SageTV & HD Audio

[dbone1026]

Originally Posted by babgvant

It does - and in a sub-optimal config.

Ah...just checked my SageTV folder and I now see AC3Filter. Will mess around with the settings to see what I can accomplish

[dbone1026]

@ Andy,

Does your bitstreaming work 100% for you? Here are my results from my BluRay mkvs:

- Some of my mkvs pass through the TrueHD or DTS(MA). However, when they do there is an audio delay
- Other mkvs will not pass through TrueHD or DTS(MA), just stereo. When I get stereo there is no audio delay
- If I keep EnableSageTVStreamDemux(DWORD) = 1 then I get no HD Audio bitstreaming. If I set this to zero and use MatroskaSplitter I get HD Audio (so it appears the internal SageTV splitter does not support HD audio)

Below are the settings I chose, any ideas if I am missing something?

I set EnableSageTVStreamDemux(DWORD) = 0 in the registry

Below is a screenshot of AC3Filter. I have never used this utility before. The only option I changed was on the system tab. I unchecked all "Use AC3Filter for:" options and set "Filter merit" to Prefer other decoder



In your Graph Plugin for mkv I set MatroskaSplitter.ax as the Filter, for codecs I assigned FFDShow Audio Decoder to DTS and TrueHD, and I assigned MPCVideoDec.ax to VC-1





In SageTV I assigned MS DTV-DVD Video Decoder to H.264 and kept all other options at the default settings

http://img594.imageshack.us/img594/5...ailedsetup.jpg

[babgvant]

Originally Posted by dbone1026

Does your bitstreaming work 100% for you? Here are my results from my BluRay mkvs:

I always get HD audio if the file has it.

Originally Posted by dbone1026

- Some of my mkvs pass through the TrueHD or DTS(MA). However, when they do there is an audio delay
- Other mkvs will not pass through TrueHD or DTS(MA), just stereo. When I get stereo there is no audio delay
- If I keep EnableSageTVStreamDemux(DWORD) = 1 then I get no HD Audio bitstreaming. If I set this to zero and use MatroskaSplitter I get HD Audio (so it appears the internal SageTV splitter does not support HD audio)

Below are the settings I chose, any ideas if I am missing something?

I set EnableSageTVStreamDemux(DWORD) = 0 in the registry

I think it does support HD audio, but uses the correct media types (I submitted a patch to ffdshow for this and haven't heard back) instead of pretending TrueHD is AC3 and letting the decoder figure it out by parsing the stream.

Originally Posted by dbone1026

Below is a screenshot of AC3Filter. I have never used this utility before. The only option I changed was on the system tab. I unchecked all "Use AC3Filter for:" options and set "Filter merit" to Prefer other decoder

regsvr32 ac3filter.ax /u (from an escalated cmd prompt)

Originally Posted by dbone1026

In your Graph Plugin for mkv I set MatroskaSplitter.ax as the Filter, for codecs I assigned FFDShow Audio Decoder to DTS and TrueHD, and I assigned MPCVideoDec.ax to VC-1

Source filters can't be manipulated using GT. You should be able to do what you want but it will require that MKVs are split using a separate demux using the generic file source filter. That's a reasonable complex thing to setup, and unless Haali fixed a bug in its "AR" filter the hosting process will crash when the filter is destroyed.

[dbone1026]

OK, so I unregistered AC3Filter.ax and removed MatroskaSplitter.ax from being referenced in GT. So my results are as follows:

- TrueHD does not work at all, all I get is Stereo
- DTS(MA) is a mixed bag. In all cases where DTS(MA) plays it plays with an audio delay. However, it a majority of the cases it appears that SageTV 7 does not respect the forced track flag and instead default to my secondary Ac3 track that I created for each mkv (because of the HD200). I have to manually switch to the DTS(MA) track which then freezes playback. Once I skip a chapter everything plays with the DTS(MA), with the audio delay of course.

[babgvant]

Originally Posted by dbone1026

OK, so I unregistered AC3Filter.ax and removed MatroskaSplitter.ax from being referenced in GT. So my results are as follows:

- TrueHD does not work at all, all I get is Stereo
- DTS(MA) is a mixed bag. In all cases where DTS(MA) plays it plays with an audio delay. However, it a majority of the cases it appears that SageTV 7 does not respect the forced track flag and instead default to my secondary Ac3 track that I created for each mkv (because of the HD200). I have to manually switch to the DTS(MA) track which then freezes playback. Once I skip a chapter everything plays with the DTS(MA), with the audio delay of course.

