Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[barndog]

I am a relatively new user - I have not begun to get into the finer points that most of the boards discuss. So please bear with me, as I need some assistance.

Here is my assumption / set up:
I want to use the zone feature to play different music (mp3 based) simultaneously in different locations in my home. I would like to control the volume differently in each zone via Media Center.
Set up is - WinXP, external USB sound card configured as 7.1 home theater output, Zone 1 as direct output with front left and right speakers, Zone 2 as direct output with rear speakers, no mixing for either zone in dsp options, 7.1 channels set in dsp options.

The receiver is a sherwood (7.1), set up for digital input and auto surround sound.

I have tried about every configuration setting I can think of.  It took a while to figure out to set up the receiver for surround - duh. 

Anyway, Zone 1 plays in both zones.  Zone 2 plays in both zones as well.  Play them both at the same time - and you hear a real mess.  You get the picture.

I have read other posts that may have indicated that the SPDIF input might be the issue - which I hope is not the case. 

So, I need a little bit of advice.  Thanks in advance.

[Alex B]

S/PDIF supports only two output channels. S/PDIF can transmit either standard stereo audio or encoded signal (e.g. Dolby Digital or DTS) in a package that looks like standard stereo signal.

You would need to use a multi-channel audio device that actually has the individual physical output channels. I have tested the analog outputs of a 5.1 channel device with three zones. It worked fine. I needed to use the DirectSound output mode. ASIO didn't work. I didn't try WASAPI.

I suppose also HDMI could work, but I have never tried it. (Unlike S/PDIF, HDMI provides the individual physical channels for multi-channel signals.)

EDIT: edited a bit...

[barndog]

Thanks Alex
The external usb device has separate outputs for front, side, back and something labeled c/b.  these would be small stereo jacks going to rca inputs into the receiver. 
I think that is what you are referring too?  right?
But, I tried isolating them as zone output within MC - I heard bleed over when the front speakers were selected in MC and I hooked up the side speaker to the receiver.  When I set up MC for rear speaker, I could not get any sounds.
So, back to stage one.
This is disappointing.  I have really read quite a bit on this site and really thought I had this thing figured out.
Not sure what I missed.

[Alex B]

Have you tested standard 5.1 (or 7.1) playback? You should verify that it works correctly before trying anything else.

Set MC to output 5.1 or 7.1 without any processing in DSP Studio > Output Format (no Dolby & no mixing). You can use the Microsoft surround test files: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/howto/articles/Multichannel.aspx#link6.

In general it might be easier to use a separate sound card for the second zone. Does the motherboard have an integrated sound device that you could use?

[barndog]

thanks
yes i can use the second sound card
will continue testing
still a little confused - will continue to try and get smarter.
thanks for the help

[Alex B]

By testing standard multichannel playback I meant that you should test it on a single zone. It must work correctly before you can split the output of two or more zones to go through the specified channels on a single multichannel audio device.

If you can dedicate a separate audio device for each zone each device can be configured normally.

[barndog]

So I get that in a 5.1 or 7.1 environment, there would be bleed over between the front and side and so forth.  The concept is a full sound "surround sound" afterall.

But, in several posts, I have read that zones could be configured with different pairs of speakers of the surround make up, ie  front LR, back LR even center with sub. 7.1 would yield 4 pairs.
That is where my confusion lies.

I cannot seem to find a clear / clean explanation of how zones within MC are to be used.  Is it multiple pc sound devices each paired 1:1 with an amplifier? I can live with this, but that was not what the implication was in reading all about zones in these posts. And if that was the case, then why wouldn't a person just use wmc with multiple instances open?

So, here is a request.  Can someone post a "how to" for zones?  That would be awesome for all who want to go there.