Audio Configuration

[spacemonkey]

Hey guys
I have the following setup currently.

1. Denon 1612 AVR
2. Wharfedale 9.1 - Bookshelf Speakers
3. Wharfedale 9.CS - Center Speaker
4. HTPC - Custom built Gigabyte Board with nVidia GT240 running Win7 x86 (32bit)
5. Panasonic 42" Plasma

The aforementioned is connected as follows

HTPC --> HDMI --> AVR --> HDMI --> Panasonic

With this configuration and the latest drivers loaded on my nVidia GT240, my HTPC recognises the Audio Device only as a Stereo output in the Sound Options.

The setting on the AVR for HDMI is set to AMP and not TV as well.

I wonder if there is a way for me to tell my HTPC that there is indeed a center speaker as well and to use it. The only way i can make this happen currently is to change the listening mode on the AVR to Dolby ProLogic or something to that extent. The HTPC does not natively take my Center Speaker into consideration.

What would be the recommended settings to channel my 5.1 audio from VLC/MPC/XBMC to the speaker config i have currently over HDMI?

Also, until I put my Audio decode function to Analog in XBMC, the audio fails to initialize using HDMI. Any reason for this as well?

HELP!

 

[ontherocks]

HTPC --> HDMI --> AVR --> HDMI --> Panasonic

This is the correct connection

With this configuration and the latest drivers loaded on my nVidia GT240, my HTPC recognises the Audio Device only as a Stereo output in the Sound Options.

The setting on the AVR for HDMI is set to AMP and not TV as well.

I wonder if there is a way for me to tell my HTPC that there is indeed a center speaker as well and to use it. The only way i can make this happen currently is to change the listening mode on the AVR to Dolby ProLogic or something to that extent. The HTPC does not natively take my Center Speaker into consideration.

Select HDMI and set it to default in sound options.
and you should have something like this under HDMI properties

What would be the recommended settings to channel my 5.1 audio from VLC/MPC/XBMC to the speaker config i have currently over HDMI?

See here
http://www.hifivision.com/home-theater-pc-htpc-media-pc/18218-getting-lossless-hd-audio-5-1analoge-out-htpc-5.html#post251813

 

[spacemonkey]

hey ontherocks

Thanks for writing back.

Unfortunately, even after selecting my Default Audio Device as HDMI, which I did yesterday itself, it only lists Stereo as the output option. No idea why man.. cant get the nVidia to identify it as a 5.1 AVR, even if i only have audio going to three speakers currently.

Sucks

 

[ontherocks]

it only lists Stereo as the output option.

Where? Post screenshots.

No idea why man.. cant get the nVidia to identify it as a 5.1 AVR, even if i only have audio going to three speakers currently.

No of speakers connected to the AVR has nothing to do with Windows recognizing the AVR correctly or not. Even if there are no speakers connected, Windows would recognize it correctly.
You are doing something wrong in Windows.
Or may be you are playing stereo media or you are playing in a player that is downmixing multichannel audio to stereo, etc.
Post screenshots of the sound options.

 

[spacemonkey]

I am such a dunce ontherocks.
I only had the Video Drivers installed for the Graphics Card (nVidia GT240) and not the Audio Drivers for the mobo (GA-P55-USB3)

Once i installed the Realtek HD Audio drivers for the board, it now shows up all the 5.1 audio options for the HDMI.

Just wondering, what do i set the HDMI to output in the "Configure" function? Stereo would be for 2 channel, but there are other options like 5.1, Surround and the likes. Cant do screenies right now cause I am on teamviewer with my PC at home.
Sorry

 

[ontherocks]

Just wondering, what do i set the HDMI to output in the "Configure" function? Stereo would be for 2 channel, but there are other options like 5.1, Surround and the likes.

If I am correct in guessing the option you are talking about, then it doesn't make any difference whatever you select, if you just bitstream.

Cant do screenies right now cause I am on teamviewer with my PC at home.
Sorry

You can take a screenshot of the whole teamviewer window itself, then crop out the unnecessary parts.

