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<blockquote data-quote="Stéphane Lenclud" data-source="post: 1112767" data-attributes="member: 140174"><p>Since I recently upgraded from a stereo sound system to surround I had to experiment quite a bit with system and MediaPortal settings to use my surround to its full potential.</p><p></p><p>Here is the hardware I'm dealing with:</p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Sound card: Creative Sound Blaster ZxR or Creative Sound Blaster Z SB1502<br /> </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Surround sound system: SONOS PLAYBAR + SUB + 2x PLAY:1</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Connection: S/PDIF optical</li> </ul><p>Now it looks like I have eventually found a proper setup using <a href="http://www.dolby.com/us/en/technologies/dolby-digital-live.html" target="_blank">Dolby Digital Live</a> through my Creative Sound Blaster ZxR.</p><p>Basically you can keep most of your stereo settings in MediaPortal but you need to tell your sound card to encode all sounds output using Dolby Digital Live.</p><p></p><p>It's not exactly clear how to get this done so here are some notes about it:</p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">In Sound Blaster Pro Studio go to 'Cinematic' and select Dolby Digital Live<br /> [ATTACH=full]158306[/ATTACH]</li> </ul> <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">In Windows Playback devices make the Speakers of your Sound Blaster the default one. Yes, you need to do that even though you are actually using Digital Audio and S/PDIF. Sound Blaster ZxR will encode the Speakers output as Dolby Digital 5.1 and redirect it to your S/PDIF Digital Audio device. This is what Dolby Digital Live is all about.<br /> [ATTACH=full]158307[/ATTACH]</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Configure that Speakers device for 5.1 surround<br /> [ATTACH=full]158309[/ATTACH]</li> </ul><p><span style="font-size: 22px"><span style="color: #ff4d4d"><strong>Enable upmixing using SBX Pro Studio</strong></span></span></p><p>Now any sound played on Windows should be mixed into Dolby Digital 5.1. however the surround channels will remain silent when playing stereo sources unless you enable upmixing using SBX Pro Studio as shown below:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]161032[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>That worked nicely for me with Sky Deutschland for which most audio is Dolby Digital 2.0.</p><p>Blu-rays AC3 rip are playing very nicely too. PowerDVD 14 works great too, I tested it with a DTS HD 6.1 track which is remixed on the fly by that Sound Blaster ZxR into Dolby Digital 5.1.</p><p></p><p>Most my codecs and renderer in MediaPortal are the default ones, mostly BASS and LAV.</p><p>Now even when using SBX Pro Studio upmix with surround level set to max I found that while playing stereo music the surround speakers were still too quite. Thankfully using BASS upmix provided a more enjoyable music experience.</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]158296[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>Dolby Digtial Live works brilliantly with games like Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor and The Witcher 2.</p><p></p><p>I actually felt the sound quality went up a notch in AC3 movies when using Dolby Digital Live.</p><p>In fact the overall sound quality was improved. Possibly because my ZxR and that SONOS are talking the same language <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /></p><p></p><p>I'm guessing you could get similar results using DTS Connect but that one is not supported by my Sound System.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Stéphane Lenclud, post: 1112767, member: 140174"] Since I recently upgraded from a stereo sound system to surround I had to experiment quite a bit with system and MediaPortal settings to use my surround to its full potential. Here is the hardware I'm dealing with: [LIST] [*]Sound card: Creative Sound Blaster ZxR or Creative Sound Blaster Z SB1502 [*]Surround sound system: SONOS PLAYBAR + SUB + 2x PLAY:1 [*]Connection: S/PDIF optical [/LIST] Now it looks like I have eventually found a proper setup using [URL='http://www.dolby.com/us/en/technologies/dolby-digital-live.html']Dolby Digital Live[/URL] through my Creative Sound Blaster ZxR. Basically you can keep most of your stereo settings in MediaPortal but you need to tell your sound card to encode all sounds output using Dolby Digital Live. It's not exactly clear how to get this done so here are some notes about it: [LIST] [*]In Sound Blaster Pro Studio go to 'Cinematic' and select Dolby Digital Live [ATTACH=full]158306[/ATTACH] [/LIST] [LIST] [*]In Windows Playback devices make the Speakers of your Sound Blaster the default one. Yes, you need to do that even though you are actually using Digital Audio and S/PDIF. Sound Blaster ZxR will encode the Speakers output as Dolby Digital 5.1 and redirect it to your S/PDIF Digital Audio device. This is what Dolby Digital Live is all about. [ATTACH=full]158307[/ATTACH] [*]Configure that Speakers device for 5.1 surround [ATTACH=full]158309[/ATTACH] [/LIST] [SIZE=6][COLOR=#ff4d4d][B]Enable upmixing using SBX Pro Studio[/B][/COLOR][/SIZE] Now any sound played on Windows should be mixed into Dolby Digital 5.1. however the surround channels will remain silent when playing stereo sources unless you enable upmixing using SBX Pro Studio as shown below: [ATTACH=full]161032[/ATTACH] That worked nicely for me with Sky Deutschland for which most audio is Dolby Digital 2.0. Blu-rays AC3 rip are playing very nicely too. PowerDVD 14 works great too, I tested it with a DTS HD 6.1 track which is remixed on the fly by that Sound Blaster ZxR into Dolby Digital 5.1. Most my codecs and renderer in MediaPortal are the default ones, mostly BASS and LAV. Now even when using SBX Pro Studio upmix with surround level set to max I found that while playing stereo music the surround speakers were still too quite. Thankfully using BASS upmix provided a more enjoyable music experience. [ATTACH=full]158296[/ATTACH] Dolby Digtial Live works brilliantly with games like Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor and The Witcher 2. I actually felt the sound quality went up a notch in AC3 movies when using Dolby Digital Live. In fact the overall sound quality was improved. Possibly because my ZxR and that SONOS are talking the same language :) I'm guessing you could get similar results using DTS Connect but that one is not supported by my Sound System. [/QUOTE]
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