[Vindii]

Just got a new htpc set -up with this board and a E8400. Everything is working good except I am only getting stereo sound to my receiver. I have played with a lot of the audio settings and set everything to use the Nvidia High Definition Audio device but still only show up as 2 channel.


Any idea what this might be?


EGVA Geforce 9300 HDMI

E8400

Denon 3806 AVR

Sony SXRD 50"

Nvidia HDMI driver 1.0.0.37

Windows XP sp3


I had a ASUS 8300 board that only ran for a few days but it also only would show up as stereo on my Denon. Could it be the receiver?

See post 36 for the solution to this problem.

 

[Vindii]

Somebody must be able to help me.


Are there any issues with EDID and Denon 3806 that could cause this?

 

[sotti]

windows XP or windows vista?

 

[Vindii]

windows XP pro sp3


Only reason I used XP was that I coiuld not get my tv tuner cards to work in vista with mediaportal.


Does HDMI audio work better in vista?

 

[sotti]

okay in XP you need to go into the control panel and open the sounds and audio devices aplet.


In there go to the audio tab and make sure nvidia HDMI audio is selected as your default device. Then on the volume tab under speaker settings hit advanced. I think with the 9300, 5.1 works, but I know for a fact with the 8200/8300 you need to use 7.1

 

[Vindii]



Quote:
Originally Posted by sotti /forum/post/15485457


okay in vista you need to go into the control panel and open the sounds and audio devices aplet.


In there go to the audio tab and make sure nvidia HDMI audio is selected as your default device. Then on the volume tab under speaker settings hit advanced. I think with the 9300, 5.1 works, but I know for a fact with the 8200/8300 you need to use 7.1

I'm using XP.


I have the tried all the different audio settings in the control panel. When I switch between "suround sound", 5.1, 7.1 or 7.1 wide I get different levels of sound comming from the center channel speaker. Some have the voices at a very low volume level. Other settings sound better but they all show up as only 2 channel on my denon reciever. Of course the reciever upconverts this to prologic 2 but that is not what I want.


Most of the test files I am using are .MKV files with .FLAC audio. I am using madshi flac codec. I have also tried standard dvd's that should pass the dolby digital or DTS tracks but they only show up as 2 channel also. It seems as if the PC in only sending 2 channels for some reason.


My audio settting in the control panel do not specifically say HDMI audio. It says something like Nvidia audio.

 

[nownot]

this might be a duh comment but make sure that you have the hdmi audio driver installed. on vista in the control panel mine specifically states hdmi audio.

 

[nownot]

but a question i have is have you tried to play back blu ray? every 30 min or so it will hang or skip or something that isnt right. its not during high bitrate scene, and i cant duplicate on that scene either, it will mess up, ill rewind and it will play fine.

 

[heyman421]

I'm pretty sure the nvidia and ati cards' onboard sound just uses HDMI to transport 2-channel PCM or AC3 audio.


I don't think they have the capability of transporting bitstream 5.1/7.1 channel PCM.


You'd need to get the new ASUS xonar or wait for the new auzentech x-fi home theater HD cards for that.

 

[nownot]



Quote:
Originally Posted by heyman421 /forum/post/15485987


I'm pretty sure the nvidia and ati cards' onboard sound just uses HDMI to transport 2-channel PCM or AC3 audio.


I don't think they have the capability of transporting bitstream 5.1/7.1 channel PCM.


You'd need to get the new ASUS xonar or wait for the new auzentech x-fi home theater HD cards for that.

this is a quote off of newegg

"Pros: Like another person said booted up first try and everything was recognized correctly. Havent done to much testing other then making sure 7.1 over HDMI worked as that was important to me.


Cons: Only issue I had was I was going to install my 2 pci express tuner cards and the header for the sound is in the way. Not a big deal but they could have located it above the first card.


Other Thoughts: If your having issues with 7.1 over HDMI make sure your have the HDMI audio driver downloaded. Right now Im running HDMI to my Denon receiver then to my TV and it works great.


Also check the forums out at avsforum to see if they can help u with your sound issue as it should work. "

 

[heyman421]

Well, i hope he gets it working.


But just in the past few weeks, i decided on getting a soudn card with DTS connect, because i couldn't find any actual reports of ATI or NVIDIA cards being able to transport true 5.1/7.1 over HDMI unless it was a pre-encoded AC3 stream.


Everyone told me they simply used the HDMI cable as a SPDIF transport.


To make matters more confusing, none of the card manufacturers make a specific CLAIM as to how they tranport audio over the HDMI cable....


Take this for example


Integrated HD audio controller with support for stereo and multi-channel (up to 7.1) audio formats, including AC-3, AAC, DTS, DTS-HD & Dolby True-HD4, enabling a plug-and-play audio solution over HDMI


All of those "up to 7.1 channel" formats are Pre-compressed AC3 audio formats.... It neer actually says it's capable of transferring 7.1 channel computer sounds from the computer to the receiver over HDMI.

