Just a guess here, but as soon as you mentioned HDMI out from the PC I immediately thought of HDCP being the issue. I ran into all sorts of issues trying to get Dolby Digital or DTS out of my HTPC over HDMI. I finally gave up and used the HDMI output for video only and ran an optical cable from my Creative Labs X-Fi sound card to my Denon receiver for the audio. This works great and I am using XBMC without any customization. Do you happen to have a digital output from your sound card that you could try?
Hey Andrew, Andrew here.
Using "Anydvd HD" will remove any protection issues or complications with HDCP for direct playback or for ripping. It is worth the small subscription fee and even if you don't like traversing the grey areas of ripping your own disks, the fact that HDCP prevented me from playing my own, legitimately purchased BRs on the playback device of my choice is wrong and I had no problem using this tool to get around that restriction.
Also,
I currently use XBMC and I am quiet satisfied with the AV quality. I like it because it plays every format you can throw at it seamlessly and organizes content in a manner that my wife and visitors easily adapt to.
I am very satisfied with it. At least I was until you planted this seed, Boltron. Damn you, now I will no doubt be spending a bunch of evenings downloading software and fidgeting with unruly codecs. Damn you again for taunting the happy funball!
