DVD Audio not 5.1

[Nomad101]

Hi Zato

This may be a stupid question but are you definitely selecting a 5.1 sound track on the DVD? They usually have multiple sound tracks and often default to the standard stereo track.

You're supposed to be able to use the green button on the remote (or ctrl-g) to switch audio tracks when playing a DVD but I've found this doesn't always work. The other (more reliable) way is to go to the DVD menu (press ESC once while the DVD is playing or BACK on the remote) then look for an options or audio menu. The other advantage of doing it this way is being able to see what soundtrack you're selecting rather than just flicking through them blindly.

I've got AC3 and DTS 5.1 working fine with AC3Filter. The only thing that annoys me is not being able to have SPDIF passthrough to the receiver and normal mixed down stereo to my TV at the same time! If I play anything with an AC3 or DTS output I get no sound on my TV and have to turn the receiver on or change the settings on AC3Filter (disable SPDIF)!

Cheers
Tony

[stustunz]

have you tried changing the audio rendering?
not the codec

[Zato]

have you tried changing the audio rendering?
not the codec

Yeah, I've tried: System Default, Sound Card, DirectSound: Sound card (something like that). Not sure what else. I have some odd ones in the list too from Cyberlink - I even tried one of those. Something like Cyberlink (ATI).

What renderer do people normally select?

This may be a stupid question but are you definitely selecting a 5.1 sound track on the DVD? They usually have multiple sound tracks and often default to the standard stereo track.

No stupid questions at this point . I'll try anything.

Yes, definitely playing a 5.1 track. I know what you mean, cause the DVD menu I'm playing is only 2.0 until you start the movie, then it switches to 5.1. I've verifying this from the "info" screen in PowerDVD.

Is there a better way to debug? I used to be able to run the DVD in Windows Media Player 9 - goto the DVD->Advanced options and it would pull up AC3Filter which I could then watch the spdif log. But since I've jacked with it, I get a different window now when I click that Advanced button.

In GBPVR, while DVD is playing and using AC3Filter, if I try to run the AC3Filter config, I don't see anything in the spdif log.

[stustunz]

yeah thats not right something else has taken over
what box(decoder) you get you need to remove it
have you tried re installing ac3 filter so that it becomes the default again
go througfh and remove ffdshow and nvidia purevideo this should remove the audio part aswell
remove them all even any others you dont need them and they will just get in the way
then only install ac3 filter

ac3 filter should be all you need for sound as far as im aware of
plus once you get this sorted you can fix any other problems later(not that i can think of any)

i dont think its using the ac3 filter its using something else more than likely the decoder that shows up when you open windows media player

[carpeVideo]

zoom player also has codec management in the advance options - you can change priority or de-register them.

[Zato]

Good call on Zoom player - I'm able to play a DVD and tinker with AC3Filter to see what changes...

What's odd is that AC3 says the SPDIF is Disabled - but it's sending a stereo sound to it just fine. If I uncheck "Check output format support", it turns on passthrough, but I get no sound at all on the receiver.

With that box checked, the AC3Filter log shows this:

Input format: MPEG Program Stream - 48000
User format: PCM16 - 0
Output format: PCM16 3/2.1 (5.1) 48000

Use SPDIF
SPDIF status: Disabled (SPDIF output is not supported)
SPDIF passthrough for: MPA AC3 DTS
Use AC3 encoder (do not encode stereo PCM)
Check SPDIF sample rate (allow: 48kHz 44.1kHz)
Query for SPDIF output support

Decoding chain:
(MPEG Program Stream - 48000) -> Demux -> (AC3 - 48000) -> Decoder -> (Linear PCM 3/2.1 (5.1) 48000) -> Processor -> (PCM16 3/2.1 (5.1) 48000) -> Dejitter -> (PCM16 3/2.1 (5.1) 48000)

Filters info (in order of processing):

Demux:
-

Decoder:
Stream format: AC3 3/2.1 (5.1) 48000Hz
Bitstream type: byte stream
Frame size: 1792
Samples: 1536
Bitrate: 448kbps
SPDIF stream type: 0x1
Frame interval: 1792
Actual bitrate: 448kbps
AC3
speakers: 3/2.1 (5.1)
sample rate: 48000Hz
bitrate: 448kbps
stream: 8 bit
frame size: 1792 bytes
nsamples: 1536
bsid: 8
clev: -3.0dB (0.7071)
slev: -3.0dB (0.7071)
dialnorm: -31dB
bandwidth: 14kHz/20kHz

Processor:
(Linear PCM 3/2.1 (5.1) 48000) -> Input levels -> (Linear PCM 3/2.1 (5.1) 48000) -> Mixer -> (Linear PCM 3/2.1 (5.1) 48000) -> Bass redirection -> (Linear PCM 3/2.1 (5.1) 48000) -> AGC -> (Linear PCM 3/2.1 (5.1) 48000) -> Delay -> (Linear PCM 3/2.1 (5.1) 48000) -> Output levels -> (Linear PCM 3/2.1 (5.1) 48000) -> Linear->PCM converter -> (PCM16 3/2.1 (5.1) 48000)

Dejitter:
-