Htpc Using Spdif From Asus P4p800 Deluxe

[miagi]

Hello all the sys in my sig is suffering occassional stutters when playing back dvd, Digi tv both HD and SD from DNTV card.

I think I may have narrowed it down to the ASUS Mobo that I use when utilizing the onboard sound via SPDIF.

I read in another forum where a guy reckoned this mobo is crap and he had similar happening to him when using this motherboards onboard sound.

I have also a Soundblaster live value (4.1) ( disabled as I use the onboard instead) which apparently doesnt give full passthrough of the digital signal or something like that. So B4 I go out and purchase a quality sound card I was hoping to catch up with one of you guys who might lend some experience or advice on this Onboard sound from the Mobo.

The stutters only happen now and again but often enough to throw out of sync the video and audio.

If I UNTICK the ENABLE SPDIF OUTPUT in the audio decoder of DNTV config, then my amp will drop the DD stream ( if watching a dvd for example) and allow only pro logic 2 or stereo sound which seems to lessen the stutter effects.

But as soon as I TICK the ENABLE SPDIF OUTPUT in the audio decoder config then my amp will recognise the DD sound stream and stutter more often again.

By stutter I mean a hickup maybe once in 30 mins, often having no other effect but sometimes leading to an out of sync period of time.

This is why I now think it is my onboard sound that causes my troubles, by the way my cpu load is usually low as I disable most background programs which is not to say that cpu load is not a factor in all of this.

Any thoughts anyone??

Forgot to mention it is not the DNTV card or software associated with it as it will happen when using other software decoders like powerdvd and windvd.

Ta

[rumpole1503559571]

Just to reassure you ... I had this motherboard for ages and thought it was perfect, including for HD and dolby sound. So whatever's going wrong for you the motherboard is capable of doing what you want.

This is an 'oldish' motherboard now and I remember some of the early SATA raid arrangements had the sort of issues you mention. Maybe read up on that in google if you're using SATA.

You don't mention the processor you're using - HD and dolby sound need plenty of processing power.

Other things that can cause intermittent cyclical glitches include antenna problems, Wi-Fi and assorted electrical interference from somewhere else in the house.

Plenty to check before throwing out the motherboard!

[murrayt]

I have used this motherboard amongst others

Running say PowerDVD etc which operate using Directsound, S/PDIF is fine in my experience, but I have noticed some stuttering if Waveout is used for DD5.1 material, but I didn't spend a great deal more time on it.

I don't know how DNTV Live handles such things

Probably worth updating the Realtek drivers to be the latest. One poster I recall suggested going back to an earlier rev of the BIOS

[miagi]

cpu is a p4 2.6 at 3.1

no SATA

thanks

[digitaladvisor]

cpu is a p4 2.6 at 3.1

no SATA

thanks

Try Wave SP/DIF or DirectSound SP/DIF streaming / pass through . A good exmination of driver (updates/revision/earlier versions may help.

Goto to Chipset support direct if you can. I have found that specific chipset manufacturers may have a cure and often have later drivers.

DA

[colojim]

I have the same motherboard with a 3ghz processor and Fusion Lite card.

I don't run anit virus or spyware software either as this pc is dedicated to video work.

At first I used the onboard sound analogue outputs to a Creative speaker system.

There was so much electronic noise from the operation of the computer that I installaed a Creative live 5.1 into a pci slot.

This made the electronic noise vanish but every 2 to 3 minutes the sound would cut out for about a half second, be it on digital tv or playing dvd or mpgs from the dvd drive or from a hard drive but it did not cause sound synchronization problems.

Eventually I bought a Logitech Z-5500 set and used spdif from the motherboard on board sound via coaxial to the digital encoder. Most of the sound cut outs vanished except for the occasional one every ten minutes or so.

When I record digital tv I get sound cut outs during the recording stage but on playback the cut outs are not there.

I think with video there is so much data traffic going through the Northbridge and pci bus that it can't cope and the sound is cut out momentarily because of this.

I also have a SATA drive and Raid 0 (IDE) system on the pc and it makes no difference. If I am not using the raid drive or SATA for capture or video processing I can switch them off, but still have the same occasional cut outs.

