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More => Old Versions => JRiver Media Center 18 for Windows => Topic started by: maid on March 14, 2013, 10:10:03 pm
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Hi, I am trying to set up the audio for my husband and I am having huge problems.
We have plugged in the rca jacks to use 6 channel audio.
Using the realtek program we have checked that all speakers are working.
We usually use WASAPI but I cant get the back speakers to work.
We have set to use source channels and no tick on JRSS mixing
Can anyone offer any help??
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I believe you have to untie the outputs. There is a setting in the Realtek panel (the icon in the upper right). I'm going from memory, so I may not have this just right.
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I play movies in Spdif but husbands music sounds terrible using that.
So was looking to put the 5.1 channel on using the rca cables but is proving difficult.
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Do you use zones to differentiate audio settings, multichannel when playing movies and stereo when playing music ?
Playing music when the settings dictate multichannel sounds horrible when the center speaker tries to do what the main speakers are perfect at.
Sometimes the receiver doesn't switch automatic either from multichannel to stereo and has to be switched accordingly.
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I have set up a zone for him but cant get the settings right.
I have it set not to bitstream and I am playing using wasapi.
What other settings do I need?
Sometimes the receiver doesn't switch automatic either from multichannel to stereo and has to be switched accordingly?? do you mean the AV receiver??
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Right click speaker icon in tray->Playback Devices
Choose your output, select 'configure.' Change to the surround-sound setting that matches your setup. Save settings. In the playback devices window, select advanced and for good measure select the highest output and bitdepth settings that your receiver supports. Make sure this settings matches the MC settings in DSP studio.
Make sure you have "source number of channels" selected in the DSP studio or set it at 5.1 and let MC upmix stereo sources using JRSS.
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Cant change this as mine has Digital SDIF and is not configurable. Right click speaker icon in tray->Playback Devices
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do you mean the AV receiver??
Yes I do. On my Yamaha AV receiver I have to use its remote to select either music or movie. Otherwise the DSP in the AV receiver will try to play according to that setting.
In MC I have set my Audio zone up this way:
In Playing Now, select the appropriate zone
Select Tools, Options, Audio
-Audio Output
- Device (the one that connects with the AV receiver)
- - I have only selected "Open device for exclusive access"
-DSP Audio format
- select Output Format
- - Sample rate no change
- - Bitdepth "16-bit"
- - Channels "Source number of channels"
- - Mixing and Subwoofer not selected
-Bitstreaming: "Yes (HDMI)" You might have to select S/PDIF.
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-Audio Output
- Device (the one that connects with the AV receiver)
- - I have only selected "Open device for exclusive access"
I do not understand the Open device for exclusive access where does it say that??
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help anybody
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You mention that you are using 5.1 RCA, and then say that you are using s/pdif. It's hard to help from that information.
Just use analog 5.1 and disable bitstreaming. IMO S/PDIF is on the way out.
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Open device for exclusive access where does it say that??
It is part of multi selection options on the same screen as where you select audio device.
The settings I have made will play using an S/PDIF connection between the PC and the AV receiver.
As Bryanhoop says, it is important to decide which type of connection you go for, otherwise it is very hard to give usuable advice.
I was thinking that if you already have movie settings with surround sound in a video zone, you just had to make minor adjustments to the audio settings in an audio zone. Then you only need the S/PDIF connection.
If you then 'enhance' this with the auto zone switch feature you should get worry free playing of movies and music.
@Bryanhoop I agree with your view on the future on S/PDIF. It should have retired many years ago. But many are still stuck with it and going analog on standard PC equipment is no real alternative.
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Sorry I know it was confusing.
Did try rca cables but lost all sound and could not seem to switch between SPDIF for movies and rca for Music so went back to Spdif.
Movies was set perfect we just needed to get the music set.
I have done the zones again and put the music at 5.1 dolby we had done this before and when setting up, it sounds perfect but after playing movies and we decide to play music at night it sounds awful. Something must be conflicting somewhere.
