Codecs and Players

[Killa-Eyez]

Hiya. Been a while (again) so here's my post;

I've got a laptop and a PC connected to my Sony STR-DA50ES reciever over S/PDIF. The laptop has a Realtek HDA integrated soundchip (ALC888S) and has a Home Theater feature which, if selected, sends out a Dolby Digital Live! signal over the TOSLink connection (3.5mm jack) decoding everything to 5.1 surround sound. A very neat and easy-to-use feature, ideal for playing music on all my Jamo speakers.

Now my PC also has a Realtek HDA integrated soundchip (ALC1200) which, unfortunately, doesn't support this feature. It's connected with a coaxial S/PDIF RCA cable and the only output it has is PCM 2 channel for everything without a DD or DTS track. Now it seems that it's not the hardware that doesn't support it as the soundchips all seem the same and are all capable of sending DD or DTS signals. It's rather dependent on it's hardware ID defined in the bios settings, allowing or blocking certain features like DDL! or DTS-Connect during it's driver installation. It all comes down to licensing. Scoping the web for possible solutions to use this same feature on the PC, I came across a couple of possibilties. One was the use of modified Realtek drivers in conjunction with X-Fi drivers and utilities with DDL! and DTS-C installed seperately. This I could not get to work after one try and frankly became too much of a hassle to set up. Another theory was hacking the hardware ID, tricking the driver installer into enabling such features. The latter seems the most proficient solution to my problem but a way has yet to be discovered.

So after several hours of searching I settled with this forum post. I decided I didn't need to hear everything in 5.1 surround, just my music. I'd use my laptop to watch movies anyway. I use CodecGuide's K-Lite Mega Codec Pack along with it's x64 variant, installing and setting up everything to be played with WMP12 as I'm not too big on having different players installed. I followed the instructions in the post except for enabling the LFE Crossover and I now play all my music in 5.1 surround.

I thought I'd just post this for anyone experiencing the same issue as I did. Hope it helps.

----------------------

Another problem though... I'm not sure if it's dependent on the codec installed, the VGA card, the DVI cable/connection or my SyncMaster it's hooked on but almost every file starts of playing in a bright red color. The picture is viewable except it looks all pink and gay-ish:

Wrong Color.jpg

I've used CodecGuide's FAQ to determine the problem but to no avail. Funny thing is though, after clicking on any different file like .avi or .mp4 (which play ok) and clicking the same .mkv file again makes it go away. Guess I'll have some troubleshooting to do. If anyone knows a little more, your help would be appreciated.

[Kraco]

All my problems of bitstreaming multichannel audio to my homecinema amplifier went away when I uninstalled all Realtek drivers and simply stuck to Windows default audio drivers. Seriously, I don't know what they are smoking at Realtek, but it can't be anything good. The Windows drivers are very simple to configure as well. The player also needs to be configured to make sure it doesn't touch the sound intended to be bitstreamed.

I used K-Lite Mega Codec Pack years and years ago, and I have to say it's probably the most bloated codec pack invented by mankind. Even if I risk sounding hostile and sarcastic, I can only say: Good luck trying to solve any problems caused by that mammoth. For some years now I have went the other way of installing the bare minimum. Hunting down problems is much easier that way and the individual components are easy to update if problems arise. Or simply remove.

[Killa-Eyez]

Well, sure enough, it were my codecs. I guess I went a little overboard. I had the regular K-Lite Mega Codec Pack installed, alongside the 64x version of it and to top it of, the AVC codec. Uninstalled all of them and only reinstalled a newer version of the KLC pack. Everything works flawlessly now.

[Alhuin]

I just recently obtained a Bluray drive for my PC, so I'm looking for a good player and the codecs needed. I've tried doing a search on Google, but I'm getting so many different results, all requiring money, so I figured I would ask here real quick. I'd prefer a free program, but I guess there are always ways around that.

I was hoping the CCCP would have what's needed... I know next to nothing about appropriate codecs and whatnot, but it appears to work for DVDs, so I thought maybe there was a chance. Alas, it did not work.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[David75]

Blu-ray on a pc is one of the hellish things we have on earth... if you are honest...

I abandonned the idea long ago, as it was painfully crippled from the creation of the standard. And to date, I do not remember seeing an opensource alternative that works out of the box and reliably. That's when I wanted to build a BR HTPC like 3/4 years ago.

