Audio playing in PCM mode not Dolby DIgital

[TonyT]

I am very new to media PC but have figured most of it out but I cannot get anything to play Dolby Digital through Sage TV. It will only play PCM. I have tried different decoders but nothing seems to make it change. If I play a DVD through Win Media player Dolby digital works fine but through SageTV it come out PCM. I have set the audio and video to play through HDMI and set this as the default so that all software sees the same devices. I am guessing it might be a problem between the keyboard and the chair.
Can anyone help?
Thanks in advance.

[mitchedo]

I had to download AC3Filter to get my Sage server to output Dolby 5.1


http://ac3filter.net

[gplasky]

ac3 filter (not the latest version) is installed with SageTV. You can choose that within Sage detailed setup and config AC3 thru the exe in the SageTV directory. ac3 should not be required for HDMI audio.

TonyT-make sure in Detailed Setup you pick the HDMI audio output for your device. (Like if you used ATI it should show as a device choice in HD Audio Decoder filter.) ANd make sure your video/audio device that is providing your HD audio has the latest drivers and is configured properly.

Gerry

[TonyT]

Thanks Gerry and Mitch

@Mitch - that site you sent me to had 3 trojans according to Norton.

@ Gerry, I ensured I have the latest drivers for my Video and Audio. I set the Audio rendering to the right one for my device and set audio playback to AC3, yes Sage has AC3. My amp/tuner still says that I am getting PCM out. It's 5.1 but doesn't sound as good as Dolby. I think it's a Sage TV problem because I can play a DVD using Windows Media Player and I get Dolby digital on my Amp/tuner. Play the same DVD through Sage TV and get PCM out.
I have tried so many different combinations of Rendering and filters and none of them give me Dolby.
Perhaps this might help to give advice. I am using ATI Radeon HD 4670 on Win7 64 bit. I have downloaded the latest Realtek driver and ATI CCC with drivers. In the Detailed set up for SageTV I have tried combinations of all of the following settings and I still get PCM on the Amp.
Audio Renderer: Realtek HDMI Output or Direct Sound;Realtek HDMI Output
MPEG2: AC3Filter or Default
HD AUdio : AC3Filter or Default
HD Sudio Output either Enabled or DIsabled
In Win 7 I am going into Control Panel; Hardware and Sound; Manage Audio Devices and finding the ATI HDMI output. Right click on that and set up speakers to 5.1 surround. Is this where I am going wrong, before I did this I only got stereo out of Sage TV?
Any ideas?
Thanks
Tony

[Fuzzy]

If you are doing DVD playback, be advised that there is a separate set of decoder/renderer settings in Detailed Setup -> DVD.

[TonyT]

Yes Fuzzy, tried all the different setting there too. Still get PCM out.

[Fuzzy]

How is AC3Filter configured? You should have it set to either Passthrough AC3, or encode AC3. Also, make sure you have it set to digital output.

[TonyT]

I cannot find out where to configure the AC3Filter. I looked in the SageTV program files and can't find the .exe to do that.
Thanks for helping

[TonyT]

Fuzzy, I found it. Must be blind. I am not sure how to set it up. I set the output to dolby but couldn't find where to set passthrough or encode AC3. Rebooted system and still getting PCM out. This is a drag.

[Fuzzy]

Ideally, you'd set your Output Format for the number of channels you've got (3/2+SW for 5.1). Then, make sure you check Use SPDIF (this makes it use the digital output on the sound card). Under the SPDIF tab, this is where you can enable passthrough modes (AC3, DTS, MPEG Audio). If you don't want AC3Filter processing the audio at all, and sending the original AC3 and DTS streams to the receiver, select AC3 and DTS (very few receivers support MPEG audio, so leave that unchecked). Under SPDIF options, you can enable the AC3 Encoder (which will take non-passthrough audio, and encode it on the fly to AC3, to be sent to the receiver). I'd also recommend selecting 'Show Tray Icon' on the system tab to allow getting into these windows when playing back, where you can monitor what it is doing, and tweak settings on the fly.

