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[forbigd]

Hello all, I wonder if I can get some advice on sound hardware.
Basically I want to play DTS music files. If I chose any Digital output on the PC, (onboard SPDIF, Coax or Optical) and try to play a DTS encoded file, MC errors and says it can't start playback at 48khz in 6channels on the selected device. I have tried many other sound cards like Creatives XFI Extreme Music with Coaxial out. Nothing I chose will let me play a DTS or 5.1 Digital sound file.
If I install a HDMI video card, I can assign the sound to it, and it works fine. But I don't have a receiver that accepts HDMI in. If I play the file in other players like VLC, through onboard SPDIF, the DTS comes through just fine, the receiver shows a DTS file is being played and all is fine. I can also plug in a USB to 5.1 ANALOG dongle, and it seems to work, but why do I want to stay analog?

I am sure I must be missing something. If I tell the DSP to output Dolby Digital it works fine, the DTS signal is passed digitally to the Receiver. But once I play something else not DTS or 5.1, MC outputs Dolby Digital anyway. This keeps the music at stereo and the Receiver's Dolby Pro Logic Circuits are turned off as it thinks it is getting real full channel Dolby digital. I can assign zones for each material, but they use different playlists and that can't work for a Jukebox.

Why can I play a DTS file in VLC (or many others), but MC says it can't find compatible hardware?
Is there an option to "passthrough" DTS or DD? I haven't seen one.

Thanks for your time.

Don

[forbigd]

I found a reference to playing the file type in the Video Engine. I will try that, but all my surround files are FLACs and since I have other flacs, it may not work, but I will try it.

[kstuart]

Click on Search in the bar above between Help and Profile and tick "in titles only" and search for "DTS" and there should be lots of threads.

[RoderickGI]

See also: http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=99422.0

[forbigd]

I have my DTS files playing perfectly, but to get them to do so I have to make all WAV files play through the video engine. That means MC will not display anything other than a cover for the file.
Any chance of adding DTS support to the Media Center's list of audio formats it can play?

Thanks,
Don

[glynor]

forbigd, when you post on this, make sure to indicate clearly that your DTS files are Audio-only files.  The vast majority of questions about these things are about video files, and that confuses everyone responding.

For the record, this would be nice. I converted all of my DTS files to multichannel FLACs a long time ago, so I have no personal reason to need it. But it would be good to support audio-only DTS files properly without requiring the user to switch that file type to the video engine (because then you can't use visualizers with them).  I think they used to work right, but something broke (probably when Hendrik built his own DTS decoder).

[forbigd]

I never thought of that, sorry.
Yes real DTS Audio .wav files from DTS cds. I love the sound, and they usually get a remix and that makes it fresh.
DTS sound on video has never been a problem. thankfully.

Sorry to cloud the issue.

Don

[mojave]

If I chose any Digital output on the PC, (onboard SPDIF, Coax or Optical) and try to play a DTS encoded file, MC errors and says it can't start playback at 48khz in 6channels on the selected device

This has nothing to do with it being a DTS file. Since JRiver says it can't start playback at 48khz and 6 channels, it has already decoded the file and is trying to play it back. S/PDIF supports only two channels PCM or lossy encoded Dolby Digital or DTS which is why you can't start playback. The same would happen with any multi-channel content you tried to play.

The solution is to use a format that supports multi-channel PCM like HDMI or to re-encode to Dolby Digital. This is why "if I tell the DSP to output Dolby Digital it works fine."

VLC is bitstreaming and you can use that to in JRiver. Go to Tools > Options > Audio > Settings > Bitstreaming > and choose Custom and check DTS.

I have my DTS files playing perfectly, but to get them to do so I have to make all WAV files play through the video engine. That means MC will not display anything other than a cover for the file.
Any chance of adding DTS support to the Media Center's list of audio formats it can play?

Thanks,
Don

DTS audio file support for both wav and dts extensions have been available in JRiver since version 16.

