Receiver getting PCM signal from HTPC

T

thekipper

Limp Gawd
Joined
Feb 7, 2008
Messages
471
Hi,
Yamaha RX-v673 connected via HDMI to Nvidia GTX 660.

For some reason, the receiver is getting a pcm signal over the hdmi instead of bitstream.

Is this ok or should be bitstream and if so, how/where do i change it on the pc?

Windows 8.1

Thanks much for the help!

Kip
 
thekipper said:
Thanks for such a quick reply! I'm still trying to figure out this PC to receiver thing:)

I'll leave it as is.

Thanks again!
Click to expand...

Google assassin htpc and follow his free guide. Probably a driver issue. You definitely want the bitstream. I've been running an htpc for 1.5 years thanks to assassin
 
Well, the receiver says PCM and then it reverts to whatever decoder is being used, i.e. Neo 6.1, Pro Logic IIx, etc.

I want to say this happened with the most recent nvidia driver update.
 
PCM is fine in most cases. It just means the audio is being decoded by the HTPC and not the receiver. Its dependent on the source content.

If the content you're playing is in Dolby Digital or another format that is compatible with your receiver it will bitstream it showing Dolby Digital TrueHD or DTS-HD.

There isn't typically a difference in audio quality between bitstreamed or PCM audio over HDMI.
 
qbanb8582 said:
PCM is fine in most cases. It just means the audio is being decoded by the HTPC and not the receiver. Its dependent on the source content.

If the content you're playing is in Dolby Digital or another format that is compatible with your receiver it will bitstream it showing Dolby Digital TrueHD or DTS-HD.

There isn't typically a difference in audio quality between bitstreamed or PCM audio over HDMI.
Click to expand...

It's interesting that something can be so convoluted, lol. I've been used VLC to play my mkv files but I just installed XBMC. Before with VLC, I was getting the PCM signal on my receiver but now with XBMC, the receiver shows the exact signal (i.e. Dolby Digital EX, etc). I did change the XBMC settings from analog to HDMI, 7.1, etc. Seems to be working like a dream.

I have no idea why I didn't install XBMC in the first place. There are so freaking many options in VLC that I can't figure out up from down.

All I do is play mkv's (I'd love to play iso's but they are jerky for some reason:)
 
this was an explanation that helped me understand better

"DD 5.1, DTS, dts-MA, and TrueHD are all simply different types of data compression used to save space on a disc. The soundtrack is recorded as PCM. It gets compressed using one of those codecs. But, an encoded (compressed) track cannot be "played" to produce sound. It must be decompressed (decoded) first, turning it back into PCM."

It helped to think of the audio as like a zip file. It doesn't matter where it's getting unzipped (pc or receiver) as both do the job just fine.

I use J River's Media Center to play my mkv's and blu-rays. It has a feature called Videoclock that I love. What it does is makes minor adjustments to clock frequencies so that video is played in perfect sync with your display's refresh rate. This makes for ultra smooth video playback. It like a lot of other features are disabled when bitstreaming audio. You can see why a lot of video enthusiasts would prefer pcm audio.
 
My receiver says what ever is been in Sent to it. If the source is PCM or the software sending PCM.
 
Thanks! That a very good analogy and makes it easier to understand. I'm really like XBMC so far but I'll check our J River as well.




didactandnarpet said:
this was an explanation that helped me understand better

"DD 5.1, DTS, dts-MA, and TrueHD are all simply different types of data compression used to save space on a disc. The soundtrack is recorded as PCM. It gets compressed using one of those codecs. But, an encoded (compressed) track cannot be "played" to produce sound. It must be decompressed (decoded) first, turning it back into PCM."

It helped to think of the audio as like a zip file. It doesn't matter where it's getting unzipped (pc or receiver) as both do the job just fine.

I use J River's Media Center to play my mkv's and blu-rays. It has a feature called Videoclock that I love. What it does is makes minor adjustments to clock frequencies so that video is played in perfect sync with your display's refresh rate. This makes for ultra smooth video playback. It like a lot of other features are disabled when bitstreaming audio. You can see why a lot of video enthusiasts would prefer pcm audio.
Click to expand...
 
XBMC does have some setup options that you need to look at if you want to bitstream hi-res audio. However, as it was mentioned earlier, it doesn't really matter, though it can be peace of mind to make sure no sample rate conversion in happening unnecessarily.
 
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