I’m using my RasPLEX with a Samsung TV which is able to passthrough audio over TosLink/Optical to my Logitech surround sound.
EAC3 and DTS-HD are not supported - so it would be awesome if the RasPLEX client would transcode/convert the output before it sends it to the TV.
I’ve found a temporary solution, by setting the output to 2.0 channels and then convert everything - but i’m not sure if this is truly the best solution.
Toslink doesn’t have the necessary bandwidth to transport EAC. Of course you can downgrade it to PCM2.0 but you are loosing the surround support.
Im not sure a Rpi has the necessary power to live transcode to AC3 and evendently your tv isnt doing that work
You have 2 possible solutions for a true surround sound, you can transcode all your videos with something like handbrake or PopCorn Audio Converter to replace the EAC3 track for an AC3, or better add an aditional AC3 track if you want to keep both.
Or you could force your server to do the hard work by creating a custom profile for the rasplex player. This approach its already been used for chromecast and this guy its trying to do the same on reddit but its not working for him right now. Still its a valid approach
The guide here is still applicable
The Raspberry Pi 2 has plenty of CPU to transcode audio, it’s using the GPU for video so the CPU is free for audio processing.
I’ve managed to find some settings that more or less work and sends Dolby / 5.1 to the speakers through the HDMI - but it’s kind of hacky and i’m in doubt if it’s the optimal solution.
I’ll have a look at the Reddit thread - Thanks !
I have the same problem as Montago. Unfortunately he didn’t say what his solution is to this problem.
I have to use hdmi_force_edid_audio=1 so that 5.1 is passed through to my receiver. But this means that rasplex thinks that EAC3 is also supported. If anyone has an idea how I can get Plex to transcode EAC3 to AC3 please let me know.
hi rgoodhew … ill post my solution when i have time.
@rgoodhew said:
I have the same problem as Montago. Unfortunately he didn’t say what his solution is to this problem.I have to use hdmi_force_edid_audio=1 so that 5.1 is passed through to my receiver. But this means that rasplex thinks that EAC3 is also supported. If anyone has an idea how I can get Plex to transcode EAC3 to AC3 please let me know.
you can use something like handbrake for creating and audio track with ac3 5.1 and keep or discard the eac3 one
I can confirm that changing the channels to 2.0 and passtrough checked, with dolby digital ac3 checked and E-AC3 unchecked solved the problem for me.
Before I had no sound at all when watching a movie with EAC3 audio track, like Dolby Digital+ but now it is working.
I have Rpi3 with HDMI hooked up to a HDMI switch and after that a HDMI audio splitter with toslink out and after that HDMI to my TV.
@RedUlf said:
I can confirm that changing the channels to 2.0 and passtrough checked, with dolby digital ac3 checked and E-AC3 unchecked solved the problem for me.Before I had no sound at all when watching a movie with EAC3 audio track, like Dolby Digital+ but now it is working.
I have Rpi3 with HDMI hooked up to a HDMI switch and after that a HDMI audio splitter with toslink out and after that HDMI to my TV.
One thing to add: I still get 5.1 sound correct
Thanks for the replies.
RedUlf, I tried your suggestion but it didn’t work for me. I got no sound when I set 2.0 and passthrough. We have almost the same setup, the only difference is that my switch and splitter are combined into the same unit. Do you have a switch on your splitter that lets you select 5.1 or 2.0? Or do you use hdmi_force_edid_audio=1 to set the EDID?
I did find my own solution after much playing around. I found that setting FORCE TRANSCODE and making a transcode profile file on the server worked. It’s not optimal because it forces the server to transcode more videos than it did before, but it works. I still don’t understand what FORCE TRANSCODE does, it seems to make more videos transcode but not all videos.
