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snowjim · 2013-03-26, 16:19

Hi,

I have a Zotac Zbox HD-ND22 that runs Windows 8 and XBMC Frodo. This have been working just fine with Lan cabel, HDMI to TV, Optic to Receiver.

Now I have moved the unit to another setup where all is the same becides no Reveiver so now the sound have to go over HDMI. I have tried both DirectSound and WASAPI out put on HDMI but I get a vary slow playback with this?

I have searched for this problem and the result was to uninstall the realtek drivers so now it is using Microsofts own but this did not solve the problem. The graphic drivers is up to date.

As soon as I change the audio output to anything else then over HDMI the playback is just fine.

If I try to play the same video in Windows with VLC media player and with sound over HDMI it plays just fine, its just in XBMC that there is slowdown with audio over HDMI?

Why? How do I solve it?

snowjim · 2013-03-27, 11:53

Am I really alone with this problem? Could it be hardware failure?

**jjd-uk** · 2013-03-27, 14:41

I've replied to your post on the Sticky thread.

scottlindner · (This post was last modified: 2013-04-14, 20:31 by scottlindner.)

I am having the same problem and haven't found a solution other than to use analog outputs which I really don't want to do as a long term solution.

I have tested this on three different machines of varying architectures and newness/oldness (2 core, 6 core and 8 core). I swapped out an HDMI video card for another of a different architecture (ATI and nVidia) so in all, four different HDMI video cards were tested on three different machines with two different receivers and TVs. In every case if I used HDMI out for audio it would play at about 1/10th the speed. As soon as I selected stereo analog audio it would play fine.

Does anyone have Frodo working with HDMI audio out? If so, can you post your system specs and audio settings.

snowjim · 2013-04-14, 20:57

I simple switched all receiver capable stuff off and it worked Smile

**jjd-uk** · 2013-04-14, 21:17

(2013-04-14, 20:29)scottlindner Wrote: I am having the same problem and haven't found a solution other than to use analog outputs which I really don't want to do as a long term solution.

I have tested this on three different machines of varying architectures and newness/oldness (2 core, 6 core and 8 core). I swapped out an HDMI video card for another of a different architecture (ATI and nVidia) so in all, four different HDMI video cards were tested on three different machines with two different receivers and TVs. In every case if I used HDMI out for audio it would play at about 1/10th the speed. As soon as I selected stereo analog audio it would play fine.

Does anyone have Frodo working with HDMI audio out? If so, can you post your system specs and audio settings.

Read the wiki AudioEngine/HOW-TO: Configure audio (wiki) and the sticky http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=146911

scottlindner · (This post was last modified: 2013-04-15, 15:24 by scottlindner.)

(2013-04-14, 21:17)jjd-uk Wrote:
(2013-04-14, 20:29)scottlindner Wrote: I am having the same problem and haven't found a solution other than to use analog outputs which I really don't want to do as a long term solution.

I have tested this on three different machines of varying architectures and newness/oldness (2 core, 6 core and 8 core). I swapped out an HDMI video card for another of a different architecture (ATI and nVidia) so in all, four different HDMI video cards were tested on three different machines with two different receivers and TVs. In every case if I used HDMI out for audio it would play at about 1/10th the speed. As soon as I selected stereo analog audio it would play fine.

Does anyone have Frodo working with HDMI audio out? If so, can you post your system specs and audio settings.
Read the wiki AudioEngine/HOW-TO: Configure audio (wiki) and the sticky http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=146911

I went through this initially and still had the same problem so this morning I went back and tried to read for intent in some of the fine print. I even had the trouble with analog 2.0 output and after fully removing my Realtek drivers. I think I might know why I'm having troubles, but I don't really know why. Under section 3.i "AVR issue (HDMI only)" there is a sentence that reads "Sound - Playback devices in Windows reports the AVR then this should generally be ok". I don't see my AVR listed anywhere in any Windows screen. In fact, I can't see any AVR listed in any of the screenshots on this site so I'm a bit confused by this. I believe this is where my troubles are. I have a Denon AVR 3311CI which decodes everything but my Windows ATI HDMI Output properties under supported formats lists "Stereo". This is what I get after removing the Realtek drivers. With the Realtek drivers I can get Dolby Digital to display as an option, but still none of the more commonly used formats with BluRay.

