I’ve just finished ripping a few hundred DVDs to MKV files and have now started on my Blu-Ray collection. However, on playing the Revenant as a test, the audio quality is poor.
I’m using my PS4 for playback at the moment, through which the audio is crystal clear if I put the Blu-Ray directly in the drive… but when I play using the Plex app the audio sounds badly compressed, to the point that I can’t really put up with it.
Digging around in the Plex docs, there’s a note hidden right at the bottom of this which suggests DTS isn’t supported on PS4 - bummer. But why is the AAC conversion so poor? I’ve tried to check every setting but can’t find anything to point to the source of the problem:
- In the PS4 audio settings ‘Volume Boost’ is turned off, as is ‘Dolby Digital (AC3)’
- Once the film is playing, the audio track selected is “English (DTS 7.1)”
- In the server’s ‘Now Playing’ tab it shows the video track as “Direct Stream” but the audio as “Transcode (AAC)”
- In the server’s ‘Transcoder’ settings page, ‘Transcoder Quality’ is set to “Make My CPU Hurt”
- My Denon receiver shows that the audio format being received from the PS4 is DTS
- The server is a brand new Dell PowerEdge T20-3708 with a 3.2GHz quad core Xeon, so processing power is not an issue.
Is there something I’m missing? Or is the PS4 simply not a good device for Plex playback?
In which case, what is the best client device for DTS-HD pass-through to my receiver?
The PS4’s app doesn’t have access to many codecs, tough the ps4 itself supports them… Dts is not supported, so it gets transcoded (same for HD audio formats).
That said, I, too, have noticed that the PS4 will output the then created aac/lcpm/whatever they transcode to audio stream as DTS on my avr… Which leads me to believe that the device itself retranscodes to DTS (which is probably what you have it set at in the settings for games).
Sony simply didn’t give Plex very good tools to work with on their platform.
As for a good client for HD audio, the Nvidia Shield is my choice. Plays most formats without a problem. Otherwise, HTPC is usually the most powerful playback option. I also hear good things about Raspberry Pis, but never used them… And I believe they use a port of Plex Home Theater
Thanks for the reply.
I wouldn’t mind the transcoding so much if the quality were better. Is there any way to improve it?
I will get a set top box type device soon to go with my new 4k tv. I considered the Shield but it seems like overkill given that I won’t be using the gaming features. Roku 4 is my preferred option at the mo - any idea whether tit will do DTS-HD pass-through?
I’m amazed by how little info there seems to be on device support for Plex playback (e.g. like this on Netflix: https://help.netflix.com/en/node/13444) other than anecdotal stuff on Reddit etc.
@chasmith said:
Thanks for the reply.
I wouldn’t mind the transcoding so much if the quality were better. Is there any way to improve it?
I will get a set top box type device soon to go with my new 4k tv. I considered the Shield but it seems like overkill given that I won’t be using the gaming features. Roku 4 is my preferred option at the mo - any idea whether tit will do DTS-HD pass-through?
I’m amazed by how little info there seems to be on device support for Plex playback (e.g. like this on Netflix: How to get the best video quality) other than anecdotal stuff on Reddit etc.
Here are the supported formats by Roku. I know a similar list exists in Plex support, but I can’t find it. I’m pretty sure it can’t do HD audio. I don’t own Rokus BTW
I’ve ripped my blu-rays using DVDFAB’s MKV or MP4 Passthrough settings and the sound quality has been great when streamed through my PS4. I’m not 100% sure whether the PS4 is outputting the sound in HD audio or whether it’s being transcoded to a lower quality but it’s really clear. The amp is just showing PCM on the display reflecting what the PS4 is set to.
@KarlDag said:
The PS4’s app doesn’t have access to many codecs, tough the ps4 itself supports them… Dts is not supported, so it gets transcoded (same for HD audio formats).
That said, I, too, have noticed that the PS4 will output the then created aac/lcpm/whatever they transcode to audio stream as DTS on my avr… Which leads me to believe that the device itself retranscodes to DTS (which is probably what you have it set at in the settings for games).
Sony simply didn’t give Plex very good tools to work with on their platform.
As for a good client for HD audio, the Nvidia Shield is my choice. Plays most formats without a problem. Otherwise, HTPC is usually the most powerful playback option. I also hear good things about Raspberry Pis, but never used them… And I believe they use a port of Plex Home Theater
Just to follow up on this for the reference of others, I couldn’t get the audio sounding decent on PS4 no matter what I tried, so I stumped up for an NVIDIA Shield - it’s been flawless, and I’ve not looked back.
