# \[Bug\] \[Solved\] \[Confirmed\] Audio Bitrate for transcodes **URL:** \ **Category:** Plex Media Server\ **Tags:** server-linux\ **Created:** [May 21, 2021, 10:45am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/bug-solved-confirmed-audio-bitrate-for-transcodes/717054 "2021-05-21T10:45:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Big](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e56c9b/32.png) [@Big](https://forums.plex.tv/u/Big)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2021, 10:45am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/bug-solved-confirmed-audio-bitrate-for-transcodes/717054/1 "2021-05-21T10:45:02Z")
Server Version#: 1.22.3.4523 Player Version#: Plex Web Version 4.54.5 Hello, I noticed that if I play one of my movies in a browser the sound quality is not good. After looking at to what it gets converted I would like to increase the bitrate to get better quality. Plex converts 5.1 AC3 640 kbit/s to 2.0 aac-lc 96 kbit/s stereo and 5.1 DTS to 2.0 aac-lc 128 kbit/s. My movies are all remuxes i made from the bluray and I’m in no bitrate limited scenario. How can i increase the bitrate for the transcoded audio stream? ---
**Author:** ![OttoKerner](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/ottokerner/32/10079_2.png) [@OttoKerner](https://forums.plex.tv/u/OttoKerner)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2021, 10:56am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/bug-solved-confirmed-audio-bitrate-for-transcodes/717054/2 "2021-05-21T10:56:40Z")
What is your target _video_ bitrate? Or the maximum overall bitrate that is allowed for remote connections? Take a look at the Plex Dashboard during such a playback (simply open a second browser). See if it says “local”, “remote” or “indirect”. ---
**Author:** ![Big](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e56c9b/32.png) [@Big](https://forums.plex.tv/u/Big)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2021, 10:58am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/bug-solved-confirmed-audio-bitrate-for-transcodes/717054/3 "2021-05-21T10:58:24Z")
max. Also video doesn’t get transcoded, only audio. ---
**Author:** ![OttoKerner](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/ottokerner/32/10079_2.png) [@OttoKerner](https://forums.plex.tv/u/OttoKerner)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2021, 10:59am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/bug-solved-confirmed-audio-bitrate-for-transcodes/717054/4 "2021-05-21T10:59:27Z")
Take a look at the Plex Dashboard during such a playback (simply open a second browser). See if it says “local”, “remote” or “indirect”. ---
**Author:** ![Big](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e56c9b/32.png) [@Big](https://forums.plex.tv/u/Big)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2021, 10:59am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/bug-solved-confirmed-audio-bitrate-for-transcodes/717054/5 "2021-05-21T10:59:46Z")
it says remote ---
**Author:** ![OttoKerner](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/ottokerner/32/10079_2.png) [@OttoKerner](https://forums.plex.tv/u/OttoKerner)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2021, 11:04am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/bug-solved-confirmed-audio-bitrate-for-transcodes/717054/6 "2021-05-21T11:04:14Z")
And is the web browser actually remote from the server? What is set on the page Settings - Server - Remote for “Upload Speed” and “Limit remote stream bitrate”? ---
**Author:** ![Big](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e56c9b/32.png) [@Big](https://forums.plex.tv/u/Big)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2021, 11:11am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/bug-solved-confirmed-audio-bitrate-for-transcodes/717054/7 "2021-05-21T11:11:45Z")
Yes the server is remote but client and server can reach easily more that 100 mbit/s between them. I can stream uhd remuxes with bitrates of 100 mbit/s with the plex desktop app. Also i have set no upload limit and limit stream bitrate over the internet is set to original (no limit). This is only affecting browser streaming. If there is no transcoding because the audio is already aac or flac it works all fine. Plex does chose to transcode to such a low bitrate and i want to change that but I don’t find a way to do that. ---
**Author:** ![OttoKerner](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/ottokerner/32/10079_2.png) [@OttoKerner](https://forums.plex.tv/u/OttoKerner)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2021, 11:20am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/bug-solved-confirmed-audio-bitrate-for-transcodes/717054/8 "2021-05-21T11:20:48Z")
What is the bitrate of the source file? I seem to remember that the audio bitrate is scaled up if the video bitrate is larger. Another way to avoid this is to use a different client software than the web app. Depending on your operating system, you might get superior results by using Plex for Windows/Mac, Plex HTPC or Plex Media Player. ---
