No sound for first second with Yamaha rx-v6a

[luagh45]

I have my computer Windows 10 using HDMI out with sound set to Dolby Atmos for Home Theater connected to my Yamaha rx-v6a which is connected to my TV (which does have eARC if I need to switch to that?). Anytime sound is not actively being played my receiver displays "decoder off" and when I start to play sound/video it then takes 1-2 seconds before the audio begins at which point it reads "PCM" and not "Dolby Atmos". But it appears to be playing sound out of each channel properly, so my main concern is simply why all sound takes so long to begin playback, and why I can't have the decoder constantly running. This is most frustrating with video clips that are only 3-4 seconds long because the first 1-2 seconds constantly remain silent. Please excuse me if I have missed any details or used poor terminology, I am fairly new to the AV world.

 

[MrUTAh]

It could be your hdmi cable. Even mine that are "certified" have a pause. This is fixed by using the latest hdmi cable.

 

[dante01]

A Windows PC would have to use Dolby MAT to facilitate the conveyance of Atmos metadata this means that it would be normal to have such metadata output from a PC in conjunction with multichannel PCM.

The AV receiver should still indicate that it is receiving Atmos and processing it even if in conjunction with multichannel PCM. If you are positive that you've an actual speaker setup conducive with what would be required to portray Atmos and that you are sure that no other DSP Programs or SURROUND DECODER modes are engaged then I'd have to suggest that either your PC isn't in fact outputting the Atmos metadata or that your TV isn't correctly configured to pass this through?

Note that in order to be able to convey Atmos using Dolby MAT and with multichannel PCM then your TV and your AV receiver would need to be eARC enabled. Conventional ARC cannot handle multichannel PCM and as such wouldn't allow you to pass this through said TV and out to your AV receiver.

Your AV receiver is eARC enabled. Is your TV eARC enabled and have you configured it accordingly to use eARC as opposed to just ARC? Have you also set it up to BITSTREAM and passthrough audio as opposed to setting the TV to PCM?

If the AV receiver isn't showing Atmos on its display then it isn't processing Atmos. If all the 5.1.2 congured speakers are active even though the receiver doesn't indicate that it is processing Atmos then I'd suggest that you've upmixing in opreration? Set the AV receiver to its STRAIGHT mode to make sure that this isn't the case.

The dealay you are experiencing is the time taken for the handshake between the AV receiver and your TV and for the AV receiver to determine the audio format being sent to it.

I'd suggest this not to be a cable issue. Cables don't effect what audio formats you can access. You either get the audio or you don't and the cable used will not determine the format you get.

 

[luagh45]

It could be your hdmi cable. Even mine that are "certified" have a pause. This is fixed by using the latest hdmi cable.

I have found the answer, although not the solution. When the Yamaha receiver is not receiving signal it goes into "sleep" this can't be turned off, and I can't ask it to decode constantly. To change the signal (including "decoder off" to any other active decoding), although it doesn't take long, it takes a second or so. This is a limitation of this (and apparently most?) receiver. My current, and probably best workaround, though not a fix, is to constantly run a silent sound file that keeps my audio channel open.

 

[luagh45]

A Windows PC would have to use Dolby MAT to facilitate the conveyance of Atmos metadata this means that it would be normal to have such metadata output from a PC in conjunction with multichannel PCM.

The AV receiver should still indicate that it is receiving Atmos and processing it even if in conjunction with multichannel PCM. If you are positive that you've an actual speaker setup conducive with what would be required to portray Atmos and that you are sure that no other DSP Programs or SURROUND DECODER modes are engaged then I'd have to suggest that either your PC isn't in fact outputting the Atmos metadata or that your TV isn't correctly configured to pass this through?

Note that in order to be able to convey Atmos using Dolby MAT and with multichannel PCM then your TV and your AV receiver would need to be eARC enabled. Conventional ARC cannot handle multichannel PCM and as such wouldn't allow you to pass this through said TV and out to your AV receiver.

Your AV receiver is eARC enabled. Is your TV eARC enabled and have you configured it accordingly to use eARC as opposed to just ARC? Have you also set it up to BITSTREAM and passthrough audio as opposed to setting the TV to PCM?

If the AV receiver isn't showing Atmos on its display then it isn't processing Atmos. If all the 5.1.2 congured speakers are active even though the receiver doesn't indicate that it is processing Atmos then I'd suggest that you've upmixing in opreration? Set the AV receiver to its STRAIGHT mode to make sure that this isn't the case.

The dealay you are experiencing is the time taken for the handshake between the AV receiver and your TV and for the AV receiver to determine the audio format being sent to it.

I'd suggest this not to be a cable issue. Cables don't effect what audio formats you can access. You either get the audio or you don't and the cable used will not determine the format you get.

The primary issue remains the silence before the audio plays, although as I said in another reply, I have a workaround by keeping a silent audio file running in the background.

The PCM vs. Dolby was "user understanding" error. I thought the file was Dolby - it wasn't. When audio is actually Dolby it does in fact decode as such.

For the PCM problem, the settings are correct, but the user was the issue. So even though it was set to Dolby it was displaying PCM... because the file was PCM.

I'm still looking for a better solution for my delayed sound streaming, but until then I use Sound Keeper.