Hi I want to use DVD Fab to BU my dvds and be able to play the files on a Vista Computer that has the Vista Media Center in it. I am using NON HD disks (both the purchased movie dvds and blanks) so I am not doing actual HD formats.

I have tried to use the DVD Fab to back up my DVDS and they played fine when I used a media server from d link. I was able to play the BU movies and have surround sound play on them. However when I use the Vista computer to play them I do not get the surround sound from the files. I am able to get surround sound on the original DVD if I play it in the computer and use media center to play it. But not on the BU files from DVD fab,

Can someone help me? What settings should I use with DVD Fab to back up these files? And are there any settings I need to set up on the Vista media center to assure I get the surround sound on it? Thanks Ray

Hi ptdude
I have Vista Ultimate which is an upgrade from Vista Home Prem(upgrade was done because I was Owner/Adminisrator but could not make changes(Adminisrator account was disabled by HP in Home Prembut that is another story)

Anyway not sure what your sound system contains but on my Vista system I have "Creative Media Source 5", "Realtek High Definition Audio" and "Sound Blaster X-Fi" with "Logitech X-530 5.1 Speakers"( Outstanding setup by the way )
I have no problem hear the surrond sound on any backups I have done( As long as I choose the 5.1 audio file as the default audio source before doing the backup
Have you gone through the steps to configure your speakers in Windows Media Player and if you do by chance have the "Creative Media Source 5 on your system you will also have to configure your speakers using the THX contrrl Panel"

Yes I have set up the media center to use the surround sound. The surround sound works great on DVDs that I put in and play on media center. The problem is only with files ripped using DVD FAB. Ray

Not sure why you are having this problem with the sound on the backups, like I stated all of my backup sound great are you sure you are choosing the 5.1 autio files when you do the backups
and these backups that you are having this problem with where they done in full disc mode or main movie, if full disc try using main movie and choose the right autio file
mabe there is a glinch with full disc mode
I myself don't use full disc mode that much anyway

open one of the problem backup discs with DVDfab i.e. use the backup as source, & see what audio streams are displayed. That should help sort out whether the surround sound has been backed up or not.

IF they are not there, then its because you are using the wrong program settings ( full disc copy does preserve all of the audio options). If they are there, but not working, that's a puzzle for the program authors to investigage.

I'm not sure if full disc mode selects the 5.1 audio file as the defualt audio, one of the reasons I use main movie mode most of the time
Of course using full disc mode I guess you could select the 5.1 audio using the audio options on your DVD Player or in your media player

I don't think Full Disc changes any defaults for audio or subpic. I have only started using this again recently with the new "jump to" features.

Maybe how I am backing these up is the problem? I am selecting
Generic from the dvd to mobile menu. When I do this I see the audio and it is selecting the English 5.1 option. So am I doing this wrong? What is the best way to Back Up a DVD to play on Vista Media Center and have the best quality sound (surround) and picture? Thanks Ray

My back up files are avi formats and I do not know how to open them with DVD Fab . Can I open them with this if so how? Also is there another way to determine the sound format of the file to see what the format is in case I messed up when backing it up? Thanks Ray

Hi ptdude
If you want to play your backup with Windows Media Player like I do and keep the picture and sound qaulity great just use main movie, full disc.
I myself mostly just use main movie so I can make sure 5.1 audio is selected as default, guess I like to feel my bladder shake
and I saw where you said the problem backups are in avi format just try doing normal backups if you want to keep 5.1 sound in great shape

I use my RCA DRC285 i got from K-Mart will play anything on CD or DVD. All pc files will play with it. I don't have any .avi's with 5.1 on them though but if i do i am ready for them. It will even play USB thumb drives and USB HDD's.

The AVI files play quite fine on my Dlink dsm320 and play in surround sound. I want to use the Vista media center as the computer has HDMI outputs. My thinking is that the HDMI does not pass the surround sound signals when using the AVI format. I did back up a dvd using the main movie only selection and it worked fine. I have the surround sound and picture just fine. Thanks for the help.

It amazes me that the cheap dsm320 plays surround sound on these files but the high quality computer will not Ray

i think you are maybe kidding yourself & imagining the surround sound. but you can check this:

right click on one of your .avi files, select properties & then select summary & tell us what's in the audio summmary details.

also use this gspot.

troy

.

Hey ptdude hello again my friend
I to have Vista with the Realtek HDMI Output which is using the Realtek High Definition Audio controller(NOTE--> I did have trouble this system to work and I found that for some reason Vista had disabled it the only way I was able to get it up and running was to download the driver from HP support and re-installing it even though it was shown it add/remove programs and device manager was showing it working properly just did not seem to work until I re-installed it "I think when Vista disabled it ...it installed it own drive which just did jiv with the software" not sure on this all I know is what I did to get it right
I also have the SPDIF out which is using the Creative SB X-Fi controller, and like I said before my speaker system is the Logitech X-530 5.1 also using the creative SB X-Fi controller

BTW my rig is the HP D4890y

I have never delt with avi but I think I will do a few test and see what happens, I have noticed though that I have not been able to play any media files that are on the HDD using WMC just from DVD/CD anyway I will get back to you as soon as I can in this thread or by PM

Hey ptdude
I have converted 3 movies (Transformers, Xmen and Rise of the Silver Surfer) to avi with 5.1 audio and had no problem with the 5.1 system in WMC but I did not use DVDFab to do the converting though only because I have never sat down with that part of DVDFab because the program I do use is so easy pop in the dvd select AVI(DivX), and you have 4 modes to choose from 74min or 80min VCD, 74min or 80min ISO Data CD
Anyway since I didn't use DVDFab for the convert not sure if I can help if those other steps I told you to try does not work, did not want to leave you hanging