 

[stanglx]

Taken right from the Nvidia Site is that all 9300/9400 with the 730i chipset will send LPCM 7.1 via HDMI and bitstream legacy codecs like DTS and DD (AC3).. This is exactly how the PS3 works... only the Asus card will bitstream HD Audio for the PC. TMT/PowerDVD will act as the decoder rather then your receiver and send it as LPCM since the audio chip can not bitstream from the source.


Its a setting in your player or OS mixer

Quote:
Originally Posted by heyman421 /forum/post/15485987


I'm pretty sure the nvidia and ati cards' onboard sound just uses HDMI to transport 2-channel PCM or AC3 audio.


I don't think they have the capability of transporting bitstream 5.1/7.1 channel PCM.


You'd need to get the new ASUS xonar or wait for the new auzentech x-fi home theater HD cards for that.

 

[sotti]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Vindii /forum/post/15485896


I'm using XP.


I have the tried all the different audio settings in the control panel. When I switch between "suround sound", 5.1, 7.1 or 7.1 wide I get different levels of sound comming from the center channel speaker. Some have the voices at a very low volume level. Other settings sound better but they all show up as only 2 channel on my denon reciever. Of course the reciever upconverts this to prologic 2 but that is not what I want.


Most of the test files I am using are .MKV files with .FLAC audio. I am using madshi flac codec. I have also tried standard dvd's that should pass the dolby digital or DTS tracks but they only show up as 2 channel also. It seems as if the PC in only sending 2 channels for some reason.


My audio settting in the control panel do not specifically say HDMI audio. It says something like Nvidia audio.

Ooops, I totally typo'd post, I ment to say XP. And yeah it might just list as Nvidia HD audio device.


I got my gear working on my Onkyo 705 in both vista and XP w/ an nvidia 8200 mobo. Try using the full 7.1 setting, that should work, maybe give it a reboot. I'm not sure what's going wrong, but my directions above are for XP, and worked with my 8200.

 

[sotti]



Quote:
Originally Posted by heyman421 /forum/post/15486245


Well, i hope he gets it working.


But just in the past few weeks, i decided on getting a soudn card with DTS connect, because i couldn't find any actual reports of ATI or NVIDIA cards being able to transport true 5.1/7.1 over HDMI unless it was a pre-encoded AC3 stream.


Everyone told me they simply used the HDMI cable as a SPDIF transport.


To make matters more confusing, none of the card manufacturers make a specific CLAIM as to how they tranport audio over the HDMI cable....


Take this for example


Integrated HD audio controller with support for stereo and multi-channel (up to 7.1) audio formats, including AC-3, AAC, DTS, DTS-HD & Dolby True-HD4, enabling a plug-and-play audio solution over HDMI


All of those "up to 7.1 channel" formats are Pre-compressed AC3 audio formats.... It neer actually says it's capable of transferring 7.1 channel computer sounds from the computer to the receiver over HDMI.

This was true, but now the nvidia 8200/8300 amd motherboards and 9300/9400 intel motherboards actually support 7.1 LPCM out for all audio (games, windows, powerDVD ect..) Also the ATI 4xx0 series of video cards supports 7.1 LPCM audio out.

 

[Vindii]

I have not tried to play a blu-ray straight from the disk yet. I'll try that tonight.


This board can send 7.1 thru HDMI. That is the main reason I bought it.


I tried all the settings in the sound control panel. 5.1, 7.1, 7.1 wide. I also have the Nvidia HDMI driver number from my first post.


Isn't there any app that can check what the audio is outputting at? It would be nice to know if it is a problem with the PC or the reciever. I read alittle on EDID problems but I need to research more to see if that applies to my denon 3806.

 

[sotti]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Vindii /forum/post/15488895


I have not tried to play a blu-ray straight from the disk yet. I'll try that tonight.


This board can send 7.1 thru HDMI. That is the main reason I bought it.


I tried all the settings in the sound control panel. 5.1, 7.1, 7.1 wide. I also have the Nvidia HDMI driver number from my first post.


Isn't there any app that can check what the audio is outputting at? It would be nice to know if it is a problem with the PC or the reciever. I read alittle in EDID problems but I need to research more to see if that applies to my denon 3806.

Deffinetly check your reciever settings, I know that my reciever can flip into stereo mode with multi channel LPCM.

 

[Vindii]

Just tried all the different receiver settings. It is only getting in 2 channel PCM. I can't even get dolby digital or DTS from the PC.

 

[Vindii]

Anyone have any ideas?

 

[zzyckz]

It may have to do with the receiver EDID, some Denon and other receivers have this problem, not sure if this applies to yours though.

 

[Vindii]

Anyone else have any ideas?


The only issue I have found with my reviever (denon 3806) is that it needs a firmware update to accept 7.1 PCM. But it should take 5.1 without it as that is what I have been doing with my HD DVD player. Soon as I find a laptop with a serial port I will try to update firmware anyway.