If I could stop that occasional cut out it would all be running perfectly.

[rumpole1503559571]

Miagi

"cpu is a p4 2.6 at 3.1"

I've noticed with some other configurations of mine that overclocking the processor doesn't seem to give the same benefit to mpeg2 processing as it shows in games or benchmark tests. Just a thought.

[miagi]

Miagi

"cpu is a p4 2.6 at 3.1"

I've noticed with some other configurations of mine that overclocking the processor doesn't seem to give the same benefit to mpeg2 processing as it shows in games or benchmark tests. Just a thought.

Good point, I oc the cpu only for gaming reasons, find in completely stable for a sacrifice of 5degrees c, but removing the case cover returns my temp to pre overclock.

never really thought this could be a reason for the audio/video sync problems I sometimes encounter as my cpu load is fairly constant, I guess I would need to monitor cpu load and gfx temps in real time, wait for a hickup to happern and see if there is anything out of the ordinary in the real time monitoring.

might even try defaulting cpu

thanks all

I will keep trying.

and check for mobo updates also

[murrayt]

Actually.....now that you mention it I remember reading on the ASUS forum, that overheating of the Realtek codec chip was suspected by some as a possible source of problems such as stuttering

[miagi]

Actually.....now that you mention it I remember reading on the ASUS forum, that overheating of the Realtek codec chip was suspected by some as a possible source of problems such as stuttering

makes me wonder!

might have to try a different card

I have a soundblaster live card i think its a value?? model CT 4830 has a digital out but I dont think it passes full digital??

anyone

[Mr.Bitey]

Howdy,

Ive got this board and I dont like it at all.

Onboard audio. I replaced mine with a chaintech av710 card due to:

-clipping of some low frequencies via spdif waveout

-severe stuttering/chop with spdif directsound

-audio/video sync issues

Additionally, the onboard network card (marvel yukon gigabit) causes sever stuttering when recording after 45 minutes (every 10 seconds there is a significant freeze/stutter in the recording). Disabling the network interface is the only solution I found.

Voltage issues when overclocking - VPU voltage (vcore) droops under load making for unstable overclocks.

Bios1006 causes video chop under load (pushing to the limits with ffdshow and dvd playback) whereas v 1004 does not.

Cheers,

Bitey

[miagi]

mr.bitey, i was just about to PM you, saw your review regarding the chaintech v710, was about to go order for $40.20 etc then realised it only does toslink and not coax which is a problem for me.

correct me if I am wrong.

disabled onboard sound in bios, uninstalled driver for it etc.

may try my soundblaster anyway, even if only stereo is passed to receiver just to see if my sound stutter/chops go away. As in my initial post when altering the output so as my reciever only picks up stereo not DD then the stutters seem to lessen, not disappear altogether unfortunately but become less often, enable S/PDIF output and the stutters become more often, 30 mins apart then happening more often towards end of dvd and sometimes becoming out of sync where I have to stop and start playback again.

could possibly put up with the sound stutter issues if I was watching on small screen but on a 2.5 m screen it becomes VERY noticeable.

will set cpu back to default also.

have you read/had experience with the x-mystique sound cards, may be overkill as all I really want to test is full digital passthru to my amp incase sound is really the problem.

I hope after all this it isnt my reciever, I wouldnt think so.

Thanks

rob

[Mr.Bitey]

mr.bitey, i was just about to PM you, saw your review regarding the chaintech v710, was about to go order for $40.20 etc then realised it only does toslink and not coax which is a problem for me.

correct me if I am wrong.

Yeah only toslink.. Theres a few other good cards around, have a search for 'bit perfect' on avsforums these are the ones to get for your HTPC if your interested in playing audio cd's (with bit perfect audio)..

disabled onboard sound in bios, uninstalled driver for it etc.

may try my soundblaster anyway, even if only stereo is passed to receiver just to see if my sound stutter/chops go away. As in my initial post when altering the output so as my reciever only picks up stereo not DD then the stutters seem to lessen, not disappear altogether unfortunately but become less often, enable S/PDIF output and the stutters become more often, 30 mins apart then happening more often towards end of dvd and sometimes becoming out of sync where I have to stop and start playback again.

