[mitchmenghi]

Hi Guys,

I got my first HTPC and its running great, EXCEPT i have no 5.1 channel sound output from HDMI... here is my config and i would really love someone to help me out as its really no point having this unit if i cant get 5.1

- Windows 7 Pro 64bit SP1
- ASROCK A75-HVS mobo

http://www.asrock.com/mb/overview.asp?Model=A75M-HVS

Latest official drivers from manufacturers.

I must first point out that i had a WDLIVE TV streambox and it worked fine outputting 5.1 via my Home theater system and the Samsung Plasma TV i have

When i check audio properties of the AMD HDMI OUT playback device i can see under supported formats that its only MAX NUMBER OF CHANNELS: 2
Why is this not saying 5.1 or multi channel sound ?

I have read several forums that it could be the receiver not having something called AUDIO OUT set to OFF, i have checked this and it is already set to OFF something to do with the EDID not telling the soundcard how many channels are available. I have tried this with ON and OFF same result

I have also grabbed the official latest drivers from AMD same result
I have also grabbed the official latest drivers from VIA same result (i believe the sound card uses VIA chipset, HDMI is via AMD)

I am at my witts and i want this resolved... the motherboard clearly states it supports 5.1, my TV supports 5.1 because my Home theatre system has an inbuilt DVD player and when i play a movie it plays in 5.1, finally my old WD used to play 5.1 also... so whats going on

Is this normal operation ? Does XBMC ignore the 2 channel and somehow still play in 5.1....

Anyone's help on diagnosing and resolving this would be great.

[bluray]

If you connected HTPC directly to HDTV then to 5.1 DVD player home theater system, you might want to connect HTPC to 5.1 DVD player home theater system then to HDTV instead. Here is how it should be connected- HTPC-->5.1 DVD player home theater system-->HDTV using two HDMI cables.....

[mitchmenghi]

If you connected HTPC directly to HDTV then to 5.1 DVD player home theater system, you might want to connect HTPC to 5.1 DVD player home theater system then to HDTV instead. Here is how it should be connected- HTPC-->5.1 DVD player home theater system-->HDTV using two HDMI cables.....

Hi Bluray.... thanks for answering me... normally i would do this.... HOWEVER.. im my case my setup is a wee bit old and my reciever does not have anymore than 1 in and out hdmi..... what i have learnt and how i have had it it with hdmi passthrough.

So this is the setup.

hdmi out from reciever -> hdtv -> htpc and other devices... my tv has 2 or 3 hdmi in's

optical out from reciever -> to optical in to samsung hdtv

This allows me to listen to tv, htpc, dvd player on reciever in optical in mode when selected

I believer all this is possible using hdmi passthrough technology.

What do you think ?

[nickr]

Why can't you connect your PC to the AVR via S/PDIF?

[mitchmenghi]

Why can't you connect your PC to the AVR via S/PDIF?

I wish the pc had spdif out... there is only 1 hdmi connection.

Here is a detailed spec on the motherboard.

http://www.asrock.com/download/e-catalog/A75M-HVS.pdf

Any other ideas ?

[jjd-uk]

The problem is that you are connecting the PC direct to the TV.

You also seem to be getting confused by the Channel count, which is not usual if you don't know how digital audio works.

Where Windows says "Max Number of Channels", this is the common measure of raw bandwidth and is expressed as number of LPCM, where LPCM is uncompressed audio. Common surround formats such as Dolby Digital are compressed audio commonly called encoded formats, so this is where LPCM has been encoded into Dolby Digital for example, and because the audio data is compressed encoded formats can fit 5.1 channels down a 2.0 LPCM link. Therefore a HDMI connection such as yours that reports 2.0 is perfectly capable of passing 5.1 audio in a format such as Dolby Digital.

However to pass 5.1 in a encoded format such as Dolby Digital, the receiving device (in your case the TV) must be capable of decoding the format. When connecting to a TV by HDMI it is very rare for TV's to be able to decode Dolby Digital 5.1 received on it's HDMI input and it's even rarer for it to be able to pass Dolby Digital 5.1 to the SPDIF out on the TV. This is your problem by the sounds of it, either the TV can only accept LPCM 2.0 only or if it can accept Dolby Digital then it's downmixing it from 5.1 to 2.0 for the SPDIF out, this is perfectly normal.

Could you not connect the PC to the Home Theater system by HDMI, then connect the WDLIVE by HDMI to the TV and also by SPDIF to the Home Theater for sound?

The only other alternative is to buy a HDMI audio extrator such as http://www.amazon.com/ViewHD-Premium-Aud...pd_sim_e_4

[mitchmenghi]

The problem is that you are connecting the PC direct to the TV.

You also seem to be getting confused by the Channel count, which is not usual if you don't know how digital audio works.

Where Windows says "Max Number of Channels", this is the common measure of raw bandwidth and is expressed as number of LPCM, where LPCM is uncompressed audio. Common surround formats such as Dolby Digital are compressed audio commonly called encoded formats, so this is where LPCM has been encoded into Dolby Digital for example, and because the audio data is compressed encoded formats can fit 5.1 channels down a 2.0 LPCM link. Therefore a HDMI connection such as yours that reports 2.0 is perfectly capable of passing 5.1 audio in a format such as Dolby Digital.

