Atmos MKV stutters on VLC media player

[LuvMyQuad]

I've never changed any advanced settings in VLC, for years now, to pass anything over HDMI. Nothing. NADA.

It will pass signal without Wasapi, it just won't pass Atmos metadata.

 

[mandrix]

It will pass signal without Wasapi, it just won't pass Atmos metadata.

Once again, I've never had to do anything to enable wasapi in VLC. Neither has anyone else I've heard about. That's what this is all about, right? Setting some advanced settings in VLC? Utter BS.
Atmos plays just fine in VLC without advanced finagling. Prove me wrong.

 

[steelydave]

PCs come in an infinite number of varieites and configurations, so what works flawlessly for you might not work for someone else, so it's wise to eliminate points of failure, like VLC possibly trying to use something other than WASAPI by default due to GOS's configuration being different than yours. Not sure why you're being so aggressive toward people trying to offer legitimate help (it's not my job to "prove you wrong") so I'm going to bow out here, enjoy revelling in your correctness.

 

[mandrix]

PCs come in an infinite number of varieites and configurations, so what works flawlessly for you might not work for someone else, so it's wise to eliminate points of failure, like VLC possibly trying to use something other than WASAPI by default due to GOS's configuration being different than yours. Not sure why you're being so aggressive toward people trying to offer legitimate help (it's not my job to "prove you wrong") so I'm going to bow out here, enjoy revelling in your correctness.

I'm just telling like I see it, in years of experience with VLC and and streaming via HDMI. If you have a solution for Gene, please do offer it up, and I will accept the outcome cheerfully and be happy for him.
You sound like your feelings were hurt. My apologies.

 

[minimumtumbleweed]

Never heard of it.

Worth a try. I use it all the time for video and just for listening to Atmos albums. It's like VLC but a bit more bleeding edge. It's very flexible with which codecs you want to have and use, but just downloading it from the link I shared is the simplest and will have all the functionality you need.

 

[LuvMyQuad]

Once again, I've never had to do anything to enable wasapi in VLC. Neither has anyone else I've heard about. That's what this is all about, right? Setting some advanced settings in VLC? Utter BS.
Atmos plays just fine in VLC without advanced finagling. Prove me wrong.

Yeah, I'm not proving anything. I don't even use VLC.

All I can say is that I've been doing PC audio for more than a few years now as well. Through that time I've only used Kodi. I've tried other media players, but always preferred Kodi. I can say with 100% certainty that Kodi will not properly pass through Atmos, DTS, or any other encoded format unless the Wasapi driver is enabled. Same for my son's system. Maybe your equipment and/or VLC doesn't require it. No problem. This was about helping Gene get his stuff right.

 

[GOS]

Also, guys. You need to realize I can be super dense when it comes to this stuff. In the end, I make changes like folks suggest and I really don't understand why I'm doing it. Sort of like making those changes in advanced settings. Who in hell would even know to go there? None of that seemed intuitive in the slightest to me...but again...mostly because I don't understand any of it. Sort of like turning on a light switch. Hey look, the light turned on. How did it do that? I dunno....the switch. lol

 

[onanboy65]

I used to use VLC for Atmos files via passthrough from my PC>hdmi>Onkyo and it worked most of the time. But of course I needed to hear Abbey Road. At the advice of HomerJAU I tried the same setup with Kodi and it worked with zero issues for both Beatles titles. I don't mean to threadcrap but I wanted to chime in with my experience.

HomerJAU's Post

 

[GOS]

Strangely, Atmos titles purchased and downloaded all play fine, so far. Rush, Signals plays fine (my rip). Kiss Destroyer plays fine (my rip). I'll try others today and see if any present issues. Maybe it's just the Beatles 2 titles. That would be odd.

 

[LuvMyQuad]

I used to use VLC for Atmos files via passthrough from my PC>hdmi>Onkyo and it worked most of the time. But of course I needed to hear Abbey Road. At the advice of HomerJAU I tried the same setup with Kodi and it worked with zero issues for both Beatles titles. I don't mean to threadcrap but I wanted to chime in with my experience.

HomerJAU's Post

I agree. There is some initial setup pain with Kodi, but Homer's "how to" makes it doable with little expertise needed. Plus he always seems to have a solution when something goes wrong. He's got a setup now that reliably runs Kodi off of a $50 firestick.

 

[GOS]

My last suggestion is to check the settings you previously made and be sure the Wasapi driver is enabled and there wasn't some save button you had to press to keep the setting.

It was enabled, and yes, there was a save button, which I pushed.

 

[GOS]

So, I have a lot of Atmos titles ripped and in the mkv format. The majority of them play fine in VLC. What is majority? 18 out of 22 play perfectly. The 4 that don't play fine have drop outs at the exact same spot, no matter how many times I reload them. I deleted the mkv files, re-ripped, exact same outcome. My physical discs play just fine, I checked them all.

How weird is this?

 

[GOS]

Have you tried using MPC-HC? I never use VLC anymore.

Holy Cow! I downloaded this MPC-HC media player, and right out of the gate, it's playing all my files perfectly. Even the 4 titles that have been giving me fits on VLC. Additionally, it is handling my Auro-3D ripped titles and activates Auro-3D on my AVR.

Mind blown.

 

[GOS]

Holy Cow! I downloaded this MPC-HC media player, and right out of the gate, it's playing all my files perfectly. Even the 4 titles that have been giving me fits on VLC. Additionally, it is handling my Auro-3D ripped titles and activates Auro-3D on my AVR.

Mind blown.

And, unlike Windows Media Player, this can skip to next song from a single MKV file.

 

[GOS]

It's amazing to me that a media player I've never heard of comes along.....I try it...check a few obvious boxes for audio formats and it works perfectly out of the gate. Really? Regardless, thanks everyone who has contributed to this thread and humored me as I often find these things very challenging. I doubt I'll ever know why VLC didn't like some of my files.

As long as this media player works, and works great...probably I'll just not worry about it.

 

[GOS]

Ok, here is the true test. I've had a few beers, let's go back to my theater room and see if this media player really works. lol

 

[SeeMoreDigital]

Holy Cow! I downloaded this MPC-HC media player, and right out of the gate, it's playing all my files perfectly. Even the 4 titles that have been giving me fits on VLC. Additionally, it is handling my Auro-3D ripped titles and activates Auro-3D on my AVR.

Mind blown.

Just so you know..... There's also a version of 'media player classic' called MPC-BE :}

 

[GOS]

Ok, here is the true test. I've had a few beers, let's go back to my theater room and see if this media player really works. lol

It did. lol

 

[Sal1950]

Strangely, Atmos titles purchased and downloaded all play fine, so far. Rush, Signals plays fine (my rip). Kiss Destroyer plays fine (my rip). I'll try others today and see if any present issues. Maybe it's just the Beatles 2 titles. That would be odd.

My guess is that the drop-outs are due to a buffer overrun, happens here on occasion.
Sadly I have no idea how you can fix it.
Glad you fixed it with this new media player.

 

[GOS]

Just so you know..... There's also a version of 'media player classic' called MPC-BE :}

Just for fun, I downloaded that version. For whatever reason, it didn't seem to handle my Auro-3D titles. It simply played them in normal 5.1 (no height speakers) and the MPC-HC version played them perfectly.