Help on REW with hdmi

[renjith]

Hi experts,

I am very new to REW need some help in solving my issue. I have taken measurement using REW four months back using windows 7 enterprise OS and HDMI cable with Arcam mike received with AVR. Recently updated my OS to windows 10 enterprise,I installed REW V5.20 beta 5 and installed ASIO4ALL 2.14.Tried to do use REW. I followed almost all instructions.
I saw in the instruction pdf except microphone level to +9.9dB In my laptop it was slightly above this as I couldn’t enter this value exactly. Also I didnt see the option to disable enhancements for sound in windows 10.


I could see my Arcam AVR in the play back devices and for recording I can see UMIK-1 mike. But when I open REW and open preferences and move to sound card I am not able to see my AVR channels. I opened the ASIO driver I can see Umik-1 is active with play button but not able to see the AVR channels. From my previous experience I know that AVR and Umik-1 should show play button n ASIO driver to do measurement. I tried closing REW and opening it again, rebooting laptop but I am not able to get AVR channels in sound card of REW.

I have deactivated room correction of ARcam avr and I was trying to measure the room. Any suggestions to solve the issue?

Thanks in advance.
Rlal

 

[Grayson Dere]

Hi Rlal,

I came across the exact same issue as you did, except for the Mac OS. I found that you have to enable the sound output as HDMI in your OS sound prefs. Then in REW I believe you have to change the Output Device in the 'Soundcard' menu tab. From there the AVR channels should be visible in the Output tab.

When I get back home I can re-confirm those steps...but for now hopefully it works for you.

Anyone else have ideas? Thanks!

 

[renjith]

Hi Rlal,

I came across the exact same issue as you did, except for the Mac OS. I found that you have to enable the sound output as HDMI in your OS sound prefs. Then in REW I believe you have to change the Output Device in the 'Soundcard' menu tab. From there the AVR channels should be visible in the Output tab.

When I get back home I can re-confirm those steps...but for now hopefully it works for you.

Anyone else have ideas? Thanks!

Thanks for the quick reply, I did the steps suggested in REW guide and I could see playback device as my AVR but when I open REW and move to sound card option in preferences I cannot see the AVR or its channels.
Then opened the ASIO driver and couldnt see either. In ideal case both umik-1 and avr should have the play button active, I couldn't even see my AVR there. .

I also have another question, in general using HDMI or using RCA and Java option which is more preferred option, I understand if we have many channels HDMI may be the easiest option.


Thanks
Rlal.

 

[Grayson Dere]

Hmmm...If nobody else chimes in I'll see if I can re-create the issue you are having and hopefully write up a walkthrough that works.

As for connections, yes, HDMI would be the preferred way to connect many channels for use with REW. My setup is using MacBook Pro --> USB-C adapter --> HDMI....and I can see all my 5.1 channels. I was also having that issue early on with not seeing more than the main L R channels until I worked it out in the sound prefs. of my OS.

 

[Grayson Dere]

So it seems once I connect the HDMI to my AVR from my MacBook Pro all I need to change is the OUTPUT DEVICE in REW.

Does your screen look similar to my uploaded image? Instead of DisplayPort yours should just say HDMI.

 

[John Mulcahy]

It's a bit trickier on Windows as the Java runtime doesn't support multichannel devices (except as multiple stereo pairs), so an ASIO wrapper has to be used. There have been some issues with ASIO4All seeing drivers for some cards, see this thread for a discussion of that.

 

[renjith]

Thanks a lot for the replies.
As mentioned earlier I have used HDMI connection with ASIO when my OS was windows 7 and when it is updated to 10 enterprise I have the issue. I am not able to see AVR channels in output device. When I open ASIO driver I cannot see the AVR. I have captured it. Please have a look. I am not sure how to solve the issue.

Thanks.

 

[renjith]

It's a bit trickier on Windows as the Java runtime doesn't support multichannel devices (except as multiple stereo pairs), so an ASIO wrapper has to be used. There have been some issues with ASIO4All seeing drivers for some cards, see this thread for a discussion of that.

Thanks a lot, I will look in to the link you mentioned.

 

[John Mulcahy]

Intel Display Audio is listed, that is usually an HDMI output. It is the display driver device that appears rather than what it is connected to.

 

[renjith]

Ok, but I didn't see any HDMI channels inside Intel Display audio. Not sure if I miss something.

 

[renjith]

It's a bit trickier on Windows as the Java runtime doesn't support multichannel devices (except as multiple stereo pairs), so an ASIO wrapper has to be used. There have been some issues with ASIO4All seeing drivers for some cards, see this thread for a discussion of that.

Dear John,

The problem I have is very similar to the thread you have pointed. I am using Arcam AVR and I could see my laptop screen in TV connected through the AVR output and see avr in laptop playback device and also umik-1.
Buy not in ASIO control panel. That means some issue with ASIO driver I guess. I will try to install older version of ASIO and will try. Is there anything else I need to try?

Thanks.

 

[John Mulcahy]

Make sure the AVR is in a mode that supports multichannel PCM over the HDMI connection. Odd that you aren't seeing audio channels in the Intel Display Device, there are other troubleshooting tips in AustinJerry's guide.

 

[renjith]

Make sure the AVR is in a mode that supports multichannel PCM over the HDMI connection. Odd that you aren't seeing audio channels in the Intel Display Device, there are other troubleshooting tips in AustinJerry's guide.

