No Surround Sound in MBC. Only Stereo

[adabo 2]

My Setup:

• HTPC (Living Room): Win7 SP1 x32, Media Browser Classic (No Codecs/Filters)
• PC (Office): Win7 SP1 x64 Media Browser Server, Video collection.
• Network: Netgear WNDR3700v3

So far the HTPC plays all the videos. It's a fresh install with windows default codecs. One of the problems is that there is no sound from the center channel (3.1 system ie: L, R, C, LFE). It seems the sound is only through left and right speakers and sub. I've configured the speakers Windows Media Center for 5.1 in the General Settings, however it did not fix the problem. Is there a speaker setup for Classic?

 

Also, FF and RW don't seem to work either, nor can I use the mouse to manually move the time.

 

I was surprised that MBC played my MKVs, so I'm assuming it comes with a built in player, and not using WMC's video player. Should I just install MPC-HC using it as an external player?

 

Thanks in advance -adabo

[yardameus 220]

Unless you are using an external player, it uses WMC's player.  

[adabo 2]

That's interesting. I have no idea how it's playing mkv. Windows Media Player can't. Doesn't WMC use the same video player?

 

*Edit: I want to add that the surround channels work fine on the desktop when playing a dvd. I also checked the playback devices > Configure Speakers and set it to 3.1. Did a test and heard all the jingles.

Edited September 14, 2014 by adabo

[CBers 7063]

I no longer use MBC, but when I did, I had Dolby and/or DTS audio play to my receiver OK.

 

IIRC, I had ffdshow, AC3 filter and HAALI splitter installed to manage it.

 

Have a look here to see if it helps any: http://mediabrowser.tv/community/index.php?/topic/1096-setting-up-codecs-using-ffdshow

[adabo 2]

Thanks for the link What are you using now?

[CBers 7063]

Thanks for the link What are you using now?

I use a mix of Roku, Chromecast and Samsung Smart TV app.

[ebr 15580]

You are going to need codecs but it may also be streaming from the server if you didn't setup your library so that the MBC machine can access it directly.  A log would shed some light.

[yardameus 220]

Does surround sound work in other applications?  MPC-HC, itunes, etc...?

[hedgehogg 104]

In your original post you don't mention how you are connecting to your amp/reciever or if indeed you are is it S/PDiF , HDMI ?

[adabo 2]

Apologies, and please forgive me for the late response.

 

@@ebr Took advice and installed LAV filters. I wondered if it was a stream or not. I'm hoping MBC has all the access it needs so that it's getting the full bitrate. I'll look at the log

@@yardameus Yes, surround is working fine from other applications. I've even got graphstduio to show the output. It shows all the lav codecs. Also, the lav icons show in windows taskbar in other applications, but they don't work when using Media Browser Classic.

@@hedgehogg The HTPC is connected by: HDMI > AVR > HDMI > TV.

 

There are some strange things going on. Installing LAV codecs didn't fix the issue. So I went against the advice and also installed FFDShow video codecs on top LAV. All of a sudden, the all speaker channels are playing and I can now use the seek bar and ff and rw. But this doesn't always work. One day to the next, MBC will just stop using the LAV which goes back to 2 channel sound and no ability to seek. I've tried giving careful attention to the order in which to turn on the systems since Windows detects what sound and video it is outputting in realtime. First, PC > AVR > TV. It doesn't seem to matter. MBC just decides which codecs to use whenever it wants to.

 

I've noticed that Windows Media Center does not play menu sounds when I set windows speaker configuration to 3.1 mode. It does however play menu sounds when I switch windows speaker configuration to 5.1 or stereo. BTW, switching back and forth between those configuration auto-magically makes MBC use the right codecs and playing through all channels. I'm very confused.

 

Thank you very much for your patience and help, it is most appreciated.

Edited September 25, 2014 by adabo

[adabo 2]

Just  a small update. I was informed by a relative that one of his problems with his setup was the HDMI handshake and he was able to resolve his issue with Gefen's HDMI detective. Not cheap, but I decided it was worth it since there were times that I would turn on the TV and get a black screen too (Something other people living in the home wouldn't know how to fix.) So far it has kept the surround signal going even after powering off devices.

 

I still wonder why when I set 'Configure Speakers' in Windows 'Sound' for the Denon AVR to 3.1 why Windows Media Center doesn't have sound. I know it's unrelated to MBC, but I thought I might mention it to you more experienced individuals

[hedgehogg 104]

Seems you have it working My advise now is to set a restore point in case of cockups and win update