Fantec player has problems with HE-AAC 5.1

[Cartman]

I tried 2 specimen (MM-FHDL), and both players add a high pitched annoying sound when playing HE-AAC 5.1. This is true for Multi-Channel-PCM over HDMI and for downsampling to stereo over SPDIF. The PC 5.1 output (VLC, etc.) is perfect.

Sometimes you can clearly recognize the high pitched sound, and sometimes you have to stand beside a speaker to hear it. Newest Firmware does not help.

Anyone with the same experience?

[SeeMoreDigital]

Not many hardware players support AAC-HE, even less are able to pass 5.1 (6Ch) audio "discreetly" via HDMI.

Do you know what A/V decoding chip-set is in your player?

[Cartman]

According to my computer magazine, it contains Realtek RTD1073DD.

AAC-HE via HDMI (as multi-channel PCM) is getting to the receiver (tested 2 different) as 5.1. The sound is proper 5.1 output, except for this litte glitch. Fantec support seems to be useless in this case as they do not give clear answers...

Is the chipset doing all decoding in hardware or may it be the fault of some piece of the player's software codecs?

[SeeMoreDigital]

According to my computer magazine, it contains Realtek RTD1073DD. If that's the case, it should support multi-channel AAC-HE streams (and maybe even AAC-PS) okay...

What's the player like with multi-channel AAC-LC streams?

Are you able to provide an AAC-HE test sample I can try on my players?

[Cartman]

Here are two short samples (MKV/AAC-HE/H264 combo). Sample 2 has the most noticeable glitch on Fantec.

Short sample 1 (http://www.megaupload.com/?d=JG89EETP)
Short sample 2 (http://www.megaupload.com/?d=VMPE5XWK)

I did not test LC, but it would be very interesting to see if the problem also exists on other devices with the same chipset. Sadly, I did not get my hands on any related player so far...

[SeeMoreDigital]

Okay...

I've downloaded your samples and can confirm they play perfectly on all my Xtreamer's - which are fitted with a Realtek RTD1283 chip-set.

EDIT: Is there any particular reasom why your "Short sample 1" has been encoded with a resolution of 1916x976 pixels, ie: a "mod-4" resolution?

[Cartman]

Did you listen near your speakers? But it should be impossible to miss the glitch with sample 2. Did you output as 5.1 over HDMI (though it's also a problem with downsampled stereo)?

My magazine lists your TrekStor XStreamer with RTD1283DD. But what's the difference to RTD1073DD? Is it newer? Your chipset is also used in Emtec Movie Cube and Dvico TViX. I am not sure about the upcoming Asus O!Play HD2.

Still it's not sure to say, if it's the chipset's or Fantec's fault.

Is it safe to say, that all RTD1283DD-based players support multi-channel AAC-HE over HDMI?

As for the width: x264 supports non-mod16 resolutions (i. e. mod8, mod4). It's filling the remaining pixels with content that is similiar to the border squares for good compression. Better than leaving black/dirty borders, afaik.

[SeeMoreDigital]

Did you listen near your speakers? But it should be impossible to miss the glitch with sample 2. Did you output as 5.1 over HDMI (though it's also a problem with downsampled stereo)?Yes I output 5.1 via HDMI to my Onkyo amplifier. The Xtreamer's Realtek chip-set "transcodes" the multi-channel AAC audio to a multi-channel PCM stream.

In-fact, the RTD1283 chip-set can trancode up-to 7.1 channels :)

My magazine lists your TrekStor XStreamer with RTD1283DD. But what's the difference to RTD1073DD? Is it newer? Your chipset is also used in Emtec Movie Cube and Dvico TViX. I am not sure about the upcoming Asus O!Play HD2.Yes, the RTD1283 chip-set is newer

Still it's not sure to say, if it's the chipset's or Fantec's fault.

Is it safe to say, that all RTD1283DD-based players support multi-channel AAC-HE over HDMI?The RD1283 chip-set certainly can. However, a player is only as good as it's in-house firmware development team.

As for the width: x264 supports non-mod16 resolutions (i. e. mod8, mod4). It's filling the remaining pixels with content that is similiar to the border squares for good compression. Better than leaving black/dirty borders, afaik.Sorry but you are incorrect. You can indeed generate MPEG-4 Part-10 encodes down to mod-8... But not mod-4.

Also, not all software and hardware MPEG-4 Part-10 decoders can correctly handle mod-8, let alone mod-4. Indeed they will re-size them to the nearest mod-16 resolution.

[Cartman]

I will not create mod4 videos in future and try to reach at least mod8.

But I was always unsure whether to use non-mod16 or not as there are different opinions on the net. Most Encoder-GUIs and x264 allow down to mod4. In practice there rarely seems to be a problem with players, as even that bugged Fantec plays mod4 well.