I've used Shark 007 on Vista and now I am using it on Windows 7 32bit RTM.

However I've only just noticed a problem that I don't recall having in Vista. In Windows Media Center 7, I am unable to play any AVI files that have AC3 audio in them. I can play AVI files that have MPEG (MP3) audio. I used MediaInfo to work out the pattern of which AVI's played and which did not.

When I try to play an AVI file with AC3 audio, Media Center chokes and says it cannot play the video.

I am able to play MKV's with AC3 / DTS and DVD rips and I get 5.1 Dolby Digital / DTS no problem.

Below is how I have configured Shark 007. I have this same problem on two totally different PC's both running Windows 7. One is an ASRock 330 ION NetTop (Nvidia) the other is based on a Gigabyte mobo with an onboard ATI HD 4200 both are using HDMI for video and audio via the PC to the AVR that is then connected to the HDTV.

Here I have checked "Set AC3Filter to use S/PDIF" & selected use Passthrough. This makes the DTS and Dolby Digtal show up on the front of my AVR for HD (MKV) and DVD / Blu-ray rips.



As a result use S/PDIF is ticked in the AC3Filter settings on the two tabs.





FFDShow Audio Config



This is the same way I use to configure Shark 007 in Vista and as I said I don't remember not being able to play AVI files that had AC3 audio then.

If I un-check use SPDIF in the AC3Filter options I can then play the AVI's that have AC3 in them and it shows as Dolby Digital on the AVR. However as a result I then lose 5.1 audio on the HD MKV files and they just show as PCM.

At first I thought it was graphics card / driver related? But as it happens on both the Nettop (Nvidia) and a HTPC (ATI) I guess maybe its not.

I have the latest versions of the graphics / audio drivers installed from Realtek / ATI and Nvidia etc.

Can anyone tell me why I am seeing this problem with AC3 in the AVI container and how I might be able to fix it?

I also started a thead on the Shark 007 forums here.

Many thanks in advance.

I've just hooked up my last remaining Vista Media Center PC to the AVR and I don't have this issue. However on this particular VMC I haven't got the Shark 007 Codec Pack / AC3Filter installed.

I only have installed the FFDShow Tryouts / Haali Media Splitter on this machine, it plays AVI's with AC3 audio and I get surround sound, it also plays HD MKV's with AC3/DTS OK as well. I think this could be an issue with the AC3 Filter?

Hi Tups, thanks for the reply, sounds like you are in the same boat as me then.

The AVI's with AC3 audio do play in WMP but with no sound as you said. I've looked at GraphEdit also and could see the audio was going to the AC3 Filter.

I can get these AVI's with AC3 audio to play with sound in Media Center, to do so I have to un-check "Use SPDIF" in the AC3Filter settings on the two tabs shown on the above screen shots. The files then play fine in Media Center and show as Dolby Digital on the AVR.

However when I do this I lose audio passthrough for the MKV files and they are PCM then, as I've un-checked the options needed in Ac3Filter, so it's one or the other at the moment for me not both playing OK at the same time.

I've love to hear from some one who has this working properly ???

I tried disabling AC3Filter all together, in the Shark 007 options and wondered if FFDShow could handle the audio passthrough for the MKV's but again I was only getting PCM on the MKV's when I tried that.

Thanks

I forgot to say I also started a thread on the Shark 007 forum, no replies as yet, fingers crossed.

cw-kid:

I can get these AVI's with AC3 audio to play with sound in Media Center, to do so I have to un-check "Use SPDIF" in the AC3Filter settings on the two tabs shown on the above screen shots. The files then play fine in Media Center and show as Dolby Digital on the AVR.

I find when you remove the SPDIF setting I can get sound too but it is just in stereo.  I think this works OK as it reverts to the Media Foundation codecs.

tups:

cw-kid:

I can get these AVI's with AC3 audio to play with sound in Media Center, to do so I have to un-check "Use SPDIF" in the AC3Filter settings on the two tabs shown on the above screen shots. The files then play fine in Media Center and show as Dolby Digital on the AVR.

 

I find when you remove the SPDIF setting I can get sound too but it is just in stereo.  I think this works OK as it reverts to the Media Foundation codecs.

