I was reading this on the Handbrake Wiki:
"Another method is to create 5.1 channel AAC audio tracks. For the Track Mix, select "6 channel discrete" from the drop-down menu, and your movie will contain discrete surround sound in the modern AAC format. This takes up less space than AC3: instead of 448kbps, you can do well with 384kbps (64 kbps per channel). Its real benefit is that it doesn't make QuickTime barf. Sadly, it is very difficult to hear all those discrete channels of sound. It cannot be sent over an optical cable to a home theater amp. If you try, whether on a Mac or an AppleTV, you will only hear "downmixed" surround sound, similar to Dolby Pro Logic. To hear the discrete surround sound in all its glory, you will need to attach an analog surround sound device to your Mac. One popular device is the Griffin FireWave. Then, you have to attach a cable to your amp/receiver for each of the six speaker channels. It cannot be done over optical/HDMI."
Is this still accurate? If I have a BR with DTS audio and I use the HB 6 channel discrete setting, then use the aTV with it's optical out to my AVR, I'm getting something to the equivalent of Pro Logic?
Update: upon looking at the choices closer, there is an AC3/6 channel discrete option as well as the AAC/6 channel discrete option. I will assume that if you choose the AC3 option, it can be passed over optical without being down mixed.
"Another method is to create 5.1 channel AAC audio tracks. For the Track Mix, select "6 channel discrete" from the drop-down menu, and your movie will contain discrete surround sound in the modern AAC format. This takes up less space than AC3: instead of 448kbps, you can do well with 384kbps (64 kbps per channel). Its real benefit is that it doesn't make QuickTime barf. Sadly, it is very difficult to hear all those discrete channels of sound. It cannot be sent over an optical cable to a home theater amp. If you try, whether on a Mac or an AppleTV, you will only hear "downmixed" surround sound, similar to Dolby Pro Logic. To hear the discrete surround sound in all its glory, you will need to attach an analog surround sound device to your Mac. One popular device is the Griffin FireWave. Then, you have to attach a cable to your amp/receiver for each of the six speaker channels. It cannot be done over optical/HDMI."
Is this still accurate? If I have a BR with DTS audio and I use the HB 6 channel discrete setting, then use the aTV with it's optical out to my AVR, I'm getting something to the equivalent of Pro Logic?
Update: upon looking at the choices closer, there is an AC3/6 channel discrete option as well as the AAC/6 channel discrete option. I will assume that if you choose the AC3 option, it can be passed over optical without being down mixed.
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