wma pro (5.1) over spdif to reciever?

[kC_]

hi, im running mce2005 & trying to learn a bit about WMV encoding (seems ok so far.... encode went fine)
when playing back (through media centre 2005) (via spdif) it only outputs as 2 channels.. on the reciever it pops up
"2 channel PCM 48khz"
(i encoded as vc1 with 5.1 audio)

after a bit of searching around it seems that wma pro via spdif needs a reciever that is wma pro compatible
http://msmvps.com/blogs/chrisl/articles/11452.aspx

(btw my Ac3 & DTS works fine over spdif)

and if i play the wmvHD file with my xbox360, it plays fine & also shows up on my reciever as "ac3 dolby digital 5.1"

so if my xbox360 transcodes wmapro audio -> ac3 on the fly... how can i do that with my media center?

thanks for any help!
kC_
p.s ive tryed every combination i can try with ac3 filter (i think)

cheers

[zambelli]

Comparing PC and Xbox playback is comparing apples and oranges. Xbox 360 transcodes multichannel audio to AC3 because that's the de facto multichannel standard among audio receivers.

You can do the same on a PC by installing Ffdshow or AC3Filter and setting them to decode all PCM input and transcode it to AC3.

[kC_]

yeh thanks, i had pcm and mpeg audio unticked, working ok now

just a shame that ac3 filter doesnt store the pcm/mpeg on/off via presets
it only stores the spdif and speaker configurations..

cheers

[DJ Bobo]

Bringing this up as I just needed this for AAC 5.1
So I installed AC3filter 2.6.0b, and it works in MPC-HC; I am getting Dolby Digital 5.1 to my soundbar, but the sound quality is average, probably due to this version being from 2014.

Is there a way to update the AC3 encoder used by AC3filter, or is there yet another alternative today for live transcoding in 2026?

NB: DTS is not option, because the HTPC is connected to a DTS-less TV, which sends the audio via ARC to the soundbar.

[huhn]

why would you think AC3 encoding has been meaningfully improved at all?

try mpc-be it also has an option to bitstream AC3 and to encode to AC3. this should be the newest available ac3 from i guess ffmpeg i highly doubt they ripped on old out and ship that.

[DJ Bobo]

@ huhn
Did not know that MPC-HC BE was so different from the "normal" MPC-HC. I thought, it was just about the skin (^_^)"
Anyway, perceived quality seems to be better on this BE indeed!
Only bummer, (way) less tweaking options than AC3Filter, but it will do for the moment.
Thanks