wmv dmo dowmmixes 6 channel audio

[talbot3]

When using mediaportal 2.2.0 stable, the internal directshow player will downmix 6 channel wma pro to stereo. In zoomplayer, the wmv dmo outputs the 6 channel audio.

I confirmed this in graphedit. Zoomplayer has a filter for wmv which can set the audio decoder to direct out. It appears that the default output in directshow of the wma pro codec is 2.0 unless the player specifies otherwise.

Has anyone been able to get 5.1 WMA output from mediaportal's internal player?

[talbot3]

wmp 11 also outputs the 6 channel wma pro. It can also send the audio over spdif to my wma capable receiver. Is there anyway to configure this in mediaportal?


here is some information on configuring the decoder:

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa964542.aspx

[talbot3]

anyone else experience this?

[Xastlin]

I have been experiencing the same problem. When I play a 5.1 wma in WMP 11 it plays fine (with caveats - see below). In MP 0.2.2.0 it downmixes to 2 channel. I have been using AC3filter with Directshow.

The caveat is in WMP when the song ends and moves on to the next song it will play it downmixed to 2 channel. If I skip backwards or forwards it will play in 6 channel.

I tried an older version of MP 0.2.1.0 and it will play in 5.1 however it is not as full or clear as if it was played in WMP 11.

I need to keep playing around to see if there is a setting I can use, especially now that I have scripted the conversion of DTS, DTSWAV, and AC3 music files into WMA.

[idioteque]

why would to want to move to WMA???

There are far better, multi channel lossless fileformats which are not so much depended on windows and WMP

http://wiki.hydrogenaudio.org/index....ess_comparison

[Xastlin]

I have been educated!

I will certainly look into these other options. The key is getting them to play properly in MP.

Thank you!

[idioteque]

Wavepack and Flac are opensource and are fully supported by MP, by means of directshowfilters and inside the BASS engine they also have good winamp support. in WIndows, MacOSX as under Linux

[Xastlin]

I have made some progress that I thought I would share here.

Really I have been trying to solve 2 problems:

1. I have lots of Surround material in various formats (DTSWAV, DTS, AC3) that I wanted to consolodate into a single location that I could queue up and play without needing to insert CDs/DVDs/Navigate Menus/Adjust the LFE and Volume... You get the idea. I also wanted the files to be able to play within WMP11 (with minimal work) with full tagging capabilities.... Impossible - I think not...

2. Get the files to play properly in MP.

The end goal - to get the files to play in MP or MCE. I prefer MP as it has many more options, open source, and the many other reasons we love the product.

I also wanted to be able to easily script the conversion process as I want to have time left to enjoy the music before the next format comes out or I die (whichever comes first)

I was able to get the process to work with WMA however due to issues with AC3Filter (and its AC3Encoder) it will downmix files to 2 Channel if you allow the player to move on to the next song by itself. If you stop or start a new song (or click next or previous) it will negotiate properly with the receiver and play the song without error. MP will downmix the file (if it plays it at all) regardless of using BASS or DSHOW. ASIO (Creative or ASIO4ALL) never worked for me regardless of SVN or MP Version.

Then I switched to WavePack (with the help of DbPowerAmp) and now have true lossless copies of the lossy DTS, AC3 originals (that was sarcasm). With the help of WMP Extension Addons and APEV2 Tagging support I can play all of my Wavepack files in WMP11 without problems. Since AC3Filter is not used (I think) the file is passed natively via SPDIF most everytime (occasionally it messes up) without being downconverted to 2-Channel PCM.

Also I can clean-up/adjust the LFE levels with the mono wav files as part of the conversion for those rediculously loud Sub-Tracks. DbPowerAmp also allows me to insert a 2-3 second silence at the beginning of the track (so I don't miss the beginning of the song as my receiver negotiates the SPDIF signal) and the file is normalized (as a single file as to preserve the appropriate channel mix).

I am writing this all out in the hopes that someone is a freak like me and actually desires the same result.... I may be alone here....

Now the part I was hoping to get some assistance... I cannot get the WavePack files to play via the BASS player (prefered) or DSHOW in MP without downmixing to stereo. ASIO screws up the playback (too fast and jittery with all sorts of pops and clicks). Also I have nearly 2000 music videos that I would like to use in MP so the normalization of stereo files is a big bonus.

Any ideas... Or is the audience asleep after my rant. I know that if the answer is out there, the geniouses here will have it!

Thanks!