**Author:** ![Big](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e56c9b/32.png) [@Big](https://forums.plex.tv/u/Big)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2021, 11:24am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/bug-solved-confirmed-audio-bitrate-for-transcodes/717054/9 "2021-05-21T11:24:47Z")
```auto Format : Matroska Format version : Version 4 File size : 24.2 GiB Duration : 1 h 39 min Overall bit rate mode : Variable Overall bit rate : 34.7 Mb/s Encoded date : UTC 2019-01-19 08:49:56 Writing application : mkvmerge v19.0.0 ('Brave Captain') 64-bit Writing library : libebml v1.3.5 + libmatroska v1.4.8 Video ID : 1 Format : AVC Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec Format profile : High@L4.1 Format settings : CABAC / 4 Ref Frames Format settings, CABAC : Yes Format settings, ReFrames : 4 frames Codec ID : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC Duration : 1 h 39 min Bit rate mode : Variable Bit rate : 30.2 Mb/s Maximum bit rate : 33.7 Mb/s Width : 1 920 pixels Height : 1 080 pixels Display aspect ratio : 16:9 Frame rate mode : Constant Frame rate : 23.976 (24000/1001) FPS Color space : YUV Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0 Bit depth : 8 bits Scan type : Progressive Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.608 Stream size : 21.1 GiB (87%) Title : upgrade.2018 Default : Yes Forced : No Audio #1 ID : 2 Format : DTS Format/Info : Digital Theater Systems Codec ID : A_DTS Duration : 1 h 39 min Bit rate mode : Constant Bit rate : 768 kb/s Channel(s) : 6 channels Channel layout : C L R Ls Rs LFE Sampling rate : 48.0 kHz Frame rate : 93.750 FPS (512 SPF) Bit depth : 24 bits Compression mode : Lossy Stream size : 549 MiB (2%) Title : ger Language : German Default : Yes Forced : No Audio #2 ID : 3 Format : DTS XLL Format/Info : Digital Theater Systems Commercial name : DTS-HD Master Audio Codec ID : A_DTS Duration : 1 h 39 min Bit rate mode : Variable Bit rate : 3 689 kb/s Channel(s) : 6 channels Channel layout : C L R Ls Rs LFE Sampling rate : 48.0 kHz Frame rate : 93.750 FPS (512 SPF) Bit depth : 24 bits Compression mode : Lossless Stream size : 2.57 GiB (11%) Title : eng_avc.dts Language : English Default : No Forced : No ``` I don’t always have the choice to install different software on clients, sometimes a browser is all i can use, so fixing this on server side is the only way for me. ---
**Author:** ![OttoKerner](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/ottokerner/32/10079_2.png) [@OttoKerner](https://forums.plex.tv/u/OttoKerner)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2021, 11:34am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/bug-solved-confirmed-audio-bitrate-for-transcodes/717054/10 "2021-05-21T11:34:08Z")
I will have to ask the developers what the rules are here and whether they can be adapted for larger bitrates. I agree that 96 kbps is a bit low. (Personally, I’d consider even 128 kbps “low” in AAC.) ---
**Author:** ![Big](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e56c9b/32.png) [@Big](https://forums.plex.tv/u/Big)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2021, 11:49am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/bug-solved-confirmed-audio-bitrate-for-transcodes/717054/11 "2021-05-21T11:49:37Z")
Since I’m not bitrate limited even converting to flac would be fine for me. Testing with [AAC Multichannel Playback Test](https://www2.iis.fraunhofer.de/AAC/multichannel.html) and [flac-test-files/surround71.flac at master · sfiera/flac-test-files · GitHub](https://github.com/sfiera/flac-test-files/blob/master/surround71.flac) chrome does playback up to 7.1 in flac and aac just fine, so I’m not sure why there is this low limit to 96 kbit/s stereo anyways. ---
**Author:** ![Big](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e56c9b/32.png) [@Big](https://forums.plex.tv/u/Big)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2021, 9:37am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/bug-solved-confirmed-audio-bitrate-for-transcodes/717054/12 "2021-05-25T09:37:18Z")
@OttoKerner have you got any response from the devs? ---
**Author:** ![Big](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e56c9b/32.png) [@Big](https://forums.plex.tv/u/Big)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2021, 7:45am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/bug-solved-confirmed-audio-bitrate-for-transcodes/717054/13 "2021-05-31T07:45:55Z")
@OttoKerner any feedback? ---
