Problem with Dolby Digital on some MKV files

[jarredduq]

Hello,

I'm having a problem with some of my MKV files, where the sound is distorted. It sounds like somebody talking into a microphone too closely. They have played fine in the past, but I'm not sure what has changed in the recent firmware to cause this issue. I have a Pioneer VSX-9040TXH receiver connected to the HD200 extender. It does this either via HDMI or optical bitstream.

It does sound okay, if downmixed though the analog outputs, or if I change from bitstream to PCM.

Below is what I submitted to SageTV's Bug form with a link to a test file. If anybody else with a Pioneer receiver can test this file and let me know if you have the same results.

Sage is telling me it is a setting on my receiver, but the majority of my other MKV files with Dolby Digital tracks play fine, so I'm not exactly sure what the issue is.

Thanks for your help in advance!!!!


***Bug report submitted to Sage***
BUG DESCRIPTION: This is not related to the software running on my server,
but the HD200 extender itself. I'm running the latest 20100909 firmware,
and have noticed a problem playing back several of my MKV files. The audio
playback sounds over-modulated. This is either over HDMI or optical. It
happens if running the HD200 standalone or via the SageTV server.

The audio track is Dolby Digital. The one thing I've noticed on the problematic files is my pioneer receiver flashes Dialog Norm -27db momentarily when the playback begins. On other files with Dolby Digital tracks that play okay it flashes Dialog Norm +4, or nothing at all.

If I go into the HD200 and change the audio to PCM, it sounds okay, but I
loose the 5.1 capability. The analog output on the HD200 sounds okay as
well.

Here is a sample you can download to test:
www.jarredinthehouse.com/Planet.Earth.s01e01.from.pole.to.pole.1080p.x264-001.mkv

REPRODUCTION STEPS: Playing imported MKV files with Dolby Digital tracks
with -27db dialog normalization.

USABILITY: Can't play these particular files. I didn't discover this
problem until recently. I was demoing Sage to somebody and decided to use
the Planet Earth program. I have played it in the past on an earlier
firmware, and did not have this problem.

[paulbeers]

Well actually you aren't using the most recent firmware....

There were actually several beta firmwares and yesterday they moved the 10/05 beta firmware to an official release so I would really recommend trying those out because they have really made a ton of improvements over the last month. I would also recommend you subscribe to this thread:

http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=50840

They will notify you whenever a new update to the firmware of the HD300 is released so you can check to see if it fixes any issues you might have.

Oh and Beta firmwares are VERY stable. I run them as soon as they come out and if there is a major flaw (rare, but it does happen), usually within 24 hours there is a fix.

[jarredduq]

Originally Posted by paulbeers

Well actually you aren't using the most recent firmware....

There were actually several beta firmwares and yesterday they moved the 10/05 beta firmware to an official release so I would really recommend trying those out because they have really made a ton of improvements over the last month. I would also recommend you subscribe to this thread:

http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=50840

They will notify you whenever a new update to the firmware of the HD300 is released so you can check to see if it fixes any issues you might have.

Oh and Beta firmwares are VERY stable. I run them as soon as they come out and if there is a major flaw (rare, but it does happen), usually within 24 hours there is a fix.

I am running the latest firmware for a HD200. The updates on 10/5 were for the HD300.