Zone switch is now set up.
What is replacing SPDIF??
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Sorry I know it was confusing.
Did try rca cables but lost all sound and could not seem to switch between SPDIF for movies and rca for Music so went back to Spdif.
Movies was set perfect we just needed to get the music set.
Is there a reason to switch back to S/PDIF when playing movies? I'd highly recommend you just stick with one interface since you are just duplicating functions that both connections are capable of. If I was in your shoes (I'm not), I would go to fully analog 5.1 output using the RCA cables. Get audio playback correct in windows using the 'Configure Playback Devices' wizard I talked about earlier or the driver software for your soundcard. Disable all bitstreaming in MC. Enable Videoclock, Volume Normalization, etc now that you are allowing MC to decode the audio. Disable all 'enhancements' that are enabled on your amplifier (this is probably why bitstreamed movies sounds fine but 2-channel PCM sounds bad). Set MC to output 5.1 in all instances and upmix stereo content to 5.1 using JRSS. This will make your life much easier and sound great.
I have done the zones again and put the music at 5.1 dolby
There's no valid reason (that I can think of) to encode stereo music to dolby to send over S/PDIF. S/PDIF can transmit 2-channel PCM. I suppose unless you need 5.1 audio and your receiver doesn't have some faux-surround sound upmixing setting (they pretty much all do). You'll lose quality by converting before your transmit, however.
we had done this before and when setting up, it sounds perfect but after playing movies and we decide to play music at night it sounds awful. Something must be conflicting somewhere.
Zone switch is now set up.
This sounds like a problem with your DAC (amplifier). Possibly decoding or negotiating. Could also be the 'enhancements' that I talked about earlier. You might be playing DTS tracks from the movie then playing your reencoded dolby streams for music and the receiver has independent settings for each type of bitstream.
What is replacing replaced SPDIF??
HDMI.
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Now I am totally confused.
I thought the AV receiver would output better sound using the SPDIF I always have movies encoded in DTS and the receiver always lit up so I knew what it was playing.
Would the movies sound better played through 5.1 using the RCA cables?
The reason we dont play the music through zone 1 is hubby hates the presets in the AV receiver and liked tp play with the equalizer in JRiver.
In truth we have never had really good music from this system.
We were thinking of getting a new AV
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I thought the AV receiver would output better sound using the SPDIF I always have movies encoded in DTS and the receiver always lit up so I knew what it was playing.
All things being equal, the sound from a DTS track playing via an 5.1 analog source should be identical to a bitstreamed DTS track. The only difference is where you choose to do the digital to analog conversion. Using S/PDIF, your AV does the decoding, and when using analog JRiver will do the decoding. Might there be some sound sound degradation along the analog pathway? Possibly, but I would argue that it's largely imperceptible. And what you lose in fidelity (if any) you gain in being able to use MC's DSP studio, videoclock, volume normalization, etc. The only reason I would go with S/PDIF over analog now-a-days is if you didn't have enough RCA cables or wanted to streamline the connection for ease of use.
Would the movies sound better played through 5.1 using the RCA cables?
If you are playing DTS and DD only, then no. However, if you are planning to play anything higher fidelity (DTS-MA, Dolby TrueHD, etc), you won't be able to play them over S/PDIF. You will have to let MC decode and send 5.1 analog.
The reason we dont play the music through zone 1 is hubby hates the presets in the AV receiver and liked to play with the equalizer in JRiver.
In truth we have never had really good music from this system.
We were thinking of getting a new AV
Using 5.1 analog will allow you to completely control your music via MC. In essence, under these conditions, MC is the true source of your audio. When you bitstream, MC is just a fileserver and your AV receiver does the heavy lifting. I trust MC much more than any stand-alone hardware.
