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[DHF]

MC

With the addition of DSD file support, I feel many of us, like myself, are procuring a PS3 and ripping our SACD collections to DSF files.  Many thanks to the J River team for including DSD support.

However, some DSD files are presenting me with a challenge.  Classical SACDs are often recorded in 5 channel surround - no .1 subwoofer channel like other SACDs.  In fact for classical rips this is more the rule than the exception.

When I attempt to play one of these 5 channel recordings, my Marantz pre pro spits up a little bit, and J River reports that 5 channel is not supported, and it can down mix to 2 channel.  I realize this is a hardware issue, not a J River issue per se but I believe it to be a common hardware issue with many preamps/processors.

Now, I can go to tools-audio-dsp and force the data to be presented in a 5.1 format, and it plays fine.  Unfortunately, then all my 2 channel music is also presented in a 5.1 channel format as well, which is not so good. Not convenient to go through all those menus, especially from Theater View, which is my standard.

I know that some have found a workaround, utilizing ZoneSelect to put 5 channel files to a different zone in a forced 5.1 format, but that workaround is limited to those individuals that typically utilize a 2 channel outboard DAC for stereo listening, and a different processor for multichannel.  I, and I would guess many others, utilize an HDMI output to the preamp, and do not have the ability to create a second zone (which would require a second audio device) to work around this issue.

So - my long winded problem/suggestion for the team is to give us an option in channels that leaves 2 channel alone, but let's us put 5 channel (and 4 channel for that matter) into a 5.1 channel format. That would be so nice!

If I have missed something and there is a workaround short of going to tools every time I want to play a 5 channel file (which I admit is possible) then please let me know.  I am not always the brightest bulb in the knife drawer.

[mwillems]

MC

With the addition of DSD file support, I feel many of us, like myself, are procuring a PS3 and ripping our SACD collections to DSF files.  Many thanks to the J River team for including DSD support.

However, some DSD files are presenting me with a challenge.  Classical SACDs are often recorded in 5 channel surround - no .1 subwoofer channel like other SACDs.  In fact for classical rips this is more the rule than the exception.

When I attempt to play one of these 5 channel recordings, my Marantz pre pro spits up a little bit, and J River reports that 5 channel is not supported, and it can down mix to 2 channel.  I realize this is a hardware issue, not a J River issue per se but I believe it to be a common hardware issue with many preamps/processors.

Now, I can go to tools-audio-dsp and force the data to be presented in a 5.1 format, and it plays fine.  Unfortunately, then all my 2 channel music is also presented in a 5.1 channel format as well, which is not so good. Not convenient to go through all those menus, especially from Theater View, which is my standard.

I know that some have found a workaround, utilizing ZoneSelect to put 5 channel files to a different zone in a forced 5.1 format, but that workaround is limited to those individuals that typically utilize a 2 channel outboard DAC for stereo listening, and a different processor for multichannel.  I, and I would guess many others, utilize an HDMI output to the preamp, and do not have the ability to create a second zone (which would require a second audio device) to work around this issue.

So - my long winded problem/suggestion for the team is to give us an option in channels that leaves 2 channel alone, but let's us put 5 channel (and 4 channel for that matter) into a 5.1 channel format. That would be so nice!

If I have missed something and there is a workaround short of going to tools every time I want to play a 5 channel file (which I admit is possible) then please let me know.  I am not always the brightest bulb in the knife drawer.

A second zone does not require a second audio device; just make sure that (when you're configuring zoneswitch) each of the zones you set up for the same audio device are configured to stop playback in the other zone(s).  If you do that you can have an arbitrary number of zones on the same audio device and zoneswitch handles the coordination.

I currently have three zones setup on the same audio device using rules in zoneswitch to route the audio (one for audio, one for stereo video and one for multichannel video).  Once you get it configured it's mostly seamless.