vmcuser813

I thought the audio over HDMI might be an avenue toward resolution, but it is completely useless.  The audio is implemented by installing another audio device.  The last thing you want is yet another audio device you can only use one at a time.

 

 

A little off-topic from the original thread, but using an HDMI splitter can you get simultaneous output of audio from Vista/Win7 MCE to an HDMI equipped AV receiver AND an HDMI display?

I'm getting a new AV receiver this year with HDMI and I'd like to know the best way to hook up my HTPC so that I can get audio on the TV without having to switch the AVR on...

plutoz

A little off-topic from the original thread, but using an HDMI splitter can you get simultaneous output of audio from Vista/Win7 MCE to an HDMI equipped AV receiver AND an HDMI display?

I'm getting a new AV receiver this year with HDMI and I'd like to know the best way to hook up my HTPC so that I can get audio on the TV without having to switch the AVR on...

 

 

Yes, but apparently you need to have the audio come from the same device.  Basically you use the sound card that is already outputting sound and send that to an Nvidia card with a header input.  Some Creative cards can also do both analog and digital but for me I think the Nvidia route is cheaper since simultaneous Hdmi and toslink output suffice.  Here's a more in depth post about it from users who have it working.

http://thegreenbutton.com/forums/t/78781.aspx

 

 

Did this work for you?

vmcuser813

No progess with Win 7.  I can confirm the realtek hack works for Win 7 x64 for simultaneous in stereo. (no DD or DTS)

 The "realtek hack" did not work for me in Win 7 64bit, I was hoping to get simultaneous stereo from HDMI and analogue outputs.  Does it work for SPDIF only perhaps?

Do I need to install a particular RealTek driver?  I'm on the latest one from the Asus website.

I am trying to find a software solution for this problem also. My Dell PC has an optical toslink running to my stereo equipment in the basement. I have to manually switch over to optical digital if I want to play my large MP3 collection through the stereo from J River MC14. Don't understand why this should be diffecult or a big deal. Mine is also realtek. The .dat file hack didn't work on 64bit windows 7 and the vista audio changer program to force  a manual changeh is not seemless enough for my use. Has anyone else came up with any new options?

I wanted to confirm that under Windows 7 64 I have sucessfully used the rtkhdaud.dat to enable simltaneous analog and digital outputs with realtek dirver 6.0.1.598 . I put it in both the c:\Windows\system32 and C:\Windows\system32\drivers folder as well like many ohers here I have a digital reciever (PCM) as well as multizone analog for other zones in my house. The only problem I  have now is that the PCM volume level does not change when I use the volume keys on my keyboard and basically the volume level is locked for PCM connection. I can change the volume in the application ie WMP or iTunes and it goes work. The analog volume control does work. Minor headache because my frineds try to tune up the volume on the keyoboard and it stays the same but the rest of my house is blasting loud. Also mute doesn not work  for the PCM connection.

It is stupid that this is not enaabled with out unknow internet dat file. I imagine this is meant to prevent digital to analog copy protectioin but anyone who is going to pirate media is going to use specific software to do it anyway.  This just creates problems for poeple who have a legimited use for it. 

Would you indicate what settings you used within Realtek Audio Manager to get SPDIF and audio analog this to work?  THX. I am trying to get, at a minimum, dual stereo output from Win 7 Pro on MSI P965 board with Realtek on-board audio (same driver as above ) to my receiver via regular A/V input and zone 2 input.

 Like thousands of others I am pissed to no end to find afterr Win 7 upgrade from  XP Pro that dual simultaneous output feature was eliminated by Microsoft?  WTF are they thinking???? With the advent of HTCP and Zone 2 capable analog output receivers everywhere how can they take this basic rfequired feature away??

My suggestion is this:

 

Get an HDMI splitter. Use one of the splits to run to your receiver. The other split runs to the television.

Now, use the "audio out" of your television to get the downmixed analog audio. (most new tv's won't output 5.1 via this anyways now because of some stupid issues) Take the "audio out" from your TV and run that via the red and white rca cables to your "analog in" so that zone 2 can be output.

 I have yet to do this but I will be doing it this week. Does anyone foresee potential issues? 

 Is there an easier way that I have just missed?

 With that approach you lose the ability to watch something else on TV in zone 1 while outputting to zone 2.

