Does anyone have experience with HDMI audio only passing 1 channel ?

[Tunnah]

I wasn't sure if to post this on a subforum, so if I broke a rule, my bad.

ANYWAY: my normal setup is video through HDMI to TV, and audio goes from 3.5mm to an amp to speakers.

However, as more and more 4K/HDR content is being released, and windows' absolutely abysmal ability to display it, I've found myself using Chromecast more and more. The problem with this is, when you have audio through speakers day to day, it coming out of TV speakers sounds like a cat fart.

So I decided to move the lead from the PC to the headphone jack of the TV. I noticed that only 1 side was playing. Thinking it was the lead, I removed it, and played through TV speakers. Same again. I confirmed this by using test - only the left side played a sound.

Now a few weird things to note; when playing something, and editing the TV's balance, the TV detects it as a "complete" source - moving left or right does the appropriate shift. So the TV is detecting it as a 2 channel sound.

But no matter what I do, I can't get the PC to send anything other than the left channel.

Does anyone have any idea what the hell is going on ?!

EDIT: Ack I wasn't clear on my reasoning. I need to resolve this because I want to move my sound from PC > Amp to PC > TV > Amp, for the occasions where I use chromecast. But 99% of my time is spent on desktop, and I'd only have left side audio because of the issue I am asking about

EDIT2: It seems it's a surround sound thing. If I change my supposed setup to 5.1, sound is fine. Would still like an answer if someone can help me, as piping 5.1 through 2 channels will have drawback when it comes to games and films

[DanceswithUnix]

Sounds like a driver/settings problem. AIUI HDMI sends an audio bitstream encoding however many channels it wants to, so the HDMI connector/interface should be either a case of it does audio or it doesn't. If the PC is only sending left channel, I suspect that is what it wants to do.

[shaithis]

It sounds to me like it's either the chromecasts audio settings or a setting within the video player (or try another video player)

[Tunnah]

Sounds like a driver/settings problem. AIUI HDMI sends an audio bitstream encoding however many channels it wants to, so the HDMI connector/interface should be either a case of it does audio or it doesn't. If the PC is only sending left channel, I suspect that is what it wants to do.

It seems that HDMI is sending 5.1 audio, and there is no way to make it change its mind ha. I switched to 5.1 settings, and my TV does a beepapboop for all channels. I can't for the life of me find out how to switch it so HDMI only sends 2 channels, but it's not too big of a deal, the only issue really will be with my media player as I have it setup and mapped for 5.1 > 2 channel, so it'll be interesting to see how it handles 5.1 > 2 > 5.1 > 2!

It sounds to me like it's either the chromecasts audio settings or a setting within the video player (or try another video player)

It seems you misread my post ? Or I wasn't clear. Probably me not being clear, I'm a bit thick ha. Chromecast is fine, cast stuff works a treat. It's definitely the system. It is sending 5.1 audio through HDMI, so when I set the speaker setup as 2 channel in windows audio, it doesn't like it. Setting it to 5.1 fixed it - the TV "converts" the 5.1 into 2 channels.

I think I'm going to revert anyway, as last night I ran into the biggest roadblock: when I'm in bed I put stuff on to fall asleep to, so I tend to turn the telly off. Before that was fine as audio went from PC > amp. But now turning the TV off kills the audio.

I think my amp has a second input (it's incredibly old, it's like 30-40 years old, but it's a power house) so I'm just gonna setup a second input so I can have PC > amp for day to day and TV > amp for when chromecasting

[DanceswithUnix]

I think my amp has a second input (it's incredibly old, it's like 30-40 years old, but it's a power house) so I'm just gonna setup a second input so I can have PC > amp for day to day and TV > amp for when chromecasting

I briefly wired an old 1980's 30W/channel amplifier to the PC, but then noticed the power meter (a recent purchase at the time so enthusiastically measuring everything ) went nuts. Between the power consumed by the output stage bias current and the mains to DC conversion and smoothing poor efficiency that old amplifier even idle was drawing almost as much power as the PC. Something to bear in mind, old amps keep the room warm if you don't mind the electricity bill. You might not want to leave it on all night, a DAB bedside radio could be cheaper long term.