Thanks for the reply. AVR is in multi channel mode, I couldnt play any channels through HDMI.I assume some issue with my laptop or ASIO driver and not REW. I will try different options and will update my findings.

 

[Samazar]

I am interested in measuring individual speaker response in a 7.1 configuration. I have connected my MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2015 - 2.2 GHz Intel Core i7) to my processor via a 20m HDMI cable.
My machine is using Mac OS High Sierra 10.13.6
I have followed instructions carefully in terms of setting sound preferences (HDMI Output) and choosing HDMI 7.1 (Rear Speakers) configuration in Audio Midi Setup. However when I click on each speaker, there is no sound.
I am getting the full 7.1 channel choices in REW as pointed out by Grayson Dere in post No. 5 above but no sound.
I have checked the settings in my processor and have made sure all is correct - Audio and Video Input via HDMI 2 where I have the connection.
I spent several hours yesterday trying to get sound but no success, video worked but absolutely no audio.
John Mulcahy points out that the Processor or AVR must be in a mode that supports multichannel PCM over the HDMI connection - There is no setting for PCM over HDMI so I presume this feature is in-built.

This is really frustrating, any help will be appreciated immensely.

 

[Samazar]

All I want is the ability to play full bandwidth Pink Noise or sweeps to any speaker or group of speakers in the 7.1 configuration. Is this a problem in Apple's Audio Midi Setup app ?

 

[renjith]

Thanks for the reply. AVR is in multi channel mode, I couldnt play any channels through HDMI.I assume some issue with my laptop or ASIO driver and not REW. I will try different options and will update my findings.

Sorry for not updating the thread. I got busy with few other stuff.
I still couldn't make ASIO4ALL v2 to work with my windows 10 laptop. I can see my umik1 and avr card in preferences of REW with play button active but when I load it in preferences I am not able to see the HDMI1,2 ,3 .
When I come back and check preferences again the play button disappears and another symbol comes.

I tried all options but in vain. So I just switched to java and just measured left and right speakers and it is working properly, I could measure both speakers. So I guess some ASIO driver issue which needs to be solved.

Thanks

 

[John Mulcahy]

All I want is the ability to play full bandwidth Pink Noise or sweeps to any speaker or group of speakers in the 7.1 configuration. Is this a problem in Apple's Audio Midi Setup app ?

That isn't likely. Your 20m (!) HDMI cable might be an issue, try a short cable. Your processor might not support PCM over HDMI but only support compressed audio streams.

 

[Samazar]

Thanks John, I'm going to try with a 5m HDMI cable.

I think my processor does support PCM over HDMI but I need to test that practically.

 

[Samazar]

That isn't likely. Your 20m (!) HDMI cable might be an issue, try a short cable. Your processor might not support PCM over HDMI but only support compressed audio streams.

Hi John, thank you so much. The problem was the cable, a 5 m cable works perfectly.

Now I am able to send a signal to each speaker via REW which is great because I can measure the near field response and off-axis response of each speaker.

I have a few questions:-

1. The only combination channels option provided in REW is Left+Right. Is there a way to select groups e.g. L+Sub, LCR+Sub or all the 7.1 channels ?
2. I intend to use full range Pink Noise and RTA for all my measurements, any benefit to using sweeps ?
3. I have a single row of seats, a three-seater in the middle with a single seater at each end of the three-seater (5 positions with a sweet spot), I intend to specially average when measuring seating position response, do you recommend or approve of averaging ? - It is a bit cumbersome as I will need to take 5 readings to establish an average but it's not a problem.
4. In your opinion, do all 7.1 speakers have to be firing (after a levels and time-align calibration) to get seating position response ?
5. I'm trying to build a deeper understanding of room modes and love the simulator, would it be possible to indicate at least the 1st and 2nd axial mode positions for length and width in 2 different pastel colours ?
6. I have a room with a flat ceiling in the middle which pitches equally on both sides along the width of the room. What height should I be entering in the room sim ? - An in-between average I presume.

 

[John Mulcahy]

You can't select groups at the moment. Using sweeps produces impulse responses, which let you look at the way sound decays in the room (e.g. waterfalls) but using the RTA and spatial averaging (e.g. the moving mic method) can be just as useful. You do not need or want all speakers to be active. I'm not sure what you mean about showing axial mode positions, are you referring to the regions of peak and minimum pressure? The simulator shows the overall response at the chosen locations, I'm not convinced showing individual modes would be beneficial. An average height for the ceiling is fine, simulators only provide an approximation anyway.

 

[Grayson Dere]

That isn't likely. Your 20m (!) HDMI cable might be an issue, try a short cable. Your processor might not support PCM over HDMI but only support compressed audio streams.

Thanks for the cable length note...I wouldn't have thought the length would make an issue like this.

 

[Samazar]

You can't select groups at the moment. Using sweeps produces impulse responses, which let you look at the way sound decays in the room (e.g. waterfalls) but using the RTA and spatial averaging (e.g. the moving mic method) can be just as useful. You do not need or want all speakers to be active. I'm not sure what you mean about showing axial mode positions, are you referring to the regions of peak and minimum pressure? The simulator shows the overall response at the chosen locations, I'm not convinced showing individual modes would be beneficial. An average height for the ceiling is fine, simulators only provide an approximation anyway.

Thanks John, I really appreciate your help. I suppose I was wondering if it were possible to get a visual representation of the nulls and peaks.