[TonyT]

Fuzzy, if I could hug you I would. Pity you live so far away because I owe you a beer. Thanks so much.
It works now and I haven't blown my money and time building this thing for nothing.
Thanks again

[Fuzzy]

Buy Me a Beer!

I always keep that link handy.. ;-) I love the internet!

[TonyT]

Several beers are on their way. Thanks again

[mitchedo]

Originally Posted by gplasky

ac3 filter (not the latest version) is installed with SageTV. You can choose that within Sage detailed setup and config AC3 thru the exe in the SageTV directory. ac3 should not be required for HDMI audio.

Gerry

Aw crap. I wish I'da known that. Hopefully Norton was being overly protective about the site and I didn't get any bad nasties.

It sure would be nice if configurations for SageTV were all available from within SageTV. I tried and tried and tried to get DD 5.1 out SPDIF (since the ATI 4200 won't send it out HDMI), and nothing worked until I downloaded that (hopefully safe) file.

[Fuzzy]

well, the problem is, being a directshow program, there are plenty of settings that simply cannot be controlled by sage. In a perfect world, you would only ahve the codecs installed on your system that you intend to use, and sage could be set to all defaults, and everything will just be handled by DirectShow. unfortunately, in the days of code packs and over-zealous filters, this isn't the case.

[mitchedo]

Originally Posted by TonyT

Thanks Gerry and Mitch

@Mitch - that site you sent me to had 3 trojans according to Norton.

I visited the site from the wife's new laptop that has Norton Internet Security. I downloaded ac3filter and Norton says it's safe. Here's what Norton has to say about the web site:


Viruses (what's this?)

Threats found: 3
Here is a complete list: (for more information about a specific threat, click on the Threat Name below)
Threat Name: Trojan Horse
Location: http://dimonius.ac3filter.net/soft/TigerPad_3.5.2.zip


Threat Name: Trojan Horse
Location: http://www.dimonius.ru/soft/TigerPad_3.5.2.zip


Threat Name: Direct link to Trojan Horse
Location: http://dimonius.ac3filter.net/?tigerpad

[gplasky]

Is this where you tried to download it from?
AC3 1.63b

That's the full install. No viruses detected by MS Security Essentials or AVG.

Gerry

[tvmaster2]

Originally Posted by Fuzzy

Ideally, you'd set your Output Format for the number of channels you've got (3/2+SW for 5.1). Then, make sure you check Use SPDIF (this makes it use the digital output on the sound card). Under the SPDIF tab, this is where you can enable passthrough modes (AC3, DTS, MPEG Audio). If you don't want AC3Filter processing the audio at all, and sending the original AC3 and DTS streams to the receiver, select AC3 and DTS (very few receivers support MPEG audio, so leave that unchecked). Under SPDIF options, you can enable the AC3 Encoder (which will take non-passthrough audio, and encode it on the fly to AC3, to be sent to the receiver). I'd also recommend selecting 'Show Tray Icon' on the system tab to allow getting into these windows when playing back, where you can monitor what it is doing, and tweak settings on the fly.

I'm trying to get 5.1 audio to my receiver, but if I use the AC3 filter, I lose control of the MUTE and VOLUME controls in Sage 7. Any idea what I may be doing wrong, or is that the way it is - aka AC3 kills use of Mute?

[gplasky]

If you have AC3 set for pass thru mode then it is your receiver that controls the volume and mute. And please have this problem in one post or thread instead of 5 different posts. If someone has an answer it's easier to answer it in one post.

Gerry

[Fuzzy]

Originally Posted by gplasky

If you have AC3 set for pass thru mode then it is your receiver that controls the volume and mute. And please have this problem in one post or thread instead of 5 different posts. If someone has an answer it's easier to answer it in one post.

Gerry

To go along with this, ideally, you'd have your remote control the receiver volume exclusively. this will result in MUCH better audio quality, as nothing is digitally manipulated, it is instead just send out original, and then volume adjustment applied in the final analog stage after all processing is done.