My onboard audio was ok for DVD playback stuttering was on digital-tv for me.. have you tried reclock? - if not, give it a shot it is designed to fix sync issues might be your answer.. Try your SB card - although if its stereo it'll be converting the audio using its DACs and not just outputting the DD stream - so you might not see any stutters anyway..

could possibly put up with the sound stutter issues if I was watching on small screen but on a 2.5 m screen it becomes VERY noticeable.

will set cpu back to default also.

have you read/had experience with the x-mystique sound cards, may be overkill as all I really want to test is full digital passthru to my amp incase sound is really the problem.

I dont recall reading anything about the x-mystique... but maybe you could try one of the SB cards with spdif out from dick-smiths?

Dont forget to disable the onbaord network interface too (just in windows/system/devce manager is enough) - I have a batch file that disables it prior to recording, then re-enables it afterwards - seemed like a reasonbale compromise I do have one other version of the driver to try (network card).

Cheers,

Bitey

[Frained]

I have an Asus P4P800-E Deluxe and from the first time I connected up my new Yamaha amp to the coax out from the mobo, I could hear the sound dropping out every minute or every 10 minutes etc. Didn't matter if it was DD5.1 passthrough or not, it was all the same.

I fought this with various driver installs from Realtek including one meant for the P4C800 but in the end I put my old Sound Blaster Live! CT4830 OEM in there and its run like a dream ever since.

[miagi]

I have an Asus P4P800-E Deluxe and from the first time I connected up my new Yamaha amp to the coax out from the mobo, I could hear the sound dropping out every minute or every 10 minutes etc. Didn't matter if it was DD5.1 passthrough or not, it was all the same.

I fought this with various driver installs from Realtek including one meant for the P4C800 but in the end I put my old Sound Blaster Live! CT4830 OEM in there and its run like a dream ever since.

You're the man!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just what I wanted to hear !!!!

Tell me, the 4830 does or doesnt pass the full digital 5.1 through to your amp when watching dvd's???????

Because thats all I really require the passthru for, the rest is fine in stereo.

Thanks again.

[Frained]

Tell me, the 4830 does or doesnt pass the full digital 5.1 through to your amp when watching dvd's???????

Because thats all I really require the passthru for, the rest is fine in stereo.

Yes it does, I use PowerDVD 7.0 or Zoomplayer, "Use SPDIF" has to be selected in the audio setup in those applications and the undecoded audio stream from the DVD is passed through to the amp for decoding. I know there was all sorts of bumpf on various forums about ac3 passthrough with the CT4830 back in 2002 or thereabouts.

The only tricky bit is the 'Digital Out" connector on the Sound Blaster, its a stereo DIN connector unlike the proper RCA coax connector on the mobo(I'll ignore toslink). Like all stero jack/plugs, it has a tip/ring/sleeve configuration. On my card its the tip that carries the signal and this should be connected to the coax central conductor while the ground or earth of the coax goes to the sleeve.

For achieving this I found a one metre 3.5mm stereo to twin RCA(phono) cable in my spare parts bin. One RCA connector is coloured red, it connects the tip on the SB on the 3.5mm plug end, thats the one that plugs into your coax, the other RCA connector is black or it can be white, it is not used....hope that helps.

[miagi]

Yes it does, I use PowerDVD 7.0 or Zoomplayer, "Use SPDIF" has to be selected in the audio setup in those applications and the undecoded audio stream from the DVD is passed through to the amp for decoding. I know there was all sorts of bumpf on various forums about ac3 passthrough with the CT4830 back in 2002 or thereabouts.

The only tricky bit is the 'Digital Out" connector on the Sound Blaster, its a stereo DIN connector unlike the proper RCA coax connector on the mobo(I'll ignore toslink). Like all stero jack/plugs, it has a tip/ring/sleeve configuration. On my card its the tip that carries the signal and this should be connected to the coax central conductor while the ground or earth of the coax goes to the sleeve.

