Hopefully this is little different to the usual "I can't get ac3" question...

I have a Showcenter 1000, from 2004  :),  have paid for the ac3 downmix when I bought it, and changed the SC settings to allow ac3 over the analogue connection to my TV.

However, I now have a Sony DAV DX520 that has an optical in, and have connected this to the SC optical out and want to listen to the full 5.1 ac sound in my ripped vob files - they are definitely ac3 source, and not the 2 channel audio option from the original DVDs.

I am finding that if I set my Sony to just accept and "pass through" the source sound from the SC it is only coming out of the left and right front speakers - as though the SC isn't passing the whole 5.1 through. I haven't changed any settings on the SC, so the downmix on the analogue out is still there.

I understand how ac3 is not applied to the analgue outs, and only to the optical out, when you don't have a downmix licecce, but I am not too sure of how it works when you do have a licence applied.

My questions really then are:

1) Does the licence downmix ac3 to 2 channel on both analogue *and* optical outs if both outputs are chosen as outputs (an option I think if I remember correctly)? Is it supposed to keep the optical out always on "pass through" ac3 5.1, even if it downmixes on the analogue ?

 2) Do I have somehow remove my ac3 downmix licence or settings in order to get ac3 5.1 back on the optical outputs? If I do this it seems I will lose the downmix on the analgues ?

 3) Can I have both 5.1 pass through on optical *and* downmix on analgue at the same time ?

Oh, I would love to test all this out, but I haven't used the Showcenter PC sodtware for so long, using Oxylbox as a server, and I can't install it onto Vista! So I am fairly stuck re config of the SC itself..

Finally, the Sony can be set to provide Pro Logic II on this source and then I get a "simulated" 5.1, but not the original - so I sort of have half a solution but would really like to crack this one properly. 

Thanks for eeading through this one! 

I *think* that the Dolby downmix is either "on or off" -- either it downmixes, or it doesn't.  So if you have the downmix turned on, the downmix happens, period.  And if you DON'T want the downmix to happen, you have to turn it off.  In other words, I don't think that you can do what you're wanting to do.

As for having to install the server software:  No, not necessarily.  See here.

BittMann

Thanks Bittmann - I found that tweak later on this afternoon and have tried it successfully. As you say, downmix is either on or off - even if it is on it still gets downmixed through the optical out.

Cheers