No Dialogue Playing 1080p h.264 on PC

[Rickter Spatz]

Hello- noob here. I'm guessing this is a common question. Using Media Player Classic to play 1080P HD h.264 MKV files on a PC output to an HD monitor connected via VGA. Seems to work well but for one problem: no dialogue. When audio is output to home theater (or monitor or PC speakers) what does come through, sound effects and music, sub woofer, sounds great. Obviously the dialogue is missing or very faint and some sound effects.

I assume this has to do with the movies audio being 5.1 or better and the PC being stereo only. I've used some codecs like FFdshow and the adjustments you can make within media player classic to no avail. Is it possible to dumb down the h.264 audio to stereo and listen to full, albeit non-5.1/surround sound? Only PC sound output is the earphones jack. Would consider upgrading sound card, building HT PC, or some other interface to Panny HD TV...but for now trying to make do with HD monitor.

[fritzi93]

Assuming you only have ffdshow on your computer, check the following:

Audio Decoder Configuration -> Mixer -> Output speakers Configuration -> 2/0/0-Stereo. LFE unchecked.

Put a check mark in the Mixer box before changing speaker output. If you like, you can also tick Normalize under Volume.

You can also scrutinize your settings in MPCHC. View -> Options -> Playback -> Output -> Audio Renderer. Choose default DirectSound device. And is the Audio Switcher (under Internal Filters) enabled? Normalize and Regain Volume checked?

If you have a codec pack and/or conflicting codecs (which you shouldn't), it may not be so easy as above.

[EDIT] And welcome to the forum.

[edDV]

The basic issue is your file is 5.1 with a center dialog track and your current settings output L and R from the 5.1 only without a dialog mix.

You need to set your L and R audio out to a 5.1 to 2 channel mix as suggested by fritz.

[Rickter Spatz]

Thanks for the quick responses. I've made the ffdshow settings as suggested: Mixer -> Output speakers Configuration -> 2/0/0-Stereo. LFE unchecked. Even tried 'expand stereo to center' and 'expand stereo to surround' with no luck. Have been exiting and re-opening MPC with each change in case that's necessary.

Within MPC I do have the Audio Switcher enabled -> normalize - >regain volume. I've played around with 'enable custom channel mapping' again with no luck bringing the dialogue/center channel in. I've played with windows 'sounds and audio devices properties' alternating between stereo and 5.1 surround. Nether seem to have any effect.

Perhaps I do have conflicting codecs as fritzi mentions. attempting screen shot here. After messing around with these one or two nights I did uninstall/re-install codec pack in hopes of re-setting any defaults. I've attached .doc w/screen shot of codecs. I'm sure I have yet to 'mix down' from 5.1 to stereo. Willing to try anything else...including replacing old laptop with something more appropriate for HT. Thanks again!

[IMG]file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/ADMINI%7E1/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot-2.png[/IMG][IMG]file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/ADMINI%7E1/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot-3.png[/IMG][IMG]file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/ADMINI%7E1/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot.png[/IMG][IMG]file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/ADMINI%7E1/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot-1.png[/IMG]

[jagabo]

Look to see what audio decoder is in use while you're playing the video. Right click on the player window while the video is playing and select Filters ->... select the audio decoder from there and configure it.

[Rickter Spatz]

Much appreciated all. Right clicked on video ->filters ->DTS Decoder ->changed AC3 Decoder Settings from 2 front 2 rear (or whichever it was) to Stereo, have Decoder to speakers checked and dynamic range control (although not sure I heard a difference on that one). DTS decoder settings also set to stereo in the pull down menu, also with decode to speakers checked, although dynamic range control is grayed out here. Checked AAC Decoder Settings Downmix to Stereo although not sure I heard a diff checking this either. Changing the first one, AC3 to stereo immediately solved the lack of dialogue/center channel issue. Best Regards