DTS/Dolby Digital pass-through from Sage DVD

[mcevers]

Someone else asked this in the forums yesterday, but it stands posting again. Is there some way to enable pass-through of the audio source from DVD playback, without passing it through a codec? If we have a sound card that supports spdif out, and a stereo system that supports DTS/Digital decoding, then we need to be able to configure Sage TV to do nothing to the signal. Either I am completely missing something, or there is no way to do this right now. I can install PowerDVD and it works fine when using that as the player, but no matter how I configure the audio renderer and audio decoder in Sage, the audio stream is decoded before passing through my spdif out. The result is that my stereo only does Dolby Pro-Logic.

[Narflex]

I'm looking for information on how this is done. If ANBODY has any information on this, PLEASE post it here. Thanks.

[White94Cobra]

This is a big one for me too. I've ripped a lot of my DVD's to DivX with AC3 audio. I have instant access to all of my movies, but I get no audio when playing them back via SageTV. It works fine in PowerDVD (except I get standard Dolby, instead of AC3). If Sage could pass-through the audio to my receiver, I could use SageTV for all of my HPTC stuff. Add a weather module and I could get rid of myHTPC!

[edmc]

Hmm... Just wanted to refer people to my other post at URL:

http://www.freytechnologies.com/foru...=9125#post9125

In short, for whatever reason, 5.1 passthru on the "default audio track" didn't work - even though SageTV reported that it was "English AC3 5.1". I "cycled" thru the various audio tracks and when I got back to the "English AC3 5.1" track, bingo!

Please be sure the Audio Filter you are using actually supports 5.1 (passthru or decoded). Audio Filters that come with the "stock" DVD Player S/W packages (e.g. the WinDVD that came with my DVD-ROM drive) don't have this feature.

One other point. For the C-Media 8738, you really have to hold your nose and run their silly mixer/config app and select 2-ch (yes, "2") and SP/DIF. Do not select "6-ch" - or any of the other speaker configurations.

That's it - hope my recipe works for everyone...

[corykim]

Will this help at all?

http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/hwdev/...o/Non-PCM.mspx

[JJarmoc]

Dolby Digital and DTS both work fine on my system.

However, my machine is based on an nforce2 motherboard. This thing outputs everything as dolby digital or DTS. It even re-encodes windows sounds though obviously they only play in the stereo speakers. What I suspect is happening is that sage is decoding the stream, and my hardware is re-encoding it. At any rate, it works fine.

The PQ from SageTV using the Intervideo filters is impressive as well. It looks every bit as good as WinDVD and/or PowerDVD.

My one complaint with DVD playback so far is that the Hauppage remote doesn't work. Also, the HUD seems to have some functions which don't work/apply, but that's not a big deal.

If only sage supported HD and allowed me to launch a web browser from a button, it'd easily be the only app on my HTPC.

[mcevers]

Originally posted by JJarmoc
Dolby Digital and DTS both work fine on my system.

However, my machine is based on an nforce2 motherboard. This thing outputs everything as dolby digital or DTS. It even re-encodes windows sounds though obviously they only play in the stereo speakers. What I suspect is happening is that sage is decoding the stream, and my hardware is re-encoding it. At any rate, it works fine.

The PQ from SageTV using the Intervideo filters is impressive as well. It looks every bit as good as WinDVD and/or PowerDVD.

My one complaint with DVD playback so far is that the Hauppage remote doesn't work. Also, the HUD seems to have some functions which don't work/apply, but that's not a big deal.

If only sage supported HD and allowed me to launch a web browser from a button, it'd easily be the only app on my HTPC.

Be that as it may, I too have a machine with nvidia nforce audio, and it doesn't work for me at all.

[JJarmoc]

mcevers -

There's some settings in the control panel that specify how the Nforce audio will function. There's an applet in control panel called 'Soundstorm' that's the place to start.

Once you get there, go to the 'speaker setup' tab. I can't remember my exact settings, but I'm fairly sure my only selected options there are 'Dolby Digital Encoding' and Digital Output.

Note that without Analog output selected everything sent from the PC will be in Dolby Digital format. This seems to work out alright for me as TV shows still sound like stereo or pro-logic, and windows sounds still sound stereo. It seems that although the sound is re-encoded, the actualy contents are unchanged which is, IMO, perfect.

