[solved] No sound in Videos (DTS), but in TV (2 Viewers)

[Hotkey]

Hi there,

after i replaced my old Panasonic SA-XR55 with a new Onkyo for my HTPC, i decided to use the Panasonic for my Gaming PC which also runs Mediaportal Client and is connected to the MP-Server.

The PC is connected via optical cable to the Panasonic (Soundcard Soundblaster-Z). As i wanted to use Dolby Digital Live for games i activated this option in the Soundblaster Settings (see Screenshots below).
I also installed the SAF Package v.6.3.1.

Now my Problem is, that i get Good Sound for Music, good Sound for TV (also AC3 working) but No-Sound for DTS-Movies. When i start a movie with Non DTS and DTS Sound-Stream i do get sound with the non-DTS but when i switch to DTS the Playback just stops and i'm back in the Movies Menu (Moving Pictures actually).

When i start the same movies with the MPC (Media Player Classig) i also get perfect sound.

So short and punchy: Sound Problem only with DTS-Audio when played with Mediaportal.

Please finde the Screenshots below with my settings, the overlay of both TV (girls) and Video (good old robert redfort) and also attached the log.

I appreciate any help, many thanks in advance!

 

[mm1352000]

I'm confused.
You said that the receiver is connected using optical S/PDIF.
Your MediaPortal config is showing that you use the default DirectSound audio renderer.
According to the screenshot of the Windows audio devices, the Windows default audio output is analog speakers ("Lautsprecher") instead of "SPDIF-Out". So, MediaPortal will be sending sound to the analog output instead of the S/PDIF output.
I don't understand how that can work. Shouldn't the Windows default audio output be "SPDIF-Out"?

Also, what happens if you untick the LAV audio codec DTS bitstreaming option (which is currently ticked)?

 

[spachti]

It's a special setting in the soundblaster program. It's a actually described there in one of the pictures. It's in German, that's probably the reason you haven't read it.

Quote/
To use the dolby digital live via spdif you have to use the speaker output setting in the windows sound configuration..

 

[mm1352000]

Ahh, English translation:
http://attachments.team-mediaportal.com/2014/12/212750_upload_2014-12-1_12-10-4.png

So if this was going to work for DTS, surely the DD Live encoder (or whatever is doing this "fancy" conversion) would either have to:

1. Recognise that the DTS audio is already encoded compatible with the S/PDIF output and should just be passed through to that S/PDIF output without doing any re-encoding, OR...
2. Decode the DTS audio to PCM, and then re-encode PCM as DD/AC-3 (which is the normal DD Live function).

This is why I asked about what happens if the LAV bitstreaming option is disabled. That way the DTS would be decoded by LAV, and when it reaches the DD Live encoder it will be PCM. My hypothesis is that the DD Live encoder should be able to encode the PCM and so the audio should work.

Again and in other words, the point I'm trying to make is that I wonder if the DTS can really be bitstreamed (without re-encoding) through the DD Live function. I suspect it will either have to be decoded to PCM then encoded as DD/AC-3 by DD Live... or otherwise you will have to disable DD Live for use with MediaPortal.

 

[spachti]

Since the short description also says the program will use the windows sound exclusively and no other media player will work, i'm not sure if this isn't his real problem.
But that's way over my head.

 

[mm1352000]

Since the short description also says the program will use the windows sound exclusively and no other media player will work, i'm not sure if this isn't his real problem.

Oh for sure - the audio must either go through DD Live somehow, or DD Live must be disabled.

 

[Vasilich]

as @mm1352000 said, you should untick bitstreaming (passthrough) for all formats as DDLive converts only decoded multichannel signal to DD. It cannot decode DTS and convert it to DD itself, so you shold tell LAV to do it for him .

 

[Hotkey]

Hi all,

first of all many thanks for all the hints and the discussion.

I must say that i'm a little confused about what setting i should change now ;-)

This is why I asked about what happens if the LAV bitstreaming option is disabled

..
So should i disable the "DTS" Tickmark in the LAV Audio settings?

What is the reason that the same Movie works fine with Media Player Classic and that the problem does not exists for TV?

Again, thanks a lot!

 

[mm1352000]

So should i disable the "DTS" Tickmark in the LAV Audio settings?

Yes, please try that.

What is the reason that the same Movie works fine with Media Player Classic and that the problem does not exists for TV?

For MPC: I assume MPC is not configured to bitstream [for DTS]. It will decode the audio to PCM, the DD Live encoder will be able to encode it, and so you will have audio.

For TV with MPEG 1, MPEG 2, and/or HE-AAC audio: those audio streams cannot be bitstreamed and will always be decoded to PCM. Therefore the DD Live encoder should have no problem encoding those streams, and you will have audio.

For TV with DD/AC-3 audio: you have disabled bitstreaming in the LAV audio codec so the DD/AC-3 will be decoded to PCM. Therefore the DD Live encoder should have no problem encoding those streams, and you will have audio.

In short: we expect you will have a problem in any application where you enable bitstreaming.

 

[Hotkey]

Thanks a lot for the hint and the extensive description. Deactivating that little bastard did the trick.
-> Solved!