Maybe paid software works, haven't tried any cracked versions. My laptop came pre-equiped and I only used it for br like 10 times, so maybe those soft got better and I'm only on the negative because of the frustration I felt long ago

[Kraco]

BD (just like DVD) is a proprietary format and license fees must be paid to the rights owner if you want to legally release a device or software capable of playing the official format. That's why there are so few legally free alternatives, or rather, none. Either you pay or pirate. Though paying might have happened if you got a retail packed drive (or laptop with a drive) and some software was thus included in the package price.

A couple of years ago I was still thinking of getting a BD drive for my computer, but slowly I've let go of the idea. It's easier to watch the movies with my regular standalone BD player of the home theater (I don't have PS3) and burning optical discs is kind of out of fashion unless you are burning video BDs of some holiday trips, family events, hobbies, or whatever.

[Alhuin]

Yeah, I guess I should've done some more research before buying the drive. I really just wanted to be able to watch Blurays on my computer because I don't actually have a TV. I do have a PS3, and my monitor sports an HDMI connection, but the speakers on the monitor are so quiet, and I don't want to spend the money for a PS3 headset.

It appears that PowerDVD, ArcSoft Total Media, and Mac Bluray Player are the best choices, according to all the results I got from "best blu ray player for windows". I read the PowerDVD had a lot of online integration, so I'll probably avoid that one, but I guess I'll try the other two.

I was just figuring that, since Blurays have been around for 5+ years now, there would be more freeware support for it like with DVDs. *shrug*

[Buffalobiian]

What do you mean by "online integration"? If you really liked the program, you could block its internet access with a firewall (either the default windows firewall or other) if you didn't want it connecting online for whatever reason.

[Munsu]

What combination of Codecs and Players are you guys currently using?

I've been fairly loyal for years, with good results, to the Combined Community Codec Pack. For a while now, even with their newest package from 2015, I've found it very lacking particularly with anime releases.

Currently I've managed to use THIS GUIDE (with the latest versions of all mentioned of course) and results so far have been promising. I did the install yesterday, so we'll see.

I did consider trying the KCP Kawaii Codec Pack, which looking back now I would've probably done if I had to do this again, but decided to install all the elements individually since it seems that Codec Packs are very dependent on their developers keeping it up to date to the changes, and seems like they're also prone to disappearances. Hopefully installing the individual elements by themselves will provide for a more lasting solution.

But all told, I would've liked to try the KCP Kawaii Codec Pack before venturing to the standalone codecs/players/filters option.

Regardless, still curious what you guys are using to keep your systems running anime in particular at the proper quality level.

[Kraco]

I haven't used any codec packs for many years. It's pointless since it doesn't ensure latest components, as you said, plus I got annoyed by all the bloat.

What I have are:
MPC-HC
madVR renderer
xy-VSFilter

When I had to live without my desktop for a few weeks recently, I only had MPC-HC on my laptop and everything seemed to work nicely, so I'm not sure that Vobsub modification is even necessary anymore. But then again, I only started to use it because some non-HS releases occasionally used fancier text effects MPC-HC didn't support on its own.

MadVR I started to use because at least years ago the video was slightly better looking with it. Less gruesome artifacts.

Less is more as far as I'm concerned. But I can live with two extra components. Doesn't feel like much. I haven't yet encountered anime encoded using the new more efficient video codecs, but possibly they will appear. I'll have to see how it goes then. Traditionally you have needed something else for a little while until MPC-HC has incorporated it.

[Buffalobiian]

I only use CCCP and it works. It renders videos, it renders subtitles.

I haven't had to touch anything since.

I have noticed something weird on my new installation of W10 though. Scrolling in MPC with the cursor on the video panel does the following:

mouse wheel up = volume up
mouse wheel down = volume down

Meanwhile, scrolling the wheel when the cursor is on the control panel of the window does the opposite. That is:

mouse wheel up = volume down
mouse wheel down = volume up.

[Munsu]

I only use CCCP and it works. It renders videos, it renders subtitles.

I haven't had to touch anything since.

I have noticed something weird on my new installation of W10 though. Scrolling in MPC with the cursor on the video panel does the following:

mouse wheel up = volume up
mouse wheel down = volume down

Meanwhile, scrolling the wheel when the cursor is on the control panel of the window does the opposite. That is:

mouse wheel up = volume down
mouse wheel down = volume up.

I've never had a problem with CCCP until half year ago. Maybe I had some codecs fighting each other, but I was getting a lot of instances in which the picture got corrupted.

I did the new install with the individual elements and it's all good now.

That said, I'd wager the Kawaii Pack would be better at this point than CCCP, but it'll be a test for another time.