If you'd like, I can post my exact Soundstorm and WinDVD settings when I get home. I suspect the WinDVD audio settings might also be affecting the Intervideo codec's properties, since it's part of that application. It definitely took me a little trial and error to get DTS/DD working through WinDVD, but once those settings were done, Sage (using the Intervideo audio codec) worked fine on my first attempt.

[jptaz]

An important thing to note about the intervideo DVD filters is that it depends on which version
you get. Some versions that come with DVD drives etc do not support multi channel bypass. The version of WinDVD that is used must specifically support Multi Channel. The version of WinDVD4 I got with my audio card which specifically supports multi channel since my M-audio card has multi channel analog output and SPIDIF out.

[rrussell]

Anyone with any solutions for a Via EPIA M9000?

It has a digital out, and you can configure the system sounds to go through the SPDIF line instead of the normal speaker outs.

So SageTV, for example, outputs its sound through the SPDIF line.

When I run PowerDVD, I can tell it to use the SPDIF out and it will send the digital/DTS audio to the receiver correctly.

When I play a DVD using SageTV, though, I don't get the DTS audio. If I change the disc to use Dolby 2.0 (if available) then I will get sound, but naturally DTS would be preferable...

[edmc]

> Anyone with any solutions for a Via EPIA M9000?

As important as which Audio Filter you select is which Audio Renderer you select. Have you tried all your options? Particularly, have you tried the Waveout selection(s)?

[rrussell]

No - I just left that as "default."

I'll try the others tonight. Thanks!

[laurenglenn]

Originally posted by JJarmoc
Dolby Digital and DTS both work fine on my system.

However, my machine is based on an nforce2 motherboard. This thing outputs everything as dolby digital or DTS. It even re-encodes windows sounds though obviously they only play in the stereo speakers. What I suspect is happening is that sage is decoding the stream, and my hardware is re-encoding it. At any rate, it works fine.

If only sage supported HD and allowed me to launch a web browser from a button, it'd easily be the only app on my HTPC.

I just got an Asus A7n8x Deluxe board with the Soundstorm system you mentioned. This is one great motherboard. It does Dolby Digital encoding in real-time, has built-in LAN, USB 2.0, Firewire, SerialATA. It does so much that the only card I have in there besides my AGP card is my PVR-250....

Anyway, the SoundStorm will play all sounds in Dolby Surround if you enable Dolby Surround encoding also and set your speaker configuration to 6 spreakers (5.1)

Lauren

[rrussell]

Lauren - does that mean when you play a DVD, the system decodes the Dolby 5.1 signal from the DVD, then the SoundStorm re-encodes it to pass out to the amp?

Crazy! I love it

[laurenglenn]

Originally posted by rrussell
Lauren - does that mean when you play a DVD, the system decodes the Dolby 5.1 signal from the DVD, then the SoundStorm re-encodes it to pass out to the amp?

Crazy! I love it

It does unless you select SPDIF in your DVD player. The sound is amazing on this board. Just think.... for the price of an Audigy 2 card, you can get an amazing motherboard, have all sounds in real-time Dolby Digital, and actually have a good chipset for an AMD motherboard instead of the VIA chipset which has given me nothing but problems.

Lauren

[corykim]

I also have an nVidia motherboard. I believe that if you do not export directly to SPDIF using your DVD player software, SoundStorm will simulate 5.1 based on a stereo signal. For instance, when I play a DVD through Sage (which does not have direct SPDIF output), my audio imaging is incorrect.

[mcevers]

Narflex please respond and everyone else chill unless you can send screen shots of settings or pictures with proof that this is capable of working properly...

Several people responding to this thread seem to be totally missing the point, and others indicate fixes that either seem unbelievable or are otherwise not duplicated on two of my PC's under test.

Using either a Creative Labs SB Live card or a motherboard with integrated Nvidia Nforce audio, both having pure SPDIF digital outputs, I can install either PowerDVD 4.x or 5.x and play any DTS encoded DVD perfectly, in pure DTS, by outputting the raw digital signal from my sound chip directly to a Pioneer Home Theater Receiver that THEN decodes the raw signal to DTS via the PowerDVD's ability to do this signal "pass-through" without running the signal through and encoder.

In theory, I should be able to set SageTV up to play DVD's using the PowerDVD "codec" and somehow still be able to use this "pass-through" capability. Currently there is no setting in Sage (nor in Media Player) to do this.