However to pass 5.1 in a encoded format such as Dolby Digital, the receiving device (in your case the TV) must be capable of decoding the format. When connecting to a TV by HDMI it is very rare for TV's to be able to decode Dolby Digital 5.1 received on it's HDMI input and it's even rarer for it to be able to pass Dolby Digital 5.1 to the SPDIF out on the TV. This is your problem by the sounds of it, either the TV can only accept LPCM 2.0 only or if it can accept Dolby Digital then it's downmixing it from 5.1 to 2.0 for the SPDIF out, this is perfectly normal.

Could you not connect the PC to the Home Theater system by HDMI, then connect the WDLIVE by HDMI to the TV and also by SPDIF to the Home Theater for sound?

The only other alternative is to buy a HDMI audio extrator such as http://www.amazon.com/ViewHD-Premium-Aud...pd_sim_e_4

Thanks.

I the Home Theatre only has 1 hdmi out... thats it... i cannot connect any hdmi in devices.

Here is the exact model of my TV... http://www.samsung.com/au/support/model/...-techspecs
It shows its connections maybe will help in resolving my issue

Here is my Home Theatre system its old but has done me well. http://www.panasonic.ae/EN/Manuals/SC-HT995W.pdf
Here is an image of the back so you know exactly my connections. http://stereo.ru/images/profile/21214/ext_big0.jpg

What interests me is STEP5 when it discusses HDMI connection it says VIDEO OUTPUT to ON and AUDIO OUTPUT to ON, then jump to page 30 AUDIO OUTPUT.... im confused and not sure if it needs to be ON or OFF

To reiterate i used to have my WDTV connected to one of the HDMI in on the TV and i used to play 5.1 just fine as it seems as though when AUDIO OUTPUT on my reciever is OFF it says will use the AUDIO ON will use the capabilities of the connected device.

So in this instance it should be using the capabilities of the HTPC.. from what your saying i should not be looking at 5.1 in MAX CHANNELS, how can i test if im actually outputting 5.1 then is there a test i can perform ?

Cheers

[mitchmenghi]

This is the exact issue i am having... Windows reports 2 Channel Max.... http://superuser.com/questions/342890/wi...is-2ch-max, they say if you cannot get it to say 5.1 then you have no chance of configuring 5.1 sound, this makes sense because when i had 5.1 setup on my desktop pc with my cambridge soundworks.. i could swap profiles from 2 channel all the way to 5.1 and sound would output from all speakers.. i presume this is the same for HDMI the only problem is my VIA Deck only have 2 channel sound option, nothing else...

[mitchmenghi]

I just found the manual for my TV please check page 71 i believe that the answer to my issues may lie on that page.... http://downloadcenter.samsung.com/conten...g_0826.pdf

Cheers

[bluray]

If your DVD receiver allow you to passthrough video, you might want to reconsider connect it this way "HTPC-->5.1 DVD player home theater system-->HDTV using two HDMI cables" to get the best AQ. Normally you only need one HDMI from a receiver to HDTV, and you can connect the sources as many as the HDMI input on the receiver allow.

If there is no possible way, your next best thing to do is this- "HTPC to DVD player via optical, then HTPC to HDTV via HDMI....

[jjd-uk]

This is the exact issue i am having... Windows reports 2 Channel Max.... http://superuser.com/questions/342890/wi...is-2ch-max, they say if you cannot get it to say 5.1 then you have no chance of configuring 5.1 sound, this makes sense because when i had 5.1 setup on my desktop pc with my cambridge soundworks.. i could swap profiles from 2 channel all the way to 5.1 and sound would output from all speakers.. i presume this is the same for HDMI the only problem is my VIA Deck only have 2 channel sound option, nothing else...

I'll say again, your problem is not related to Windows reporting 2 channels for the HDMI, that is perfectly ok for passing 5.1 compressed audio such as Dolby Digital.

To reiterate i used to have my WDTV connected to one of the HDMI in on the TV and i used to play 5.1 just fine as it seems as though when AUDIO OUTPUT on my reciever is OFF it says will use the AUDIO ON will use the capabilities of the connected device.

Have you tried connecting the PC connected to the same HDMI port on the TV that the WDTV used?

[mitchmenghi]

I spoke to samsung and it seems connecting optical from tv to reciever will loose 5.1 sound as it can not pass it through my tv is from 2008, the rep told me that from 2010 samsung tv can pass optical to reciever in 5.1 there is some options in the tv that say turn speaker off but output sound to reciever... i do not have such options.

My next choice is to connect htpc to reciever... BUT i will lose optical sound from other devices connected to the tv eg.. foxtel. Not such a bad thing i guess since i do not think it can even do 5.1.

I will need to buy a soundcard for this my motherboard does not have the spdif header or output for optical....

Im sure a standard sound blaster will achieve this rather cheaply ?

On another note... in XBMC if i select anything other than ANALOG in sound options my video stutters badly.. is this normal ?

[nickr]

There are cheap USB sound cards which will sort you out.