As an aside concerning your AV, make sure that it is wired properly. Sometimes AV receivers (especially older ones) have strange wiring schemes (parallel connections) in order to get the proper speaker resistance. Some have speakers "A" and speakers "B" where one or the other is the high-powered connection and will not operate at full-capacity if the other is engaged. In this scenario, some speakers will be much quieter than they should be. Also check the ohms on your speakers (if they are aftermarket) and make sure they are wired correctly for the lowest resistance your AV supports.
Edit: I just want to stress again that S/PDIF had a time and place in home video, primarily in the 90s and 2000s to simplify connecting DVD players (and CD players in the audio world) to AV equipment without requiring a slew of wires. Those days are largely behind us. In lieu of HDMI, I highly recommend that you use the 5.1 analog connection, which is essentially future-proof for your current AV setup.
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thank you so much for your help and info.
I am changing all this today how do I get to play DTS-MA, Dolby TrueHD?
Also how do we Disable all 'enhancements' that are enabled on your amplifier?
If its not too much trouble can you list the things to check to do this change over as I am not a newb but not that great with all this hifi stuff, getting to old me thinks. ;)
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I am changing all this today how do I get to play DTS-MA, Dolby TrueHD?
This link should tell you everything you need to know:
http://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/Blu-ray#HD_Audio
Also how do we Disable all 'enhancements' that are enabled on your amplifier?
This is specific to your AV. I would turn off anything that contains buzzwords like "Clear Music", "Spatial Optimizer", "Extra Bass" and any pre-configured DSP settings like theater, sports, concert hall, etc. You are essentially aiming for a completely flat equalizer in your AV. Then you can use the DSP studio in MC to give you much greater control over your audio settings (although I'm a purist and leave them flat as well, with the exception of Replaygain).
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Have connected the rca and tested in windows all are receiving ok.
do I have to instal Arcsoft fore true HD and does it have to be left installed
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PM sent.
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Thanks again.
Tested movies last night sounds good but the volume was very low. began testing the equaliser and increased the pre amp.
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Thanks again.
Tested movies last night sounds good but the volume was very low. began testing the equaliser and increased the pre amp.
Were you near maxing out your AV volume? If not, I wouldn't change pre-amp, etc and just increase the volume on the AV directly. Studios pay millions of dollars to properly master the audio in their movies so they shouldn't need much refinement. It might also be quieter than you are used to if you've enabled Volume Normalization in the video settings. This will 99% of the time lower (as opposed to increasing volume, which could induce clipping) the volume to the same perceptible level. It's OK, your AV likely has hundreds of watts to drive your speakers to levels that are plenty loud even with a 'quieter' source. If you are maxing the AV out, then I would suspect you have incorrectly wired speakers or speakers with too high of a resistance for your AV system.
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AV was maxed out. Speakers came with the Kenwood AV and the speakers are wired correctly.The kenwood has 6 rca but the computer only has three.
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hdmi ?
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hdmi ?
On what?
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can anybody shed some light on the volume after changing from Spdif to RCA?
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can anybody shed some light on the volume after changing from Spdif to RCA?
I don't have a kenwood AV but mostly volume problems might happen on wrong input level presets in the AV receiver...at least Denon has this and can impact volume on the same input (like DVD) depending if the signal is received per spdif or RCA or HDMI. (have a look in the user manual for volume presets)
Then you quote "computer has 3 and kenwood 6 RCA's" : are you referring to the Realtek output's of the computer ?? These are stereo jacks which transmit two channels per jack so you'll need to have 3... jack stereo -> 2 RCA's cables. But this shouldn't be the issue as you said you tested the realtek out and that worked correctly.
If you have huge volume differences when switching between spdif in/ 6 RCA (multi-channel) the culprit is mostlikely the AV receiver. (to be sure check also the playback levels of the spdif out and line out in the realtek sound panel)
Just a thought...
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Turned all speakers to +10db testing later
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Turned all speakers to +10db testing later
This made a small difference not huge though.
Anything else we should try?
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Turned all speakers to +10db testing later
where did u do that ?