 

[harrisonhyden]

Is there some kind of HDMI incompatibility with my new TV

so when you have it in this configuration:

HTPC --------HDMI -----> TV, your setup works fine, but when it is:

HTPC--------HDMI------> Receiver --------HDMI-------->TV, it doesnt run properly.

 

[spacemonkey]

Here you go bro.
Here's the screenshots for you.

Earlier on, I had the Realtek drivers loaded up and it showed the 5.1 / Surround and all that jazz when I did over teamviewer from the office.

But I just got home, powered on the comp and it seems to have defaulted back to what was happening yesterday.

I am going to try and reinstall the Realtek drivers on this machine and look on the forums to see if anyone else who has an nVidia GT240 is having similar issues.

HELP!

 

[ontherocks]

Earlier on, I had the Realtek drivers loaded up and it showed the 5.1 / Surround and all that jazz when I did over teamviewer from the office.

I hope you have downloaded and installed the latest driver for nVidia GT 240 from nvidia's website (NVIDIA DRIVERS 280.26 WHQL). It contains the HD Audio driver as well.
If you haven't done the above yet, uninstall all drivers (make sure to delete them as well) and install the latest one.

 

[spacemonkey]

After a long drawn battle with my HTPC yesterday, I took it upon myself to try and figure out what was going on and why I couldnt get the machine and the AVR to identify that I indeed had 5.1 Audio capabilities and that it should actually show me other options in Windows 7, than just Stereo.

So here is what i landed on after numerous hours of scouring the internet and various forums.

GETTING AUDIO TO WORK WITH NVIDIA GT240 + GIGABYTE MOBO + DENON AVR

Well, why do i have that in bold?
Simple because you could face a similar issue but fixing the issue will involve some complication if any of the aforementioned is different. For example, a Yamaha amp as a different way of working with something called EDID from a Denon amp.

So anyways
ON THE DENON
Under Input Source, there is a function called HDMI. Under that submenu, there is a function to allow control of the HDMI either over the TV or the AMP. I had this set to AMP all the time cause I wanted the AMP to talk back to the video card and indicate how many channels of audio can be fed. This didnt seem to be the issue.
Below this function there is another one that says "HDMI Control". If you set that to ON, then the AMP decides what audio codecs it can read out or decode. Unfortunately, nVidia doesnt like this too much when the PCont is set to "ALL". You must set it to "Video" only for it to function properly. With this turned off, there will be no HDMI parsed through. SO you cant function only the television as a monitor minus the speakers. You must have it turned ON and set to "Video Only" for the PCont.

When I turned this off and rebooted the system, the card immediately identified the possibility of feeding out 5.1, Surround, Quad, Stereo and 7.1, but there would be no HDMI parse through.

ON THE nVidia
Ensure that you have the latest drivers for the video card downloaded and installed. If you have any previous versions of the graphics card driver, uninstall it (basically do a clean install) and then go ahead and install the drivers fresh. Most often than not, the driver conflict is the main reason for this to happen on most nVidia's paired with various mobos.

ON THE GIGABYTE
Ensure that you have uninstalled whatever onboard drivers for Audio. Sometimes having more than one Audio Driver can confuse the EDID to pick one over the other. I have noticed issues with both drivers co-existing.
Another way to overcome this is to go into BIOS and change the capability to from "Auto" to either "ENABLED" if you want to use both audio cards or "DISABLED" if you just want to use the nVidia to carry embedded HD Audio.

---------------------------------

This EDID thing seems to be a pain for most people. I have read several forums that can be googled with the words "nvidia GT 240 EDID problem" and most people seem to be waiting for nvidia to figure this out on the driver front. The EDID that the nvidia card recieves is most often than not, that of the TV. You need to figure out a way to bypass that or tell the card that its actually meant to read the EDID off the reciever and not the final output. The stuff i mentioned above should get you there.

Thanks ontherocks. But I was doing nothing wrong. It just seems to be a prevailing issue with some nVidia boards and the combination of an AVR's on board functionality that is causing this issue. Solved it post 3:30 am last night

Hope this helps someone who's facing similar issues.

Cheers!