Audio Bitstreaming Question

[notverysage]

I was having a problem when streaming to my HD300 that the audio was being output as (as far as I can tell) analog stereo, so the green LED's on the back of my subwoofers wouldn't light up and there was no sound to the back speakers and the audio just sucked. So I solved that problem by downloading the Shark007 Codecs for Windows 7 32 bit and going to the audio tab and turning on bitstreaming so now audio to the HD300 (and from there to my AVR) is digital and works great. But with this setup in order to get audio when watching something on the server computer, I have to open up the Shark007 Settings Application and go to the audio tab and turn off bitstreaming, otherwise I get no audio. This process of manually switching - audio bitstreaming on when streaming to the HD300, audio bitstreaming off when watching on the server - works but is a bit cumbersome. Anyone know of a way to make this work a little more seamlessly? Thanks for any help.

[routerunner]

I was having a problem when streaming to my HD300 that the audio was being output as (as far as I can tell) analog stereo, so the green LED's on the back of my subwoofers wouldn't light up and there was no sound to the back speakers and the audio just sucked.

I'm not sure whether I understood your problem fully. AFAIK you don't need any extra codec on your server to play bitstream audio on your HD300 as the bitstream support is something you set on you HD300 in standalone mode. I do need a special codec in my server called "Virtual Audio Cable", but just because my motherboard is a pure server mobo which hasn't got any audio hardware and sage needs an audio hardware device to startup properly, all my playback is done via extenders.

If you are using you server as playback device as well then yes, you need a DirectShow filter to get bitstream audio locally, but definitevely not for the HD300, unless I'm missing something really big in the picture.

[Naylia]

The settings/codecs on your server won't matter for playback from the HD300. My question is how is your HD300 connected to your AVR? Are you using HDMI? Can you map out a little what devices you have, how they are connected together, and using what types of cables?

[notverysage]

The HD300 is connected to the AVR via HDMI cable. On the HD300, audio output is set to HDMI 1.3 HD Audio Bitstream.

[notverysage]

In experimenting with this a little more the conclusion I come to is that there is nothing wrong with my setup; the problem is that a huge amount of local over-the-air TV is being broadcast with stereo audio! So while 60 Minutes, Glee, SNL and Pan Am have 5.1, everything on the local PBS station (News Hour, Nova, Nature, Frontline, Masterpiece) is broadcast in stereo, as is The Tonight Show on NBC. This sucks.

[Naylia]

for figuring it out.

for lazy broadcasters.

[jarredduq]

Originally Posted by notverysage

In experimenting with this a little more the conclusion I come to is that there is nothing wrong with my setup; the problem is that a huge amount of local over-the-air TV is being broadcast with stereo audio! So while 60 Minutes, Glee, SNL and Pan Am have 5.1, everything on the local PBS station (News Hour, Nova, Nature, Frontline, Masterpiece) is broadcast in stereo, as is The Tonight Show on NBC. This sucks.

Can't your AVR take the stereo audio and output it as Dolby Pro Logic, or is your station sending the audio as 5.1 and only using the left and right channel? I had a station doing that, and in that case the AVR can't downmix to prologic.

My local PBS station does not have 5.1 capability and sends every thing as stereo. However, my AVR outputs it as Dolby ProLogic II, and my sub and rear speakers work fine.