HandBrake Audio Settings

[GarrettL1979]

Before I start transcoding most of our blu ray collection from MKV to M4V for viewing with an ATV3, I thought I'd check and make sure I'm doing things correctly audio-wise. Here are the steps I've been following so far:

1.) Make MKV-- select DTS-HD or TrueHD for audio

2.) HandBrake-- use high profile setting which provides two audio tracks. For example:

DTS HD MA --> AAC (Core Audio), Pro Logic 2, Auto, 160
DTS HD MA --> AC3 (ffmpeg), 6-channel discrete, Auto, 640

Is this correct? ATVs can't handle pass thru, right? When would you select pass thru?

Lastly, I selected DD 3/2+1 instead of the HD audio option within MakeMKV for my first few tries. I later learned that it's best to select the HD option instead. Is it worth it to go back and do these again?

Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

[mic j]

Before I start transcoding most of our blu ray collection from MKV to M4V for viewing with an ATV3, I thought I'd check and make sure I'm doing things correctly audio-wise. Here are the steps I've been following so far:

1.) Make MKV-- select DTS-HD or TrueHD for audio

2.) HandBrake-- use high profile setting which provides two audio tracks. For example:

DTS HD MA --> AAC (Core Audio), Pro Logic 2, Auto, 160
DTS HD MA --> AC3 (ffmpeg), 6-channel discrete, Auto, 640

Is this correct? ATVs can't handle pass thru, right? When would you select pass thru?

Lastly, I selected DD 3/2+1 instead of the HD audio option within MakeMKV for my first few tries. I later learned that it's best to select the HD option instead. Is it worth it to go back and do these again?

Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated!

Your DTS HD MA sceme is correct. However, HB does pass through True HD. Not sure about your DD 3/2+1 question.

 

[GarrettL1979]

Your DTS HD MA sceme is correct. However, HB does pass through True HD. Not sure about your DD 3/2+1 question.

Thanks! This will probably sound silly, but I tried HD pass thru and didn't get any sound from the ATV3. Would this be because ATVs only support Dolby Digital, or because my receiver does not support HD audio? or both? If I were to buy a new receiver that supports HD audio, would selecting HD pass thru make more sense than AAC and AC3?

In other words, should I hold off on this project until I buy a new receiver?

 

[mic j]

Thanks! This will probably sound silly, but I tried HD pass thru and didn't get any sound from the ATV3. Would this be because ATVs only support Dolby Digital, or because my receiver does not support HD audio? or both? If I were to buy a new receiver that supports HD audio, would selecting HD pass thru make more sense than AAC and AC3?

In other words, should I hold off on this project until I buy a new receiver?

Are you saying you tried Dolby TrueHD pass thru and got no sound?

 

[GarrettL1979]

Are you saying you tried Dolby TrueHD pass thru and got no sound?

Yes

 

[mic j]

Yes

Even if your source is Dolby TrueHD, you should get non-HD surround from your system.

As I said in another thread, it seems you have multiple threads on your problem and it might make more sense to summarize your total problem and methods in a single thread so that we get a complete description of your issue and system configuration. It's getting a little confusing going thread to thread and talking about the aTV Dolby setting, your hardware configuration, and encoding structure.

 

[GarrettL1979]

Even if your source is Dolby TrueHD, you should get non-HD surround from your system.

As I said in another thread, it seems you have multiple threads on your problem and it might make more sense to summarize your total problem and methods in a single thread so that we get a complete description of your issue and system configuration. It's getting a little confusing going thread to thread and talking about the aTV Dolby setting, your hardware configuration, and encoding structure.

Good idea. The other thread kind of morphed into what we're discussing here. I linked to it.

Anyways, if I'm understanding correctly, I should do the following instead within HandBrake:

DTS HD MA --> AAC (Core Audio), Pro Logic 2, Auto, 160
DTS HD MA --> DTS-HD Passthru

Why does the high profile setting default to AC3 instead?

 

[mic j]

Good idea. The other thread kind of morphed into what we're discussing here. I linked to it.

Anyways, if I'm understanding correctly, I should do the following instead within HandBrake:

DTS HD MA --> AAC (Core Audio), Pro Logic 2, Auto, 160
DTS HD MA --> DTS-HD Passthru

Why does the high profile setting default to AC3 instead?

Yes and no. Yes for the AAC part. No for the DTS pass thru part. For DTS (regular or HD) you need to select AC3 (ffmpeg)/6 channel discrete. The mp4 container is not compatible with DTS. Now if you were making an mkv you could choose DTS passthrough as it is compatible.

Edit: I think the High Profile defaults to AC3 because that is the major audio source and it is compatible with the mp4 container (which is mostly what is used in HB).

 

[mic j]

Of course, a stereo tv show is only going to have a single track.

 

[GarrettL1979]

Yes and no. Yes for the AAC part. No for the DTS pass thru part. For DTS (regular or HD) you need to select AC3 (ffmpeg)/6 channel discrete. The mp4 container is not compatible with DTS. Now if you were making an mkv you could choose DTS passthrough as it is compatible.

