6ch PCM error with 2ch audio. :S

[StifflerStealth]

It's been a long time since I used AviSynth. I keep trying other NLEs, but I always end up coming back to AviSynth. There is no such thing as a good NLE.

Anyways, I have some mkv's with h264 and AAC inside them, so I demux them and use DG's AVCSource for the video and DirectShowSource for the audio. My test script is simply:
V = AVCSource("Video.Test.dga")
A = DirectShowSource("Audio.Test.aac")
AudioDub(V,A)
#Version()

However, when I try to open that up in the latest MPC Home Cinema Edition, I get a popup saying that there is is a problem connecting pins, and then a very lengthy part about the error. This is a small part of the error:
ACM Wrapper::Output

Media Type 0:
--------------------------
Audio: PCM 48000Hz 6ch 4608Kbps

AM_MEDIA_TYPE:
majortype: MEDIATYPE_Audio {73647561-0000-0010-8000-00AA00389B71}
subtype: MEDIASUBTYPE_PCM {00000001-0000-0010-8000-00AA00389B71}
formattype: FORMAT_WaveFormatEx {05589F81-C356-11CE-BF01-00AA0055595A}
bFixedSizeSamples: 1
bTemporalCompression: 0
lSampleSize: 12
cbFormat: 18
WAVEFORMATEX:
wFormatTag: 0x0001
nChannels: 6
nSamplesPerSec: 48000
nAvgBytesPerSec: 576000
nBlockAlign: 12
wBitsPerSample: 16
cbSize: 0 (extra bytes)

The AAC clip only has 2ch's so why is it doing 6ch?

I should mention that I have Windows 7 RC1, which has that new MediaFramework thing for codecs. Do I not have a 6 ch PCM codec anymore? If not, where do I get a directshow one?

Or, is there a better way to import raw AAC audio streams?

Thanks.

[StifflerStealth]

Okay, I installed FFDShow Tweak, the latest SVN build and I no longer get that error in MPC. However, I have no sound. -_- I do have AAC codecs installed. I can play the raw AAC file in both MPC and Foobar just fine. I enabled AAC playback in FFDShow to see if that would help, but it didn't. I mainly chose PCM audio aoptions in FFDShow installation. At least that half works now. But why don't I have sound?

EDIT: I forgot to mention that it plays in Windows Media Player as well, so there are working filters for AAC playback on my system. And I have UAC turned off on Win 7.

EDIT2: MPC shows this under properties:
Video: YV12 720x480 29.97fps [Avisynth video #1]
Audio: PCM 48000Hz 6ch 4608Kbps [Avisynth audio #1]

So it is detecting an audio stream it's just that the audio has no sound ... :S

EDIT3: I think I narrowed down the trouble. I opened the AAC file in MONOGRAM GraphStudio, and the default graph looks like this:
Audio.Test.aac --> AAC Parser --> Microsoft DTV-DVD Audio Decoder --> ffdshow Audio Decoder --> Default DirectSound Device.

I clicked play and GraphStudio hung and refused to play sound. I removed "Microsoft DTV-DVD Audio Decoder" and reconnected the graph, clicked play, and I had sound!

So the problem is that AviSynth must be using the same default path that GraphStudio took. How do I fix this so it doesn't do that? Is there a way to tell AviSynth what to use? Like give it a generic path for all AAC files? Tell it to use AAC Parser, then FFDShow, then sound output? Or do I need to use GraphStudio on all AAC files?

[poisondeathray]

If you are using DirectShowSource() it will use the path & filters demonstrated by GraphStudio

You can lower the merit or unregister filters directly in graphstudio or radlight filter manager. For example you might unregister or lower the merit of "Microsoft DTV-DVD Audio Decoder", then recheck the graph.

Another option is to use another source filter for aac, e.g. BassAudioSource()

[Blue_MiSfit]

Id suggest using something other than DirectShowSource. IMO, it's only reliable when you ask for video-only, and don't need frame accuracy.

BassAudioSource would probably be a better bet - or decoding to WAV with eac3to and using RaWAVSource.

~MiSfit

[StifflerStealth]

Unfortunately, "Microsoft DTV-DVD Audio Decoder" cannot be disabled or the priority lowered. It's a special Microsoft protected file. I think this is also why all the other NLE's didn't have sound output for the AAC files. *sigh* So, this one buggy filter is affecting everything. I am trying to work with FFmepgSource2 right now, but it doesn't like AAC files either. XD Oh how buggy systems are fun. I guess this is a good reason to not use Windows 7 for video/audio editing. :P

Thanks for your replies and suggestions. :)

[Gew]

Same issue here. I have an .AAC file that I tried loading with DirectShowSource, then it (MPC) complained about ACM wrapper not being able to parse. I did "rundll32.exe ffdshow.ax,configureAudio" and changed action for "Uncompressed" from "Disabled to "All supported". Now the .AVS script is playing the audio, but in Properties, MPC/MPC-HC is displaying 6ch. I had an ancient version of ffdshow, but now I upgraded to the quite new "ffdshow_rev4305_20120205_clsid.exe" and the issue remains. Any clues? I get it to work with BassAudioSource(), but it's just a matter of desire here, I want to know what I am doing wrong for it to parse as 6ch. I've remuxed the 2ch .AAC file several times (first thought it could be some meta tag issue), but it's not. Ideas?

[vampiredom]

Out of curiosity, have you tried sourcing your file with MpegAutoIndex() (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=162930)? I wonder if that will handle your audio correctly.

[TheFluff]

Unfortunately, "Microsoft DTV-DVD Audio Decoder" cannot be disabled or the priority lowered. It's a special Microsoft protected file. I think this is also why all the other NLE's didn't have sound output for the AAC files. *sigh* So, this one buggy filter is affecting everything. I am trying to work with FFmepgSource2 right now, but it doesn't like AAC files either. XD Oh how buggy systems are fun. I guess this is a good reason to not use Windows 7 for video/audio editing. :P

Thanks for your replies and suggestions. :)

What happens when you try to open the AAC with FFMS2? If it doesn't work you can try muxing it to MKA with MKVMerge.

Same issue here. I have an .AAC file that I tried loading with DirectShowSource, then it (MPC) complained about ACM wrapper not being able to parse. I did "rundll32.exe ffdshow.ax,configureAudio" and changed action for "Uncompressed" from "Disabled to "All supported". Now the .AVS script is playing the audio, but in Properties, MPC/MPC-HC is displaying 6ch. I had an ancient version of ffdshow, but now I upgraded to the quite new "ffdshow_rev4305_20120205_clsid.exe" and the issue remains. Any clues? I get it to work with BassAudioSource(), but it's just a matter of desire here, I want to know what I am doing wrong for it to parse as 6ch. I've remuxed the 2ch .AAC file several times (first thought it could be some meta tag issue), but it's not. Ideas?

Is the mixer filter in ffdshow-audio enabled? If you go to its info & cpu pane during playback, what do the input/output areas tell you?