WMC Passthrough settings

[russds]

I'm stumped. I can't seem to tell Windows/WMC to just send audio to my AVR (passthrough).

My setup is this:

HTPC --> ONKYO AVR --> TV (HDMI on each).

What I can't figure out is what settings I should use in Windows (Control Panel -> Sounds) and WMC (Settings -> ?) so that my AVR will receive the source audio format, and output accordingly. I know that my HTPC can do it, I've installed Plex Home Theater, and it works perfect, I choose a Movie, and the AVR says (input: DTS), I choose a TV station and the AVR says Input: "Dolby D", etc. But when I use WMC, the AVR always says Input: "Multich PCM 5.1". So it appears I'm getting 5.1 channels, but WMC is doing the audio conversion, where I would like just just send the audio unfiltered/passthrough to the AVR.

Anyone with experience with this? I'm fairly new to this, and might be missing something.

Thanks!
-Russ

[Crash2009]

Try these settings

http://www.dslreports.com/faq/7363

[joecrow]

Try these settings

http://www.dslreports.com/faq/7363

Maybe I'm missing something but that link does not appear to be relavent!

[russds]

Try these settings

http://www.dslreports.com/faq/7363

Maybe I'm missing something but that link does not appear to be relavent!

Thank you, but that appears to be a list of modern settings, wrong link maybe?

[Crash2009]

oops!

http://www.thegreenbutton.tv/forums/vie ... 092#p85092

try this one.

[russds]

oops!

http://www.thegreenbutton.tv/forums/vie ... 092#p85092

try this one.

Oh, terrific, this is an excellent write up. I'll do these settings tonight. Little question on number 2:

2. WMC is attempting to play a DD, DTS, or WMA Pro stream.

Is there a way to know what WMC is attempting to play? When I put it on a TV station, there's a "Dolby Audio" logo that shows in the information area, but I'm not sure if that is what WMC is attempting to play, and also not sure about the movies, and other stuff, is there a way to see what WMC is attempting to play (audio wise)?

Thanks!

[Crash2009]

you would have to ask Newfiend, Richard, or others for an answer to that one. I do my sound differently, compared to most.

[mcewinter]

You might want to double check to see if auto volume got turned on somehow. Found seperately in DVD and TV settings. Audio pass through should work without any set up. Chances are that some setting(s) got mucked up.

You didn't give much of history in your OP. Is this a new build? New AVR? Old set up and things went awry somehow?

[russds]

You might want to double check to see if auto volume got turned on somehow. Found seperately in DVD and TV settings. Audio pass through should work without any set up. Chances are that some setting(s) got mucked up.

You didn't give much of history in your OP. Is this a new build? New AVR? Old set up and things went awry somehow?

Yeah, I'm going to check "Auto Volume", that's something I may have messed with. Sorry for lack of history, I was just trying to keep it concise. This is pretty much a new setup, the new part being the AVR and general paying-attention-of audio. I've been using WMC/HD Home Run Prime/MakeMKV/Handbrake/Shark007 for some time now, but just recently added an AVR (5.1) to the mix, and therefore started to pay attention to how the audio is handled on all those things.

Thanks!

[richard1980]

Is there a way to know what WMC is attempting to play? When I put it on a TV station, there's a "Dolby Audio" logo that shows in the information area, but I'm not sure if that is what WMC is attempting to play, and also not sure about the movies, and other stuff, is there a way to see what WMC is attempting to play (audio wise)?

Thanks!

It depends on the source. For TV it's either DD or PCM. DVD depends on what audio tracks are included on the DVD and which audio track you have selected. Obviously if you select the DD track, WMC is going to use the DD track. But if you select the DTS track (if there is one), then WMC is going to use the DTS track. The same is true for any other files you try to play.

[mcewinter]

You might want to double check to see if auto volume got turned on somehow. Found seperately in DVD and TV settings. Audio pass through should work without any set up. Chances are that some setting(s) got mucked up.

You didn't give much of history in your OP. Is this a new build? New AVR? Old set up and things went awry somehow?

Yeah, I'm going to check "Auto Volume", that's something I may have messed with. Sorry for lack of history, I was just trying to keep it concise. This is pretty much a new setup, the new part being the AVR and general paying-attention-of audio. I've been using WMC/HD Home Run Prime/MakeMKV/Handbrake/Shark007 for some time now, but just recently added an AVR (5.1) to the mix, and therefore started to pay attention to how the audio is handled on all those things.

Thanks!

More settings reside in the audio properties...right click on your volume control and select playback. Perhaps you tinkered with something in there previously.