Edit: I think the High Profile defaults to AC3 because that is the major audio source and it is compatible with the mp4 container (which is mostly what is used in HB).

So it sounds like I've been doing the right thing going from HD audio to AAC and AC3 in handbrake. Hard drive space is limited, and I'm using iTunes, so MKVs really aren't an option at this point for me.

Thanks so much for your help! I really appreciate it.

 

[mic j]

So it sounds like I've been doing the right thing going from HD audio to AAC and AC3 in handbrake. Hard drive space is limited, and I'm using iTunes, so MKVs really aren't an option at this point for me.

Thanks so much for your help! I really appreciate it.

So it sounds like you have been constructing the files correctly but how about your other issue of your AVR not producing any audio? You should have both stereo and surround from your AVR with an mp4 file of that format, the aTV Dolby set to "ON" and from the other thread you are not, is that correct?

 

[GarrettL1979]

Of course, a stereo tv show is only going to have a single track.

Annoyingly, (going back to the other thread) if I set DD to "on" my receiver seems to force surround for stereo tv shows. I tried to watch the first season of Entourage the other day, which is only in stereo, and got surround & out of sync speech.

 

[mic j]

Annoyingly, (going back to the other thread) if I set DD to "on" my receiver seems to force surround for stereo tv shows. I tried to watch the first season of Entourage the other day, which is only in stereo, and got surround & out of sync speech.

That sounds like the Dolby Prologic setting on my AVR. Does your AVR have and auto source setting? On my Sony, it's call A.F.D (auto field detection), it detects the source format and changes the AVR output to match.

 

[GarrettL1979]

So it sounds like you have been constructing the files correctly but how about your other issue of your AVR not producing any audio? You should have both stereo and surround from your AVR with an mp4 file of that format, the aTV Dolby set to "ON" and from the other thread you are not, is that correct?

The only time it didn't produce audio was when I selected DTS HD MA --> DTS-HD Passthru while trying to create an MP4. You mentioned that the MP4 container is not compatible with DTS, so I imagine that's why there was no audio during playback. Same goes for TrueHD, right? I've had great results so far going from DTS-HD or TrueHD Audio to AAC and AC3 in HB. I just wanted to make that was the right/best way to go about it.

Regarding the other thread, all I was saying was that my ATV3's DD auto function doesn't work for me. If I set it to auto, videos automatically default to stereo even if they have an AC3 track. If I set it to on, it automatically defaults to surround. I have to adjust this in settings depending upon the source. Just wanted to see if other people were having a similar experience.

 

[mic j]

The only time it didn't produce audio was when I selected DTS HD MA --> DTS-HD Passthru while trying to create an MP4. You mentioned that the MP4 container is not compatible with DTS, so I imagine that's why there was no audio during playback. Same goes for TrueHD, right? I've had great results so far going from DTS-HD or TrueHD Audio to AAC and AC3 in HB. I just wanted to make that was the right/best way to go about it.

Regarding the other thread, all I was saying was that my ATV3's DD auto function doesn't work for me. If I set it to auto, videos automatically default to stereo even if they have an AC3 track. If I set it to on, it automatically defaults to surround. I have to adjust this in settings depending upon the source. Just wanted to see if other people were having a similar experience.

You're right. If you selected DTS pass thru you will get no sound. Add the AAC/AC3 way is best.

The aTV "Auto" setting does not work with optical. Set to "On" it should default to surround. If your file only has a stereo track (as the tv show you mentioned was a stereo format), the "On" setting should still play the stereo track without your intervention. Now my question is, does your stereo tv file have 2 auto tracks or 1?

 

[GarrettL1979]

You're right. If you selected DTS pass thru you will get no sound. Add the AAC/AC3 way is best.

The aTV "Auto" setting does not work with optical. Set to "On" it should default to surround. If your file only has a stereo track (as the tv show you mentioned was a stereo format), the "On" setting should still play the stereo track without your intervention. Now my question is, does your stereo tv file have 2 auto tracks or 1?

It's Entourage - Season I downloaded from iTunes. I believe the first season is only available in stereo.

 

[mic j]

It's Entourage - Season I downloaded from iTunes. I believe the first season is only available in stereo.

Ahhh! A download. I have no experience in that area, so I'm not going to be able to help you with that. Hope someone else here can help.

 

[slothrob]

Regarding the other thread, all I was saying was that my ATV3's DD auto function doesn't work for me. If I set it to auto, videos automatically default to stereo even if they have an AC3 track. If I set it to on, it automatically defaults to surround. I have to adjust this in settings depending upon the source. Just wanted to see if other people were having a similar experience.

I have the the same problem, since I use the optical audio.

However, you should know that you can leave Dolby Digital set to "on" without having to go all the way into settings to enable the stereo track. If DD is on, but you want stereo sound, all you need to do is hold the center button down as the video starts to play. This will bring up a menu that will allow you to switch audio tracks.

It's unfortunate that you can't do this if you have DD set to Auto, so that it defaults to stereo through your TV.