good S\PDIF fix for AC3, but buggy

[Burve]

New feature of S/PDIF pass through actually solves ac3 problem, however I did found one strange bug - all works fine (with initial few screechy sounds) if I start my video with AC3 that by default will have audio set to disable, then enable pass through and then switch to proper audio channel from Disabled (on that switch there will be screechy sound for few frames), whoever after I did that and open another file (with no VLC restart) sound is marked as disabled and pass through is marked as active, but there is no sound when I select proper audio channel. If I disable and then enable pass through sound start to work again.

Is this count as a bug and someone else have same issue or that might be related to my hardware (I have Yamaha RX-V477 connected to my Apple TV) and all is fine with actual software (so for someone else it works fine) ?

[fkuehne]

Ouch, I need to debug this. This is a bug in the UI.

Thanks for reporting!

[Burve]

Any chance for AC3 it sticks to settings set up once (enabled S/PDIF + proper audio source instead of Disabled) or you required to have Disabled for ac3 ?

[MiLeX]

Hey,

good that this is reported, just came here to do just that.
With that I would also add a suggestion, how about sound settings to choose S\PDIF pass through by default, so I don't habe to change to is for every video myself.
The current workaround, choosing enable (because it is disabled with every new video) and tick S\PDIF pass through off and on again is very annoying.

I guess the issue is that VLC won't chose AC3 codes by default, and if there is no simple stereo audio track I am stuck with disabled by default. I hope this can be fixed somehow.

In general I would like to see a few more sound setting toggles, so I can choose how my sound is handled by default.

[fkuehne]

Hey there,

a fix for the S/PDIF setting as well as updated codecs will be in the next update.

Enjoy!

[feka87]

Hi,

I have the similar problem.

I connected my Apple TV to my LG with HDMI cable, and my TV connected to my Bose system with optical cable.
I tried to play a movie from my nas. The sound (AC3 or DD5.1) works fine, but only stereo. When I choose 'Use Pass-trough (S/PDIF)' option no sound just cracky screechy noise both on my TV and sound system. Same noise when is try to play a non-AC3/DD5.1(stereo only) movie.

I tried the disable-pass trough-enable method, but don't working here.

My Apple TV works fine with Plex, Netflix. The 5.1 sound comes trough from my TV to the sound system.

Anyone has any idea how to solve this?

Many thanks

[tec]

I have a problem similar to feka87 I think.

I bought an Apple TV 4 during the summer of 2016 and the VLC app worked great for me for a long time.
I use it to play files (usually handbrake-encoded mkv and mp4) using the remote playback feature with S/PDIF passthrough to my receiver.

Sometime early this year (maybe Jan or Feb I think) I noticed that switching the audio track to "Surround" while using the remote playback feature resulted in the playback of "choppy static"
that sounds like someone is flapping their lips while exhaling.

I have witnessed this behavior now regardless of file type (even files that worked previously) and audio format (Dolby Digital 5.1, DTS).
Compressed / re-encoded audio tracks in AAC format within the same files playback fine.

A few other details regarding my setup:
Apple TV generation 4 (A1625)
VLC version 1.0.7
HDMI connection to Pioneer receiver (itself outputting to Samsung TV via HDMI)
The Apple TV device seems to be capable of sending Dolby Digital 5.1 signals properly from other sources (movie rentals, Netflix, HBO Now, etc.)
My receiver plays multichannel audio no problem from the same exact files from my blu-ray player.
I removed / reinstalled the VLC application (no change in behavior).

Since the Apple TV hardware seems to work in other capacities (playing / passing multichannel audio from other apps), and my files are playable by other devices, I'm left to believe that something is wrong with the VLC app.
Strange that this behavior started "all of a sudden". I can't find a reliable version history for the VLC for TV app, but I wonder if updates were made around the time I started experiencing problems (beginning Jan-Mar 2017 sometime).