being reported to XBMC suggests the HDMI connection to your TV can only pass 2 channel LPCM, so it's not reporting that your TV is able to do DD or DTS passthrough.
Your options are either get a HDMI splitter so you can connect both the TV & receiver direct to the HTPC, but I'm not sure how reliable these are, or the other cheaper option would probably be to use either a optical or coax SPDIF connection direct to your receiver for audio.
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grnt
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This is what I have done, grabbed a turtle beach one that does USB to toslink. It will do DTS and Dolby which will give me a good base to test it from, NFI how I'm getting to get the HD audio formats though but I guess I can sort that out later once I've confirmed working or not.
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nickr
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HD audio will not go through spdif/toslink. Ever. spdif is capable of:
LPCM 2 channels
DTS
AC3
That's it.
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grnt
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Yeah sorry I meant I don't know what other set up I will use to get HD formats (ie: HDMI Splitter, PCIE Soundcard with HDMI, another amp etc) but it's atleast a starting point.
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jjd-uk
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It should be noted that you can playback files with HD audio but just not get the full effect over SPDIF, as TrueHD 7.1 will be decoded to DD 5.1 and DTS-MA 7.1 to DTS 5.1. This DD5.1 & DTS5.1 audio will still be superior to what was available on DVD.
As a comparison:
Blu-Ray TrueHD to DD 5.1 results in a 640kbps track
DVD DD 5.1 normally 448kbps
Blu-Ray DTS-MA to DTS 5.1 results in 1536kbps track
DVD DTS 5.1 normally 768kbps
