Seeking Potplayer Expert

[ausrob]

Hello Potplayer Expert
I use Potplayer on a laptop that is connected via HDMI to my HDTV.
I play video that has AC3 Audio 6 channel.
I have just purchased a Creative External USB sound card (Sound Blaster X-Fi Surround 5.1 Pro)
Was hoping to send audio to my Receiver Amp via Optical using this sound card.
I have tried about a million different settings in Potplayer but just cannot get my Amp to reproduce 5.1 audio using this sound card (2 channel only).
I have tried suggested settings from Potplayer Forum but still no luck.
Does anyone out there know the settings in Potplayer I need to make this work ???
My thinking is the audio simply needs to be passed through Potplayer because it is already encoded 5.1
Maybe there is some setting in the sound card I need to change ???
All suggestions Appreciated Thanks

[usually_quiet]

Hello Potplayer Expert
I use Potplayer on a laptop that is connected via HDMI to my HDTV.
I play video that has AC3 Audio 6 channel.
I have just purchased a Creative External USB sound card (Sound Blaster X-Fi Surround 5.1 Pro)
Was hoping to send audio to my Receiver Amp via Optical using this sound card.
I have tried about a million different settings in Potplayer but just cannot get my Amp to reproduce 5.1 audio using this sound card (2 channel only).
I have tried suggested settings from Potplayer Forum but still no luck.
Does anyone out there know the settings in Potplayer I need to make this work ???
My thinking is the audio simply needs to be passed through Potplayer because it is already encoded 5.1
Maybe there is some setting in the sound card I need to change ???
All suggestions Appreciated Thanks

According to Wikipedia:

S/PDIF can carry two channels of uncompressed PCM audio or compressed 5.1/7.1 surround sound (such as DTS audio codec); it cannot support lossless formats (other than 2ch LPCM) such as Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio, that require greater bandwidth[2] like that available with HDMI or DisplayPort.

This means that if you want 5.1 audio to be transmitted to your audio receiver via Optical S/PDIF, it can't be lossless or LPCM. It has to be a lossy compressed digital format such as DTS or DolbyDigital, and this format has to be one that the receiver supports. Potplayer's audio section seems have support for bitstreaming via S/PDIF.

[ausrob]

Thanks for that info Usually-quiet
Not real terminology savvy so took some digesting but I think I get the drift.
The audio is recorded from HDTV (9HD or TENHD).
It is AC3 6 channel (Mediainfo) .
Am I right in figuring that this is compressed ?
My receiver does support this.
Any ideas how to bitstream from Potplayer?

[usually_quiet]

Thanks for that info Usually-quiet
Not real terminology savvy so took some digesting but I think I get the drift.
The audio is recorded from HDTV (9HD or TENHD).
It is AC3 6 channel (Mediainfo) .
Am I right in figuring that this is compressed ?
My receiver does support this.
Any ideas how to bitstream from Potplayer?

I'm bitstreaming 5.1 channel AC3 (yes, it is compressed) to my TV via HDMI, not to an audio receiver via S/PDIF, so I cannot test this, but I suggest the following.

1. Set PC audio output to sound card's S/PDIF connection, which should make it the default DirectSound device.
2. Potplayer Menu->Audio->S/PDIF Audio Renderer->Default DirectSound Device
3. (I almost forgot) You must choose the 5.1 channel audio track/stream: Potplayer Menu->Audio->Select Audio Stream

[Edit] I did forget about this thread: https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/368522-PotPlayer-SPDIF-AAC-AC3-DTS-PCM#post2358130

[ausrob]

Thanks again usually-quiet
Actually my other option is HDMI from laptop to HDMI audio extractor.
Then SPDIF out of extractor to Amp SPDIF input (no HDMI on Amp).
Any idea of Potplayer settings for that method ?
Probably may be better than sound card anyway.

[usually_quiet]

Turns out that I am not bitstreaming AC3 audio over HDMI with PotPlayer after all. Audio settings were for PCM, and PCM is the only audio that works.

When I tried the audio preference settings in the sheppaul's post in the link from my post above (which I thought I was already using) I had no audio. Maybe something was broken in an update or maybe I never had things set up correctly in the first place.

Somebody else may know more.

[ausrob]

Yes I know it is all very confusing sometimes.
I had actually seen them "sheppaul" settings and did try them in Potplayer (with the HDMI extractor method) and they did work initially.
Then I changed setting to PCM and still it worked.
Then closed everything (pc included) started again and then it didn't work.
changed some settings in "set built in audio decoder" then no audio at all (even changing back to previously working settings)
Could get no audio till l rebooted.
Reckon I will get rid of the external sound card and persist with the HDMI extractor at least I have had 5.1 with that.
Thinking some setting changes in Potplayer do not apply properly until a restart of pc.