Some people responding to this thread seem to think all I am after is a signal being passed through the SPDIF and still broadcast through a stereo system. The difference between qualities of Dolby Pro-Logic, which is the best I can currently achieve with Sage, vs. DTS, which is what I can achieve when I use PowerDVD, are like comparing night with day.

If anyone has figured out how to do this, and they are certain that:

1. Their home theater receiver SUPPORTS DTS...
2. The DTS light comes on when they play a DTS encoded DVD inside of the Sage DVD player

...then I and many others would like clear instructions on how they got it to work and if necessary, some screen shots.

Since there also seems to be no way to enable this feature in Media Player, then I would assume there is a feature that needs to be added to Sage to make this work properly....

[justme]

The difference between qualities of Dolby Pro-Logic, which is the best I can currently achieve with Sage, vs. DTS

Are you saying you can't get Dolby Digital encoded DVD's to playback using their native 5.1 encoding?
Yes I know the difference between "Dolby Digital" and "DTS". I think most of the confusion comes from the unfornate name of "Dolby Digital". It can easily lead someone who is using a SPDIF and listening to a Dolby Pro Logic soundtrack to beleive that is Dolby Digital. Actually my Amp only Supports "Dolby Digital" and not "DTS". Still I don't find this to be an issue since most DVD's come in "Dolby Digital". Until recently it was hard to find a DVD that even had DTS as an option.

So to expand mcevers question...
Has anyone gotten their AMP's "Dolby Digital" signal light to come on while playing back a 5.1* Dolby Digital DVD?

*Please ensure it is truely a 5.1 encoding as "Dolby Digital" can be used for stereo thru to 5.1 channels.

[mcevers]

If the Dolby Digital light or the DTS indicator doesn't light up on the amp, then all the amp is doing is turning the signal it is receiving over the SPDIF connector into a Pro-Logic signal.

That is NOT the desired behavior. Sage forces a setting for audio decoder. It should have the ability to ignore this setting and leave the audio signal untouched during DVD playback.

It doesn't matter much to me if I have to install a DVD software application that allows the feature to work properly, so long as Sage allows the pass through feature to work once an enabling player is installed. Ideally, of course, if Frey can figure out how to provide this pass-through capability without the need for another software application, that would be the best-case scenario.

It isn't much of a "Home Theater PC" if it doesn't sound like one. If this application is going to be a central point for all the entertainment features, the user shouldn't have to install and use another DVD application to enable true home theater sound as can be found on most of today's DVD's.

[edmc]

mcevers> Narflex please respond and everyone else chill unless you can send screen shots of settings or pictures with proof that this is capable of working properly...

justme> Setting aside DTS for a second.

justme> Are you saying you can't get Dolby Digital encoded DVD's to playback using their native 5.1 encoding?

Ignoring mcevers request that I just chill unless I can prove via screenshots that I'm getting 5.1 passthru, let me 2nd justme's comment.

I can assure you that I am getting 5.1 DD thru to my receiver. Yes, the light comes on. Seems to me no screen shot would prove that incidently :-) Are you asking me to take a picture of my Receiver's DD light? As I'm sure your aware, no amount of proof would be irrefutable by such logic.

But justme makes a great point. I also only have a DD-capable Receiver. DTS is not parsed by my Denon AVR-3200. But DD most certainly is. I cannot tell the difference between the audio sent via SageTV w/ PowerDVD Audio, ZoomPlayer w/ PowerDVD Audio, PowerDVD GUI directly, nor stand-alone AC3-capable DVD player.

Want proof - I give up there...

I will say this. To get 5.1 DD out of the PowerDVD Audio filters in ZoomPlayer, I needed to explicitly request that on the DVD Tab in ZoomPlayer Options. mcevers is quite correct that no such specific control seems available in Sage. What worked for me was to "cycle thru the Audio Tracks" just one time. Ever since then, Sage always plays the 5.1 DD track which my Receiver gets via the motherboard-based C-Media 8738 device's SP/DIF output.

Try playing around with the Control Panel of your driver. For me, I needed to both select 2-ch and SP/DIF. Yes, I said 2-ch, not the 5.1 option also on the C-Media Control Panel.

But please don't ask me for proof - unless you want to come over to Pleasanton for a demo :-). I know how frustration can make a skeptic out of anybody - I've been there many times...