Wierd problems with surround sound

A

andyg2503

New Member
I have a Sony Vaio XL201 with Vista Media Center outputting sound via an SPDIF optical cable to my amp. My Vaio uses the Sigmatel High Definition Audio codec.
I have found that when you go into Control Panel and Sound, I have configured for SPDIF output only, but there is no settings for 5.1 etc. In VMC itself, I have set the speaker settings to 5.1.

My amp shows on the front panel what channels it is receiving.
I play an MP3 and the amp shows sterio. :)
I play a stored .mkv video file and the amp shows 5.1. :)
I then play a DVD that has 5.1 sound, but the amp only shows sterio. :sa:
I then play that same DVD using Arcsoft Total Media Theatre software and my amp shows 5.1. :confused: :)
And all DVD's with 5.1 sound also do the same in VMC - only sterio.

Can anyone explain this? It is driving me nuts this.
 

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andyg2503 said:
I have a Sony Vaio XL201 with Vista Media Center outputting sound via an SPDIF optical cable to my amp. My Vaio uses the Sigmatel High Definition Audio codec.
I have found that when you go into Control Panel and Sound, I have configured for SPDIF output only, but there is no settings for 5.1 etc. In VMC itself, I have set the speaker settings to 5.1.

My amp shows on the front panel what channels it is receiving.
I play an MP3 and the amp shows sterio. :)
I play a stored .mkv video file and the amp shows 5.1. :)
I then play a DVD that has 5.1 sound, but the amp only shows sterio. :sa:
I then play that same DVD using Arcsoft Total Media Theatre software and my amp shows 5.1. :confused: :)
And all DVD's with 5.1 sound also do the same in VMC - only sterio.

Can anyone explain this? It is driving me nuts this.
Click to expand...

Hi

You don't say what decoder you are using.

You need to set SPDIF on both your decoder and the sound card, with no sound enhancement selected.

Did you make sure that you selected 5.1 on the DVD audio menu?

Regards
UKMedia
 

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Hi UKMedia, thanks for the reply. Any help here is welcome!
I did state that the driver was the Sigmatel one, is that what the decoder is?
If not, how do I find out which decoder I'm using?
And when you say the DVD Audio menu, you mean from the Menu on the DVD? If so, yes, otherwise I presume it would not play as 5.1 through Arcsoft TMT.
Thanks
 

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andyg2503 said:
Hi UKMedia, thanks for the reply. Any help here is welcome!
I did state that the driver was the Sigmatel one, is that what the decoder is?
If not, how do I find out which decoder I'm using?
And when you say the DVD Audio menu, you mean from the Menu on the DVD? If so, yes, otherwise I presume it would not play as 5.1 through Arcsoft TMT.
Thanks
Click to expand...

Please run this:

(http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en)

...and let me know what it says.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Self Build
    CPU
    Intel Quad Core QX6700 4 X 2.66M
    Motherboard
    ASUS Striker II Extreme
    Memory
    4 GB DDR3 1600
    Graphics card(s)
    Nvidia 8800GTX 768MB PCI-E
    Sound Card
    SoundMax
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 Flat screen 21" LG displays
    Hard Drives
    5 internal Hard Drives: 2 x WD 500GB (CAVIAR BLACK 500GB 32MB 7200 SATA) 3 x WD 1TB (CAVIAR BLACK 1TB 32MB 7200 SATA) as Raid 5 array
    PSU
    Tagan TG 1100W TURBOJET QUAD SLI
    Case
    Thermaltake EUREKA Case - Black
    Cooling
    ASUS V60 Quiet with additional fans for H/drives
    Mouse
    Logitech G7
    Keyboard
    Logitech G15 Gaming
    Internet Speed
    0.5 Mb - (Benefits of rural location!)
    Other Info
    Teaming 2 GB network connection to Wired 1GB switch. Connected to 22TB (Raid 5) of network storage on a wired 1GB lan. (Mixture of internal hard drives, 1TB, 2TB & 4TB Terastations)

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Self Build
    CPU
    Intel Quad Core QX6700 4 X 2.66M
    Motherboard
    ASUS Striker II Extreme
    Memory
    4 GB DDR3 1600
    Graphics card(s)
    Nvidia 8800GTX 768MB PCI-E
    Sound Card
    SoundMax
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 Flat screen 21" LG displays
    Hard Drives
    5 internal Hard Drives: 2 x WD 500GB (CAVIAR BLACK 500GB 32MB 7200 SATA) 3 x WD 1TB (CAVIAR BLACK 1TB 32MB 7200 SATA) as Raid 5 array
    PSU
    Tagan TG 1100W TURBOJET QUAD SLI
    Case
    Thermaltake EUREKA Case - Black
    Cooling
    ASUS V60 Quiet with additional fans for H/drives
    Mouse
    Logitech G7
    Keyboard
    Logitech G15 Gaming
    Internet Speed
    0.5 Mb - (Benefits of rural location!)
    Other Info
    Teaming 2 GB network connection to Wired 1GB switch. Connected to 22TB (Raid 5) of network storage on a wired 1GB lan. (Mixture of internal hard drives, 1TB, 2TB & 4TB Terastations)
Hi, tried that. It seems to show video decoders only? It shows 4 with the selected one being the MSMPEG2 decoder.
What about the audio decoder?

