Problem With Audio Dialog (Surround Sound Problem)

[rdsherwood]

I am using SageTV 6.4 on an older Dell desktop running Windows XP, and an HDHomerun Tuner. I'm using the PC's internal audio card (SoundMax Digital Audio), and running a cable from the analog audio out jack on the PC to the analog audio in of the television. The television has stereo speakers built in.

My problem is, audio on most commercials, and some television shows, is fine. But on others, the dialog (i.e. the people talking) is very quiet. I have to turn the volume way up to hear it. But then the other sounds (music, etc.) and the commercials come blasting in.

I suspect the problem is with shows that are being broadcast in surround-sound. Somewhere along the way, it's not being converted to stereo sound, so it's expecting a center channel, but of course the output of the audio card on the PC just has left and right, no center channel. So I'm losing my center channel dialog. I tried using some external powered PC speakers in place of the television's speakers, and got the same results.

I've looked all over SageTV for a possible setting, and can't find anything. In the "Sound and Audio" settings in Windows XP's control panel, there is a setting in the "Advanced" settings for speaker type, and I've tried all of the options, it makes no difference.

Can anyone help me out with a way of working around this, or do I need a different audio card that can work around this problem? Of course connecting it to a surround-sound system would fix the problem, but right now it's connected to a living room television, not a home theater, so that's not a solution I really want to pursue.

[rdsherwood]

Anybody have any ideas or suggestions on this?

[Razillian]

In my experience, 5.1 is generally quieter than stereo. One thing to look at is the audio properties in Windows itself. Make sure that in the Advanced Audio properties you have the speaker settings set to a stereo output mode.

Also, what audio decoder are you using within Sage? The AC3 filter has settings to raise volume level for specific content, you could try playing with that as well.

[JeffShap]

Hi! I'm having the exact same problem and think I finally found a post that will help us:

http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=28946

I'm guessing like you are that the dialog is quiet because it's sending out that portion of the audio to a center channel speaker that we don't have (I'm using PC audio out from my Dell also). Hopefully playing with the AC3 settings will correct the problem.

Good luck,

Jeff