I just bought a $5.00 .3mm splitter for the analog out of PC (which curiously Soundmax refers to as Digital HD) to Aux in on receiver to feed both zone 1 and zone 2. Not really a sacrifice because in zone one, I use extended stereo sound setting on receiver to output full, unmixed stereo to all speakers in L/R. When I don't need sound in zone 2 I use the SPDIF out from PC to revceiver and zone 1. Just have to select default sound device on PC to SPDIF  vs. Stereo.

 Very happy with the result.

I have simultaneous 5.1 SPDIF and analog stereo, with the help of Virtual Audio Cable! Here's a link to the software download. You can download a free trial, but it mixes an audio watermark "Female voice saying 'Trial'" over the top of your audio, until you download the full version. http://software.muzychenko.net/eng/vac.html After installing the software, designate the "Virtual Audio Cable" as your default sound device. You then need to initiate two instances of the included Audio Repeater application. Set the input of both to the "Virtual Audio Cable." Set one of the outputs to your SPDIF output, and the other to your analog output. Voila! If you Google search around enough, you'll find people claiming that they cannot get VAC to output a 5.1 stream over SPDIF. SPDIF was originally designed for digital music transfer of stereo content. It was backwards compatible "hacked" to transmit compressed Dolby Digital and DTS content in a compressed format over the stereo link. It's a lossless compression format, so the transmitted signal can be recreated exactly by your DTS or Dolby Digital compliant receiver. Here's a reference with more information on the SPDIF standard. http://www.topbits.com/spdif.html I tested my setup by playing the Empire Strikes Back, and verifying that the Dolby DTS indicator lit up when the signal source was SPDIF. The DTS indicator turned off when I switched to the downmixed analog signal. I could also, of course, hear a significant difference between the two. I now have what I was aiming for - the ability to play music inside the house with my 5.1 speaker setup, and outside on my deck with my analog Zone 2 signal on my Onkyo receiver powering my stereo speakers. The last step in achieving nirvana, is for me to figure out how to get these instances of the Audio Repeater to fire up with system start-up. I've started Audio Repeater correctly from the command line, so I should be able to figure out how to do this with either shortcuts or an old-fashioned .bat file. Here are the details of my setup. AC3Filter Shark 007 Codecs Virtual Audio Cable RealTek on-board audio (Gigabyte GA-H55M-S2H) Intel i5 650 I'm also dorking around with Asio4All, which is a method for bypassing Windows sound layers entirely for audio devices. There's a plug-in for Windows Media Player and a free app called Asio4All. This isn't necessary for getting the simultaneous SPDIF/analog to work, but thought I would share that I'm looking into this also. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audio_Stream_Input/Output

I believe I have been fooled by my receiver's post processing.  When I put in the THX test sequence on the DVD, I can get it to output the 5.1 stream in "Direct" mode on my Onkyo receiver - but only when I'm routing the audio DIRECTLY to my SPDIF, and not through "Virtual Audio Cable"

 The search continues...

 bummer... had me hopeful there, for a day

This is good to hear, as I purchased an external sound card from Creative Labs to split of 5.1 DTS and Dolby using a SPDIF and driving my 2.0 analog audio output at the same time.  I would have liked to use my onboard HDMI driver, but it is not true 5.1 but 2.1 (what a drag).  The sound card does a reasonable job of replicating DTS and Dolby 5.1 media.  I may give this a whirl as I would like to use the onboard SPDIF and analog outputs.  My MC7 platform onboard audio/grahics package uses Intel High Definition Audio 2.0 and the Mobile Intel 965 Expresss Chipset for graphics. 

 what Creative card?

I'm still trying to figure out how to get VAC to work for sending compressed 5.1 over a stereo SPDIF connection. In the meantime, here's a .bat file that might be helpfu to anyone else playing around with VACl. It starts the repeaters for you on system bootup. Place the following 2 lines in this folder on your system in a plaintext file with the extension .bat FOLDER LOCATION is %systemdrive%\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup .bat file starts here ------------------------------------------------- start /min "audiorepeater_ks" "C:\Program Files\Virtual Audio Cable\audiorepeater_ks.exe" /SamplingRate:48000 /Input:"Virtual Cable 1" /Output:"RealTek HDA SPDIF Out" /AutoStart start /min "audiorepeater_ks" "C:\Program Files\Virtual Audio Cable\audiorepeater_ks.exe" /SamplingRate:48000 /Input:"Virtual Cable 1" /Output:"RealTek HDA Primary output" /AutoStart -------------------------------------------------- .bat file ends here Of course, you'll have to replace the text in Output and Input with the actual devices for your situation.