Digital sound not passing through after upgrade to RC2 (1 Viewer)

[calisoldier83]

MediaPortal Version: MediaPortal 1.1.0 RC2
MediaPortal Skin: Streamed MP
Windows Version: Windows 7 Professional
CPU Type: E5300
HDD: 2TB
Memory: 4GB
Motherboard: DFI Lanparty Jr
Video Card: GF9400
Video Card Driver: 197.45
Sound Card: Integrated
h.264 Video Codec: CoreAVC 2.0
TV: Vizio 37"
TV - HTPC Connection: HDMI -> Onkyo RC 160

I have

H.264 set for CoreAVC video decoder
MPEG/AC3 audio decoder as AC3Filter
Audio Render as HDMI out

Mediaportal won't pass through the surround sound like it used to in RC1. All I'm getting is PCM when it used to switch to DTS on blurays. If I use Windows Media Player classic it'll pass through the surround sound. I think the problem is AC3Filter isn't being utilized because if I alt+tab out of Mediaportal while playing the movie, it won't show AC3Filter in the tray. Please Help!

 

[slaith]

I have the same issue, after upgrading to the RC2 it no longer uses AC3filter.
For me I use it for DTS MKV files that stutters from my ION330 for some reason, so I convert to DD stream instead.
It has been working flawlessly for a long time until RC2.
So it has to be a bug.
Hopefully it will be sorted soon, because it's really anoying.

 

[riksmith]

I have the same issue, after upgrading to the RC2 it no longer uses AC3filter.
For me I use it for DTS MKV files that stutters from my ION330 for some reason, so I convert to DD stream instead.
It has been working flawlessly for a long time until RC2.
So it has to be a bug.
Hopefully it will be sorted soon, because it's really anoying.

Did you check if the codec settings in MP are still correct?

 

[Andrew H]

I had a similar finding last night after I loaded RC3. I thought a fix was in to help with playback of .264 files yet my copy of Transformers.mkv would still not pass smooth audio. Odd, I thought and played the file in MPC-HC only to find it was a DTS audio track. So I looked at my MP codecs and saw that MPA was configured to pass AC3 and DTS, so were some others. I set them up, selected one at a time and still could not get clean DTS audio passing - the audio would be choppy. I had no choice but to install SPDIFer and set it to pass AC3 and DTS - now all is well!

I was hoping to NOT have to cludder my system with redundant filters and was pleased to find the 'standard' audio codecs would pass AC3 without adding AC3Filter or SPDIFer. It would seem the 'standard' audio codecs are broken as they clearly have configuration options to pass DTS yet they do not. Maybe I should check whether they pass a DVD DTS soundtrack - it could be related to the .mkv .264 files and not just DTS.

Any thoughts? How can I help test this?

 

[1gkar]

The simplest method of determining if the right codecs are being utilized is to use Graph[Edit]Studio. Put Mediaportal into windowed mode & use the 'connect to remote graph' option with a multimedia being played within the MP window. This will load the source>splitter>video & audio codecs>renderer chain. The biggest culprit I have found for incorrect codecs' loading is ffdshow! Certain builds just will not allow proper playback.


I am a firm believer that to eliminate ANY potential, unusual problems, you ALWAYS DO A FRESH INSTALL, AFTER COMPLETING A MANUAL UNINSTALL [that means using the uninstalls from the MP & MP TVServer in the start porgramme]. It does take longer, but the chances much greater you won't have any issues.

 

[calisoldier83]

Hey guys,

I figured it out.
Goto MediaPortal Config -> Do ADVANCED menu -> Codecs and Renderer -> MPEG /AC3 -> pick MPC/MPA Decoder Filter

then goto the MPC - MPA decoder submenu and pick SPDIF for AC3 and DTS Decoder settings

Now you will have sound passing through correctly

Cheers!

 

[Andrew H]

Glad to help! One clarification on my experience, I have an Avatar.mkv with DTS audio that wouldn't play either... somehow even SPDIFer got messed up but MPA would pass it fine. Odd, huh? After uninstalling SPDIFer and rebooting a few times I got it working again. Also I found the choppy sound my transformers.mkv w/DTS was passing the digital audio as if it were AC3, so the moral of the story is not all mkvs are created the same. It still plays w/SPDIFer but not under MPA. Oh well.