Sounds like you're using the native mkv splitter. I've had lots of problems with it, you should send in bug reports for the broken stuff. You can confirm what splitter is being used by looking at the client debug log.

I've had the best results with Haali.

[dbone1026]

Originally Posted by babgvant

Sounds like you're using the native mkv splitter. I've had lots of problems with it, you should send in bug reports for the broken stuff. You can confirm what splitter is being used by looking at the client debug log.

I've had the best results with Haali.

I will test out with Haali. So if I install Haali and set EnableSageTVStreamDemux(DWORD) = 1 SageTV v7 will automatically use Haali? More testing tomorrow!!!

[babgvant]

Originally Posted by dbone1026

I will test out with Haali. So if I install Haali and set EnableSageTVStreamDemux(DWORD) = 1 SageTV v7 will automatically use Haali? More testing tomorrow!!!

It should provided that you delete the virtual store version of that key/value.

[dbone1026]

Originally Posted by babgvant

It should provided that you delete the virtual store version of that key/value.

Hi Andy,

Can you be a little more specific, what key/value should be deleted and what do you mean by the virtual store version?

Also, did you encounter an audio delay or maybe it is just the SageTV mkv splitter that is causing the delay?

Thanks a lot for your help. I am a WMC guy so getting bitstreaming to work properly is one must for me if I am to consider moving over to SageTV eventually.

[babgvant]

Originally Posted by dbone1026

Hi Andy,

Can you be a little more specific, what key/value should be deleted and what do you mean by the virtual store version?

The virtual store is where reg values set by applications that don't follow the rules for not writing to HKLM end up. I mentioned the location here.

Originally Posted by dbone1026

Also, did you encounter an audio delay or maybe it is just the SageTV mkv splitter that is causing the delay?

I saw A/V sync issues with the native splitter.

[dbone1026]

Originally Posted by babgvant

The virtual store is where reg values set by applications that don't follow the rules for not writing to HKLM end up. I mentioned the location here.



I saw A/V sync issues with the native splitter.

But what key are you talking about? Are you talking about deleting "EnableSageTVStreamDemux"? Apologies if these questions are stupid, I don't usually mess around with my Registry and don't want to blindly delete something and risk messing up my system.

[babgvant]

Originally Posted by dbone1026

But what key are you talking about? Are you talking about deleting "EnableSageTVStreamDemux"? Apologies if these questions are stupid, I don't usually mess around with my Registry and don't want to blindly delete something and risk messing up my system.

NP.

I think the virtual store works at a key level so the best thing to do is go to

HKEY_USERS\{SID}_Classes\VirtualStore\MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Frey Technologies\Common

- right-click on "DirectShow" and select "Export"
- delete "DirectShow"
- open the .reg file you created in NotePad and replace "HKEY_USERS\{SID}_Classes\VirtualStore\MACHINE" with "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE" then save it
- make sure EnableSageTVStreamDemux = 0
- double-click the reg file to import it into the registry

[dbone1026]

Originally Posted by babgvant

NP.

I think the virtual store works at a key level so the best thing to do is go to

HKEY_USERS\{SID}_Classes\VirtualStore\MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Frey Technologies\Common

- right-click on "DirectShow" and select "Export"
- delete "DirectShow"
- open the .reg file you created in NotePad and replace "HKEY_USERS\{SID}_Classes\VirtualStore\MACHINE" with "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE" then save it
- make sure EnableSageTVStreamDemux = 0
- double-click the reg file to import it into the registry

I think this is where my confusion is. There is no VirtualStore Frey Technologies entry in that location. The only area where I have this information in my registry is:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Frey Technologies\Common\Directshow

So it sounds like what you are saying I already have so there is nothing to delete?

[babgvant]

Originally Posted by dbone1026

I think this is where my confusion is. There is no VirtualStore Frey Technologies entry in that location. The only area where I have this information in my registry is:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Frey Technologies\Common\Directshow

So it sounds like what you are saying I already have so there is nothing to delete?

Do you have UAC disabled?

Just in case there was some confusion {SID} is a placeholder for your account's SID.

[dbone1026]

Originally Posted by babgvant

Do you have UAC disabled?

Just in case there was some confusion {SID} is a placeholder for your account's SID.

Yes, UAC is disabled

I was also able to locate the correct SID in the reg key. There is no VirtualMachine folder under the HKEY_USERS\{SID}_Classes in my registry. The only reference to Frey that shows anywhere is in the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Frey Technologies\Common\Directshow.

[babgvant]

Originally Posted by dbone1026

Yes, UAC is disabled

In that case NM

The VS won't get used because the application will have rights to HKLM.