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In the AV Receiver
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OK I just "informed" myself how your receiver looked like. So regarding the AV receiver your best bet actually is to use the rca connection. I don't go into why and what you should could can do (just so much : you have no hdmi / and if down the road you want to hear dts master hd or dolby true hd spdif will not do).
let me try to roll it up from the beginning giving you some hints to your actual hardware and as I would do it (if that's fine for you)...and then narrow all down as we progress
1. connect your 3 realtek outputs to the 6 rca's : green pc output to front in left/right .... black pc out to srround in left /right ....orange pc out to center and subwoofer input
2. in windows right click your audio symbol (tasklist)
3. select playback devices
4. select speakers
5. select properties
6. select tab levels (check that volume is 3/4 to full up)
7. select advanced
8. select in the drop down 24/96 (studio qality)
9 click OK
10 again in the "playback device overview window select speakers
11 select configure
12.in choose your configuration audio channels select 5.1
(make sure that your AV is set to multichannel input : on the receiver turn the button input selector to DVD/6ch then press the input mode button until 6ch inpt light up)
13. on the pc hit test button or each individual speaker in the image on the right
do you hear in all correct speakers the test tone ?
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Hello and thank you.
All was correct except the 24/96 studio quality.
All test ok.
There is only one thing we dont understand that is the AV multichannel input where is that?
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it's the input selector on your av receiver but don't worry if the input on the av would have been wrong you wouldn't have heard anything...
Now open up MC
1. select tools>options>audio
2. for a start select direct sound
3. then in output mode settings under device set to "realtek" or "speakers" dunno how it's exactly labeled on your pc
4. then in dsp studio in the upper corner right enable output format level + uncheck all others you might have selected there. Then in the table leave everything as it is "no change" only at input rates 176,400/192,000/greater than 192,000 select under output for each 96,000
5. Bitdepth put to 24bit
6. channels : select source number of channels
EDIT : click OK + make sure that under bitstreaming you have selected none
Then let's start with a music (audio) file and play it back ... does it sound OK or do you get an error message
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it's the input selector on your av receiver but don't worry if the input on the av would have been wrong you wouldn't have heard anything...
Now open up MC
1. select tools>options>audio
2. for a start select direct sound We have WASAPI enabled
3. then in output mode settings under device set to "realtek" or "speakers" dunno how it's exactly labeled on your pc All Done
4. then in dsp studio in the upper corner right enable output format level + uncheck all others you might have selected there. Then in the table leave everything as it is "no change" only at input rates 176,400/192,000/greater than 192,000 select under output for each 96,000 all changed but dont have 400
5. Bitdepth put to 24bit
6. channels : select source number of channels
EDIT : click OK + make sure that under bitstreaming you have selected none
Then let's start with a music (audio) file and play it back ... does it sound OK or do you get an error message
We were mainly concerned that the AV was maxed out yet when using the SPDIF it was not
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Got that but really unsure if you understand the differences between running different output formats, which connections you should better use re what you want to do and the hardware you have..and don't seem interested in a step by step explanation/tryout. Also the various settings on your various equipments which might intervene in the chain (realtek/windows/MC/AV) seem not to be obvious to you.
So if you experience a difference in volume between spdif and RCA it can be a lot of things be it on the PC side or on the receiver side and reading the questions you have in your various posts a setup using both RCA and spdif with a zone switch in MC seems to be a quite steep learning curve for you.
NB : Turning all speakers to +10db will not change the difference in input mode volume between RCA and Spdif. It will be the same but... +10db louder.
Certainly others can chime in and will bring you closer to your solution.
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Thank you again for your help.
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NB : Turning all speakers to +10db will not change the difference in input mode volume between RCA and Spdif. It will be the same but... +10db louder.
Not only that, but you could do them some damage if you ever play something from a source that is set up properly.
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Thank you again for your help.
If I keep both RCA and SPDIF set up with zone switching. will windows change the speakers automatically or will I have to do that manually