I am using the HDMI out on a motherboard. It is the Gigabyte GA-890GPA-UD3H. Is this a potential limitation of my motherboard, a limitation with my AVR, or is it strictly a software configuration issue that I am struggling with?

Cheers,
Scott

**jjd-uk** · 2013-04-15, 16:15

The 1st thing to do is check something is not incorrectly set on the Denon.

In HDMI Setup on the Denon make sure the following are set:

HDMI Audio Out: AMP
HDMI Control: OFF

If either of those need to be changed, then reboot your PC once you've done so.

Check what is shown in

Should show ATI High Definition Audio Device is so then next step is to check Supported Formats

Max Number of Channels should be 8
Encoded Formats should show all the varieties of Dolby Digital & DTS.

If anything other than that then check drivers in Computer Management

See what is listed under Sound, video and game controllers

scottlindner · 2013-04-16, 14:11

Thanks for the detailed help. I verified my AVR settings to match what you've noted. I wasn't even aware of those settings until now.

Now that I better understand what those instructions are telling me, I see where my problem is. It was all in those guides but somehow the importance of certain subtle things eluded me. My problem is the audio device. When I made sure the XBMC audio settings matched the audio device settings it works fine. So now I have to remove the Realtek drivers. The problem for me now is that when I do that my MCE setup doesn't work. Another issue entirely that I need to solve. So for now I'm all good. I'm just listening to my movies in DD instead of TrueHD until I sort this out.

Is it reasonable to assume that all modern HDMI outputs on a PC can support all formats? I am considering buying a NUC to sit along side my MCE box to run XMBC exclusively on. It's a transitional measure for WAF purposes, and to eventually get ourselves off of MCE entirely and to get my big uNeed HTPC case out of the family room. If the NUC can support all of the HDMI output formats, I will stick with my current Realtek based config until I get XBMC on the NUC.

Thank you very much for helping. I know it can be frustrating when people ask a question that is answered in a guide. I just missed the shear importance of making sure the audio formats in XBMC need to match that in the audio device. My bad on that. I appreciate your help.

That said, I'm a happy camper now. Can't wait to get everything on XBMC.

Cheers,
Scott

**jjd-uk** · 2013-04-16, 14:34

What exactly is the Realtek being used for?

If for HDMI then that was wrong, you need the ATI High Definition Audio drivers.

If for SPDIF then you maybe able to keep them.

scottlindner · 2013-04-16, 15:00

(2013-04-16, 14:34)jjd-uk Wrote: What exactly is the Realtek being used for?

If for HDMI then that was wrong, you need the ATI High Definition Audio drivers.

If for SPDIF then you maybe able to keep them.

Without the Realtek drivers I can only get stereo over HDMI in MCE, VLC and MPC. I will image the system tonight and try removing the Realtek drivers again.

**jjd-uk** · 2013-04-16, 15:18

Do you have the AMD Catalyst drivers downloaed from the AMD website installed? as the HDMI drivers are part of that package. If you are using the OS supplied drivers from Windows update then indeed you'll only get stereo.

scottlindner · 2013-04-16, 15:24

Yes, I do. I will try fixing this again tonight. Thanks for the help. I seriously appreciate it.

**jjd-uk** · 2013-04-16, 15:28

Use the Custom option if you only what the HDMI audio drivers installed, see http://www.ghacks.net/2012/12/27/what-th...ions-mean/

Untick everything apart from "HDMI/DP Audio Driver"

scottlindner · (This post was last modified: 2013-04-20, 04:37 by scottlindner.)

I finally got around to it. I believe I'm on the path to success now.

I uninstalled the Realtek drivers, then Catalyst, rebooted, ran the AMD downloader, rebooted, and still only Dolby Digital was showing up in the supported formats. So I started down the path of figuring out why I was having EDID issues. I would turn off/on the receiver, hot unplug/plug the HDMI cable, and did a bunch of searching online. Then I found this regarding my Gigabyte GA-890GPA-UD3H mobo:
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/mainboa...0gx_2.html

Quote:On the downside is the inability of the AMD 890GX (and 785G) to transmit TrueHD, DTS-HD or uncompressed multichannel LPCM audio via HDMI, making it less appealing for HTPC systems.

I had no friggin clue I did that to myself. Thankfully I have a spare fanless Radeon HD5450 laying around. I'm putting that in now, but I'm fairly confident it will solve the problem.