16.0.113 (6/16/2011)
6. Changed: Files with the DTS extension are playable in the audio engine (decoded by Red October).

16.0.127 (7/7/2011)
4. Fixed: DTS WAV files would play as static.

[kstuart]

Mojave -

A DTS CD has DTS 5.1 that is encoded into the normal Audio CD two PCM channels.

So, they are easily transmitted by SPDIF bitstreaming.

forbigd does not have MC21 setup properly to do that for DTS CDs and needs to read previous threads on the subject.

No need to re-encode.

Click on Search in the bar above between Help and Profile and tick "in titles only" and search for "DTS" and there should be lots of threads. Some of them will be about DTS audio in video DVDs, so you will have to scroll through the threads.

[digi340]

Yes is a problem .I have more cd with dts in wav file and if play direct from cd is static noise, if i extract stream from cd with poweriso on my pc JRiver play these files.

[kstuart]

Yes is a problem .I have more cd with dts in wav file and if play direct from cd is static noise, if i extract stream from cd with poweriso on my pc JRiver play these files.

Follow what I said in the post just above yours.

[mojave]

Mojave -

A DTS CD has DTS 5.1 that is encoded into the normal Audio CD two PCM channels.

So, they are easily transmitted by SPDIF bitstreaming.

forbigd does not have MC21 setup properly to do that for DTS CDs and needs to read previous threads on the subject.

No need to re-encode.

Click on Search in the bar above between Help and Profile and tick "in titles only" and search for "DTS" and there should be lots of threads. Some of them will be about DTS audio in video DVDs, so you will have to scroll through the threads.

I explained to him why re-coding was working for him but told him him to bitstream and showed him exactly how. He doesn't need to search any other threads because the answer is easy. 

Go to Tools > Options > Audio > Settings > Bitstreaming > and choose Custom and check DTS.

I wanted him to understand several things:
1.  JRiver already handles 5.1 DTS files with both .dts and .wav extensions just fine
2.  Since JRiver was failing on output, it had already decoded the file and the issue wasn't related to it being a 5.1 DTS file
3.  The only way to get multi-channel output over S/PDIF is to bitstream or re-encode
4.  I told him that other programs were bitstreaming and how to bitstream in JRiver

I guess I should have been clearer that the best solution for use with S/PDIF is to bitstream.

[forbigd]

I have to agree, Setting bit streaming has no effect with DTS files. The only reliable way to play DTS wavs is to play them with the Video engine. I think then MC just passes through the signal to the receiver and all is well. It is when MC alters the signal in the Audio section. As explained to me above , if you are playing full on uncompressed digital files like DTS from CD (yes compressed, but for this example it is untouched).
No DTS wav file will play in the Audio engine unless it is set to output Dolby Digital, or, it outputs to a HDMI out. I understand the HDMI has the bandwidth to play uncompressed audio, where the SPDif does not.
Using MC I have converted about 95% of my DTS wavs into 6 channel FLACs. This seems to work ok, except for the 5 percent that won't play at all, DTS Wavs that hiss (not being decoded), where the rest do fine.
I assumed some anomaly on how they were encoded.
The poster (kstuart) who said I do not have MC setup right to Bit stream DTS files without recoding them or turning on Dolby digital... Please tell me how.
I have tried 6 different sound cards/options, and if it is a coaxial or optical connection, and the DSP is set to off, It can't play DTS stating there isn't an output sufficient to handle it.
In the Bit stream section, I have tried every option, from SPDif, to checking DTS on the last option, nothing works on DTS files. The only way to get a DTS file to play for me using SPDif, is to turn on Dolby Digital encoding, or reencode the wavs as Flacs. I sure would have liked to keep the files as DTS, they were much smaller, and lit the cool DTS light on my Denon . With 6 channel FLACs is just detects multichannel encoding, not DTS.

I welcome any ideas and will give em a try.

