MCE volume control - MCE remote or hi-fi remote

FrankGrimes

I have audio from my Vista Ultimate MCE machine running to an AV Receiver. Sometimes the volume on the MCE remote works (I see the volume going up or down 1-50 and hear a corresponding change in volume), sometimes it doesnt (either nothing happens or I see the level change in MCE but no change in hi-fi).

What's the best approach to take here? With connecting MP3 players to speakers, I'd normally let the MP3 player output max volume and the adjust the speakers accordingly as I reckoned this would save speaker batteries. I reckoned that would be the better approach, particularly since my speakers hum when they idle above a certain volume level.

I'm aware the MCE remote can be set to control the AV Receiver volume, but am just interested in seeing what most peoples' setup is and has anyone similar experience of the volume control in MCE working and then not working?

Daith

Are you using SPDIF passthrough to your AV receiver? If the receiver is doing the decoding as opposed to the PC, then the MCE remote isn't going to work (I think).

I have a similar setup to yourself but just use my Harmony remote to control everything.

FrankGrimes

Yep, am using SPDIF passthrough (should've pointed that out). I didn't expect to be able to control volume via MCE due to using SPDIF, but sometimes I can, sometimes I can't, which is what surprises me.

I'm using a Microsoft Wireless Entertainmet Desktop 8000 at the moment and sometimes the volume buttons on that do control the MCE volume. I can probably program it (not sure if I can with this model) to control the AV Receiver volume, but prefer controlling via MCE if possible.

subway

depending on what your passing via spdif you may or may not be able to change the volume.
generally anything in standard stereo will be decoded on the pc,
so mp3's, tv some video files etc.
dts or dolby digital and some pcm audio will be passed to the decoder.

check your codec - ffdshow or ac3filter and see what is set for passthrough

FrankGrimes

Thanks Subway,

Should I be setting it to passthrough everything or nothing to get the best sound? If I pass through everything I'll then try setup so that my keyboard volume buttons control the AV receiver volume.

subway

i pass through the stuff that the amp will make the most difference on - ie dolby or dts.
everything else i let the pc do.

i guess its a personal choice, youll find that the amp can only decode pcm/dts/dd anyway.
a lot of stuff will have to be done by the pc - mp3 and tv audio for example

FrankGrimes

Ah, I get it now and I think my setup does passthrough only the dolby/dts stuff.

So it looks like I'll have to stick with a combination of some things being decoded by the pc others being decoded by the amp - is that the standard setup, and does this mean I'll have to either use amp remote and MCE remote in tandem, or get an all-in-one remote?

subway

thats right, its 2 remotes or an AIO, unless you deciede to use windows to decode everything.

basically, there are software decoders for every audio type, while your amp will only decode what the hardware is programmed to decode.