I'm sure when I un-checked Use SPDIF in the AC3Filter the AVI's with AC3 played and Dolby Digital was displayed on the AVR. Will let you know if I make any progress with this issue. 

Anyone else got this working??

OK I've got this working, kinda! Not sure if this is a permanent solution for me but it's a work around for now.I've not had a great deal of time to test this either.

I can now play the following files:

AVI's with AC3 (Dolby Digital)

AVI''s with MPEG (MP3) (PCM)

MKV's with AC3 / DTS

DVD rips VIDEO_TS (VOB's) with AC3 / DTS

Blu-ray ISO's with AC3 / DTS (PowerDVD9)

To do this I uninstalled the Shark007 codec pack, installed the Haali Splitter Alpha and then installed FFDShow Tryouts beta 6. 

You need to un-check some options when installing the Haali Alpha see the screen shot below:

During the installation of FFDShow I un-checked all video types apart from H.264, on the audio I un-checked everything about from DTS, AC3, AAC and a couple of others, I then ticked Passthrough on both AC3 and DTS. 

Everything now plays and I get 5.1 surround sound passthrough to the AVR where I should. 

However I do have other issues with the Haali Media Splitter Alpha. In that when playing some MKV's they are blocky pixelated and look bad. 

This is a similar setup to my original preferred configuration in Vista Media Center.    

 Update:

 I've not checked all my MKV's but I've found two that look like this:

12 Monkeys:

Blood Diamond:

 I have had these movies playing perfectly OK with the Shark 007 pack installed. I also uninstalled the Haali Alpha and installed the original Haali Media Splitter version but the same thing happens. 

This machine has an onboard ATI Radeon HD 4200. 

 Looking at these two movie files in MediaInfo:

Just found another bad one that wont play properly with Haali. 

I will have to check each of my MKV files to see it there are any more like these, the others I have tried so far all play fine. Does anyone know why this might be happening to the video?

Update 2:

Another thing I've just noticed I am getting PCM on MKV movies that have AAC audio. There appears to be no option in the FFDSHOW Audio configuration to passthrough AAC.

Is it normal for MKV's with AAC audio to only show as PCM on the AVR? 

It looks like the same artifacts I get if I turn dxva on for h264 video.

I am running an ati hd4550 and after turning off dxva for h.264, high bitrate/1080p .mkv files now play fine.

Just a thought, see the thread below on how to turn off dxva as a test (halfway down the page) - you may need to run dxva checker to get the reg entry to show up:

The thread is about bbchd, but after turning off dxva, all of my .mkv files run perfectly.

http://thegreenbutton.com/forums/t/73544.aspx?PageIndex=9

The VForceUVDH264 entry is the only that should need changing.

holidayboy:

It looks like the same artifacts I get if I turn dxva on for h264 video.

I am running an ati hd4550 and after turning off dxva for h.264, high bitrate/1080p .mkv files now play fine.

Just a thought, see the thread below on how to turn off dxva as a test (halfway down the page) - you may need to run dxva checker to get the reg entry to show up:

The thread is about bbchd, but after turning off dxva, all of my .mkv files run perfectly.

http://thegreenbutton.com/forums/t/73544.aspx?PageIndex=9

 

The VForceUVDH264 entry is the only that should need changing.

Ok thanks, I'll give it a try and report back.

However at this point I am seriously considering just remuxing all our MKV's to WTV with AC3 audio.

OK I think I've fixed all my issues apart from one. I've gone back to using Shark 007 Codec Pack now and the only thing I can't get working is to do with MKV's that have AAC audio in them. I'd like to be able to encode on the fly from AAC -> AC3 using FFDShow but I can't see how to do this. Or a way to manually convert the audio for each file.

I've even managed to fix the bad pixelated movies as show above by selecting Use FFDShow codec on the H.264 tab instead of the MS one.

I've changed a few settings in the Shark / FFDshow, so I might do a full write up on the blog with my configuration if anyone is interested, as I have things working now and I am able to bitstream audio to the AVR for all my MKV's and AVI's.

The upshot is I've disabled AC3Filter and I am using FFDShow for the audio side of things. 

Update: You can see my working settings for Shark 007 on this blog post.

This works with versions up to 2.26 however the latest version 2.28 doesn't work fully with this config and I am still investing.