As for why it's not working that's curious. I didn't have to do anything crazy to make it work w/ V6 or V7, just using Haali and installing/configuring ffdshow was enough. Since you don't want to use AC3Filter you shouldn't need the GraphPlugins, just set ffdshow as the default audio filter in the UI and it should work if Haali is installed and the default demux is disabled*.

Make sure debug logging is enabled to make the client log file and we can have a look at what filters are getting loaded.

* Longer term, since Sage is committed to native MKV support it is best to find bugs and submit them so everything works properly.

[dbone1026]

Hey Andy,

I am half way there! So I unregistered ac3filter.ax, set EnableSageTVStreamDemux = 0, installed the latest Haali (5/20/10), and with your Graph Tool assigned FFDShow Audio Decoder to DTS and TrueHD.

So the good news, TrueHD mkvs play flawless, full bitstreaming. I no longer get that audio sync issue I was having so I think this tells me that Haali and not the internal SageTV splitter is being used. On the other hand DTS(MA) mkvs stutter terribly, completely unwatchable. I am wondering if this is an issue with Haali? When you talk about setting FFDShow Audio decoder as the default in SageTV are you talking about the option "MPEG2 Audio Decoder Filter" in the Video/Audio Settings? If so I can clear out the graph settings and instead set this and see if I get the same problems.

So half way home

And I will definitely log a bug once I am done getting this all sorted out.

[babgvant]

Originally Posted by dbone1026

When you talk about setting FFDShow Audio decoder as the default in SageTV are you talking about the option "MPEG2 Audio Decoder Filter" in the Video/Audio Settings?

Yep. You can also close the client exe and edit the properties file to set a filter per codec (TrueHD, DTSMA, etc) in the videoframe section.

[dbone1026]

Originally Posted by babgvant

Yep. You can also close the client exe and edit the properties file to set a filter per codec (TrueHD, DTSMA, etc) in the videoframe section.

OK, I deleted TrueHD and DTS from your graph plugin and set MPEG2 Audio Decoder Filter = FFDShow Audio Decoder. Same results, TrueHD plays flasless, DTS-MA unplayable (cuts in and out every 2 seconds). I am guessing this is a Haali issue? I don't use Haali in any other instance.

Do you think there is an easy way to get SageTV to use MPCs splitter (MatroskaSplitter.ax) install of Haali to confirm for sure that Haali is the problem?

[babgvant]

Originally Posted by dbone1026

Do you think there is an easy way to get SageTV to use MPCs splitter (MatroskaSplitter.ax) install of Haali to confirm for sure that Haali is the problem?

If you uninstall Haali and regsvr32 the MPC-HC filter it should work. The problem with the stock MPC-HC filter is that it exposes all of the audio pins. You can test this by rendering the MKV in GraphStudio.

One thing that you can try to confirm if Haali is the issue is to render the file in GraphStudio with Haali.

I haven't tried the native demux in 7.10, once they get that all sorted you shouldn't have to go through all this trouble.

BTW, have you tried M2TS with Sage? I was using MKV for most of my files until they added audio stream selection w/ M2TS. If you drop a SRT file with the same name as the M2TS file in the folder Sage will use that for subs.

[dbone1026]

Originally Posted by babgvant

If you uninstall Haali and regsvr32 the MPC-HC filter it should work. The problem with the stock MPC-HC filter is that it exposes all of the audio pins. You can test this by rendering the MKV in GraphStudio.

One thing that you can try to confirm if Haali is the issue is to render the file in GraphStudio with Haali.

I haven't tried the native demux in 7.10, once they get that all sorted you shouldn't have to go through all this trouble.

BTW, have you tried M2TS with Sage? I was using MKV for most of my files until they added audio stream selection w/ M2TS. If you drop a SRT file with the same name as the M2TS file in the folder Sage will use that for subs.

With Haali installed I rendered a graph in Graphstudio, all looks good. Microsoft DTV Video Decoder and FFDShow Audio decoder all linked up. I tried using the "connect to remote graph" feature in Graphstudio while SageTV was playing back a troublesome DTS(MA) mkv but Graphstudio could not connect.

I then uninstalled Haali and registered MatroskaSplitter.ax. Doing this takes me back to the original problems (TrueHD I only get DD and DTS(MA) I can the 2 sec audio delay and I have to actually select the DTS(MA) audio track). This leads me to believe that with MatroskaSplitter.ax registered SageTV is still using its internal splitter as these are the exact I had with just the SageTV splitter. I will definitely make a log as ideally the SageTV splitter + FFDShow would ideally be the solution. I should mention this testing is with 7.10

I have a few m2ts but been moving away from them because they do not support chapters