For achieving this I found a one metre 3.5mm stereo to twin RCA(phono) cable in my spare parts bin. One RCA connector is coloured red, it connects the tip on the SB on the 3.5mm plug end, thats the one that plugs into your coax, the other RCA connector is black or it can be white, it is not used....hope that helps.

Great news will give this a try later tonight.

I earlier today bought a MONO 3.5mm to rca female adaptor, if this does not work then I have a STEREO to rca L and R adaptor which I will try.

Strange if it is a STEREO 3.5mm socket but I guess I will find out soon enough.

Thanks again I will report back later.

rob

[miagi]

Well Frained you are absolutely correct on the adapter issue.

A mono 3.5mm to RCA does not give me any passthru, but a STEREO 3.5mm to RCA gives me full passthru of DD DTS and stereo etc.

Great stuff, I would have given up after trying the MONO as STEREO din had not occured to me, Why would they have used a stereo and not logically a Mono??????

Thanks again

[miagi]

Great got the S/PDIF working from the Sound Blaster Live.

Tho my sync / stutter is still present, atleast it wasnt caused by my mobo's S/PDIF, anyhow back to the drawing board to figure out the stutter issue.

thanks all

rob

[Frained]

As I said before, I don't have problems with audio on the P4P800-E Deluxe using DNTV Live!, PowerDVD 7.0 and Zoomplayer 5 and using Sound Blaster audio.

When was the last time you did a re-format and OS install? I found in the past this can solve a lot of niggling problems. I would also get the latest chipset driver from Intel for the P4P800 to install after the OS install, I use the latest 8.0.1.1002. Are you using BIOS 1009 or did you revert to 1004 like Mr Bitey?

[miagi]

I am using 1009 bios

Disabled LAN in bios

Have recently installed OS and reformatted, always thought this was my problem and after recent reformat and OS install expected all to be good , but wasnt, so therefore the revival of this problem solving.

Sound origination is obviously not my problem as both seem to give me errors still.

Tried different audio and video decoders in DNTV setup including reclock and cpu high priority.

HD set top box and upscaling dvd player is starting to look good as alternative to my HTPC, or perhaps its time for a fresh new PC without to many of the old parts i use currently.

Looking for other parts being at fault now like hard disks, memory, voltage to cpu for eg issues, power supply, the list goes on.

Wondering if it could even be a reception issue, possible due to friges etc on unclean power circuit.....Buggered if I know, need to get some sleep and pick it up again another day.

Thanks.

rob

[rumpole1503559571]

Bad luck with not finding the answer. Maybe forget about it for a week.

Going back to the processor - hyperthreading (or dual core on later models) is a big boost to mpeg2 processing. Although you're running the cpu @ 3.1 I'm pretty sure the 2.6 doesn't do hyperthreading, maybe there's not enough of the right processing power.

[miagi]

Bad luck with not finding the answer. Maybe forget about it for a week.

Going back to the processor - hyperthreading (or dual core on later models) is a big boost to mpeg2 processing. Although you're running the cpu @ 3.1 I'm pretty sure the 2.6 doesn't do hyperthreading, maybe there's not enough of the right processing power.

P4 northwood core, 2.6c hyperthreading enabled, I just have it set for 20% overclock.

Played back some of my planet earth recordings from sunday night ABC HD, found some stutters in the recordings that must have been from either a broadcast glitch or my system ; more that likely stuttered and so recorded it.

cpu usage is only around 10-15% steadily when watching AND recording HDTV.

[colojim]

Miagi, are you recording to the same partition or disk drive that your operating system is on?

I use a separate Raid0 for capture and have no problems now. I have a similar motherboard to yours (P4P800 deluxe) and don't have the stutter problem even though I am still using the onboard sound.

When I capture analogue using a separate Windows installation and capture card I can be writing up to 25MB per second if capturing as avi and still I don't drop frames but if I use the same hard disk as the operating systems are on, I then get problems. Probably also because of the location of the pagefile.sys even though I have 1GB of RAM.

[miagi]

OS is on C Drive - 40gig seagate PATA

Capturing as MPG file to D Drive

Save location is 120 gig seagate PATA divided to D & E Partitions 55 gig each

Stutters happen also when just viewing and not recording.