HTPC surround DTS 5.1 speakers and low vocal volume problem!!!

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GamerOC

439 posts

Ultimate Geek

#101693 6-May-2012 22:16

Hi to all at Geekzone, and thank you for reading this post.

Im currently running creative blaster Audigy 2 ZS Platinum sound card with 5.1 speakers system and DTS decoder. My problem is that when Im watching dvd movies the vocal sounds are too quiet in comparison to the music sound or ambient sound. From gun shots to foot steps the sound is awesome however the vocals are way to quiet and despite playing around with disabling EAX HD and SSD SSD2 Dolby digital stereo off I still only get low vocal volume and if i turn the volume up the music and ambient sound is way too loud. (this problem using VLC Lan and PowerDVD 11). However when I play freeview live tv the sound is great and the vocals are fine??? I cant figure out.

Please could you share with me some ideas if you had similar problem or you are good with troubleshooting stuff, meanwhile i will play with settings after House show is over..

thanks

Andy

dale77

294 posts

Ultimate Geek

#620721 6-May-2012 23:32

Hmmm. Maybe try:

1. normal environment setting instead of quiet
2. boosting the centre channel on the speakers
3. WinDVD Pro 11

HTPC: Antec Fusion 430, Intel i3, Gigabyte 1050, Corsair 4x1Gb, Hauppauge WinTv, Logitech z-5500, Logitech Harmony 525, Yamaha Rx-v6a, Samsung KS8000 4k, Windows 10, Mediaportal 1.30, BLU-RAY: Panasonic UB820

GamerOC

439 posts

Ultimate Geek

#621262 7-May-2012 21:02

'
Hmmm. Maybe try:

1. normal environment setting instead of quiet
2. boosting the centre channel on the speakers
3. WinDVD Pro 11'

Hi there and thank you for the reply,

I changed the powerdvd from quiet environment to normal and the was less ambient noise but vocals still low volume. boosting centre seemed to help a little bit.
I played with the card setting and cant get it to work properly and voice coming from rear speakers are loud but front is very low and with reverb effect.

I will try other software instead of WMC VLC and PowerDVD and see what happens.. will let you know.

Thanks,

Andy

gzt

17159 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#621282 7-May-2012 21:43

In case it helps, I had a similar problem with a rubbish kmart or something DVD player. It was trying to convert stereo to 5.1 and then output stereo or something like that.

Nety

2584 posts

Uber Geek

Retired Mod

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Lifetime subscriber

#621443 8-May-2012 09:43

Personally I stopped using my Soundblaster Audigy 2 ZS on the media center as I just seemed to have huge issues with its handling of surround sound. I now just use the on board sound card which performs perfectly. If you google you will find plenty of other people having issues with the Audigy which Creative seem incapable or unwilling to sort out.

Media centre PC - Case Silverstone LC16M with 2 X 80mm AcoustiFan DustPROOF, MOBO Gigabyte MA785GT-UD3H, CPU AMD X2 240 under volted, RAM 4 Gig DDR3 1033, HDD 120Gig System/512Gig data, Tuners 2 X Hauppauge HVR-3000, 1 X HVR-2200, Video Palit GT 220, Sound Realtek 886A HD (onboard), Optical LiteOn DH-401S Blue-ray using TotalMedia Theatre Power Corsair VX Series, 450W ATX PSU OS Windows 7 x64

GamerOC

439 posts

Ultimate Geek

#621699 8-May-2012 15:00

I sort it out and it was easy us and now the DTS surround is huge lol
all i did in PowerDVD 11 is to change it to S/PIDF i think its called and now all works super

jaw dropping sound compared to my 7.1 sound from the mobo to be honest. mobo sound it pretty good until i got this working right.

I also swap the win7 creative drives for David service pack 4+ lol

thanks,

Andy

Nety

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Lifetime subscriber

#621735 8-May-2012 15:55

Check the rear speakers.. one of the issues that I could never get sorted was the that rear speakers were switched for TMT but correct from Media Centre.

Glad to here you got it sorted.

GamerOC

439 posts

Ultimate Geek

#621745 8-May-2012 16:12

test it both dolby digital and dts in VLC WMC and PowerDVD 11 all working awesome after i installed those drivers not the creative ones, I got theatre surround sound working how I wanted so I will trace my steps back on what I changed to make everything work.

lol thanks,

Andy