ASUS Xonar HDAV1.3 Slim setup for Blu-ray playback on your HTPC

[el-ricardo]

Ok guys, I've finally found some time to do the rebuild as promised with Windows 7 Ultimate x64 RTM and I'm very happy with the results, it's been a hell of a lot more stable than my machine with Vista. Some of the comments will be similar to the thread I started in the Vista area but they are common, bear in mind this build I have done is specifically for the Slim version of the Xonar but is similar so there shouldn't be too many differences. If you have a question don't hesitate to ask, I will do my best to help out as best I can.

I've built the OS with no tuner's or sound card installed as a minimum and then update everything to the latest revision and then take an image before I install the tuners and then the sound card, generally I have found this gives me the best results for building HTPC's.

The Xonar HDAV1.3 Slim is a PCI card, I'm using an Intel DX58SO motherboard that just happens to have a single PCI card so this works well for me. Installing this card is so much more simpler than the normal and deluxe HDAV1.3 (PCI-E varieties) as it doesn't require any external power and is a low profile card for those strapped for space. Once the card is installed I boot the machine up and then run setup.exe from the 8.17.75 (when installed displays 7.12.7.1775) uncompressed RAR downloaded directly from Asus, I have found that navigating directly to the FTP area will always have you getting the later version sooner than utilising their menu system via the web. I've listed both directories below, one for the slim and the other for the normal and deluxe PCI-E cards

HDAV1.3 Slim
ftp://ftp.asus.com.tw/pub/ASUS/Audio..._HDAV1.3_Slim/

HDAV1.3 Normal and Deluxe
ftp://ftp.asus.com.tw/pub/ASUS/Audio...Xonar_HDAV1.3/

Once the drivers are installed it will want you to reboot your machine, I will remind you if you haven't already that you will need to ensure that you are using a native HD resolution so when you move your HDMI output from your video card to go via the slim to your receiver that it will pass appropriately (480, 720 and 1080). I use a Sapphire Tech 4550 using the native HDMI output to the input of the slim and then the output of the slim to the input in my Denon receiver with no issues.

When your machine is powered back on you will notice the Xonar HDAV Center icon in the taskbar, please click on this. The up arrow near the bottom right please press, this will show you more of the control panel, then click on the HDMI plug icon and then set the amount of channels to what you are running in your system, if you have a 7.1 system please select 8 channels. You have the ability to adjust the sample rate to that which your AVR can handle, if it can handle 192KHz then set it to that, do not set it to anything higher than what your unit is capable. You can now close the Xonar HDAV Center. Right-click on the audio speaker in the taskbar and select playback devices, please ensure S/PDIF Passthrough Device is set as your default device, then you can select properties and again select supported formated and sample rates that your AVR can handle.

Asus now provide TMT3 (3.0.1.139) with the card and is also available for download, please realise this is a cut down version of the retail edition (3.0.1.160) which does NOT include media center integration, if this is crucial for you I suggest you upgrade your copy to a retail version, ArcSoft can assist with that, personally I use the retail edition for the integration.

You can install the Asus edition of TMT3 and if you do so ensure that HDMI is selected in the audio properties, you can do this by starting up TMT3, right-click on the background of the product and select Settings, then select Audio and the Output Mode is a drop down list of which HDMI is an option. If you have the retail version then please select HDMI Pass-through and click ok.

Now with a blu-ray player and disc you should have everything up and running, it's not too difficult as long as you follow the steps.

Any questions, don't hesitate to ask and mods can this please be a sticky?

[el-ricardo]

Right, the plot thickens with the wonderful Asus predictable support.

There is a new version of the drivers that are the "current" version for the Slim but they have been repackaged into a single setup.exe (ftp://ftp.asus.com.tw/pub/asus/Audio..._12_8_1775.zip) these also do a firmware upgrade on the card itself that updates it's "engine" to firmware v1.11HD.

[el-ricardo]

I can confirm that I have applied this to my system running Windows 7 Ultimate x64 and had absoulutely no issues, working the same as before, running the same version driver and has applied the firmware update to my Slim.

[jdmagoo]

Do we know what the firmware update does? I mean im the kinda guy who doesnt wont to fix something that isnt broken, but if there are legit reasons for the update then im all for it

- thanks for the info

[el-ricardo]

Don't blame you mate. I've searched high and low and can't find a thing about the firmware update, this isn't surprising from Asus, even on avs no one seems to have a clue. If anything get's documented I'll post it up.

[Sniperoz76]

Hey Guys

I am having a problem with certain Blu Rays with Bit streaming, I have to set the Audio Playback device to Asus Speakers to get the odd few disks with the problem to work. This then works for all the Blu Ray disks however when I go back into MCE I only get 2 channel audio on live TV and DVDs. I then have to rerun the MCE audio setup wizard and its all back to normal in MCE but then I have the issue with a handful of Blu Rays that wont bitstream. Any one else have this issue or a fix?

Cheers
Sniperoz

[el-ricardo]

Can you give me a little more information about your setup? I'm assuming you're using a normal Xonar and not the Slim since you are using Speakers as the output? Using the latest drivers off the website? Are you using the Asus TMT3 or retail?

[Goon_Squad]

Well I've been there, tried that with Vista and since given up. Jumped over to the Win 7 bandwagon, which has been much more impressive straight out of the box. But it's been a struggle getting there.

