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[water1]

I can use Windows Media Player 10 to play music that is encoded as WMA 5.1 surround. It passes it to the M-Audio Revolution soundcard and then via digital coax to a Pioneer VSX-59txi which decodes the WMA 5.1 surround. I prefer to use Media Center 11 because I like the interface much better but I am not getting the WMA 5.1 passthrough. The receiver shows it is receiving a standard digital input.
Is there a setting in MC11 I need to change or is it not capable of passing the 5.1 surround?

[water1]

Does anyone care about 5.1 playback?

[Alex B]

I play 5.1 often, but I don't use WMA. I have some wave DTS audio files and a lot of 5.1 AVI videos (mostly DivX & DD). My Yamaha A/V Receiver decodes them. I have used AC3Filter for DD and DTS video audio pass through, but I don't think it understands WMA 5.1. Wave DTS audio pass through is handled directly by ASIO4ALL driver.

Pioneer VSX-59txi is the first A/V Receiver that can do WMA 5.1 decoding. Is there anything about the format and compatible software in its manual? Even MS site does not say much about the file specifications.

Edit

BTW, where do you get WMA 5.1 files? Is it possible to buy them somewhere or are you ripping them by yourself with some new software?

[water1]

BTW, where do you get WMA 5.1 files? Is it possible to buy them somewhere or are you ripping them by yourself with some new software?

There used to be a link on the Microsoft site to some commercial releases which I purchased. There are some free downloads available here: http://www.acidplanet.com/artist.asp?songs=349786&T=1829
The main use of the technology is watching the WMV HD movies available on DVD. There is a lot of information on the technology here.
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/content_provider/film/ContentShowcase.aspx
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/windowsmediaplayer/51audio.mspx

I'm able to use Windows Media Player without problem but Media Center will not pass the WMV 5.1.

[evanr76]

would it be technically feasible to transcode wma5.1 to a more traditional format (dd, dts) on the fly?

[Alex B]

would it be technically feasible to transcode wma5.1 to a more traditional format (dd, dts) on the fly?

I have seen some quite complex instructions for converting DD/DTS to Windows Media 5.1 (not on the fly). It might be possible the other way round. However, WMA 5.1 is a lossy format and transcoding to another lossy format would lessen the audio quality.

[Matt]

The next build of MC 11 (276 or later) should have full support of 5.1 (or 7.1) WAV and WMA files.

Let us know how it works for you.  Thanks.

[Alex B]

The next build of MC 11 (276 or later) should have full support of 5.1 (or 7.1) WAV and WMA files.

Let us know how it works for you. Thanks.

Interesting. What did you change?

I investigated WMP10 options and found this:



Will MC have access to this configuration option?

For some reason S/PDIF for WM audio is disabled on my PC even I can play DD/DTS through it with other programs. I don't have an external WM audio decoder, but I don't think WMP has any means to know that.

Perhaps my Terratec DMX 6fire 24/96 soundcard (based on the Envy 24 chip) is not compatible.

The only way to try WMA 5.1 will be using my soundcard's analog outputs (If I can find enough working minijack to RCA cables).

[cncb]

The next build of MC 11 (276 or later) should have full support of 5.1 (or 7.1) WAV and WMA files.

Let us know how it works for you.  Thanks.

Ok, I will try this thread since the other one was ignored.  Can you explain what "full support" is and how these files are handled (how the sound is routed, etc.)?

[cncb]

Can you please explain this?  Thanks.

[cncb]

I'm trying to be patient, but having to bump a thread 3 times to get an answer as a paying customer is a little rediculous.  I have searched the forum and have seen this question asked several times but never answered.  Can you please provide us an answer as to how 5.1 WAV files are supported?

[Alex B]

The next build of MC 11 (276 or later) should have full support of 5.1 (or 7.1) WAV and WMA files.

Let us know how it works for you.  Thanks.

Actually, Matt asked for user feedback, but no one has answered yet.

I have been rebuilding some parts of my HTPC system and I can now use the analog outputs too. I'll try this with some test files and report back in a few days.

[cncb]

Thanks for the response. 

This was touted as a new feature in v11, but they never explained how it was supposed to work.  This would help so we can tell if we have a setup problem or it is not working as expected.  All I want to know is if I can expect to get output through S/PDIF for 5.1 channel WAV but it sounds like all I can expect is analog output?

[Matt]

5.1 channel playback works just like 1 or 2 channel playback -- MC gives the data to the soundcard.  It's up to the soundcard (or driver) to pipe that data through SP/DIF or analog outputs.

[Alex B]

I tried it with these samples:

WMA 5.1: Setup 20chord.wma  (from http://www.cjguerrero.com/SURROUND/SURROUNDCHECK.htm)

WAVE 5.1: 6_Channel_ID.wav  (from http://www.iis.fraunhofer.de/amm/download/mp3surround/downloadpage.html)

All 5.1 channels worked when I played these samples through the analog outputs of my Terratec DMX 6fire 24/96 soundcard.

As far as I know the usual HT receivers can handle only 2-channel PCM and undecoded multichannel streams (e.g. DD/DTS) from the digital inputs. When the channels are separated before the soundcard my receiver gets only the L & R channels through the digital input.

The creator of this thread originally asked if multichannel WMA 5.1 files could be passed through to an external WMA decoder using a similar mechanism that WMP uses. Some new HT receivers have also a WMA decoder. I guess that would need an additional playback option in MC.

[cncb]

Thank you both for the responses.  I guess my plan to transfer my DVD-Audio and SACD disks to 5.1 WAV won't work.  I would use 5.1 WMA but it appears that only the Pioneer receivers are able to decode this signal through S/PDIF (and I guess Media Center might not support it anyways).

[Alex B]

Try the 44.1 khz 5.1 DTS wave format. Google for instructions.

[cncb]

Well, I'm happy to report that I finally got AC3 and DTS-WAV files working with S/PDIF output so this takes care of my DVD-Audio disks.  However, to turn the 6 WAV files recorded from an SACD disk into a DTS-WAV file I would have to purchase the $100 DTS encoder software, right?  Or are you talking about something else?