One other thing I've tested: I played a DVD using WMP and it gave me 5.1 at the amp. I played the same DVD using VMC and I get 2.0. So WMP is OK, Arcsoft TMT is OK but VMC is not OK. This is weird. So is VMC using a different codec to the others?
 
Last edited:

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andyg2503 said:
Hi, tried that. It seems to show video decoders only? It shows 4 with the selected one being the MSMPEG2 decoder.
What about the audio decoder?

One other thing I've tested: I played a DVD using WMP and it gave me 5.1 at the amp. I played the same DVD using VMC and I get 2.0. So WMP is OK, Arcsoft TMT is OK but VMC is not OK. This is weird. So is VMC using a different codec to the others?
Click to expand...


VMC and WMP should use the same decoder for Audio and Video. I use PowerDVD and I have to set SPDif for the Audio there and on the sound card for it to pass 5.1 through to the amp. This also places an addon within VMC. When playing a DVD within VMC (Don't stop it) navigate to Options, DVD - Do you see an Audio option? (this will only be there when playing a DVD.) If so make sure that the speakers option is set to SPDIF.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Self Build
    CPU
    Intel Quad Core QX6700 4 X 2.66M
    Motherboard
    ASUS Striker II Extreme
    Memory
    4 GB DDR3 1600
    Graphics card(s)
    Nvidia 8800GTX 768MB PCI-E
    Sound Card
    SoundMax
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 Flat screen 21" LG displays
    Hard Drives
    5 internal Hard Drives: 2 x WD 500GB (CAVIAR BLACK 500GB 32MB 7200 SATA) 3 x WD 1TB (CAVIAR BLACK 1TB 32MB 7200 SATA) as Raid 5 array
    PSU
    Tagan TG 1100W TURBOJET QUAD SLI
    Case
    Thermaltake EUREKA Case - Black
    Cooling
    ASUS V60 Quiet with additional fans for H/drives
    Mouse
    Logitech G7
    Keyboard
    Logitech G15 Gaming
    Internet Speed
    0.5 Mb - (Benefits of rural location!)
    Other Info
    Teaming 2 GB network connection to Wired 1GB switch. Connected to 22TB (Raid 5) of network storage on a wired 1GB lan. (Mixture of internal hard drives, 1TB, 2TB & 4TB Terastations)
I played the DVD in VMC and then went to Settings, DVD, Audio. The settings there were:
----------------------------
......Theater Sound
...*..Auto Volume
----------------------------
Dolby Decoder setting
.......Theater mode
....*..Normal mode
........Night mode
-----------------------------

In the first section, Theater sound was not available to select, but Auto Volume could be ticked.
In the second section, none of the options were available to select, but 'Normal mode' was already set on.
I also noticed that this exact same list of options was available when the DVD was not playing.
Where is it getting the setting for 'Normal mode' and why can't I change it?
 

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andyg2503 said:
I played the DVD in VMC and then went to Settings, DVD, Audio. The settings there were:
----------------------------
......Theater Sound
...*..Auto Volume
----------------------------
Dolby Decoder setting
.......Theater mode
....*..Normal mode
........Night mode
-----------------------------

In the first section, Theater sound was not available to select, but Auto Volume could be ticked.
In the second section, none of the options were available to select, but 'Normal mode' was already set on.
I also noticed that this exact same list of options was available when the DVD was not playing.
Where is it getting the setting for 'Normal mode' and why can't I change it?
Click to expand...


I thought the Audio options for the default decoder were set in Media Player - Now Playing - More Options - Audio. I suggest that you download PowerDVD (they offer a 30 day free trial) and then use the decoder utility to ensure it is selected (there will be 4 enabled for PowerDVD, if you go for the BD option). Then in the options for PowerDVD, select SPDIF for the audio output. This should ensure that a native signal from your DVD is passed straight through to your amp.

Regards
UKMedia
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Self Build
    CPU
    Intel Quad Core QX6700 4 X 2.66M
    Motherboard
    ASUS Striker II Extreme
    Memory
    4 GB DDR3 1600
    Graphics card(s)
    Nvidia 8800GTX 768MB PCI-E
    Sound Card
    SoundMax
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 Flat screen 21" LG displays
    Hard Drives
    5 internal Hard Drives: 2 x WD 500GB (CAVIAR BLACK 500GB 32MB 7200 SATA) 3 x WD 1TB (CAVIAR BLACK 1TB 32MB 7200 SATA) as Raid 5 array
    PSU
    Tagan TG 1100W TURBOJET QUAD SLI
    Case
    Thermaltake EUREKA Case - Black
    Cooling
    ASUS V60 Quiet with additional fans for H/drives
    Mouse
    Logitech G7
    Keyboard
    Logitech G15 Gaming
    Internet Speed
    0.5 Mb - (Benefits of rural location!)
    Other Info
    Teaming 2 GB network connection to Wired 1GB switch. Connected to 22TB (Raid 5) of network storage on a wired 1GB lan. (Mixture of internal hard drives, 1TB, 2TB & 4TB Terastations)
Thanks for your help UKMedia, but I already have ArcsoftTMT, why would I need PowerDVD?
Has anybody else got any suggestions?
Am I the only one that has got this problem?
 

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