[russds]

Hmmm,

I think I've tried everything, these are the settings I've got. I've restarted a few times, and tried changing them around, but come back to this, yet still can't seem to get WMC to open the 'pipeline' to the audio card. It appears Windows is setup correctly, because Plex Home Theater works perfectly. Yet, I can't seem to get WMC to use the 'Exclusive' mode on the Audio card, it just doesn't seem to kick in. Any other ideas?

Windows -> Control Panel --> Sounds --> Exclusive enabled, Stereo (2.0) Setup
WMC -> Settings -> DVD -> Audio -> Auto Volume Off
WMC -> Settings -> Setup WMC --> Setup Speakers --> 5.1
WMC -> Settings -> TV --> Audio --> Auto Volume Off

[mcewinter]

Right click on the volume control. Select playback devices. Highlight your audio and click properties. Go to the supported formats tab.
Make sure all boxes are checked in the top portion. The bottom portion should only have 48.0 kHz checked.

It's possible that you can't make changes on that tab when using HDMI but it's worth a look.

[Crash2009]

Not sure how you would accomplish this but....Have you looked in to adjusting Plex to share the sound?

[Shark007]

On the SWAP TAB of the Shark007 GUI, try disabling the Microsoft Audio decoder.
Doing so will hand off the audio handling to LAV, which may solve your issues.

[richard1980]

Hmmm,

I think I've tried everything, these are the settings I've got. I've restarted a few times, and tried changing them around, but come back to this, yet still can't seem to get WMC to open the 'pipeline' to the audio card. It appears Windows is setup correctly, because Plex Home Theater works perfectly. Yet, I can't seem to get WMC to use the 'Exclusive' mode on the Audio card, it just doesn't seem to kick in. Any other ideas?

Windows -> Control Panel --> Sounds --> Exclusive enabled, Stereo (2.0) Setup
WMC -> Settings -> DVD -> Audio -> Auto Volume Off
WMC -> Settings -> Setup WMC --> Setup Speakers --> 5.1
WMC -> Settings -> TV --> Audio --> Auto Volume Off

Your WMC and Windows audio channel settings should be reversed (Windows = 5.1, WMC = 2). Here are some other things to check:

1. "Auto Volume Off" means the checkboxes for auto volume are unchecked.
2. Both boxes for exclusive mode should be checked.
3. Verify that the HDMI audio adapter reports the encoded format in the supported formats tab.
4. Verify that the source audio codec is actually Dolby Digital/DTS/WMA Pro by pulling up the Debug: Presentation screen in WMC (4-1-1-Info on your remote or 4-1-1 Ctrl+D on your keyboard, then scroll all the way to the right...look in the Audio section under Codec).

As for installing additional codecs to resolve this, that's a bad idea. Windows ships with this capability, so there is no reason to install anything else. In fact, installing codecs and/or disabling the codecs that ship with Windows will likely end up further complicating things.

[mcewinter]

^FWIW, codecs were already installed per post #9.

To add to Richard's checklist:

In your audio playback properties -> HDMI -> advanced tab, make sure the default format is 48000Hz. A higher bit rate might produce an audio signal but is not a "digital" signal being passed along as it's processed by the PC.

[richard1980]

^FWIW, codecs were already installed per post #9.

I didn't see that, but now that I do, I think Shark is far more qualified to help the OP than I am. I don't know what his codec pack has done to the system, so I can't offer any more assistance.

[russds]

The saga continues. I've narrowed it down, I believe, to the Shark007 codecs. When I went in there, to adjust those settings, I could then tell that WMC started to handover control to the ARV like I wanted. Except that when I did that, I got no sound at all, and after a few seconds got the error message outlined in that other thread, "Video Error: Files needed to display video ...Please restart Windows Media Center or restart the computer."

So it seems to be the settings I've selected in Shark007. Any recommendations on those, or should I take the conversation over to that forum?

I tried, as Shark007 himself advised, "On the SWAP TAB of the Shark007 GUI, try disabling the Microsoft Audio decoder.
Doing so will hand off the audio handling to LAV, which may solve your issues.", When I did that, I at least got sound back, but only because WMC stopped handing over control to the AVR, and I was sort of back to square one.

What I really only want is for Shark007 to allow me to play/listen to MKV files, every other type of file/video should be untouched. Does anybody know the settings in Shark007 for that?

Thanks!

[Shark007]

For WMP playback, the 32bit GUI is in control.
For Media Center playback, the 64bit GUI has control.

Press [Reset All] (this sets everything to the Microsoft defaults similar to uninstalling the codec pack)
select the [x] SUGGESTED settings checkbox (this sets up the Windows players to playback content not natively supported such as MKV)

Audio TAB, select your hardware IN USE - select from one of these 3 outputs, HDMI // Optical // Speakers (analog)

test now with no other changes - If you aren't getting the audio output as expected, disable the Microsoft Audio decoder on the SWAP TAB