imightbewrong htpc problem 1 - optical out and DVDs

[imightbewrong]

I have built a Vista 64 HTPC using an Asus P5KC motherboard, which has on-board Realtek sound. One of the reasons I got this board was because it has an optical dgital sound output. I hooked this up to my dac (chord DAC64) and all was well - all the usual dings and jingles come out, and watching an AVI file through media player or media centre is fine. Then I tried to watch a DVD - and instantly had to leap over to the amp to turn the sound off! The sound was very loud, and was electronic static garbage. It didn't seem to be controllable via the Windows volume control. This happens on any DVD, and I've tried WMP, WMC and something else non-Microsoft. I've also tried a few VOB files (such as are found on DVDs) and get the same problem - I played these in whatever the default app is - again, non-Microsoft.

I've got all the latest drivers.

Does anyone have any ideas? Why would this happen only for VOB files and DVDs? One time it happened, I stopped the DVD but the bad sound continued on-and-off until I reset the machine.

Am pretty frustrated, so would welcome and thoughts.

Thanks.

[andy1249]

What DVD player codec have you got installed , you have to have one , it does not come with any flavour of Windows ,

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/win...dvdcodecs.aspx

I use Powerdvd , there are many available , commercial and non commercial , but you do have to have one ... it sounds from what you are describing that you dont actually have one !

Linked from the page above is this one , showing decoders for sale etc.

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/win...spx#DVDDecoder

The upshot is , Vista cannot play DVD's out of the box , you must get a decoder for it from a third party. Usually , in most cases , one will be included with the graphics card software bundle and so on , usually Powerdvd , thats how I got mine.

VLC player is a good free option.

[imightbewrong]

Interesting! I defintly installed some codec pack - maybe CCCP?

I get a DVD picture fine, if that means anything.

I will check tonight - could it be I am missing the Audio part?

Thanks.

[imightbewrong]

Originally Posted by andy1249

VLC player is a good free option.

VLC - I think that's what I've used - the thing with the traffic-cone icon. Hmm.. will check the codec tonight.

[andy1249]

VLC will not share its codec , try playing with the VLC player only and see if you get sound , if so the codec issue is the problem , otherwise the fault lies somewhere else.

[imightbewrong]

Originally Posted by andy1249

VLC will not share its codec , try playing with the VLC player only and see if you get sound , if so the codec issue is the problem , otherwise the fault lies somewhere else.

As I say, I'm pretty sure I've tried that viewer - will have a go tonight.

[dogbert]

there are bugs in the 32 bit to 64 bit adaption layer of the windows sound service. one of them makes passing through dd/dts impossible.
you need a 64 bit player and 64 bit codecs to fix that - there are some links in the FAQ on my site.

[imightbewrong]

Originally Posted by dogbert

there are bugs in the 32 bit to 64 bit adaption layer of the windows sound service. one of them makes passing through dd/dts impossible.
you need a 64 bit player and 64 bit codecs to fix that - there are some links in the FAQ on my site.

Thanks. I think I am using a 64-bit player, (64 bit version of WMP) but will check this evening.

[Matt_C]

I'm not on 64-bit, nor Vista - actually on 32bit XP, but I thought I'd post anyway..... I never had the static sound problem from the PC when playing multichannel audio files (AVI, DVD, etc) but it would always downsample to 2ch stereo even tho I was using the optical output of the soundcard I have (cheapo Yamaha PCI card) Using VLC to play films and messing about in it's settings, I was able to output multichannel audio perfectly to the amp, but noticed tiny irregular audio dropouts - which only happened with multichannel DD and DTS soundtracks. Apparently, according to users on here and info on the web, this is a flaw of VLC. By installing the CCCP codec pack, I was able to output multichannel audio previously downsampled to stereo from WMP (11), Media Player Classic and Zoomplayer, and none of these show up any flaws or dropouts (Zoomplayer won't do DVD disc, ISO or VTX/VOB playback unless you purchase a licence for the full version) on multichannel audio.

Hope this is of some help!

[imightbewrong]

Originally Posted by andy1249

What DVD player codec have you got installed , you have to have one , it does not come with any flavour of Windows ,

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/win...dvdcodecs.aspx

I use Powerdvd , there are many available , commercial and non commercial , but you do have to have one ... it sounds from what you are describing that you dont actually have one !

Linked from the page above is this one , showing decoders for sale etc.

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/win...spx#DVDDecoder

The upshot is , Vista cannot play DVD's out of the box , you must get a decoder for it from a third party. Usually , in most cases , one will be included with the graphics card software bundle and so on , usually Powerdvd , thats how I got mine.

VLC player is a good free option.

Thanks all. Well, I don't really get it but I installed VLC today and hey presto, pain-free sound for my dvds! I'm sure I've tried it before, but I have updated the sound drivers and even installed Vista SP1, so maybe it's a combination of things.

Anyway - great to have that fixed. Now if people could just take a look at my query in the Video Cards section I could have a fully working HTPC.

[imightbewrong]

(Whoops - slow connection may have made me double-post - can this one be deleted?)