Right, so my MC setup is pretty simple - Win 7x64 with Media Browser and LAV filters installed. I moved from my previous simple install of using the Haali splitter and AC3 filter (a tried and trusted setup which I used successfully for years!) - I don't like codec packs as I need stability for the WAF!
Anyhow, I got myself a receiver and 5.1 speakers, so went about setting it all up. I was having issues with getting audio to bitstream to my receiver via HDMI (all latest drivers, bios, tried the exclusive audio modes, 5.1 vs 2.0 in Media Centre as well as Windows audio properties to no avail).
Got fed up so, so did a clean install (needed to do that for a while anyways) and installed LAV filters. Set the HDMI audio bitstreaming, rebooted and receiver detected bitstream and decoded audio flawlessly for all my ripped films. But not for Live TV (or recorded TV) - Media Centre only outputs 2.0 PCM to my AV receiver.
I've done a bit of research and realise now that the HD channels on freeview are HE-AAC encoded, but I can seem to get Media Centre to bitstream any audio from any TV correctly (either HD or SD channels) - it all ends up in my receiver as 2.0 PCM. As mentioned, all ripped content bitstreams perfectly and my receiver decodes it fine.
What am I doing wrong?
Hardware wise, I'm using an Asus P8Z77-m Z77 motherboard with Intel sandy bridge i3 (with HD300 graphics) and a Blackgold 3620 Freeview HD tuner. All drivers are up-to-date, bios is up-to-date, I've tried all combinations of using Windows audio properties in exclusive mode, 2.0 and 5.1 as well as the speaker setup in WMC - but I've now run out of ideas!
Oh, and I did read a guide on using FFDshow tryouts for the audio component - but it looked a bit heavyweight for my needs and didn't know if it would play nicely with LAV, which I do quite like now...
5.1 sound from Live TV (Freeview UK)
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Muppetman
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StumpyBloke
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Check you don't have auto-volume enabled under tv settings.
Rich
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bobbob
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codec packs do the job nicely. no WAF problems. Shark007's been giving me bitstreamed audio for 3+ years now
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Muppetman
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Right, auto-volume is def turned off, so any other suggestions, please?
I REALLY don't want to go to a codec pack as my system plays everything I need and is completely stable for once....
I REALLY don't want to go to a codec pack as my system plays everything I need and is completely stable for once....
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richard1980
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Windows 7 only supports bitstreaming Dolby Digital, DTS, and Windows Media Audio. HE-AAC is not supported. Additionally, I'm not aware of any receivers that can even decode HE-AAC, so even if it was possible to bitstream from Windows, your receiver wouldn't be able to do anything with the bitstream. Therefore, the only option is for Windows to decode the audio.
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Pixelz
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As richard1980 says, the only option is to decode the FreeView HD 5.1 audio in Windows and send 6ch PCM to your receiver. I've found this works well for live TV if you disable allow-applications-exclusive-mode in control panel audio settings. But the significant downside is that you can't bitstream other supported HD audio formats like Dolby HD and DTS-MA until you enable exclusive mode again.