I’ve been able to find a few discussions about 5.1 audio, but they’re pretty old. I have sources of 5.1 audio that I can’t seem to organize as a music library to save my life. I have DVD-A discs. I have some Blu-Ray discs. I have some sets of both (Immersion Sets from Pink Floyd for example). Ripping’s not a problem, source format isn’t a problem, I just can’t seem to get any of them to work:
AC3 format can’t be read properly in a music library according to the PMS log (0 channels, no length, etc.)
WAV won’t play either.
MKA not even added to the library.
Is there a way to have a 5.1 music library without some workaround like an MKV without a video track in a Movie library? Seems that 5.1 music would be getting more and more prevalent and I don’t see a straightforward way to do this. If anyone else has had luck or if I’m just missing some key piece of documentation, please let me know! 
@bishopmw said:
I’ve been able to find a few discussions about 5.1 audio, but they’re pretty old.
Not much has changed since this thread
https://forums.plex.tv/discussion/comment/1108404/#Comment_1108404
WAV won’t play either.
Convert them into multi-channel Flacs (if the source is LPCM and lossless anyway. Otherwise leave them in DTS (‘naked’ or as MKA), which appears to be the most common format for multichannel music).
MKA not even added to the library.
I can’t confirm that. I just added an album in mka format.
The key is to name the files and to organise them strictly according to the guide, because Plex still doesn’t read any of the embedded metadata from MKA files
https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/200265296-Adding-Music-Media-From-Folders
Awesome, thanks for the help. It was the naming convention that got me. My MP3s are /Artist/Album/TrackNumber - TrackName.ext and I needed to follow the “standard” convention you linked to get these MKAs to show up and play. /Artist - Album/TrackNumber - TrackName.ext did the trick.
I haven’t messed with FLAC yet so no update there; the MKA should be “naked” DTS. It’s been a while, so I can’t even remember exactly how I did the rip.Think I just used MakeMKV to do the rip and MKVToolNix to split the chapters/tracks.
@bishopmw said:
I haven’t messed with FLAC yet so no update there;
the MKA should be “naked” DTS.
technically, a MKA file is a DTS audio stream in a Matroska container. So not naked.
I meant real ‘naked’ dts streams, without any container (using filename extension .dts). These work as well.
So I’m considering ripping my hi-rez multichannel media to HDD. Assume I know how to get my files in 5.1 24/88.2 FLAC…
What Plex players will support that format/resolution? Apple TV? Ideally with gapless playback.
5.1 flac in hires can be direct-played in Plex Web and PMP.
PMP also direct-plays DTS or AC3 surround music. (Plex Web only plays DTS transcoded to 5.1 AAC)
Maybe there are other clients as well, but I have no experience with those.
If you want also gapless (and loudness-matching on top) check out plexamp.
(Although it plays 5.1 flacs directly, it doesn’t play DTS files at the moment. This remains to be investigated and debugged.)
@OttoKerner said:
5.1 flac in hires can be direct-played in Plex Web and PMP.
PMP also direct-plays DTS or AC3 surround music. (Plex Web only plays DTS transcoded to 5.1 AAC)
Maybe there are other clients as well, but I have no experience with those.
If you want also gapless (and loudness-matching on top) check out plexamp.
(Although it plays 5.1 flacs directly, it doesn’t play DTS files at the moment. This remains to be investigated and debugged.)
Thanks. Yes, I do have Plexamp installed (works great!) on my Mac mini, which is my also Plex Server.
So, if I wanted to stream 5.1 FLACs into an appropriate A/V processor, is my best solution to run Plexamp on a laptop, and connect it to the A/V processor via HDMI?
@turns2stone said:
So, if I wanted to stream 5.1 FLACs into an appropriate A/V processor, is my best solution to run Plexamp on a laptop, and connect it to the A/V processor via HDMI?
I have no experience with Macs. You can certainly try that.
Plexamp (and PMP) will query the speaker configuration from your OS and adapt accordingly.
@OttoKerner said:
I have no experience with Macs. You can certainly try that.
Plexamp (and PMP) will query the speaker configuration from your OS and adapt accordingly.
Great, I will give that a shot!
Last (dumb) question: Can I put PMP on a Raspberry PI, and remotely control the output/playback via the Plex iOS app? Obviously I can easily playback audio via the app on my iPhone/iPad, but I never figured how to use the app to control the playback on another device/client. This is done all the time with Logitech Media Server/LMS + apps, if you’re familiar with that.
There is an edition of PMP for the Raspi 2 + 3, called ‘PMP embedded’
PMP supports PlexCompanion. https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/sections/200276908-Plex-Companion
^^ That is brilliant, thanks for the info. Looks like I have a new fun project to start this weekend 
I really enjoy Plex, and what you’ve showed me might be the final nail in the coffin for the Logitech Media Server setup I’ve been using for 10+ years.
Oops one more: I realize this isn’t a Plexamp discussion, but it appears you have to have the Plexamp app on the same machine that you run Plex Media Server? No way to have Plexamp on another PC, or outside of your local network?
@turns2stone said:
Oops one more: I realize this isn’t a Plexamp discussion, but it appears you have to have the Plexamp app on the same machine that you run Plex Media Server?
Certainly not. It is a regular Plex client. As such, it can be run on any machine, either within or outside of the local network where the server is running.
