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[eruse]

Hello-
I searched the forum but did not find a solution to this problem.

I am running MC 29.0.87 on a Mac Mini late 2014 (MacOS Monterey 12.6) connected to a Marantz AV7701 preamp via HDMI and playing lossless FLAC files.  2 channel, 44.1 kHz, 16 bit FLAC files play fine.  However, when I play 2 channel, 88.2 kHz, 24 bit FLAC files ripped from SACDs, MC resamples the files to 48 kHz.  When I try to play 5.1 channel FLAC files ripped from SACDs, MC resamples the files to 48 kHz and converts the files to 2 channels.  I have similar problems with higher resolution stereo and multi-channel FLAC files.

MC's Playback Settings, Audio Device is set to "(Default) [Core Audio]" and the DSP settings are configured to "Output encoding: None" and "Channels: Source number of channels."  I have also tried setting the Audio Device to "HDMI" but still have the same problem.

Help getting MC to play back the FLAC files with full sampling resolution and with multi-channels would be appreciated.

Thanks.

[blgentry]

Start with the resolution.  Look at:  DSP Studio > Output Format > Sample Rate

See if any of your rates are set to resample to 48kHz.  If so, change them to what you want (probably original).

You mentioned SACD several times.  SACD is not a normal format.  It's not PCM.  Are your files PCM?  If they are DSD (DSD, DSF, or ISO file), then MC might be bitstreaming them to the Marantz.  If that's the case, it's the Marantz that's deciding what sample rate and channel count to use.

Check for bitstreaming by looking at the playback info:  Player > Audio Path

(You can also see the Audio Path by hovering over the icon under the search window that looks like an EQ or something similar.)

Brian.

[Awesome Donkey]

DSD bitstreaming isn't possible over HDMI from any sort of computer including a Mac, in which case MC's likely converting all DSD/SACD content to PCM on-the-fly. But looking at what the OP said, looks like everything was already converted to PCM (FLAC). Brian's right though, check DSP Studio > Output Format > Sample Rate and see what everything is set to. Might also be helpful to post screenshots of DSP Studio and Audio Path too.

[Dawgincontrol]

Also try setting your speakers there to Channels:>5.1, 7.1 or whatever you have.  Check the Mixing box setting for "JRSS mixing (recommended). Lastly check the box For stereo sources, only mix to 2.1.

Your receiver may say more channels, but Media Center doesn't actually send any sound to the surround speakers unless they are to be used in multi-channel.

[eruse]

Thanks for the replies-

I as mentioned in the original post, I am playing FLAC files.  No DSD.  I've attached a picture of how the DSP settings were configured.  All of the sample rate outputs were set to "No change" and "Channels" was set to "Source number of channels."

Strangely, the problem seems to have cleared up without me making any changes within MC.  The only change I made was for an unrelated issue where I noticed that when I was making an Audacity recording, the recording volume was very low.  When I checked the "Sound" option from the MacOS "System Preferences" settings, the output volume seemed to be set all of the way down.  Turning it up solved the Audacity problem and when I went back to playing the FLAC files with MC, everything worked fine.  There was no change to the sampling frequencies relative to the input FLAC frequencies and multi-channels played fine without changing 5.1 channels to 2 channels.  I have no idea how the MacOS Sound output volume could have changed anything related to MC.

Thanks again for the replies.
Cheers.

[blgentry]

Your "output format" is turned off in DSP Studio and will not have any effect.

Not sure if you unchecked that by accident or if it's been that way for a while.  If you ever *do* want to make any changes (like output channels for example), you'll want to turn that back on.

Glad to hear your problem is resolved.

Brian.

[AGAWA]

it is always good to check Audio MIDI setup. There is volume slider which had a bug before Monterey.