**Author:** ![OttoKerner](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/ottokerner/32/10079_2.png) [@OttoKerner](https://forums.plex.tv/u/OttoKerner)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2021, 8:05am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/bug-solved-confirmed-audio-bitrate-for-transcodes/717054/14 "2021-05-31T08:05:28Z")
The developers say this is not intended, so they like to investigate why it happens for you. Could you repeat your test, while your server has “debug” logging enabled? (Do NOT enable “verbose” logging). [Server logs](https://support.plex.tv/articles/200250417-plex-media-server-log-files/) Please stop and restart your server after enabling the logs! Before starting the test, please do also enable logs in your client [Plex Web App Logs](https://support.plex.tv/articles/201611836-plex-web-app-logs/) Then play one affected video for about 1 minute. Fetch both the server and the web app logs. Put them into a ZIP file and send them to me per PM. Notice of the time _when_ you started playback of _which_ media title would be appreciated. ---
**Author:** ![OttoKerner](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/ottokerner/32/10079_2.png) [@OttoKerner](https://forums.plex.tv/u/OttoKerner)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2021, 9:37am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/bug-solved-confirmed-audio-bitrate-for-transcodes/717054/16 "2021-05-31T09:37:17Z")
The sample log you’ve sent me doesn’t exhibit the issue. The audio bitrate is 256 kbps stereo. `Audio=(id=7375 decision=transcode bitrate=256 encoder=aac channels=2 rate=48000` You won’t get surround audio in the web app. ---
**Author:** ![Big](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e56c9b/32.png) [@Big](https://forums.plex.tv/u/Big)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2021, 9:41am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/bug-solved-confirmed-audio-bitrate-for-transcodes/717054/17 "2021-05-31T09:41:05Z")
I’m sorry and confused. I did check with mediainfo the file and it told me this ```auto General Complete name : /mnt/d/Downloads/2.m4s Format : MPEG-4 Format profile : Base Media Codec ID : iso5 (iso6/mp41) File size : 71.9 KiB Duration : 4 s 992 ms Overall bit rate : 118 kb/s Writing application : Lavf58.27.104 FileExtension_Invalid : mov mp4 m4v m4a m4b m4p m4r 3ga 3gpa 3gpp 3gp 3gpp2 3g2 k3g jpm jpx mqv ismv isma ismt f4a f4b f4v Audio ID : 1 Format : AAC LC Format/Info : Advanced Audio Codec Low Complexity Codec ID : mp4a-40-2 Duration : 4 s 992 ms Bit rate : 115 kb/s Channel(s) : 2 channels Channel layout : L R Sampling rate : 48.0 kHz Frame rate : 46.875 FPS (1024 SPF) Compression mode : Lossy Stream size : 70.1 KiB (97%) Default : Yes Alternate group : 1 ``` ---
**Author:** ![OttoKerner](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/ottokerner/32/10079_2.png) [@OttoKerner](https://forums.plex.tv/u/OttoKerner)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2021, 9:42am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/bug-solved-confirmed-audio-bitrate-for-transcodes/717054/18 "2021-05-31T09:42:59Z")
Which file is this? The playback transcoding produces a volatile chunk of your movie which exists only on the server for a limited time and in the memory of your web browser. ---
**Author:** ![Big](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e56c9b/32.png) [@Big](https://forums.plex.tv/u/Big)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2021, 9:48am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/bug-solved-confirmed-audio-bitrate-for-transcodes/717054/19 "2021-05-31T09:48:18Z")
If I play a movie it generates two $upcountingnumber.m4s files one contains video and one audio (You can press F12 to get the download link while playing a movie). I downloaded the smaller one which contained audio and checked that with mediainfo. ---
**Author:** ![OttoKerner](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/ottokerner/32/10079_2.png) [@OttoKerner](https://forums.plex.tv/u/OttoKerner)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2021, 9:50am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/bug-solved-confirmed-audio-bitrate-for-transcodes/717054/20 "2021-05-31T09:50:16Z")
You should check a chunk of a part of the movie, where there is a “dense” audio track – like loud music or a big explosion or the like. If this is a typical movie scene with just dialog and no loud ambient noises, the actual bitrate can be lower than the “target” bitrate which has been set for the transcoder. ---
**Author:** ![OttoKerner](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/ottokerner/32/10079_2.png) [@OttoKerner](https://forums.plex.tv/u/OttoKerner)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2021, 10:25am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/bug-solved-confirmed-audio-bitrate-for-transcodes/717054/21 "2021-05-31T10:25:19Z")
Could you repeat the test, but do this server configuration change first: Settings - Server - Transcoder - ‘Transcoder quality’ = “Make my CPU hurt” [Next page](https://forums.plex.tv/t/bug-solved-confirmed-audio-bitrate-for-transcodes/717054.md?page=2)