Problem streaming 5.1 signal to reciever

[Eraserhead]

I have a number of DVD xvid rips containing a 5.1 Dolby Digital signal that play fine across my LAN on my old xbox running XBMC, but don't play audio correctly on the boxee box regardless of what setting I use.

I am using the SPDIF connector to send an audio signal to a receiver that has always handled Dolby Digital signals just fine, until today.

No matter what setting I use, I cannot get the receiver to recognize a 5.1 signal from the boxee box. The setting that should work - Digital (S/PDIF) with Dolby Digital Capable Receiver checked - produces no sound at all. The only way I can get these movies to play sound through the receiver is to select Digital (S/PDIF) or All Inputs and leave all the output options unchecked. That gives me sound, but only in stereo.

I've rebooted the box after changing the audio settings (as was suggested by someone else on the forums with an audio issue), but that didn't seem to make any kind of difference.

Are others able to get a 5.1 signal to a receiver using a similar setup? Any suggestions?

[Prof101]

Same problem here.

Not only is there no 5.1 audio from any kind of video source material, but with the 5.1 box checked there is no audio at all. Even from non-5.1 video.

Just as stated by Eraserhead, the only way to get audio out the SPDIF output is to uncheck the 5.1 capable receiver check box.

I have a SONY 5.1 receiver that has never given me any audio issues with many different sources over the years including an Xbox1 with XBMC. I still use it today, but was hoping to replace it with the BB.

[Eraserhead]

Prof101, what Sony receiver are you using? The problem I'm having is with a STR-DE935. It's probably at least 10 years old, but it never had a problem processing a 5.1 signal until the boxee box. If your Sony is a similar model it could be some kind of incompatibility between them and the boxee box.

When I have the boxee box send a 5.1 signal to the receiver over SPDIF, the blue light on the receiver will go on, and the receiver thinks its getting a 5.1 signal - the display shows it all: DolbyDigital, AC3, Optical, L-C-R & LS-RS - everything that would indicate a valid 5.1 signal, but I get NO SOUND no matter how high I crank the volume. BTW, the volume control for the boxee box displays a full volume indicator (can't raise or lower it, but that's another issue).

Quite frustrating.

[Prof101]

Dito with everything you just said.
Mine is a DB830 and is also about 10 years old.

[jtown]

I know it sounds dumb but make sure your optical cable is good. It took me half an hour to figure out that the one that I found in the parts drawer no longer works. All I got was silence interrupted by the occasional crackle-pop-thump.

And don't knock the 10 year old receivers. My Boxee Box is hooked up to a Cambridge SoundWorks Desktop Theater 5.1 from 1997 or 98. It's so old I had to get an optical to coax adapter years ago to hook up these new-fangled optical devices. Audio works fine with a good cable.

[Prof101]

I was curious to see if the 1.0 update broke this. It did not. I reverted back to .9 beta firmware and still had the same issue.

BTW, I prefer the new interface, though I would like to see a few features return like "mark as watched". The new software plays back DVD rips much better.

[Prof101]

I just tried a DTS 5.1 video and the audio worked fine.

It's only DD 5.1 that is not working with my receiver.

[justinjas]

Just FYI I also have the same problem. DTS works fine but DD sounds like random noise. If I let Boxee convert DD to stereo then it works fine but having it stream DD directly to the receiver is broke. Otherwise I'm loving the new Boxee box.

[Eraserhead]

DTS works fine for me as well. But here's where it gets weird - after playing a DTS movie, I switch to a Dolby Digital movie and one of three things will happen: (1) it plays the Dolby Digital signal just fine; (2) it plays no sound, but the display on the receiver indicates its getting a 5.1 signal; or (3) it plays no sound, but the receiver indicates its getting a center channel signal. I can't predict which of the three outcomes will occur - seems random. The only thing that is consistent is that if I don't play a DTS movie first, I'll definitely get no sound playing a Dolby Digital movie.

So the good news is that my boxee box can definitely output a proper 5.1 Dolby Digital signal. The bad news is that it only does so after first playing a DTS movie, and even then it's hit or miss. Hardly ideal.

[dconti]

Hey guys - sorry i missed this thread earlier. A heads up that if you are having issues and aren't getting feedback on them, you can send me a private message with a link to the thread and i'll be sure to read/respond.

We did a lot of testing with DD and DTS over spdif, most of it pretty recently. I'm guessing all of the clips you guys are testing with passthrough properly from another source (so you know your receiver decodes them properly)?

Maybe something to try -

go to settings -> general -> sound and turn off navigation sounds
switch the audio out to analog
switch it back to spdif and enable DD passthrough
edit: turn off your receiver and turn it back on
go directly to a DD movie and try to play

Is this only for sony 5.1 setups? Will see if we can get a repro.

Thanks guys