DTS, DTS-HD MA 5.1/7.1, TrueHD 7.1 audio passthrough

General Discussions
1

Is there a Plex app platform/device that supports DTS, DTS-HD MA 5.1/7.1, TrueHD 7.1 audio passthrough (for Direct Play)?

The Roku Premiere + supports DTS audio passthrough which means that I can Direct Play my DTS 5.1 (codec dts) movies. :+1:

However, audio transcode occurs as follows:

  • DTS-HD MA 5.1 (codec DCA, profile ma) > Transcoding DCA to AC3
  • DTS-HD MA 7.1 (codec DCA, profile ma) > Transcoding DCA to AC3 (I lose 2 channels :-1: )
  • TrueHD 7.1 (codec TRUEHD) > Transcoding TRUEHD to EAC3 (a.k.a. Dolby Digital +; which supports all 8 channels)
2

@leguelp said:

  • TrueHD 7.1 (codec TRUEHD) > Transcoding TRUEHD to EAC3 (a.k.a. Dolby Digital +; which supports all 8 channels)

Actually plex transcodes TrueHD 7.1 to EAC3 5.1 so you also lose 2 channels here :wink: . There is no 7.1 channels support for the audio transcoder yet.

1 Like
3

@leguelp said:
Is there a Plex app platform/device that supports DTS, DTS-HD MA 5.1/7.1, TrueHD 7.1 audio passthrough (for Direct Play)?

The Roku Premiere + supports DTS audio passthrough which means that I can Direct Play my DTS 5.1 (codec dts) movies. :+1:

However, audio transcode occurs as follows:

  • DTS-HD MA 5.1 (codec DCA, profile ma) > Transcoding DCA to AC3
  • DTS-HD MA 7.1 (codec DCA, profile ma) > Transcoding DCA to AC3 (I lose 2 channels :-1: )
  • TrueHD 7.1 (codec TRUEHD) > Transcoding TRUEHD to EAC3 (a.k.a. Dolby Digital +; which supports all 8 channels)
    Nvidia Shield, PMP for Windows and Embedded PMP with proper hardware.
4

@Achilles said:

@leguelp said:
Is there a Plex app platform/device that supports DTS, DTS-HD MA 5.1/7.1, TrueHD 7.1 audio passthrough (for Direct Play)?

The Roku Premiere + supports DTS audio passthrough which means that I can Direct Play my DTS 5.1 (codec dts) movies. :+1:

However, audio transcode occurs as follows:

  • DTS-HD MA 5.1 (codec DCA, profile ma) > Transcoding DCA to AC3
  • DTS-HD MA 7.1 (codec DCA, profile ma) > Transcoding DCA to AC3 (I lose 2 channels :-1: )
  • TrueHD 7.1 (codec TRUEHD) > Transcoding TRUEHD to EAC3 (a.k.a. Dolby Digital +; which supports all 8 channels)
    Nvidia Shield, PMP for Windows and Embedded PMP with proper hardware.

Exactly, with ShieldTV being by far the best package for Plex usage at this time IMO. 4k HEVC HDR with HD audio with proper Netflix and Kodi support for under 200US$ is awesome.

5

@gdion said:

@leguelp said:

  • TrueHD 7.1 (codec TRUEHD) > Transcoding TRUEHD to EAC3 (a.k.a. Dolby Digital +; which supports all 8 channels)

Actually plex transcodes TrueHD 7.1 to EAC3 5.1 so you also lose 2 channels here :wink: . There is no 7.1 channels support for the audio transcoder yet.

Plex is indeed transcoding TrueHD 7.1 to EAC3 7.1. The Stream Info (in the Roku Plex client) indicates ‘Audio: convert (EAC3 7.1)’. My Denon receiver also indicates that my Audio Input Signal (from Roku; when I play a TrueHD7.1 movie) is Dolby Digital Plus, format 3/4/.1 (7.1).

It would be nice if Plex could also convert DTS-HD MA 7.1 (codec DCA, profile ma) to EAC3 7.1 !!!

1 Like
6

Thank you @Achilles and @KarlDag for your response about the NVIDIA Shield. I love my various Roku devices (especially their prices) but, I currently use the Roku Premiere+ in my home theatre and as I have realized, it not only forces my PMS to transcode the audio in cases I’ve listed above but, more importantly, in doing so, it downgrades the audio quality in some of those cases.