Onkyo 3500 ; Set up for beginners

[Rockfella]

I've just felt sometimes original FLAC files are "fuller and richer" than MP3, but its really hard to feel difference between the two (i'm no audiophile). I was actually trying to find out if MP3s OR FLAC sound better through the USB port on the AVR or via ASUS

 

[Rockfella]

Yup! I just checked. Most of the BDrips i have has shitty 2.0 sound but some have DTS or Doldy 5.1 and the audio effects on both are noticeably different. Although the AVR "decodes" 2.0 into 5.1 but the movies that have Dolby OR DTS sound sound much superior! Thanks.

^^ First check if your movie files have 5.1 audio track. Next check if it is aac 5.1 and if so, set your player to send pcm for aac. Most brrips use aac which is inferior to DD or DTS. AVR can't decode aac.

 

[Rockfella]

Ok, I found the key. While playback press "home" then go to "info" then press "enter". If you have connected your LCD with HDMI you'll see it on your LCD. It tells the audio source it is receiving and what it is outputting. I checked about 10 BDrips i have and to my surprise not all have DOLBY or DTS. Most are 2.0 shit. The ones which have DOLBY or DTS sound much much better :yahoo: Though the AVR kinda gives a surround effect (decodes?) 2.0 into decent 5.1. Solution: Download BDrips with either DOLBY or DTS not 2.0 shit :clapping:

^^ First check if your movie files have 5.1 audio track. Next check if it is aac 5.1 and if so, set your player to send pcm for aac. Most brrips use aac which is inferior to DD or DTS. AVR can't decode aac.

yes i know. For metal im using bass 4 treble 5 and subwoofer 8.

Try out the flac audio on asus and give feedback. I played a heavy metal track, same track as mp3@320kbps as well as flac@1000kbps...i couldn't really tell the difference..
The sound was so good i was anyways impressed with it, but couldnt honestly differentiate between mp3 and flac when i played the content via usb in the avr

 

[Rockfella]

I am confused. I checked "info" again. The same movies which had DOLBY 5.1 now has 2.0 sound as per the AVR. Something fishy going on....

Is there a damn software that'll tell the true audio any movie has? I use XBMC on my PC and it displays file name/audio channels etc but the AVR states something different!

 

[virtueso]

yes it is funny..two things i noticed; When i play my x360, sometimes dolby digital does not turn on by itself, nor can i find it in the presets.
When i restart, and most of the time anyways, it automatically does switch to dd.

2.When i play hd content on tv, same thing happens sometimes, but here in the tv's menu i can easily switch to dd. When same video i play on my laptop-hdmi-avr, using (vlc) it also does not show dd, but in options-audio-audio channel, the 5.1 option becomes available and i can switch to it again, easily.

Funny business. Is best if the info in the bdrip before downloading gave us the audio track encoded. Sadly, most of them dont (i checked several today)

 

[Rockfella]

Try this:

MediaInfo

You can choose folder too.

I want to get to the bottom of this

 

[Rockfella]

According to this software the movie is in DTS, it is the same movies which the avr stated as "DOLBY 5.1" not DTS though. When i checked again on the AVR now it says it is 2.0! WTF!

 

[virtueso]

i think you should check the asus's settings. When a similar thing happens to some content i am playing, i am usually able to change the audio from pcm to dd using tv,if direct usb or laptop in vlc

 

[Rockfella]

I changed it to "HDMI RAW" Don't know what that means. Download this software and check your files too. You can select folders and it gives good detailed info. Will do what you said.

 

[Rockfella]

So if the AVR stays in PCM mode what does that mean?

i think you should check the asus's settings. When a similar thing happens to some content i am playing, i am usually able to change the audio from pcm to dd using tv,if direct usb or laptop in vlc

 

[virtueso]

No i dont check the avr's info. this is what it shows on my tv, that it is currently on pcm, and dolby digital is there but is not highlighted so i cant change it to dd unless content is encoded with dd, in which case as i said this option becomes highlighted and i can change it to dd.

I haven't tried the avr's setup-info that u mentioned previously

 

[virtueso]

I think pcm is two channel, so no surround no dd

 

[Rockfella]

Why does my AVR "read" some m2ts files as 2.0 whereas this software clearly stated it is DTS. This is my confusion. Will update later... this is interesting..

 

[rajeshg_k123]

Rockfella,
Make sure you have selected HT-R391 is selected as default output in windows sound setting, also configure it for 5.1. In XMBC audio out should be HT-R391.

 

[Rockfella]

Thanks, will keep this in mind when i connect it to my PC. It's not connected yet and i ave no plans to connect it for the time being

Rockfella,
Make sure you have selected HT-R391 is selected as default output in windows sound setting, also configure it for 5.1. In XMBC audio out should be HT-R391.

 

[Rockfella]

The ASUS HD player has 3 settings in "audio output". It was first set to HDMI RAW. It has HDMI LPCM and HDMI LPCM Multichannel. I'll try the remaining two.
EDIT: Nothing changes. It reads all HD movies as 2.0 while the software says a different story.

 

[virtueso]

there's no other way to try this content on the avr? besides the asus? I'l try one thing, il put that video which im sure plays dd in a pen drive and play it as only audio via avr's usb port (it doesnt play video) . If that works, you can also try it and then it will only mean that the asus is somehow not playing dd of certain content

 

[Rockfella]

I can play it through HDMI from a laptop. I think my player is culprit here. Although the surround effect is not lacking (or maybe it does) in anything but it just makes me wonder why it shows different readings on same movies.

there's no other way to try this content on the avr? besides the asus? I'l try one thing, il put that video which im sure plays dd in a pen drive and play it as only audio via avr's usb port (it doesnt play video) . If that works, you can also try it and then it will only mean that the asus is somehow not playing dd of certain content

 

[virtueso]

I can play it through HDMI from a laptop. I think my player is culprit here. Although the surround effect is not lacking (or maybe it does) in anything but it just makes me wonder why it shows different readings on same movies.

Try the laptop.. In that also, i think you'l have to select the audio output to 5.1, but you should find that option with ease..
It's not showing the hd content which i wanted to try on avr as audio, as it is mkv.
( other avi/mp4 video formats it displays, and starts the audio as well )

 

[Rockfella]

I use KMPlayer in the laptop so will try that and give VLC a shot too.