No audio output from software -- other applications work fine. S/PDIF out -> DAC -> Amp -> Speakers

Zog

Newbie Joined: Oct 06, 2016 12:47 Messages: 2 Offline

Solved by

Oct 06, 2016 13:31

Greetings.

I've been having trouble getting audio to play since purchasing the software. I have a soundcard installed (X-Fi Titanium HD), but I'm just using S/PDIF output on it. The on-board realtek system is disabled at the BIOS level and does not appear in the device manager at all.

I've been using this setup for quite some time, running everything from other media players, games, and normal system audio. Any time the DAC engages, there is a relay that clicks. It will remain tripped so long as the DAC senses that a program is ready to send audio. For example, if I hit play on a media player, it will trip, and when I hit pause, it will remain on, ready to play the moment I unpause. If I hit STOP, it will stop and the relay will disengage.

Now.. that's all relevant because PowerDVD 16 Ultra will trip that relay, but no signal is sent. Furthermore, it seems that so long as anything at all is playing PowerDVD, it hijacks the entire audio output stream and NOTHING else will play. This is not a behavior I want. I cannot seem to find a setting to change this.

Signal path is set up as Software -> X-Fi S/PDIF optical output -> Schiit Audio Bifrost Multibit -> external power amplifier -> Speakers. Obviously the amplifier is getting nothing. It was built in the 70s and has no digital inputs, so it's not really relevant.

Hicham_B

Senior Contributor Joined: Jun 09, 2015 04:02 Messages: 1347 Offline

Oct 14, 2016 09:24

Hi Zog,

Please contact the support for that.

Greetings
Hicham Technical support:
EN: https://www.cyberlink.com/support/contact-support.jsp
DE: https://de.cyberlink.com/support/contact-support.jsp
FR: https://fr.cyberlink.com/support/contact-support.jsp
ES: https://es.cyberlink.com/support/contact-support.jsp

QC2.0

Senior Contributor Joined: Apr 27, 2016 04:02 Messages: 610 Offline

Oct 21, 2016 05:37

Quote Greetings.

I've been having trouble getting audio to play since purchasing the software. I have a soundcard installed (X-Fi Titanium HD), but I'm just using S/PDIF output on it. The on-board realtek system is disabled at the BIOS level and does not appear in the device manager at all.

I've been using this setup for quite some time, running everything from other media players, games, and normal system audio. Any time the DAC engages, there is a relay that clicks. It will remain tripped so long as the DAC senses that a program is ready to send audio. For example, if I hit play on a media player, it will trip, and when I hit pause, it will remain on, ready to play the moment I unpause. If I hit STOP, it will stop and the relay will disengage.

Now.. that's all relevant because PowerDVD 16 Ultra will trip that relay, but no signal is sent. Furthermore, it seems that so long as anything at all is playing PowerDVD, it hijacks the entire audio output stream and NOTHING else will play. This is not a behavior I want. I cannot seem to find a setting to change this.

Signal path is set up as Software -> X-Fi S/PDIF optical output -> Schiit Audio Bifrost Multibit -> external power amplifier -> Speakers. Obviously the amplifier is getting nothing. It was built in the 70s and has no digital inputs, so it's not really relevant.

Hi

It's a little bit complicated now. There are some check points fyi.

1. Do you turn on the audio exclusive mode in PowerDVD audio setting? Check it by turn off exclusive audio mode.
2. Can you select S/PDIF output in PowerDVD audio setting?
3. What files or video format did you play in PowerDVD?
4. Does Your DAC support Dolby DTS decode at hardware level?

The answers for no.2 to 4 will assist their support to help you.

Zog

Newbie Joined: Oct 06, 2016 12:47 Messages: 2 Offline

Oct 21, 2016 11:00

Quote

Quote Greetings.

I've been having trouble getting audio to play since purchasing the software. I have a soundcard installed (X-Fi Titanium HD), but I'm just using S/PDIF output on it. The on-board realtek system is disabled at the BIOS level and does not appear in the device manager at all.

I've been using this setup for quite some time, running everything from other media players, games, and normal system audio. Any time the DAC engages, there is a relay that clicks. It will remain tripped so long as the DAC senses that a program is ready to send audio. For example, if I hit play on a media player, it will trip, and when I hit pause, it will remain on, ready to play the moment I unpause. If I hit STOP, it will stop and the relay will disengage.

Now.. that's all relevant because PowerDVD 16 Ultra will trip that relay, but no signal is sent. Furthermore, it seems that so long as anything at all is playing PowerDVD, it hijacks the entire audio output stream and NOTHING else will play. This is not a behavior I want. I cannot seem to find a setting to change this.

Signal path is set up as Software -> X-Fi S/PDIF optical output -> Schiit Audio Bifrost Multibit -> external power amplifier -> Speakers. Obviously the amplifier is getting nothing. It was built in the 70s and has no digital inputs, so it's not really relevant.

Hi

It's a little bit complicated now. There are some check points fyi.

1. Do you turn on the audio exclusive mode in PowerDVD audio setting? Check it by turn off exclusive audio mode.
2. Can you select S/PDIF output in PowerDVD audio setting?
3. What files or video format did you play in PowerDVD?
4. Does Your DAC support Dolby DTS decode at hardware level?

The answers for no.2 to 4 will assist their support to help you.

Exclusive Audio (WASAPI Exclusive) is not enabled. Output type is "Only Primary Audio," however, because that is the only choice I am given. I suspect this may be where the problem lies. I am not given the choice for "Stereo" as an output mode when using S/PDIF.

Yes, I can select S/PDIF output in the audio settings. In fact, by default, ALL audio from this computer is output through the S/PDIF. That is the output chosen at the windows device level.

This problem occurs when physica DVDs are played back. It does not happen with movie files.

The DAC is not a decoder, only a DAC. It strictly contains the hardware necessary to convert an already-decoded-for-two-channel audio stream to left and right stereo analog signals. This is quite typical. Usually the player, in this case, PowerDVD, performs decoding functions.

Regarding #1, which is where I think the problem is, this is NOT a limitation of playing directly from a DVD. VLC seems to manage this particular function just fine without becoming an exclusive (and non-functioning) audio source. The problem with that is, I bought PowerDVD because it's better (or would be..) and I want to use it instead.

Bunduki

Newbie Joined: Feb 27, 2015 12:12 Messages: 1 Offline

Sep 01, 2019 08:37

I am having the exact same issue with the exact same setup (PowerDVD 17 used), only 3 years later. Is there any solution to this?

Thanks and best regards,

Bunduki