I get utter silence from my 5.1 MKV's unless I install AC3Filter and only 2 channel on the PC until I install Shark.

I've not messed around with this for a week or so and don't plan to until I install my release copy of 7 - I'm still running 7100.  I'll report back when I do.

Apparently, the DiVX tech preview is now part of the main DiVX install.

From what I can gage it seems allot of people who have installed the DIVX Tech Preview are only achieving 2 channel PCM on the HTPC. I'm yet to hear other wise?

I tried the Haali Alpha and I could get 5.1 passthrough on DD/DTS with no need to install the AC3Filter (New magic Realtek / ATI HDMI Audio setting) but not all MKV's played well on the HTPC would get bad pixelation on some and looked bad on the extender as Windows 7 was doing it's transcoding.

Looks like I'm going back to Shark 007, trying to convert MKV to DVR-MS or WTV with DVR-MS Toolbox but having issues there as well. Ms should have sorted the H.264 MKV transcoding before RTM as it looks like You Tube video nice one MS !!! Great job again not.... You suck.

 

 

Hmmm.  If the MS MKV transcoding is really that bad then I must not be using it.  My 360 is only connected to a 32" (HTPC is hooked up to the projector ;)) but last weeks SG:U MKV looked pretty damn good.  I thought I saw more macroblocking than I'd expect but it's a pretty dark show.  It certainly didn't look like YouTube! :D

All MKV's on my XBOX MCX look like s h i t, if I've got this right when using Shark 007 codec pack or the Haali Media Splitter Aplha, Windows 7 will transcode MKV's to the extender and look like You Tube.

The DIVX Tech Preview is the only thing that is meant to expose the H.264 in MKV to the extender properly in Media Foundation and it's meant to stream them natively but when I tried the DIVX Tech Preview it looked no better than when using the Shark 007. Poor. Not sure why I need to test more. But the DIVX Tech Preview was so unstable I can't use that on production machines.

Giving up on extenders for HD going with the ION's...

 

Only good news recently from me is the My Movies 3.01 inbuilt transcoding for DVD's in VIDEO_TS is very good. Bye bye VideoReDo to DVR-MS and transcode 360.

But we are still jumping through hoops can't believe we still can't natively play VIDEO_TS to MCX it's nearly 2010 FFS.

 

cw-kid:

Giving up on extenders for HD going with the ION's...

+1

mikinho:

cw-kid:

Giving up on extenders for HD going with the ION's...

+1

Too right Mikinho, I've still yet to test fully the DVR-MS Toolbox for converting MKV's I've got a thread somewhere with my issues with that. I'm sure it works but I've not got it working yet, and re-encoding anything to anything is a no no in my book, I've got better things to do with my life!

Maybe WTV is the answer as it would be just changing the container but MKV to DVR-MS is re-encoding no matter which way you look at it. As DVR-MS is MPEG2 which is DVD. MS have done allot to sort out this codec mess with the DIVX/XVID but by the time I got it I then wanted MKV HD support. I was ranting about this 3 years ago and here we are again with MKV. So looks like we will have to wait till Windows 8.

MS are too far behind the game always playing catchup. I could sacrifice the pretty MCE UI and use Pop Corn hour and natively stream DVD's and Blu-ray to my HDTV, MS wake up for FS or at least sort out your shitty transcoding.

 

 

Ok, I just registered to help you.

Uninstall every codec and video player you installed. (fresh install is ok too if this is just a media machine)

Do these in the order I give you.

1) Install http://ac3filter.net/projects/ac3filter/releases (do 1.63b, I'll check what I use when I get home and update if needed)

2) Install http://www.cccp-project.net/download.php?type=cccp (Best codec pack I have found .avi .mkv even some file types I have never heard of... http://www.spacetelescope.org/videos/archive/viewall/ they have some weird file types) See step 5.

3) Configure Windows 7 to know how many speakers you have. (default is stereo so get it in 5.1 or whatever)

4) Configure ac3filter to know how many speakers you have.

5) If you didn't configure cccp when you installed let it know how many speakers you have too

 

This should get you going. I have been using this setup since spring and ac3filter for years. ac3filter is great if you want to have total control over all of your speakers. I have 1080p Plant Earth (.mkv) and when I go to bed sometimes with ac3filter I will turn off center (narrator only plays over center) and just listen to the nature sounds over all of my speakers... if you don't want to turn off center you can also use a voice control to turn off voices (but some sounds will be quiet over the other speakers so i just turn off center).

I hope you can get it to work. Sound plays the greatest role in entertainment.

 

EDIT: I also have quicktime installed dunno if that mattered in my install. I HATE divx and will never install it. cccp will install probly xvid and other stuff you'll be able to play every video type. With this configuration you will not need to install any other video players, everything will play in windows media player. If you hate windows media player just use VLC because all other players suck and I don't like to use it because I can't control all of my speakers so I just stick to this and use media player so I can have all the control I want.

EDIT EDIT: If you want to compress with h.264 (.mkv) use http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HandBrake

 OK I've got an answer to this now from someone I think is a developer on the Divx Tech Preview see here.

"Unfortunately, until a third-party AC3 decoder comes out that supports Media Foundation it will be limited to two-channel decoding via our ACM wrapper."

So that's why I could find no one who had this working! 

 

That's pretty poor on DiVX's part.  I wouldn't mind, but they've made such a hoo-haw about how their splitter is the be-all and end-all and is the only one to work with Media Foundation etc etc and now we (finally) get an answer as to why *the most popular* audio codec in MKV's isn't supported.  Not only that, but the tech preview has now been incorporated into the main install so I'd expect the work rate to slow somewhat.

As somebody else said on another board, another 90% solution.  Ho hum.

I'm having issues with the Shark 007 Win7 codec pack now, cannot get AVI's with AC3 audio to play.

I don't expect to be trying the DIVX tech preview again anytime soon after being pretty disappointed with it. 

 

 

ac3filter was not working properly on my system: win 7 x64, xonar card with asus g45 motherboard

 i tried spdifer and that works perfectly, so maybe that is another option for you

 

**edit**

another option is to try the ac3filter 1.60b release that corresponds to the current spdifer release, someone reported better success with that and windows 7 on the ac3filter site