Unable to Stream music from PC using HDMI

[Sylar]

I have a marantz 7005.
I am trying to stream music from PC via HDMI to the receiver. How do i achieve this?
I tried using VLC. I could get help only to stream using Network, not HDMI.

If i just play the music file, it plays, but this is decoded in PC itself. How do I make the receiver decode this? More Importantly, Will I gain anything by letting the receiver decode?

 

[Grador]

I have a marantz 7005.
I am trying to stream music from PC via HDMI to the receiver. How do i achieve this?
I tried using VLC. I could get help only to stream using Network, not HDMI.

If i just play the music file, it plays, but this is decoded in PC itself. How do I make the receiver decode this? More Importantly, Will I gain anything by letting the receiver decode?

HDMI does not stream MP3, AAC, or FLAC, there is no way for you to get it to do that. That said there would be no advantage to having the receiver decode the files vs PC. What HDMI does do is transfer PCM [what those files get decoded to] in a perfect digital fashion with no losses.

There are a few thing's you'll want to make sure of on your PC to get the best quality though:

The volume control on your PC should be set to 100%. Digital volume controls can do some weird things and you'll want to avoid that.

The second thing, and probably more important than the first, is to make sure you have the PCM settings match that of your music [in the case of CD's 16/44.1] If you are going to listen to only things of CD quality this can be achieved by going into the windows settings [assuming you're not using a mac] for your HDMI sound card, then the advanced tab, and selecting the format "16 bit 44100 Hz (CD Quality)".

 

[Sylar]

The volume control on your PC should be set to 100%. Digital volume controls can do some weird things and you'll want to avoid that.

Does this mean digital amplification is not really linear with respect to frequency response?

The second thing, and probably more important than the first, is to make sure you have the PCM settings match that of your music [in the case of CD's 16/44.1] If you are going to listen to only things of CD quality this can be achieved by going into the windows settings [assuming you're not using a mac] for your HDMI sound card, then the advanced tab, and selecting the format "16 bit 44100 Hz (CD Quality)".

what if I am listening to mp3's of lower sampling and bit rate? Would the same setting work well? Currently it is set to DVD quality - 48 KHz. I presume this should work well with all audio. Unless I play higher quality material, like HD?

 

[Trev]

I have a marantz 7005.
I am trying to stream music from PC via HDMI to the receiver. How do i achieve this?
I tried using VLC. I could get help only to stream using Network, not HDMI.

If i just play the music file, it plays, but this is decoded in PC itself. How do I make the receiver decode this? More Importantly, Will I gain anything by letting the receiver decode?

Sorry... maybe a noob question... but is there a reason you wouldn't want to run it over SPDIF? Are you running a video card with HDMI audio - or a dedicated HDMI audio soundcard? Or is coming HDMI straight from the mobo?

 

[Sylar]

Sorry... maybe a noob question... but is there a reason you wouldn't want to run it over SPDIF? Are you running a video card with HDMI audio - or a dedicated HDMI audio soundcard? Or is coming HDMI straight from the mobo?

HDMI from Mobo, no cards in my system

there is no specific reason why I am using only the HDMI. Are you suggesting I use SPDIF (optical right?) for audio and HDMI for video? If yes, why?

 

[Trev]

HDMI from Mobo, no cards in my system

there is no specific reason why I am using only the HDMI. Are you suggesting I use SPDIF (optical right?) for audio and HDMI for video? If yes, why?

Sounds a bit silly maybe... but I'm an IT guy, and I don't trust my components to handle audio over HDMI properly... and for me it's just because it's still early days for PC audio over HDMI. I worry about system lag, if audio and video are both going over HDMI and you're dealing with a 16GB Blu-ray rip... like it can get slammed.

Every case is different. I have my video card sending my video, and I let my mobo handle my audio over spdif (yeah optical.. or RCA). It's just tried and true. I know it passes through without decoding before hand... I have my FLAC Kyuss collection playing with no issues, and every rip I have - even if it's a blu-ray rip... still decodes DTS perfectly through my receiver.

It may be a bad example... and maybe I'm just junior and not at the level of Audiophile many of the members here are... but it just feels like trying to put a spoiler on a Pontiac cavalier. I fully trust HDMI on dedicated sources like Blu-ray players, PS3s, but from PC... just not yet... unless you've really stripped your operating system into a streamlined media assassin.

Mind you... the gear I'm toying with is a few years old. If I had the chance to work with some of the new $300 boards out, I might change my mind.

 

[mtrycrafts]

.... I worry about system lag, if audio and video are both going over HDMI and you're dealing with a 16GB Blu-ray rip... like it can get slammed.

...

Not sure I understand what you are trying to say here.

 

[Grador]

Does this mean digital amplification is not really linear with respect to frequency response?


what if I am listening to mp3's of lower sampling and bit rate? Would the same setting work well? Currently it is set to DVD quality - 48 KHz. I presume this should work well with all audio. Unless I play higher quality material, like HD?

It's not an amplification issue, it's that volume control on digital systems tends to do some odd rounding of numbers that can cause distortion.

These settings have nothing to do with the bit rate of the mp3, but with the audio that they are encoding. When you set your computer to something other than that of the source (for instance your setting is correct for DVDs, but bit CDs) you are making the computer try to make up samples (adding some averages from the original 44000 samples per second to get it up to 48000) and this adds distortion. There are ways to set your player so that it always uses the correct format. Look on the settings for output devices and where you select which sound card is used look for WASAPI. Of there are multiple of these select the one that is for your HDMI device.

As for using optical vs HDMI, I see no reason to use optical.