Debbie to Sciascia re DX 8.1

[Debbie]

Hi Sciascia,

Just to make sure that you see this I posted a new thread.

Problem solved about dx 8.1 audio. You were correct about the filter, it was infact Ligos.
All I did was to go to the registry and deleat the key and the media player went back to the old audio filter.

Regards,

Debbie

[Sciascia]

So it works now? I had a diffferent method of fixxig it, but if it works great. I usually just use regvr32 to register the filter I want. You can actually write batch files to change between filters so that you don't have to fool with the registry.

[Debbie]

I would be delighted if you can elaborate on your method.

Regards,

Debbie

[Sciascia]

Ok here you go, one of the most helpful tips that I ever give out. I am extemely proud of this one, since I am not a smart person I figured this one out after many hours of aggravation and like to spare some people the agony that I experienced.

The deal is that you can register and unregister these filters all day long without having to reboot. You are going to have to do a little searching for the exact location of a few files, but they are basically in the same location all computers. You are not going to have all of them installed either, most of them are installed with DVD SW or some editing applications.

Here are the file names and what they are:

Ligos--Mpeg2Decoder.ax and Mpeg2Parser.ax

Ulead MSP 6.5 needs this to edit MPEG, it is serviceable, but not very high quality (decent though). It can also cause some major problems with PB speeds when skipping around in the track, especially if you are mixing video and audio filters from another manufacturer.

Xing--XmdAudioDecode.dll and XmdVidSubDecode.dll

Not worth the hassle of installing. Its pretty stable, but quality is poor and has trouble parsing I think (been awhile).

Raviscent (ATI DVD player)--DSCinemAudioDecoder.dll and DSCinemVideoDecoder.DLL

My current favorite. It really likes the ATI files and parses very good. This is the best quality filter I have seen. Can't edit MPEG in Ulead though...

Intervideo (WinDVD)--ivivideo.ax and iviaudio.ax

This is my old favorite, it looks great, but has major issues with resolution wink, wink. It never seemed to report the correct ratio, but it has beautiful playback.

Cinemaster--????qidvdf.ax

I know that the audio filter was preferred by many for a while, but that was back in the day. I imagine it is pretty solid, but I can't say for sure what the pros vs. cons are.

PowerDVD--clvsd.ax and claud.ax

Never tried it so I can't say yes or no here either. Too many people swear by Power DVD to say that it is no good. I heard that the older filters were not up too snuff though, but that was a few years back.


In order to register and derister each filter you will have to first see what filters are on your computer. It's pretty easy, if you don't have WinDVD installed then you probably won't have the Intervideo filters installed,same with most of the others. Process of elimination should get you pretty far this way. The easiest way to do it is to make batch files to do automate it. You will need to know the path for the filter in question, then create a notepad document like this (bold text):

start regsvr32 "C:\windows\system\iviaudio.ax"
start regsvr32 "C:\windows\system\mpeg2parser.ax"
start regsvr32 "C:\windows\system\mpeg2decoder.ax"

This would register the WinDVD filter if you had it installed.

To unregister it you would create a file like this :

start regsvr32 -u "C:\windows\system\ iviaudio.ax"
start regsvr32 -u "C:\windows\system\mpeg2parser.ax"
start regsvr32 -u "C:\windows\system\mpeg2decoder.ax"

The -u switch is for unregister.

Anyway after you create the file in Notepad, select File>Save As> and at the bottom select "Save as Type" and select "all Files", then name it something like Register Intervideo.bat or something like that. Then just run it (double click) and confirm the dialog boxes that pop up.

Remember it will not install filters that are not on your PC already, just switch between filters that you have installed already. Sometimes a new piece of SW will register it's own filters and cause problems and sometimes a new piece o SW won't register it's filters correctly. And not all of these filters are in the C:\windows\system folder, they may be somewhere like C:|Program files\Common files\ Raviscent Shared, etc... You will have to search for them.

[Debbie]

Hi Sciascia,

Thanks very much for the info. Just to put the cherry on the cake, do you happen to know the name of the ligos mpeg audio filter that comes with DX 8.1. The ones I managed to find all appear to belong to Ulead applications and all I did was to remove the registry key.

Thanks again.

Debbie

[Sciascia]

I really don't think that DirectX8.1 installs any MPEG filters. Could be wrong but due to the fact that anyone who distributes MPEG SW has to pay licensing fees to the MPEG association (or whatever it is called) and Microsoft has been to cheap to include it in their OS's, I doubt that it is part of DirectX.

[Debbie]

I share your opinion about Micro$oft.

I started having audio problems since I installed DX 8.1 and in Properties > Advanced it is indicating Ligos MPEG Audio Decoder and also in the registry key FriendlyName.

As I said earlyer, deleating the registry key solved the problem, but if I install an earlyer image of my HD with DX 8.0 there will be no problem.

PS.

FOUND IT.
lmpgad.ax

Have a look here. It's very informative.

http://www.michael-moenning.de/pub/Readme_Tsunami_Filter_Pack.htm

[Sciascia]

I am sorry, I should have read my own message instead of cutting and pasting so much stuff. I had teh video decoder and the parser, sorry. I usually include directions to install the Ligos stuff and that has the correct file names.

Glad you found it, sorry it was so difficult.

[Debbie]

All's well that ends well !! Thanks for your help.

Debbie