- Oct 22, 2013
- 4
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- 10,510
I've got some questions regarding how Dolby Digital Live works. I guess the easiest way would be for me to explain my current setup. Hold onto your hats. 
I have a windows 8.1 desktop with a GTX 660ti GPU and a MOBO with on-board audio. I also have a computer monitor, AVR and HDTV. I have a DVI cable connecting my GPU and monitor. I have a HDMI connecting GPU to AVR which is then connected to my HDTV.
My issue is when I want to play audio over my 5.1 surround sound from my AVR. When I turn the AVR on, my computer sees it as a second monitor, even if I dont want to use my HDTV at that time. I know this is because the HDMI is also sending a video signal, even though all I need is the audio. This causes issues with V-SYNC because my monitor is 60HZ but the AVR is seen as a second monitor and only seems to let me go to 59HZ and that seems to confuse games. If I turn off the AVR and only let my PC see the monitor at 60HZ, v-sync works fine with no screen tearing.
The solution for this would be to send only audio to the AVR with spdif and send video to my monitor and HDTV independently of the AVR. I need a sound card so I can get Dolby Digital Live so I can send encoded 5.1 to the AVR since I cant send 5.1 PCM over spdif. Simple enough.
The other issue Im having is when I use my HDMI to AVR to get 5.1 audio. If im playing a game that has 5.1 PCM or watching a dolby digital movie that has a 5.1 track, all is dandy and I get 5.1 audio from my speakers. My AVR sees the 5.1 PCM and the can decode the Dolby Digital just fine. I have the AVR playback device in Windows configured for 5.1 channel sound that way I can get 5.1 PCM from my games to the AVR. But if I watch something that is only in Stereo, I have to reconfigure the AVR in playback devices in windows to only be Stereo so that my AVR will enable Dolby Prologic. If the video I'm watching is stereo, but my audio device is set up as 5.1 surround, my AVR sees all the channels, even though they arent being used and it wont let me enable Prologic. The best I can get from my AVR with a stereo video and the deivce configured for a 5.1 setup, is to enable stereo surround on the AVR which still only uses 4.1 of my 5.1 speaker setup. It just plays the same thing out of the front and surround speakers.
So my questions are this.
1. If I get a sound card that had Dolby Digital Live, is DDL always on and encoding everything coming from my PC. Or does it only encode stuff that's not already encoded into Dolby DIgital.
2. if I have a game with 5.1 audio, will it get encoded to dolby digital automatically or will I have to change settings in the game.
3. If I watch a 5.1 video that is sending DD 5.1 or playing a game and using DDL to encode 5.1 for my AVR to decode via a spdif connection, then I watch a stereo video, will I be able to turn on Dolby Prologic on my AVR without having to reconfigure my windows audio device?
I think I can figure out the 3rd question for myself. My onboard audio have a spdif output. It just doesnt have DDL so it doesnt do me any good in games which is why I am looking at the sound card option. So I can set that up this afternoon and play a 5.1 DD track and then play a Stereo track and see if I can easily turn on Prologic on my AVR.
Thanks for any advice you all have!
PS, I am aware that there is a loss in sound quality going from PCM to DD audio. If there is a simple way for me to be able to still get 5.1 PCM from my games but still be able to use Prologic with stereo video without having to do to much re-configuring each time, lay it on me. Also my AVR doesnt have analog inputs so I would ave to use HDMI for the PCM audio, which I think would just keep giving me the V-sync issues since my PC will see it as another monitor with a different refresh rate. I feel like for simplicitys sake, a sound card with DDL is going to be my best option and I will hopefully not be able to tell the difference between PCM and DD in games.
I have a windows 8.1 desktop with a GTX 660ti GPU and a MOBO with on-board audio. I also have a computer monitor, AVR and HDTV. I have a DVI cable connecting my GPU and monitor. I have a HDMI connecting GPU to AVR which is then connected to my HDTV.
My issue is when I want to play audio over my 5.1 surround sound from my AVR. When I turn the AVR on, my computer sees it as a second monitor, even if I dont want to use my HDTV at that time. I know this is because the HDMI is also sending a video signal, even though all I need is the audio. This causes issues with V-SYNC because my monitor is 60HZ but the AVR is seen as a second monitor and only seems to let me go to 59HZ and that seems to confuse games. If I turn off the AVR and only let my PC see the monitor at 60HZ, v-sync works fine with no screen tearing.
The solution for this would be to send only audio to the AVR with spdif and send video to my monitor and HDTV independently of the AVR. I need a sound card so I can get Dolby Digital Live so I can send encoded 5.1 to the AVR since I cant send 5.1 PCM over spdif. Simple enough.
The other issue Im having is when I use my HDMI to AVR to get 5.1 audio. If im playing a game that has 5.1 PCM or watching a dolby digital movie that has a 5.1 track, all is dandy and I get 5.1 audio from my speakers. My AVR sees the 5.1 PCM and the can decode the Dolby Digital just fine. I have the AVR playback device in Windows configured for 5.1 channel sound that way I can get 5.1 PCM from my games to the AVR. But if I watch something that is only in Stereo, I have to reconfigure the AVR in playback devices in windows to only be Stereo so that my AVR will enable Dolby Prologic. If the video I'm watching is stereo, but my audio device is set up as 5.1 surround, my AVR sees all the channels, even though they arent being used and it wont let me enable Prologic. The best I can get from my AVR with a stereo video and the deivce configured for a 5.1 setup, is to enable stereo surround on the AVR which still only uses 4.1 of my 5.1 speaker setup. It just plays the same thing out of the front and surround speakers.
So my questions are this.
1. If I get a sound card that had Dolby Digital Live, is DDL always on and encoding everything coming from my PC. Or does it only encode stuff that's not already encoded into Dolby DIgital.
2. if I have a game with 5.1 audio, will it get encoded to dolby digital automatically or will I have to change settings in the game.
3. If I watch a 5.1 video that is sending DD 5.1 or playing a game and using DDL to encode 5.1 for my AVR to decode via a spdif connection, then I watch a stereo video, will I be able to turn on Dolby Prologic on my AVR without having to reconfigure my windows audio device?
I think I can figure out the 3rd question for myself. My onboard audio have a spdif output. It just doesnt have DDL so it doesnt do me any good in games which is why I am looking at the sound card option. So I can set that up this afternoon and play a 5.1 DD track and then play a Stereo track and see if I can easily turn on Prologic on my AVR.
Thanks for any advice you all have!
PS, I am aware that there is a loss in sound quality going from PCM to DD audio. If there is a simple way for me to be able to still get 5.1 PCM from my games but still be able to use Prologic with stereo video without having to do to much re-configuring each time, lay it on me. Also my AVR doesnt have analog inputs so I would ave to use HDMI for the PCM audio, which I think would just keep giving me the V-sync issues since my PC will see it as another monitor with a different refresh rate. I feel like for simplicitys sake, a sound card with DDL is going to be my best option and I will hopefully not be able to tell the difference between PCM and DD in games.
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