I
resolved this while composing my post. I've left it unchanged in case it helps anyone else as capable of confusing themselves...
I understand I can configure things separately for different zones, but I wonder if I'm missing something in my current set up. I have two zones. It's Windows 7, and both use WASAPI. One is for my desktop, using on-board sound. Dolby is disabled in disabled in
DSP Studio Output Format. The other is for "theatre viewing," using S/PDIF to a home theatre receiver with Dolby is enabled.
For the most part—because I tend to watch videos only in the "theatre" zone—this works fine. The problem is when I try to play video with Dolby audio in the "desktop" zone. I use
AC3Filter to handle these. If it's set to use S/PDIF, it doesn't work with the zone that's not configured to use that. (S/PDIF plays as loud static on a sound card.) I realize the per-file filter settings can vary by zone, so I've tried including
AC3Filter only in the "theatre" zone. Unfortunately, it seems to be used regardless of the zone. And since it only has one set of settings, either S/PDIF is enabled or it's not.
So two possibilities come to mind. One, I'm just failing to understand how something works.Two, MC can't control whether or not AC3Filter is used, and it determines whether or not S/PDIF is enabled.
Oops! Or three, an alternate audio filter needs to be specified for the "desktop" zone—I added
ffdshow Audio Processor to the file types I use.
BTW, I don't think it's a good idea that
Options should save settings according to the current zone without acknowledging it's doing so. Ideally, it should have a very obvious control for changing and displaying the current zone. Alternatively, it should include an advisory along the lines of, "The following settings are for the [current zone] Zone only."
Author
Topic: Zone audio configuration [resolved] (Read 1041 times)