No Digital Audio Output

[Sevenon7]

Although Boxee is configured for Digital Audio Output it doesn't seem to be working for multichannel playback. If I launch VLC it seems to play fine w/o any hiccups.

[vulkan]

Is AC3/DTS passthrough enabled?
is your receiver capable of handling those formats?

what audio codec does the movie you are playing use?

[Sevenon7]

Hi Vulcan, AC3 and DTS capable receiver options are enabled, and receiver does support both. What I noticed in VLC I have two audio devices appearing, a "Built-in Output" and a "Built-in Output (Encoded Output)". With "Built-in Output (Encoded Output)" the playback is played with full surround/multi-channel 5.1, however with "Built-in Output" it plays only in 2.0 stereo. In Boxee the only audio device appearing is "Built-in Output" where it is defaulting to the 2.0 stereo. The option for "Built-in Output (Encoded Output)" doesn't appear.

[Sevenon7]

The movie is encoded as an AC3 5.1/Xvid.

[tsella]

i've got another report that this behavior is not consistent (i.e. may work on an item and then not, and vice versa).

please try the same movie again and see if the behavior is consistent in your case. also, please include PM me/vulkan with your /var/tmp/xbmc.log.

[espenlg]

Did you figure this one out? I have the same thing here. Can I assist somehow to remove the bug if it's still in there?

[espenlg]

Perhaps this is fixed in the version coming december 4th? I'm receiving my Mac Mini in a couple of days and would love for this to work:o

[wilsons]

I'm using ATV and when I have my settings to use Digital audio during playback of DVD ISO files, I get a static or popping sound...no other audio. This "feature" is there no matter what audio settings I have the DVD playback set at.
My ATV has optical digital audio connected to a modern audio receiver that can handle anything.
When watching Revision3 podcasts, audio seems OK while set to digital.

[espenlg]

I find it a little bit weird that this bug is not picked up. It must be an important part of the system right? Or is everyone not having this problem?

[loupalladino]

same issue here - stereo works fine, but switching to the AC3 stream, I just hear a slight buzzing sound through my receiver. Switching back to stereo sounds just fine.

[gromit]

Same here with a Mac Pro trying to play 1080P MKV files. DTS and 5.1 formats. Sony receiver displays "DEC ERROR". This is a huge problem for me since I can't play anything that has an AC3 soundtrack.

[gromit]

A thought about this issue. I had installed XBMC in the past. I wonder if some files are conflicting?

[iBeech]

I can confirm that in Windows Vista, digital out works. I am outputting 6 chan Dolby digital no problems...

[tryphoon]

I have encoded most of my movies using 6 discreet audio channels instead of AC3 pass through, simply because this works better on my PS3.
When I play such a file, my amplifier doesn't detect a 6 LPCM channels.
I have digital output selected, I have everything selected for DTS, AC3. No luck so far.

[Vonture]

Going to bump this, having the same issue still (windows xp). Even though digital audio is selected, my receiver is only getting analog stereo for all videos that have digital streams. In VLC I'm able to get it to play dolby digital audio properly so the drivers and everything are set up properly.

[espenlg]

Same thing here. Digital output still doesn't work.

[wizzle]

Similar issue here. Digital output is enabled in Boxee, but audio only comes through for MP3s or streaming video, all clearly stereo. If I try to play anything with AC3 or DTS, I get sound from the receiver, but it's noisy garbage.

I tested the audio in Vista's control panel, and it breezed through the tests no problem, lighting up all the right AC3 and DTS logos on my receiver, so I'm leaning toward Boxee on this one.

If I switch the output to Analog, everything plays, including AC3 and DTS, but only in stereo. Any thoughts? I'm going to have to switch back to XBMC in the meantime.

[ejf071189]

If I switch the output to Analog, everything plays, including AC3 and DTS, but only in stereo. Any thoughts? I'm going to have to switch back to XBMC in the meantime.

I'm having the same issue, but in both boxee and xbmc. Is ac3 digital passthrough working in xbmc for you without the garbage?

[ithildin]

Same issue here. ATV 2.3.1, latest Boxee, connected to logitech z-5500 by toslink. Stereo or AC3 audio playing through analog sounds fine. However, AC3 playback with digital passthrough on makes a terrible screeching/hissing sound.

[tDotTo]

Same here. If it offers any more insight, I have several movie files that are either MOV or M4V with 5.1 channel sound. These play perfect through ATV regular interface using ATVFiles plugins.

However the same files produce only 2-chan stereo through Boxee. The light on the A/V receiver does not even light up.

Would love to have someone from Team Boxee confirm if this is a known issue?

[CheeseheadIllinois]

I'm not sure if this is the same issue or not. I have a movie in the AVI format. It plays fine on VLC on my MacBook Pro. When I try watching it via Boxee, I get the video image but no sound whatsoever. Any thoughts?:confused:

[godzirra]

I'm not sure if this is the same issue or not. I have a movie in the AVI format. It plays fine on VLC on my MacBook Pro. When I try watching it via Boxee, I get the video image but no sound whatsoever. Any thoughts?:confused:

I have the same problem with boxee on ubuntu 9.04. Image is fine, no sound. It plays and sounds fine through the default "Movie Player" app.

Any ideas?

Thanks!

[tDotTo]

I wonder if Team Boxee has addressed this issue with latest release of Boxee for ATV? It would be wonderful to get an update?

For now due to lack of Dolby output, I keep converting my MKVs into MOVs and then add an AAC dummy audio track due to some bug in ATV.

What would be ideal is the MKVs with 5.1 sound can be played using Boxee without any conversion etc.

[rlatemp]

This thread appears to be the most appropriate place for posting this problem.

I love boxee. I use it in Mac OS X using a non-factory sound card (based on the C-Media CM-108 chipset) with a digital optical output. The sound card shows up in my Sound pref pane, but the digital output does not appear.

Boxee 0.9.11.5774 has been working great. I enable digital output and select the DTS/DD options, and it has always sent the digital bitstreams to my receiver through this sound card... media center bliss!

However, both boxee 0.9.12.x and 0.9.13.x are having problems with any digital output. When I set it up exactly the same as previous versions, it displays an error "Check your audiosettings" every time I try to play a video with DD or DTS (yes, it says "audiosettings" instead of "audio settings"). Additionally, playback slows to about 3-4 frames per second like it's trying to resolve the issue with all it's power, but it can't.

I've attached two debug-level log files of me opening boxee, browsing to my local indexed movies, playing The Curious Case of Benjamin Button for 10 seconds or so, then stopping it and exiting boxee. For both logs, digital audio was enabled, as were DTS & DD passthrough. The only difference is that I had "downmix multichannel audio to stereo" checked in the first one and unchecked in the second one. The result is the same regardless of that option's status.

This issue is the only thing holding me back from moving to the newer version.

Thanks boxee team!
rlatemp


P.S. Here are some computer specs (it's relativley fast):
- Core 2 Duo 3 GHz
- 4GB DDR-2 RAM
- All SATA drives

[tryphoon]

It's been now 9 months and several releases of Boxee and this bug hasn't still been addressed!
I have reported it I think back in December and still nothing has been done.

Plex, in comparison, plays like a charm and plays multi-channel audio the way it should be on the same machine.

Same core engine but different rendering engines. And Plex hasn't received several rounds of venture cash!

Deleting Boxee again and reinstalling Plex. I'll try again in 6 months.