Struggling to get 5.1 working

azibux1

azibux1

azibux1

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Hi all

Got an ASUS P8-Z68 V LX mobo with optical out feeding into a Sony DAV DZ260 sound system through an optical switch.

The issue is that all the 'rear' sound just comes out of the equivalent (left or right) front speaker instead whenever running any audio tests.. even downloaded a file instead of an online one and played it in VLC... same result

Any ideas on anything to check please? Realtek stuff is all installed correctly but the manager for it seems a bit rubbish to be honest and doesn't actually seem to show any options for 5.1

Thanks!

WaVOnIV.jpg
 
Thanks for all responses

Unfortunately as said, no HDMI in... only out for playing DVDs from the Sony... It is quite an old system now but sounds AMAZING so I really don't want to replace it.

What seems to be my best option then? I am quite keen for the 5.1 to work for things like spotify/netflix etc... or do they not support it anyway?
 
hornetstinger said:
you don't need klite codec pack. In fact I would recommend you uninstall it. Just install MPC HC, press O, internal filters, audio decoder, select AC-3 & DTS.

You could try using it's own audio switcher, which I believe will upscale 2ch to 5.1.
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Am I correct in saying that will of course only work for stuff I play through MPC? So to get 5.1 for things like spotify, plex, etc ... The easiest thing would be to buy an appropriate sound card?
 
OK thanks! Now I know what I'm looking for I'll have another search around

That one you linked unfortunately doesn't have the optical out that I need
 
Options options options...

The SB Z has more features for the price... (same price as the Xonar DX) but you mention driver instability?
 
Thanks for all responses

Think I'll give the SBz a shot for the price (will be mainly home cinema use, not headphones)! Can always send it back if I have issues
 
Haven't really bought an expansion card for ages to be honest... Anyone double check please that the SBz will be compatible with my mobo in my sig? All I have in there from memory is my GFX card and possibly a cheapo 2 port USB hub. The latter can be ditched if need be
 
Marsman said:
Yeah, all you need is a PCIe slot. There's 1x PCIe slot above the first 16x slot where the GPU will be. One below will be covered by the GPU. Other than that, there's the second black 16x slot. Other 3 light blue ones are PCI, which is a different socket type to PCIe.
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Perfect thanks Marsman!

OcUK seem to have a decent price on the card too so think I'll go for it :)

hornetstinger said:
For DTS/DD movies you should get DTS/DD lighting up on your Sony, just make sure you use MPC-HC and enable DD/DTS in pass through.

...

I would recommend MPC-HC over VLC.
Click to expand...

So just before buying anything I went to test and see if I actually know for sure that the lack of a soundcard is the issue and got a bit confused if I'm honest.

Installed MPC-HC (default settings) and grabbed a DVD with '5.1' on the back cover.

All I get on the Sony is the usual symbol which is a dolby logo with 'PL' next to it. But I get that all the time, even when playing anything from the PC, but obviously as mentioned the tests I've ran etc are clearly not 5.1.

Anyone able to offer any advice / explanation please as to what I'm misunderstanding here please? haha

I assumed the DVD would provide the DTS/DD encoding that I normally don't get, and expected to see a different logo on the sound system, but I didn't

Thanks for all the help in advance! :)
 
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hornetstinger said:
internal filters, then select audio decoder on bottom right
Click to expand...
Thank you

The logo I see has now changed to a Dolby logo with a 'D' next to it, instead of the PL

Two questions:

1 - With the SBz, should I then expect to see that logo all the time, regardless of what software/source I'm playing from my computer?
2 - It seems to have taken the volume control away from the PC and given it to the sound system, doesn't matter if the PC is set to volume 3 or volume 50, sounds the same. But if I set it to 0 is does go mute. And also the volume control in MPC-HC does nothing. Strange behaviour or expected?

EDIT: Also an interesting development I just noticed... Playing the sound test I downloaded through MPC-HC DOES WORK CORRECTLY... I maybe misunderstood, but I thought that would never work without the soundcard / hacked mobo drivers??
 
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Thanks for clearing that up, that's great! Sorry to be a pain with constant questions, but obviously don't want to spend ~£50 if it is actually just some software config or something that's missing. But your explanation regarding the sound test being already encoded clears up my confusion as to why that worked.

Sounds like the SBz will do exactly what I need then and sort out the encoding for all my PC audio on the fly

Thanks a lot!
 
Well it is installed and WOW!

What a difference the encoding makes!! :D :D Didn't think it would be as noticeable, I think for things like Spotify it is simulated, but still sounds a LOT better I think

Downloaded some proper Dolby sound tests also and the difference is amazing with and without the encoding. Really quite impressed!! :D

I had a question but I've just solved it myself by going back to MPC-HC over VLC... VLC just would not play correctly with large files of around 100MB or more (dolby test files) but it played smaller ones fine. With the big ones it would just give 1 second of sound every few seconds... but MPC-HC plays them perfectly!

Thanks all! :)

Quick tip (and to check I've set it up correctly lol!) when setting it up for encoding, it says the below (read the 'note' section)

So I thought for a second I wouldn't be able to have it encode everything... but setting my default sound to 'speakers' for the SBz in Windows (despite being plugged into the SPDIF) DOES actually work and it plays everything encoded correctly.

Sounds correct?

Thanks!!

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hornetstinger said:
VLC is a bit poop player. It's good for playing files that are damaged.

I would not upscale 2 channel PCM to DD/DTS, keep that original. If you use foobar use a wsapi plug in, that'll keep it true pcm 44khz.
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Can I ask your reasoning on that please?

And how do I best make use of the encoder automatically if I have to keep switching it on each time? Or is that what the foobar part relates to? No idea what foobar is so need to research into that lol

Also should I be opting for DD over DTS or vice versa for any reason?
 
I'm not sure if the Sony is that fancy to be honest but thanks! I will look into it and see what it can and can't do...it's a good few years old now lol, over 7 years probably
 
hornetstinger said:
also playback a 44.1khz PCM. If it shows 48khz on your Sony (as well as DD/DTS) then it's upsampling. You don't want to upsample CD audio.

It should display 44.1khz. Using a plugin for foobar bypasses the live encoding, and outputs a bit perfect bitstream to your sony.
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That's great thanks! Will check out Foobar, but to be honest my usual source of music these days is Spotify - not sure if that will interfere with anything or not

Will have a look :)
 
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