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[DaLarry]

The question is how can a particular audio format override the options settings in Media Center?  In this case, .m4a?

I can't figure this one out.  I don't know if it's a Win 7 or Media Center issue.  My main music server / gaming computer has two sound cards: A Realtek High Definition chipset on the mobo and a ESI Juli@ card.  The Juli@ is connected to my main music system and the rest of my system is supposed to use the Realtek for games and general system audio and it is connected to regular PC speakers.  When I'm playing music in Media Center it will sometime ignore the settings in the "Options"  and route the sounds through the Realtek instead of the Juli@.  When I check the settings while it's doing that it shows my Juli@ and ASIO are still the default profile.  I have noticed when it happens that Media Center is playing an ".m4a" tune.  As soon as it switches back to an .mp3 or FLAC it switches back to the Juli@ card.  I recently upgraded the system to Win 7 Pro.  I've been running this same basic system with various versions of Media Center for about 3 years and this issue never presented itself.  Before upgrading to Win 7 it was XP. 

The question is how can a particular audio format override the options settings in Media Center?  In this case, .m4a?

My System:

Intel P4 3.06Ghz w/hyperthreading
3GB Memory
Win 7 Pro x86
~1TB of storage /50% free
Video: NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GT
The two sound cards described above.

[JimH]

It may not be the audio format.  It may be Quicktime.  MC will use the QT engine for m4a playback unless you install DirectShow filters for m4a.  See our wiki for more.

[Alex B]

DaLarry,

As Jim said, a QuickTime decoded file plays always through the default Windows sound device. The decoded audio stream doesn't come back to MC so that it could be routed to another device.

On your old OS you used DirectShow decoding for m4a if you were able to select the audio device inside MC.

I'd recommend to install the DC-Bass Source DirectShow splitter/decoding filter and set MC to use it:

Tool > Options > File Types > AAC audio (m4a, aac)
  - Playback Method: JRiver Audio Engine (using DirectShow filter)
  - Source Filter: DC-Bass Source
  - Other Filters: none

DC-Bass Source can decode also Apple Lossless m4a files if you happen to have them.

I have tested this setup on Windows 7 Ultimate 32 bit, but as far as I know it should work also on the 64-bit OS version.

The latest, Unicode compatible, version of DC-Bass Source is available here: http://forum.dsp-worx.de/viewtopic.php?p=2085#2085

[DaLarry]

Thanx to both of you for your quick response.  I couldn't get the DC Bass Resource thingy to install but I realized I had all the right codecs istalled and figured out how to configure the ones I needed to get it to do what I wanted.

Again, Thanx.

[HiFiTubes]

 I think Glynor reported DC-Bass was not working anymore for him.