2 replies to this topic

[Telordya]

I found another interesting method in Zoom Player to get 5.1 DTS and even AAC audio tracks contained in MKV files to play with Dolby Headphone technology in Cyberlink Audio Decoder.

Go in Smart Play and for AAC Audio and DTS in Container, choose ffdshow Audio Decoder as the first filter and CyberLink Audio Decoder as the second. In ffdshow Audio Decoder properties, go to Output option and select LPCM as Supported output sample formats. Be sure that Connect to: is to any filter. In this way, ffdshow will decode the audio source and inject all channels in raw PCM to any other audio filter. In CyberLink Audio Decoder properties, set Dolby Headphone as you want. For AC-3, I only chose the CyberLink Audio Decoder as filter, no ffdshow, and it works well. The versions I used are ffdshow tryouts revision 2020, Cyberlink PowerDVD 7.3 and Zoom Player 5.02.

There is however one annoying thing that I discovered with this setup. While I watch a movie with 5.1 DTS or AAC track, I can notice with my headphones that all the channels are mixed up. For example, I mostly hear vocals from my right ear instead to be in center. Maybe this is caused by the fact that ffdshow outputs the PCM channels in a certain order and the Dolby Headphone algorithm in Cyberlink Audio Decoder expects them in another order. I saw that there was an option in ffdshow Audio Decoder called Swap channels to correct this. But to find the right pattern, I used the Volume option and soloed each channels with a full 5.1 source. The pattern I get after experimenting is this one:

Front left -> front left
Front center -> front right
Front right -> front center
Side left -> side left
Side right -> side right
Back left -> LFE
Back center -> back right
Back right -> back left
LFE -> back center

I don't know if it could be the same for everyone but make the same experiment I made to see.

After all these tweaks, you can enjoy the great Dolby Headphone technology with 5.1 DTS, AAC and AC-3 contained in MKV files and even HD Quicktime trailers.

[slingshot]

I'd just like to add to this regarding PowerDVD 8.

This fantastic tip still works with version 8 but you have to use FFDShow for AC3 and DTS (rather than just DTS as may have been the case for version 7). Therefore the channel swapping needs to be in place for AC3.

To use with version 8, you need to select the following:

Cyberlink PowerDVD Audio Decoder (PVD8)

Note: Do not use the Cyberlink PowerDVD Audio Decode (PVD8).

This works fantastically well. I've spent a good 3 weeks attempting to find a solution to being able to use Dolby Headphone in ZoomPlayer for AC3 and DTS. This didn't work the first time I tried it until I reinstalled PowerDVD 8 and patched it to the latest level (though it may have been my previous install of Vista).
The sound quality through the Cyberlink codec is amazing..

The only downside to this is that TruTheaterXT doesn't seem to work - the back channels just aren't utilised no matter what (but seem to work in the PowerDVD player).

[kilobulb]

Thanks for this it was a great help in remapping the channels. Just to update if you have Powerdvd 12 this is an easy way to get it to work:

1) copy the directory "C:\Program Files (x86)\CyberLink\PowerDVD12\Common\AudioFilter" to another paths e.g. C:\AudioFilter. This allows you to not mess with your powerdvd config i.e. i use powerdvd for 3d blueray playback and usually use hdmi while doing so.

2) Then register the filter at the commandline using:

regsvr32 c:\AudioFilter\claud.ax

note you need to run this as an administrator to do this. Type cmd.exe into the windows start bar and either use ctrl+shift+enter to start or right click and select "Run as administrator". Change the path to be the one you have copied the filters to.
You should now be able to use the Cyberlink PowerDVD Audio Decoder (PDVD12). If you have copied the whole contents of the AudioFilter directory you should have access to all the filter options. As mentioned by slingshot you need to use ffdshow for dolby digital as well as dts decoding.