CPU/Mobo Problem with 5.1 channel output Through HDMi

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Herald
Well guys,

I have a HTPC with Gigabyte 880GMA-UD2 Mobo. The mobo has HDMi Port and I was earlier using this as my primary port for connecting to my TV. The Audio and Video both were passed by the same port @ 1080p with 2.0 Large Speakers setup.

Now I have just bought a Onkyo Hts 3400. I am in a confusion on connecting the HTPC with the AVR from audio point of view. The HTPC shows only a 2.0 setup when I connect the HDMi port over to the AVR. I want this to be 5.1 so that I can pass a fully immersible movie experience. How to go about this.

Attaching the mobo link for the reference and queries. GIGABYTE - Motherboard - Socket AM3 - GA-880GMA-UD2H (rev. 2.2)

The mobo does have optical out. I also have a Xonar DX sound card lying. If that helps in getting better audio then I can very well connect that too with the HTPC.

Thanks in Advance

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Switch, this might take some tinkering! To begin with, first download the latest Realtek HDMI drivers from here and install them - Realtek

Next, refer this link to set the proper audio playback device on your HTPC - How to Enable HDMI Audio Using Your HP Pavilion Media Center PC

When you play a file encoded with the DTS/Dolby-D codec, your AVR should switch to the respective mode when the file is played from the application (like VLC/MPC-HC).

Could you report back after performing the above steps?
 
Thanks Gannu. But this is not what I asked. I know how to enable HDMi audio. Infact it was working flawlessly when connected to my TV or as of now when connected to my PC but its in 2.0 mode and not 5.1. I want true dts-HD and DD-MA. I wanted to know how to get that working. Even if I need to buy a new Videocard for the same I am ready for that.

--- Updated Post - Automerged ---

Finally, This is what I wanted to ask. Found it on the web and posted it here for others for future.

Question:

I was just reading this blog entry which discusses Bitstreaming in respect to a Home Theater PC but it doesn't say exactly what Bitstreaming is.

What exactly is Bitstreaming and why is it important in an HTPC?

Answer: Your source media contains an audio stream encoded with an audio codec such as AC3, TrueHD, DTS, etc. In order to get that into something your ears can hear, SOMETHING has to decode it into an audio stream and send it to your speakers. Common methods of this are in a setup of Device > A/V Receiver > Speakers and done via LPCM or Bitstreaming.

Bitstreaming is when your device passes the entire encoded audio to your A/V receiver, which then decodes the audio stream in to separate channels (this is where 2.0, 5.1, and 7.1 come in to play) and pushes it out via the speakers to your ears. In other words, bitstreaming is the process of taking the entire encoded audio stream and passing it bit for bit to another device for decoding (usually an A/V Receiver).

With LPCM, the first device will decode the audio stream into separate channels and then send the individual Linear PCM signals to your A/V receiver, which then just passes them through to your speakers and out to you.

It is important because you can generally get better quality audio and audio decoding out of your $500 A/V Receiver than you can your $40 sound card or $150 blu-ray player. There are also limitations, dependant upon the device doing the decoding (such as the sound card in your HTPC) and how it is connected (analog, HDMI, or Optical), as to how many channels you can pass across via LPCM. So if your HTPC can only decode your nice fancy TrueHD audio and pass it via LPCM in 2 channels....well that just sucks. So you would want to be able to bitstream it to your A/V receiver which can then decode it and play all of its 7.1 glory!
Click to expand...

Now that I know what I am looking for, I will find a solution ;)

--- Updated Post - Automerged ---

And here it is :

Guide Bitstreaming HDMI HD Audio Formats from your HTPC | Missing Remote

Guide: Setting Up Bitstreaming With Your Windows 7 HTPC – PART I
 
To decode the HD audio codecs (DTS-HD MA and Dolby TruHD), you need files which have them encoded. Such as the iso of a blu-ray disc.

Optical out or coaxial out (from your motherboard or sound card) cannot pass these signals to the AVR (due to their high bitrate) and thus HDMI comes into play but like I said before unless your media have them encoded, you will NOT receive them. Do you have any such files? You don't own a PS3 so I am assuming blu-ray discs are out of question.

8. Now it is the moment of truth. Navigate to one of more movies that has a DTS(MA) or TrueHD audio track and play it with MPC HC. If all went well you should see the the DTS(MA) or TrueHD logo light up on your Receiver.
Click to expand...

This! If you do not have these files, those efforts are in vain. All the 2~16 GB blu-ray rips do not have these HD audio streams in them. They come in excess of ~25GB. Your AVR can however decode DTS/Dolby D streams nonetheless.
 
Hmmm... Didn't realize that part. So now I need to dig a little deeper into my HD movies collection. Thanks Gannu. I read up quite a lot and learned quite a few new things. Suggest me a good cheap gfx card for my HTPC and also whats the best way to connect and get 5.1 from my TATA SKY HD+ to my AVR. I have currently connected it through HDMi but I have been suggested to connect the audio through coaxial.
 
Does tatasky hd+ output in 5.1 channel in the first place? i tried Dolby and PCM in Sound settings in Organiser and captured with onboard card and both times i got 2 channel AAC audio @48KHz and 16bit resolution. I'm recording video+audio through hdmi cable only if you want to know.

I tried in HD as well as SD channels too.
 
