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WMC volume adjustment dosnt work for dolby digital via SPDIF to amp

post #1 of 14
9/27/11 at 7:20am
Thread Starter 
Hi all,

I don't understand a lot about this stuff so please bare with me

I have set up WMC and got everything working following assisins guide (highly recommend it!)

I have one last issue I am talking.

When I play movies which I believe are Dolby digital or TV when I try to adjust the volume through media centre there is no change in output volume from my amp. The volume pretty much is either maximum or muted when it gets to 0%

When I play items that are not Dolby Digital the volume output reflects the volume in media centre.

The only way I can tackle this is by controlling the volume on my amp directly.

I am following assasins guide so only use Lav Filters and DirectVOBSub.

My media center is connected to my TV Via HDMI and a separate SPDIF cable is connected to the amp.

If any one has any assistance or ideas on how to solve this it would be great.

Thanks
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post #2 of 14
9/27/11 at 7:40am
I think that is how it's supposed to work. SPDIF means that the sound is untouched, just passed through therefore the sound signal stays encoded, therefore you cannnot adjust the volume.
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post #3 of 14
9/27/11 at 9:54am
Right now, you are passing the DD audio data directly to the receiver. The PC is not doing anything with it except feeding it out on the SPDIF. The same would apply to any DD, DTS or HD audio pass-through if you did that in the future with a new receiver.

You'd have to set the PC to decode the audio if you want volume control. To do this, you'd have to connect via the analog jacks (the headphone jacks) assuming both the motherboard and receiver support the 6-channel analog. You need HD-audio on the motherboard (typically 6 1/8" headphone jacks) and multi-channel analog inputs on the receiver.

You'd likely lose the DD and have to do something like pro-logic to the receiver if you did it with SPDIF.

Or, get a decent universal remote like a Harmony so you can control the PC and the receiver volume at the same time.

Peter
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post #4 of 14
9/27/11 at 12:45pm
I was having this problem with my setup at first also. Only difference is I have my pc connected to my amp via hdmi. I don't know what I changed but when I control the volume in media center it does effect the volume coming out of the amp. This is with movies and live tv. Originally I was going to just program my htpc remote volume buttons to control the amp, but couldn't figure that out either.
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post #5 of 14
9/27/11 at 12:47pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by hanly2 View Post

I don't know what I changed but when I control the volume in media center it does effect the volume coming out of the amp.

To be able to control the volume from the PC rather than from the amplifier when using digital output (hdmi), go to the 'Control Panel | Sound' applet and double click the active digital output device. Go to the Advanced tab and uncheck the two Exclusive Mode boxes.
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post #6 of 14
9/27/11 at 1:00pm
Note that the sound quality will take a hit if you adjust the volume on the PC. Its better to leave it at 100 percent and then adjust the receiver volume.
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post #7 of 14
9/27/11 at 1:16pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by sound dropouts View Post

Note that the sound quality will take a hit if you adjust the volume on the PC. Its better to leave it at 100 percent and then adjust the receiver volume.

This. That is the optimal way to do it anyway.
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post #8 of 14
9/27/11 at 7:10pm
Thread Starter 
Hi guys thanks for the great advice. Shark thanks! I did this but found that I lost some of the HD / 5.1 on my surround sound. I think i am going to take the advice to leave my WMC 100% and adjust volume from my HT - Considering I have a Harmony remote this should take 2 minutes to setup.

More importantly thanks for explaining how SPDIF works

Cheers!
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post #9 of 14
9/28/11 at 7:43pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Shark007 View Post

To be able to control the volume from the PC rather than from the amplifier when using digital output (hdmi), go to the 'Control Panel | Sound' applet and double click the active digital output device. Go to the Advanced tab and uncheck the two Exclusive Mode boxes.

That doesn't work for me. I thought that I had this working but I now had to configure wmc with 5.1 speaker setup so that I got DD for live tv and the wmc volume control doesn't work anymore. Anyone know how to get my gyration remote to control my yamaha volume?
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post #10 of 14
9/28/11 at 8:24pm
just passed through therefore the sound signal stays encoded

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post #11 of 14
9/30/11 at 7:01am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Shark007 View Post

To be able to control the volume from the PC rather than from the amplifier when using digital output (hdmi), go to the 'Control Panel | Sound' applet and double click the active digital output device. Go to the Advanced tab and uncheck the two Exclusive Mode boxes.

This will either break or just not work when using DD/DTS passthrough.

Despite posts to the contrary, there is no-one that has this working. You can't volume control when the computer is bitstreaming.

Peter
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post #12 of 14
9/30/11 at 7:09am
Quote:
Originally Posted by JoshDorhyke View Post

This will either break or just not work when using DD/DTS passthrough.

Despite posts to the contrary, there is no-one that has this working. You can't volume control when the computer is bitstreaming.

Peter

It turns off Windows bitstreaming allowing the formats to be decoded on the PC and inturn, allowing volume adjustment on the PC.
If people insist on adjusting the volume on the PC, this is how to achieve that.
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post #13 of 14
9/30/11 at 7:11am
Quote:
Originally Posted by hanly2 View Post

Anyone know how to get my gyration remote to control my yamaha volume?

You might go over to the Amps, Receivers and Processors forum here on AVS and ask this question. Personally, I have found getting a Yamaha receiver to work with any other remotes to be a total PITA.
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post #14 of 14
9/30/11 at 12:17pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zon2020 View Post

You might go over to the Amps, Receivers and Processors forum here on AVS and ask this question. Personally, I have found getting a Yamaha receiver to work with any other remotes to be a total PITA.

I got it, I actually ended up programing the "aux" button to control some of the receiver features, and found out that you can't program the volume buttons on any mode other then "tv" So I programed the "tv" mode to control my epson pj and the volume buttons to control the yamaha! Now one remote to rule them all.
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