Audio Codec Problem on Win 10

[randolphmcafee]

I'm a newbie, coming to NPVR from Win Media Center so that I can use Win 10. Low powered, Lenovo Q180, and HD-HomeRun over the air TV capture on ATSC (not QAM). Log files attached. Using current version of NPVR.

Here is the problem. Video is captured fine, audio stutters and is staticy. The same file plays fine with VLC, which uses A52 codec. Watching TV through NPVR also works fine. Tried various codecs, Microsoft DTV-DVD, ffdshow. Installed SAF6, tried all of its AC3 codecs, still get stuttering on playback. Things to try?

[johnsonx42]

LiveTV in nextpvr is fine, but recordings stutter? not sure at all what to make of that.... LiveTV and Recordings using the same playback method, usually if there's any stuttering problem it'd be with livetv due to reference clock.

I guess you could try AC3Filter, can't see why that would make a difference but it can't hurt to try.

[johnsonx42]

also in Settings->Decoders try disabling all your audio decoders other than AC3, and ensure that your audio renderer is set to System Default.

[randolphmcafee]

Thanks. I made a rookie mistake -- tried a codec pack, and when that didn't work, tried SAF6. In the process I managed to break VLC, and even a fresh install of VLC didn't fix whatever I did to it. I'm now doing a clean install of Win 10 (before had done an upgrade of Win 7) and will install NPVR (and nothing else except HD-Homerun software and VLC, at least until I have NPVR working) and see if it works right out of the box.

If you have a suggestion of something else I should install on a clean Win 10 system, something missing that NPVR needs, please let me know.

PS: The codec situation was probably a total mess before I started with NPVR -- I have used several software blu-ray players, and other video-related programs like handbrake, some of which surely installed their own codecs. Not sure why it broke after several successful tests, though, and why it would play live TV but not the recording I made.

[mikeh49]

You'll need an MPEG2 video decoder and and AC3 audio decoder for US TV. Set the video renderer to EVR and the audio renderer to Default. Your best bet is probably SAF along with a PM to hoborg to get the unlocked version. That will let you use the Cyberlink video decoder. I think SAF uses the LAV audio decoder which is OK; however, the LAV video decoder does not play well with NPVR. Codec packs will only add confusion. SAF should be all you need for NPVR.

Then again, you could just stay with Win7.

[randolphmcafee]

I PM'd Hoborg for the unlocked SAF, because the locked one (LAV decoders) didn't fix the problems, which are both in live TV and playback now.

[randolphmcafee]

Whatever I did to the system stopped the HomeRun from working properly on this machine -- even the Homerun utility for watching TV was stuttering on digital channels. So back to Win 7. The first windows update -- 219 required updates, 11 optional ones, 11. GB download -- is underway now. Thanks for the help! At least I'll have a clean install of Win 7.

[randolphmcafee]

Back on Win 7, clean install, NextPVR, SAF unlocked, working fine. Yay!