HTPC Audio - Xonar HDAV1.3 Slim

[samhfoley]

I am curious if there is a tutorial for setting up the Xonar to work with TotalMedia Theater 3 or Media PLayer Classic? I am new to this and don't know too much on the subject just yet. I have sound, but my Onkyo always just reads PCM and I have it on Multichannel. I never see other modes appear on the Onkyo such at DTS or Dolby True HD. Is this because I am watching .mkv stripped down files? When I look in TMT3 I always see the audio is listed as 2 channel for everything, never more. I just wonder whether I have my setting wrong or if it's kust the files I have chosen to play? Is there a file online I can download and play that would tell me if those other setting were working or not? Thanks in advance for your help!

-Sam

HTPC
ASUS M3N78-VM 4GB memory
Windows 7 32 bit
Xonar HDAV 1.3 Slim

 

[jinjuku]

How is the Xonar connected? Which model Onkyo?

Do you have any native Blu-Ray source?

 

[samhfoley]

The Xonar is connected ....

HTPC DVI video out to Xonar HDMI in
Xonar HDMI out to Onkyo TX-SA607 CBL/SAT HDMI IN port

No native Blu Ray source, no BR drive in the HTPC as of yet.

 

[samhfoley]

My Xonar setting are the same as this screenshot
http://imagestore.ugbox.net/aview/XonarSetti_fdb1ec53b1b794f1d5

My TMT 3.140 settings are the same as this screenshot
http://imagestore.ugbox.net/aview/TMT3Settin_83890e1f73ee5299007


If I play my Godfather 1 or 2 DVDs through WMC, WMC Classic, or TMT3 all the Onkyo shows on its display is PCM Multichannel HDMI Audessey (top row)

CBL Multichannel (2nd row)

I can see from the settings that this DVD should be in Dolby Digital (Godfather 1) and #2 is AC3, but I never get those to show up on the Onkyo. Do I need to change any settings on my HTPC, Motherboard, BIOS, etc... ANy help would be appreciated! Thanks.
-Sam

 

[jinjuku]

Do you have a DVD drive in the computer? Put in a 5.1 Dolby Digital or DTS mastered DVD and see what the display on your Onkyo reads out as.

Also, if you can take a photo of the display on your Onk and post it when playing those sources.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

What is your OS?

Vista?

Is Audio on the OS set to Speakers?

Xonar: Set to HDMI audio 5.1 -- correct

TMT3 - set to HDMI Pass Thru -- correct.

And is the movie soundtrack set to DD/DTS?

And you have the latest firmware for the Xonar, right?

Can you bitstream anything to the Onkyo using that same exact HDMI connection?

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

If it does not work, you can always try the Auzentech X-Fi Home Theater HD card:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829156014&cm_sp=MyNewegg-_-NewItem-_-Pst01Image

 

[samhfoley]

I have tried all of the setting recommended to me thus far and to no avail. When I use these settings I get sound, but no readout as far as DTS, DOLBY Digital, etc on the Onkyo. Here are screenshots of the settings and a jpg from the Onkyo showing just (PCM Multichannel HDMI Audessey)


SPDIF settings and Windows 7 Audio settings

Speaker properties

CCCP codec settings pt 1

pt 2

Like I said earlier, I am quite new to this stuff and it has really given me quite the stiff neck in just week 1! When I play any files with Xonar in HDMI mode and the Speakers set as default I get sound, but only (PCM Multichannel HDMI Audessey) listed on the Onkyo even when I played a Dolby Digital DVD from the drive and selected Dolby Digital 5.1 or DTS 5.1.

If I switch the Xonar over to SPDIF my Onkyo shows more option on the upper panel such as PLII or Dolby Digital, but I get no sound whatsoever from my speakers. I am assuming this is because I don't have any SPDIF cables installed. I am just running the DVI-HDMI frrom the M3N78-VM motherboard to the Xonar HDMI in and the another HDMI cable from the XONAR HDMI out to the Onkyo's CBL/SAT HDMI in.

What is my next step?

On a side note when I go into Win 7 speakers and test my system it doesn't recognize my sub at all. Don't know why.

HTPC
ASUS M3N78-VM 4GB memory
Windows 7 32 bit
Xonar HDAV 1.3 Slim
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[AcuDefTechGuy]

Okay, the Asus Speakers setting (OS) goes with the HDMI audio (Xonar).

The SPDIF Pass-thru device (OS) goes with the SPDIF (Xonar).

If you use the SPDIF, why is it set to PCM on the Xonar?

Another thing is that I have never used the Asus Xonar on Windows 7, so I don't know.

All I can say is that my blu-ray movie playback does not work on Windows 7 - kept on crashing.

 

[samhfoley]

problem solved...

I stupidly did not change my Onkyo input settings from the old DVD player that was running to it prior to my HTPC. Once I reassigned just the HDMI from the HTPC to the Onkyo I can bitstream true HD files through TMT3. Woohoo!

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I stupidly did not change my Onkyo input settings from the old DVD player that was running to it prior to my HTPC. Once I reassigned just the HDMI from the HTPC to the Onkyo I can bitstream true HD files through TMT3. Woohoo!

You Da Man.

Only a select few have experienced TrueHD & DTS-HD bitstream via HTPC.

No big deal in the blu-ray world because anybody can get that with most blu-ray players. But in the HTPC world, it's a different story.