AC3 question

[htpc newb]

Hey, everyone here, just wanted to thank all of you, especially shark, for your help. I have googled and found many answers from you before i registered today.

My issue- I had tried installing ffdshow and lav and doing everything manually to get all my files to play, but didn't have much luck so i tried shark's codecs. Loved the control and ability to choose everything simply. But after install, live tv on my WMC didn't work. It said I didn't have codecs. I selected all mpeg video to be windows codec, then disabled ac3 in ffdshow so it would default to windows. I had disabled lav audio also, just to keep things simple for me. Then I see the ac3 filter checkbox, and uncheck it, so now ac3filter handles my live tv audio.

I had done ffdshow for it at first, both codec selections, and the sound was fine, but MUCH quieter than when i was using the Windows codec (before i had installed any codec packs). When I switched to ac3filter, the volume was back, the balance was good, and i liked having control over the mixing of 5.1 to stereo (as you may guess from my username, I have a basic setup, i use just analog out, stereo setup, no surround. The problem is that whenever a stereo source is on, whether it is a random commercial or an older show, even noticed it on a golf broadcast on nbc, it is WAY quieter than the 5.1 audio. Quiet commercials aren't a big deal, but when watching a stereo show, a 5.1 commercial blows me away, or changing the channel to a 5.1 show does the same. I clicked normalization on the ac3 filter panel, but it made everything quiet. I'm no audiophile, but I want a good initial volume to my receiver because my cheapo equipment will magnify the noise of course.

Sorry for the long post, I just wanted to detail all I have tried and the results. I would love to either simply go back to the microsoft codec for ac3/live tv, which worked perfectly before with good even levels, or get advice on why stereo sources are so quiet and how I can fix that.
I went into the registry and I see the microsoft codec, no.bak after the dll, so I don't know why it wouldn't use it when everything else is disabled for ac3?
I tried disabling the windows audio and video in shark, then undoing that to see if that resets it. I think it is something that happened pre-shark, because I had shark before and never had this issue, then did a new windows install to get a clean machine and decided to install components myself instead of this pack. My experiences and lack of experience led me back to shark's pack, where the options are there to click. Is all live TV in ac3? I don't see ffdshow popping up when it is a stereo source or anything, it all seems to come through ac3filter, which I have ONLY handling ac3 audio.
Oh, and I have restarted many times after disabling other ac3 codecs, I have restarted after selecting enable on the microsoft codec in the list of codecs I can get from shark. Maybe the priority there is an issue, I don't know how that works.

Thanks for your help.

[Shark007]

(07-07-2012 08:47 PM)htpc newb Wrote:  Sorry for the long post,

accepted.

Install version 370 - and run the Settings Application once as an Administrator.
Choose to use the [x] SUGGESTED settings
Test playback
In version 370 the LAV audio decoder downmixes to stereo.

[htpc newb]

I have 370, and ran it as administrator with your settings. I just tried lav for ac3, same issue as using ac3filter. The volume on a stereo source was much quieter than a 5.1

on ac3filter, when I look at the mxing meters, i can see that it is a lower signal when it is stereo, Maybe the windows codec boosted stereo?

I need to see if i can just go back to the Windows DTV codec for ac3, but disabling ffdshow, lav, and ac3 just gives me an error saying there is no codec, like the windows one is just being ignored.

[Shark007]

On thr Audio TAB, click the button to [setup LAV audio]
at the top, selecting the Mixing TAB
check the Normalize box
test again

[htpc newb]

I tried that, it made everything quieter, stereo sources still quieter than the 5.1
Do you know of any reason why my pc wouldn't pick up the microsoft codec for ac3 when every other one is disabled? Whether that codec mixed it or the hardware did, it worked perfectly, and I'd love to just use that for live again.

Thanks

[Shark007]

(07-07-2012 10:24 PM)htpc newb Wrote:  Do you know of any reason why my pc wouldn't pick up the microsoft codec for ac3

check the System32 directory for msmpeg2adec.dll
thats the microsoft decoder

EDIT: If you ran a registry cleaner while the Microsoft decoder was disabled, you will have caused permanent registry damage.

[htpc newb]

I have that file, but something may have happened when I uninstalled ffdshow earlier. I was using their tool to pic codecs, i forget what it is called, and it may have done something. When you say permanent, you mean absolutely no way of fixing that .dll file or my registry to make windows recognize it?

[Shark007]

win7dsfiltertweaker does exactly what my software does when disabling the microsoft audio decoder...
It renames the file by adding .bak to the filename

use of a registry cleaner while this file is renamed would most likely wipeout registry entries important to windows using this file. so, if you're a registry cleaner user I would suggest a repair install of Windows, or, a clean install of windows and stop using registry cleaners.

[htpc newb]

I believe it was this uninstaller program I used that is supposed to keep your registry clean when uninstalling. It must have deleted the registry entry.

I fixed the issue though, thanks for pointing me to the proper .dll file. A google search turned up a registry fix

1. Click on start button, type cmd and in the search result right-click on cmd and select Run as adminstrator.
2. In th command prompt type cd c:\windows\system32 and press enter.
3. Type the following commands one at a time and press enter.
regsvr32 msmpeg2vdec.dll
regsvr32 msmpeg2adec.dll
regsvr32 msmpeg2enc.dll

You should get a "succeeded" type popup message for each regsvr32 line.

After I did this, I had the windows codec playing ac3 for me again, with the proper sound balance. For my basic setup it seems to mix the channels best.

I thank you again for your help with this issue, and for your awesome codec pack. I really delved into understanding how it all works and it has made my file play smoother and better than ever before.

[Shark007]

good to hear.

btw, had you used the installer provided with my software, you would not have had these problems.