no dialogue but background audio plays fine

[shoodidagen 3]

Hope i'm not replying where i shouldn't be but i think i have the same problem (I get all the audio except dialogue).
When I play a movie through Web Browser on a Windows 10 PC with Stereo Speakers connected, i can only hear the Surround Speakers in the Movie, no voice dialog. Windows understands I have stereo speakers, not surround sound. Other web browser streaming services are fine.

When i play on my phone via the app, i can hear everything fine.

So its like a mixdown isn't happening when i'm using the Web Browser, and the centre channel isn't being fed into the left and right speakers.

Sounds like the same/Similar issue to what was being discussed here and i'm not finding much on the forums regarding the problem.

Was there ever a fix for this?

[Luke 42083]

@shoodidagen

 

Hi there, let's look at an example. Please attach the information requested in how to report a media playback issue. Thanks!

 

[shoodidagen 3]

Thank you Luke,

I've carried out some of my own troubleshooting here and might well have solved this myself (i should have spotted this sooner)! This still might be useful for others if they have similar issues.

I have Emby 4.7.13.0 installed on a Linux Headless Ubuntu 22.04LTS Server. I update Emby whenever I see a new version available in the Admin Dashboard ~/emby/web/index.html#!/dashboard

I have a mixture of Mono (1ch), Stereo (2ch) and 5.1 (6ch) media throughout the several libraries (TV Shows, Movies, Cartoons etc).

For me - I have two main methods of watching this content. I stream via my Android Phone to a ChromeCast and this always works for me.

I also have a Windows 10 PC in a studio, attached via USB to a Focusrite Clarett 8Pre Studio Sound. When i play content with more than 2 Channels through this card, i can't hear the Voice (assumed Centre Channel missing?).

Between my first post, and this reply, i've checked the Focusrite routing software. I mute input channels i'm not using (though haven't touched this software in over a year, and could swear that I've never had an issue listening to 5.1 content with all but channels 1-2 unmuted).

It appears that Software Input channels 1-2 correspond to the Front Left and Right audio, while 3-4 are dedicated to the Center and Subwoofer. Channels 5-6 remain inactive, and a quick observation shows that 7-8 serve as the surround speakers. In this instance, i can just route the audio 1-2-3-4-7-8 into monitor output 1-2. Could this have been an update to Emby, or potentially have I coincedently only listened to mono or stereo content on the Studio PC in the past year (I apologize for my lack of awareness regarding past Emby updates, here)?

Below screenshot showing 1-2, 3, 4, 7 and 8 inputs. To achieve functionality, I converted channels 3 and 4 into MONO channels and adeptly integrated them, ensuring a seamless blend with 1-2. Furthermore, I fine-tuned channels 7 and 8 for left and right panning as required (though need to have more of a play around).

 

Thank you for your help with this, Luke. I hope you have a great day.

-S

 

[Luke 42083]

Thanks for following up!

[visproduction 316]

On surround sound audio, dialog is often only on the center channel.  If you are designating the audio output mode as surround sound, then left and right will hardly have any dialogue for most situations.  Audio setup for hardware cards can be usually siwtched from surround to stereo downmix to go to the audio outputs, then left and right should carry the dialogue.  You could also add a center speaker with an amplifier and plug it into your center out channel to get mostly dialogue from that speaker.  In that case headphones would not work because they are pulling left and right which is background audio sound effects and music.

If you are sending surround through Wifi to the TV, then the transfer hardware and the receiving TV audio processing both need to support the type of surround sound you are using.  Often Wifi connectors just do that.  So even if the TV could do it, you won't get surround and there fore never hear a stereo downmix.

Hope that makes sense.