Thought I'd share my final setup with everyone in case someone else runs into the same issues I've had. The lack of stability with this card has forced me into this arrangement which is less than ideal, but at least gives me the ability to bitstream on the odd occasion when I'm playing a bluray, with some all important stability!

So my final arrangement involves the following:

1. Optical SPDIF from onboard sound for normal usage, with HDAV not used
2. HDMI cabling routed via the HDAV (despite it not being used)
3. For Bluray playback, I set the HDAV as default device and adjust video framerate to 24hz
4. Swap back to optical with video at 50hz once the bluray is over

The main reason for doing this is that I have had ZERO success with getting this card to operate stably under win 7. It has been a little better since the driver/firmware update, but i was still getting a BSOD/crash between 5 and 30mins after starting media centre. Note this seemed to only happen while using MC but was a severe crash with auto reset, no fun and definitely no WAF. Also I don't need to do any physical unplugging/swapping of HDMI cables.

Under my current arrangement, I've been reasonably successful with swapping output to the HDAV just for those moments when HD audio is called for. Windows 7 and MC are (so far) reliable as long as the audio is set to run via the optical. I have had one bluray crash mid-movie but haven't done an enormous amount of testing, so far so good anyway.

I might change to running the HDAV for sound full-time if the drivers end up being vaguely reliable, my guess is that the combined ATI bitstreaming cards will be sorted by that stage anyway...

[garyes]

Thanks for the setup info. My sound works perfectly if I play from the desktop
When I run TMT3 thru 7MC I donot get TrueHD and I can only get playback from the DVD/Bluray drive only. Is there a way to access files on the HDD and to get get TrueHD from 7MC or is the only way my running TMT3 from thedesktop? Thanks

[el-ricardo]

Sorry to hear of your drama's Goon_Squad, horrible when things don't work the way they should. I had some annoying BSOD when I was running Vista but there didn't seem to be a trend for it, since moving to W7 it's been 100% reliable and hasn't missed a beat (touch wood). Have you used the latest 75 driver that contains the firmware upgrade for the Slim? There has been a few reports that this has stablised not only HDMI handshaking but other issues for some users. I don't use 24, I tried it, didn't notice any difference than running 60 (apparently some people notice the frames being inserted) so just left it.

Garyes, the TMT3 plugin actually has a setup which is independent from the normal one you start on your desktop (don't ask me why they did this, seems silly to me), if you check the setup (after selecting the TMT3 plugin in 7MC click i on your remote, or right-click on the background and then select setup, click on audio and check what the audio output is set to). Then ensure you are outputing via HDMI (Asus TMT3) or HDMI passthrough (retail TMT3), same as what your desktop version is doing. This will ensure you get bitstreaming output like you do out of TMT3 out of 7MC.

If you are ripping your BD's to ISO's with AnyDVD HD and mount with Virtual Clone Drive like I do then I use MyMovies3 (www.mymovies.dk) and find it fantastic. Easy to use and I've now ripped my entire collection down to the hard drive and it's now a simple point and click from within the 7MC interface. It has a visual interface similar to 7MC which is integrated as a plug-in, displays cover art, has movie details, etc and was definitely a worthwhile effort.

[el-ricardo]

Sorry Goon_Squard, just noticed you said you performed the firmware update (I do have ADHD so that's my excuse, lol). Would be interested in the hardware you are using, motherboard, video card, tuner's, etc. I'm assuming since you built the machine fresh you built it with minimum hardware installed (ie without the tuner's and sound card)? Your video card is it using a DVI to HDMI adapter or native HDMI?

[WYSIWUG]

First of all thanks Ricardo for posting this quick guide on the Xonar HDAV1.3 Slim. I am planning on purchasing this card and would really appreciate some more advice. Just for a quick run down I am running Windows 7 32bit on a Asus M3N78-VM motherboard and have a retail copy of TMT3 with the MC plugin. My HTPC is connected via HDMI to a Harman Kardon AVR2600 receiver which in turn is connected to my 120HZ display. I am currently using the Nvidia HDMI audio drivers, so both picture and audio is going over HDMI.

The problem I am having is one that I believe is an HDMI handshake, for example if I try and watch a regular DVD (streamed via MyMovies) 80% of the times the AMP will detect the proper audio source DTS or Dolby Digital, once the movie is over or stopped the AMP turns back to 2 channel stereo when it detects the Windows 7 system sounds or when listening to MP3 which again is fine. However if I try to go back to watching a movie it will remain in 2 channel stereo, the HTPC will not send the correct audio information to the receiver. My only way round this is to close MCE and restart the AMP and re-negotiate the handshake.

I am looking at buying this card as a possible solution to this problem and apart from the fact that it will be able to stream true HD audio content which although my onboard soundcard supports 24bit 192Kz audio it is not capable of DTS-HD or Dolby-HD passthrough (which is part of my question below).

Now here are my questions:

1) Do you guys believe this card could potential resolve the Audio handshake problem I'm having?
2) Do I really need this sound card? if I am doing HDMI passthrough why would I need a card that decodes DTS-HD or Dolby-HD if my receiver can decode those audio streams, I don't want any sound processing to be taking place on my HTPC as I'm sure my AVR can do a better job of it.
3) After installing and setting up this card how should I configure the "Speaker Setup" inside MC, I currently have it set as 2 channel speakers even though I have a 5.1 setup, I don't want Windows MC trying to do any audio processing and just do passthrough.

Thanks for all your help in advance.