Downmixing Audio

[Topfox]

Have a AV Pro Edge MX-1616 that I am doing Audio Extraction from to a Triad AMSv2 16.  All works good until I try to share audio with a source that is doing audio at a higher level than 2 ch.  Is there a "cheap" device I can put in between the RCAs from the MX-1616 to the AMS that can downmix all the audio over those RCAs to 2 ch? 

This is from the MX-1616 docs.

NOTE: Extracted Audio Ports are PCM 2CH audio up to LPCM 6 CH, Dolby Digital 5.1 & DTS. No down-mix.

[tmj4]

Depends on a) how much you're willing to spend vs b) how "bad" you're willing to set your source device's audio to make it work. Devices that can downmix DD 5.1 or DTS 5.1 and lower can be had quite cheap -- usually around $50-60. If you want to downmix anything above that, including TrueHD [Atmos] DTS-HD MA [X] be prepared to pay as the licensing for that decoding is pricey and thus downmixing units for those are pricey -- as much as $1000. WyreStorm makes some great downmixers for around $270: https://www.wyrestorm.com/product/exp-con-h2-dd/

AV Pro Edge also has a downmixer, but it's far more expensive: https://avproedge.com/products/ac-avdm-auhd. The AV Pro Edge downmixing functionality also has more customization of how you want center channel audio to be presented and if you want it to be amplified more when placed into L/R channels

 

[Topfox]

Word. Yeah definitely wasn’t looking to go crazy. The main TV I wanted to be able to duplicate audio on has its own receiver, so I was able to do it with that one by just making the receiver a source in my rooms. 

Might not be worth it to try to get it going outside of this. 

[cnicholson]

If the multi-channel source you are sharing is being driven by an AVR with multi-zone capabilities, you might try feeding the matrix with the Zone2 output and let the AVR do the down mixing.  I've had mixed results here as some AVRs seem happy to downmix and others crap out when it comes to Atmos, in particular.

Edited December 9, 2023 by cnicholson

[Topfox]

2 hours ago, cnicholson said:

If the multi-channel source you are sharing is being driven by an AVR with multi-zone capabilities, you might try feeding the matrix with the Zone2 output and let the AVR do the down mixing.  I've had mixed results here as some AVRs seem happy to downmix and others crap out when it comes to Atmos, in particular.

yep thats what I ended up doing for the main room I was looking for this capability in.  For the other areas I have a lot of duplicate sources, ex I have 6 Nvidia Sheilds.  So I just dropped half of them down in their audio capabilities, and labeled them as such.  That way if I know there might be a chance where I want to share audio with the house speakers I know to just use one of those downgraded sources.  Its working so far.  Wish one of the audio convertors that are like 50-100 could downmix Atmos.

[cnicholson]

1 hour ago, Topfox said:

So I just dropped half of them down in their audio capabilities, and labeled them as such. 

Sounds like you've been at this for a while and already know, but using the Path Setter Driver can be helpful here as well.  I have spare inputs on my matrix so for some rooms I split the backhaul optical signal and route one as optical input to matrix and route the other through a DAC and in as RCA Analog, then use path driver to invalidate the analog source as a route to multi-channel zones.   The idea, in my case, is that if I want to share a 5.1 source in another room with an AVR, the matrix happily routes the digital signal, but if I want to join a two-channel room, its only valid path is via the analog route.  After some delay tweaking, it works fine, apart from Atmos.  Atmos is the gremlin that causes "no audio" problems, and I have not found a good general solution.  I guess this is by design by the Patent Licensing Gods....
 

Edited December 10, 2023 by cnicholson