First up, you don't need to be bothered with DTS-HD MA and Dolby Tru-HD formats unless you intend to start collecting blu-ray iso files. The iso files of blu-ray discs (which we generally notice as 25~40 GB sizes on our private trackers have these HD audio tracks encoded which IMO is a sheer waste of bandwidth!). The usual Dolby-D and DTS sound tracks present on the the hd-rips are more than sufficient for the average home user to enjoy a movie. They are indeed encoded in the 5.1 channel so you can enjoy proper 5.1 surround effects (vocals through center channel and the other sounds through the fronts and rears) and can be bitstreamed to your AVR through HDMI itself.

Just follow the steps I have mentioned in the second post to enable proper bitstreaming from your HTPC to the AVR. I believe your onboard IGP is capable of decoding 1080p rips (have you tried yet? Try with the best hd-rip you have got and that will determine if the IGP can handle it!). If so, you do not need a dedicated GPU. If you still need one, the HD 6570 (DDR3 based) is a solid cardfrom the present crop of GPUs. It can do all the decoding flawlessly without breaking a sweat.

Switch said:
also whats the best way to connect and get 5.1 from my TATA SKY HD+ to my AVR. I have currently connected it through HDMi but I have been suggested to connect the audio through coaxial.
Click to expand...

I am not sure of this one since I do not own a DTH connection so haven't played around with the STB. HDMI should be able to do it IMO. Have you mapped your AVR suitably? AVR is a device which requires a lot of tinkering in the beginning. Watch an HD channel and notice what your AVR's LED display indicates. The 'Dolby D' sign should light up. Otherwise you can always connect the coaxial or toslink out from the STB to your AVR.

Just curious, how is your present setup like? Is it anything like this:

1. HTPC --- AVR (via HDMI)
2. STB --- AVR (via HDMI)
3. X360 --- AVR (via HDMI/component cable)
4. AVR --- LCD (via HDMI)
 
Yup its like that only and apart from the above three I have connected a DVD palyer with the AVR. Currently through RGB but will connect it through component & Coaxial combo.

And yes there is a bug in TS HD+ firmware so I will have to connect the audio through either optical or coaxial to get that proper 5.1 surround setup.

Also would it be better to connect the PC with AVR through optical/Coaxial as my HDMi is only passing 2.0 it seems. I should be able to get proper 5.1 decoded that ways.
 
^Did you install the HDMI driver from Realtek and enable the playback device from the Sound options (Control Panel)as mentioned in the second post? If so, try the different options from your AVR next. You will have to manually set it sometimes if the AVR doesn't auto recognise it.

What media player are you using on your HTPC? You will have to change the audio device from the player.

And yeah you will not get proper 5.1 output unless you play a mkv file. Play a hd-rip and check which has a DTS or Dolby D audio track!
 
One easy way to check the capability of the setup is to use the AC3 encoder application bundled in the K-Lite Codec pack, the app may also be available on its own. Not sure.

Basically the three things you need for BluRay audio are:

1. HDMI output capable of LPCM bitstreaming.

2. Source material with a stream encoded in 8-channel high-resolution format.

3. HDMI receiver capable of recognising and handling or decoding the above stream.

The 880G is *not* capable of the first. You can only get two-channel audio over its native HDMI output.

Most freely available material (not copyright protected) except for samples do not come with high-resolution audio encoded by default. Will not talk about what is not legally available.

Therefore what you want is probably not possible with the equipment and material you have. Only your receiving system has that capability.
 
Switch said:
And yes there is a bug in TS HD+ firmware so I will have to connect the audio through either optical or coaxial to get that proper 5.1 surround setup.
Click to expand...

may i know what bug that is?
 
cranky said:
1. HDMI output capable of LPCM bitstreaming.

2. Source material with a stream encoded in 8-channel high-resolution format.

3. HDMI receiver capable of recognising and handling or decoding the above stream.
Click to expand...

Switch's AVR is capable of the third as mentioned in the specs here - Home Theater Systems : HT-S3400 | ONKYO Asia and Oceania Website

Dolby® TrueHD, DTS-HD Master Audio™, Dolby® Digital Plus, DTS-HD High-Resolution Audio™ Decoding
Click to expand...

So perhaps connecting the motherboard to the AVR with a coaxial/toslink cable is the only go now.

cranky said:
The 880G is *not* capable of the first. You can only get two-channel audio over its native HDMI output.
Click to expand...

Thanks for this piece of info! Wasn't aware of it. :)
 
Yup... Bang on the money... Tried all sort of tweaking yesterday with the HTPC and the AVR.. Finally settled with HDMi+Optical combo. Tried passing the audio as DTS D from the VLC and volla the dts logo in the AVR lights up same with Doulby. Then setted the same in XBMC. Working perfectly now.

Also as for the TATASky HD+, tried it with HDMi and HDMi+Optical Combo. Well only a few channels(Star Movies HD/Star Gold HD) had 5.1 output. That too with just couple of movies. Has Van Helsing saved and I tried playing that via both HDMi and Optical the effect was same though neither dts nor doubly got recognized, so left it connected through HDMi only as wanted a HDMi passthrough to TV as most of the time TS audio with TV is sufficient enough.

Thanks for the help guys. Really appreciate it. Now in the lookout for a cheap iPhone dock :).
 
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