[Tunnah]

I briefly wired an old 1980's 30W/channel amplifier to the PC, but then noticed the power meter (a recent purchase at the time so enthusiastically measuring everything ) went nuts. Between the power consumed by the output stage bias current and the mains to DC conversion and smoothing poor efficiency that old amplifier even idle was drawing almost as much power as the PC. Something to bear in mind, old amps keep the room warm if you don't mind the electricity bill. You might not want to leave it on all night, a DAB bedside radio could be cheaper long term.

I know like..6 of those words.

Jokes aside, it's not a hungry amp, and pretty damn good! I have it powering a pair of Wharfedale Zaldek S1000s, they are absolute monster speakers, I adore the sound that comes out of them. My Dad has an identical pair he powers using a modern Sony amp..and honestly, they don't sound near as good as mine.

As for heat, it doesn't get hot. It's on top of some L-arms above my desk, and even when belting out the tunes it barely gets warm. Regarding power consumption, I've got a smart meter, and the amp doesn't make any discernible difference in usage. I might look into a more precise device to check it out though just in case.

EDIT: Oh also it's been turned on continuously for...wow, 10 years, at least. It was my Dad's, then my brother had it for a few years, then when he moved out it went back to him, and I got it to power these speakers. Was supposed to be temp but I love it so much.

EDIT2: This is the amp. https://www.hifiengine.com/manual_li...neer/a-5.shtml It's always fascinated me how this 30w amp can make these speakers make a frankly disgusting amount of noise, when my Dad's 100+w/channel amp does so poorly. I know it's not just about the watts..but you wouldn't believe how loud I can get these without any sort of trouble. I've had em so loud it was uncomfortable to be within 10ft of em, and not an issue. Nowadays they're very rarely used properly, and never silly-loud. But for movies, you just can't beat the range and punch. It's like I've got a sub

[scaryjim]

... old amps keep the room warm if you don't mind the electricity bill. ...

I suspect even newish ones can - my lovely 10W powered Yamaha monitor can happily draw 30W from the mains. One day (if I'm feeling masochistic) I might plug my old-but-lovely Fender powered mixer into my watt meter and see how horrific that is....

[peterb]

I suspect even newish ones can - my lovely 10W powered Yamaha monitor can happily draw 30W from the mains. One day (if I'm feeling masochistic) I might plug my old-but-lovely Fender powered mixer into my watt meter and see how horrific that is....

If that is 30 watts in, ultimately it is thirty watts of heat out.

[scaryjim]

If that is 30 watts in, ultimately it is thirty watts of heat out.

Yup, that was my point. That's a relatively new, relatively high end (prosumer, at least) powered speaker that is rated to pull 3x its output at the wall. In fact, poking around the specs for a few power amps that doesn't seem to be out of the ordinary, which means your consumer 100W stereo power amp could realistically be pulling up to 300W...

[peterb]

Yup, that was my point. That's a relatively new, relatively high end (prosumer, at least) powered speaker that is rated to pull 3x its output at the wall. In fact, poking around the specs for a few power amps that doesn't seem to be out of the ordinary, which means your consumer 100W stereo power amp could realistically be pulling up to 300W...

Yes, but my point was that is true for any amp - the power in ultimately ends up as heat. Its one of the reasons why this derive for lower power devices is somewhat flawed in the UK where temperatures (particularly in winter) are low. That 'waste' energy still goes to heating the home, making up for heat lost through inadequate insulation.

The situation is slightly different in summer when you may not want any additional heating at all of course.

But this is in danger of taking the thread way off topic!

[Xlucine]

I wonder how much acoustic power it would take to reach the limit of instant hearing damage in a typically sized room?

[DanceswithUnix]

Yes, but my point was that is true for any amp - the power in ultimately ends up as heat.

My point was it is easy to lose track of the quantities. We are used to reading about 300W graphics cards driven by 750W power supplies and the reality is that in general use the power requirements are like 60W at the wall for general surfing and watching a youtube video. Amps work the other way around, my headline figure 30W per channel amplifier draws that sort of power all the time. I get the maths as to why, but sometimes you sort of forget

I wonder how much acoustic power it would take to reach the limit of instant hearing damage in a typically sized room?

Not much. A few watts is very loud with efficient speakers, but distance from speakers is key.