High bitrate EAC3 audio stutters if transcoded by Linux PMS

Plex Media Server
22

PMS 1.29.1.6316 installed, issue still there. This is just ridiculous.

23

Is this issue ever going to be fixed? It is frankly unacceptable.

24

ANY NEWS ON THIS? More than 4 months and not a single fix.

25

I’ve pushed on this as hard and frequently as I can.

There is no motion by engineering on it.

26

I would just like to add that I’m running the latest 1.30.x release on Synology (non-Docker) with HDR and HW transcoding. These files seem to play fine on my home network and TV, but now that I’m away from home in another state, I can’t watch anything that I’ve encoded with EAC3 1,536k bitrate… which was anything that didn’t have a AC3 soundtrack. This happens in web browser, plex App on PC, Android Plex app and iPhone Plex app. I’ve got no problem re-muxing everything to AC3, but the idea of 1,536 EAC3 was to maintain quality, not that I’m an audiophile.

27

Any update on this would be nice.

28

PMS 1.30.1 fixed this but, as you might have seen, has other issues with Nvidia cards.

If you’re not using Nvidia GPUs, go for it.

29

Well, I asked because it didn’t. 1.30.1.6562 didn’t fix anything sadly.

Plex Media Server Logs_2023-01-15_20-07-22.zip (363.0 KB)

30

You can hear the difference with an iPhone with Airpods? I must be deaf.

I don’t understand how. Please explain?

31

For me, personally, the bitrate of 1,536 was observed almost as a standard for EAC3 from a little research. Kind of like 640 AC3 is a high quality standard for that type. I stated “not that I’m an audiophile” because even with my Bose QC45 on I can’t tell a difference between 1536 EAC3 and 640 AC3. After 20+ years on military flight lines my hearing is pretty much going the same way as my almost 50 year old eyes.

It’s actually a moot point now (again, just for me) because I went ahead and converted all the audio tracks of all my movies from 1536 EAC3 to 640 AC3, and am now just passing through the original AC3 or DTS soundtracks from any new content.

Believe me when I say I am not trying to start yet another “what’s the best codec” war! I actually couldn’t care less… I just want something that will play regardless of whether it’s on a LG C1, Roku, Apple TV, iPad, iPhone, PC or MacBook. I think AC3 and DTS will be just fine for that and stand the test of time.

Edited: Wanted to add a hearty “Thank You” for all the replies you’ve given me and so many others on this and many other topics.

32

I also have a LG C1 and, for as much as I love the image it creates, it’s limited.
“A smart tv is only smart the day you take it out of the box”. My 2022 C1 is no exception.

I opted for the $59 HDMI device to plug in and let it do the work.

  1. The device is updated more frequently by the manufactuer
  2. The Plex app is updated very frequently.

With all the crazy audio I have, I don’t hear any issues.

33

Any update?

34

None at this time.

35

News?

36

Any news? 7 months so far and not a single fix was given.

1 Like
37

Seriously, is anyone at Plex working to fix this issue or not???

2 Likes
38

Version 1.31.1.6782 did not solve this issue.

39

I’m having this issue in PMS on unraid using the latest official release. I’m using a 12400 and have no issues with anything else. Just EAC3 audio files. I updated my inotify numbers and it didn’t help.

1 Like
40

Having the same issue with EAC3 5.1 audio transcodes for months. I’m also on Debian, version 1.31.1.6782. Audio “chops” back and forth every ~100ms or so.

1 Like
41

Version 1.31.2.6810 did not solve this issue.