I have an Intel Nuc I3, hooked up into an Onkyo 5.1 receiver via hdmi. When I play stereo file, I notice very loud action and very low vocals. It seems to be trying to simulate 5.1 somehow, because I have audio coming out of the rear speakers. I am running ubuntu minimal.
I tried loading up alsamixer, but it only shows me spdif options not hdmi, and I cannot adjust the levels.
My cable audio is fine, so I know it is not the receiver.
It is most likely the receiver being set up to anything other then 'straight' or 'direct' mode.
Other than that, you gave no debug log, no information on your OS, or XBMC version so it would be a wild guess in the dark.
Quote:When I play stereo file
Which kind of file is that? A normal audio file lke MP3 or FLAC?
Quote: It seems to be trying to simulate 5.1 somehow, because I have audio coming out of the rear speakers.
Yes...your receiver will simulate 5.1. Correctly you have to say, that your receiver will do DolbyPrologic IIx (PL IIx) with a 2 channel audio file. That´s normal. If you play back a stereo file you will get the best out of this file while using "stereo" on your receiver. This will get you only 2 channels and not DolbyPrologic IIx. Some Receivers will do PL IIx better than others and that might be the problem. I´ve heard very awfully receivers while using PL IIx. So I would try setting up stereo on your receiver first and see if things will be better.
Otherwise...provide more infos, like Kib says.
Greetings
Aside checking your
Audio (wiki) settings are correct, have a look at
Video_playback#OSD_audio_and_subtitle_settings (wiki) Specifically the volume amplification, it acts like some Dynamic range compression of sorts.
If you continue to experience issues, please pastebin a full
Debug log (wiki) and other supporting information like screenshots of your audio settings along with what you have already been asked by fellow "forumites".
On a side note, I have noticed some audio codecs are worst then others if you notice that too test and see and report along.
If you are getting 5.1 from a 2.0 source file then something is upmixing.
1st check XBMC audio settings and make sure "Stereo upmix" is disabled.
2nd check the sound mode in use on the AVR, what does the front panel show when something is being played? does Dolby ProLogic show?
Alternatively if you want the 5.1 from 2.0 sources then make sure Dynamic EQ and Dynamic Volume is enabled on the Onkyo for a more consistent volume level.
Thanks guys. Will try some of these options, and post a debug.
FYI I am running Ubuntu 14, XBMC 13.0.