AAC 5.1 surround not working - again

[stefjnl]

the surround sound of AAC codec files is broken again. only the front left and right speakers have sound, nothing is coming from the back. seems to be like this since the last few firmware updates (im running firmware 1.5.1.23679).

can anyone confirm this? ive tested with 4 AAC files....

General
Complete name : \\DS210J\video\blu-ray\***.mp4
Format : MPEG-4
Format profile : Base Media
Codec ID : isom
File size : 2.40 GiB
Duration : 2h 10mn
Overall bit rate mode : Variable
Overall bit rate : 2 634 Kbps
Encoded date : UTC 2011-08-18 09:37:28
Tagged date : UTC 2011-08-18 09:37:28

Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : High@L5.1
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 5 frames
Codec ID : avc1
Codec ID/Info : Advanced Video Coding
Duration : 2h 10mn
Source duration : 1mn 30s
Bit rate : 2 185 Kbps
Maximum bit rate : 18.1 Mbps
Width : 1 280 pixels
Height : 544 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 2.35:1
Frame rate mode : Constant
Frame rate : 23.976 fps
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.131
Stream size : 1.99 GiB (83%)
Source stream size : 1.99 GiB
Writing library : x264 core 80 r1376M 3feaec2
Encoding settings : cabac=1 / ref=5 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x3:0x113 / me=umh / subme=8 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.0:0.0 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=1 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=0 / threads=12 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / mbaff=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=0 / b_adapt=2 / b_bias=0 / direct=3 / wpredb=1 / wpredp=2 / keyint=250 / keyint_min=25 / scenecut=40 / rc_lookahead=50 / rc=2pass / mbtree=1 / bitrate=2185 / ratetol=1.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=10 / qpmax=51 / qpstep=4 / cplxblur=20.0 / qblur=0.5 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00
Encoded date : UTC 2011-08-18 04:04:19
Tagged date : UTC 2011-08-18 09:39:52

Audio
ID : 2
Format : AAC
Format/Info : Advanced Audio Codec
Format profile : LC
Codec ID : 40
Duration : 2h 10mn
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 445 Kbps
Maximum bit rate : 644 Kbps
Channel(s) : 6 channels
Channel positions : Front: L C R, Side: L R, LFE
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 415 MiB (17%)
Title : Imported with GPAC 0.4.6-DEV (build 1)
Encoded date : UTC 2011-08-18 09:38:55
Tagged date : UTC 2011-08-18 09:39:52

[stefjnl]

bump.. am i the only one using the aac codec? or the only one with above issues?

[winedog]

I'm watching this thread as well. I seem to be having a problem, but I'm currently on FW1.2 and was about to update back to FW1.5. Would like to hear more on this issue before I re-rev to FW1.5

[fuds]

I just recently bought a Boxee Box a few days ago and am seeing this same issue where AAC 5.1 encoded files are not playing back in surround. My Boxee has the latest firmware of 1.5.1.23735. I have tested with AC3 encoded files and they seem to work fine. Both my test files for AAC and AC3 were MKV movie clips from the same chapter of a movie I own.

I opened a bug report on this:
http://jira.boxee.tv/browse/BOXEE-12776

[twistybox]

Did you set up Boxee's audio output settings correctly? HDMI output with LPCM 7.1 turned ON.

http://forums.boxee.tv/showthread.ph...009#post262009

This is working here on my end with a couple of sample files.

[winedog]

I have a DTS/Dolby Digital receiver with 5.1, I don't have a receiver that supports 7.1.

I am back on to fw 1.5.1.23735 and I can't seem to get 5.1 sound out of AAC files as well.

I've tried with both SPDIF and HDMI.

I'm also coming off a fresh factory reset, to boot.

[twistybox]

I am back on to fw 1.5.1.23735 and I can't seem to get 5.1 sound out of AAC files as well.

I've tried with both SPDIF and HDMI.

No one will ever have 6 channel PCM (decoded 5.1 AAC) over SPDIF - it's simply not possible given the limited bandwidth of the optical connection.

Only HDMI can be used for multi-channel audio in formats other than DTS and DolbyDigital/AC3

And in Boxee, if you don't turn on LPCM in the HDMI section you will never have multi-channel output from AAC files.

The fact your receiver doesn't support 7.1 doesn't matter. You'll need to turn on that option to get the 5.1 AAC converted to 6 channels of PCM.

[rridgway]

No one will ever have 6 channel PCM (decoded 5.1 AAC) over SPDIF - it's simply not possible given the limited bandwidth of the optical connection.

Only HDMI can be used for multi-channel audio in formats other than DTS and DolbyDigital/AC3

And in Boxee, if you don't turn on LPCM in the HDMI section you will never have multi-channel output from AAC files.

The fact your receiver doesn't support 7.1 doesn't matter. You'll need to turn on that option to get the 5.1 AAC converted to 6 channels of PCM.

Great tips Twisty - thx !!

This does highlight a usability issue - the setup of the audio is not intuitive and must be totally infathomable to less tech savvy punters (a target market of the BB).

[jermal]

I have the Boxee Box connected to my Samsung TV through HDMI and optical audio between the TV an my receiver Denon AVR-1707, because the receiver does not have any more free digital sound inputs.

System sound was always working. Movies with MP3 sound was always working. Movies with AC3 sound worked for one file sometimes. If the movie was divided in two files the sound worked in the first part but not in the second.
If you started watching a movie and sound worked and then changed movie - sound was gone. Switching back to the first one where sound was working before resulted in no sound.

Not 100% sure what was needed to get it working again. Tried shutting down TV, Boxee Box and receiver and sometimes sound would work again (for one movie) and sometimes it still didn't work.

Anyway I gave up and thought I should go for analog sound and connected the Boxee Box analog outputs to the receiver.
Now sound is working every time - and I am not using the analog connection, it is just connected.
Maybe a grounding problem?

Just wanted to let you know.

[sr105]

Only HDMI can be used for multi-channel audio in formats other than DTS and DolbyDigital/AC3

And in Boxee, if you don't turn on LPCM in the HDMI section you will never have multi-channel output from AAC files.

The fact your receiver doesn't support 7.1 doesn't matter. You'll need to turn on that option to get the 5.1 AAC converted to 6 channels of PCM.

I had no idea that Boxee would do audio conversion. I bought mine pre-order and I seem to recall statements about how Boxee would decode just front left and front right or do passthru.

Regardless, I wish I could use this hint, but I have to run HDMI from boxee to my tv and spdif from boxee to my receiver. I can't remember fully now why though. I think it had to do with the inability of boxee to send audio out spdif and hdmi at the same time which is a problem because Boxee likes to burn in plasmas (it's gotten better since 1.5.x). So, if I listen to radio or music, I have to turn off the tv. Oh, and I used to run Boxee - HDMI - Receiver - HDMI - TV, but if I recall correctly Boxee stops sending audio over HDMI if it detects that the TV is turned off.