Added info:  If I play real DTS wav files in the audio engine through HDMI, I get multichannel sound without turning on Dolby Digital, to get real DTS passed through, it has to be through the video engine, HDMI or SPDif.


Thanks

[mojave]

I don't think bitstreaming is working for DTS music files. JRiver is trying to play them as 6 channels.

If bitstreaming, then JRiver isn't "trying to play them" as anything. JRiver just passes on the digital stream to the next device. Most DTS music files are 5.1.

What does Audio Path show?

Edit:  I see from a comment Matt made a few years ago that, as posted, bit-streaming doesn't work on an audio only file unless it is DSD. Go to Tools > Options > File Types and change the playback method for DTS Audio from Automatic to JRiver Video Engine (using DirectShow filters). You will also probably need to rename DTS wav files with a DTS extension. You could also change the setting for WAV files if your only WAV files are DTS. Then you don't need to rename.

[forbigd]

I can't see the Audio path because playback won't start. See attachment.

If I play the file using HDMI but either bitstreaming for HDMI on, or no bitstreaming, all sounds are DTS hiss.
Telling MC to use the video engine to play the DTS files works fine. I think MC must do something in the audio engine rather than a direct passthrough.

Thanks

[forbigd]

File Types and change the playback method for DTS Audio from Automatic to JRiver Video Engine (using DirectShow filters).

And we return to the second issue, Playing audio files with the video engine turns off all visualizations save for a cover. My GForce and Aeon, and custom made visualizers are all unusable.
And I think the volume normalizer doesn't work as well on the video side.  (Just my opinion.)

Can the MC have an option for full passthrough for Audio? (Rereading that, the normalizer doesn't work when it is being passed through. Doh!)

Thanks
 Don

[RoderickGI]

I think this should work in MC, and that making it work is a reasonable request. However, I suspect that there aren't that many people that have audio only DTS files, so it probably isn't going to get the attention it needs to fix whatever the problem is.

Certainly S/PDIF is capable of carrying DTS encoded 5.1 channel audio, so logically it should work. The settings for Bitstreaming, particularly the Custom Bitstreaming options, give the impression that it should work.

Maybe MC isn't detecting the capabilities of the S/PDIF connection correctly or something. Yet it works with the video engine.

I think a brief explanation from a MC audio guru of why it isn't working, and if/why it can't be fixed easily, would be nice to read.

[shAf]

I think this should work in MC, and that making it work is a reasonable request. However, I suspect that there aren't that many people that have audio only DTS files, so it probably isn't going to get the attention it needs to fix whatever the problem is.

Certainly S/PDIF is capable of carrying DTS encoded 5.1 channel audio, so logically it should work. The settings for Bitstreaming, particularly the Custom Bitstreaming options, give the impression that it should work.

Maybe MC isn't detecting the capabilities of the S/PDIF connection correctly or something. Yet it works with the video engine.

I think a brief explanation from a MC audio guru of why it isn't working, and if/why it can't be fixed easily, would be nice to read.

I have to agree. A friend just gave me a Steely Dan DTS CD, and all MC21 produces is noise, even after reading and trying all options in the 2 threads referenced here. It's just a bit surprising that MC is supposed to be DTS compatible since v.16, and I cannot even find a way to play a commercial CD that's been available for years(?)

[JimH]

What version of MC are you running?

[shAf]

What version of MC are you running?

V.21.0.23

[digi340]

Yes the problem still persist with DTS-CD.The solution for me to play this is to extract track from DTS-CD to HDD and play.

[shAf]

Yes the problem still persist with DTS-CD.The solution for me to play this is to extract track form DTS-CD to HDD and play.

Thanks Digi.  Do you use another program to extract? If not, how ... my MC install doesn't seem to know what to do with the DTS-CD tracks that appear the same as usual CD tracks?

[digi340]

Use Power ISO and extract track  to HDD (rip track to WAV).