I have been building out a collection of multichannel music. So far I have ripped SACDs to DSD files, I have ripped bluray and DVD to music to MKA files, both of which Plex will play with out issue. The problem is that I am unable to tag either of these file types, which makes it a bit more difficult to manage them in Plex. Is there a format that I can convert these files to and still retain all of the sound quality? I have some Atmos music on Bluray that I want to rip once I get this figured out.
Part 2
What methods to you all use for cataloging these in Plex? I have a couple albums where I have both the CD and the SACD surround version. Currently I have them as separate albums and one of them is tagged in the surround collection and the high res audio collection. I got to thinking that I might try adding the high res or surround files as a second disc in the same album. The issue is, the only way that I know how to do this is through tags, so this is one reason why figuring part 1 out would be nice.
Given that you can’t name the disc, I was thinking about putting the file format in the artist section in Plex. For high res only I might add the bitrate, etc.
Any thoughts or suggestions on any of this would be apprciated.
I convert SACD to 192kHz/24bit 2.0 or 5.1 FLAC. And then you must use an HTPC for playback (and set Windows to 192kHz/24bit 7.1 over HDMI, etc; don’t know re: macintosh) to expect that resolution (or to expect multichannel playback if 5.1). 192kHz/24bit is the max audio fidelity allowed in PLEX afaik.
I set the stereo album metadata to “Disc 01.”
I set the Surround album metadata exactly same but “Disc 02”.
I create a “Stereo” folder and “Surround” folder within the album folder.
I tell Plex to prioritize metadata in the library.
In my experience, the audio quality of converted DSD files is worse than native PCM data. If you cannot bitstream the DSD data to a DAC which has support for DSD, it becomes pointless IMHO.
I wanted the ability to see quickly whether I have a surround mix of an album or not. Moving the surround versions into a separate disc of the same album doesn’t appeal to me. It would at least require to change all the track titles to include the channel number, or the term “surround”.
So far, my workaround is to create a separate album for the surround mix. I use the album title tag to denote the multi-channel. Which also allows you to create a collection which holds all the surround albums.
And yes, enabling “prefer local metatags” is crucial.
But I also have to say that this only works with 5.1 lossless mixes.
If we are talking Atmos or DTS / AC3 formats, I haven’t found a better solution than storing the whole album as a contiguous video.
(with properly labeled chapter markers to enable jumping to tracks)
I know this is not ideal, but it was for me the only viable way to at least get to hear these sound formats in Plex.
To do it “right”, it would at least require the presence of a proper Atmos decoder in Plex and/or support for the AC3 / DTS codecs in Plexamp.
Plus the ability to read metadata from mka files.
I just did some testing and… you are right. I have a bluray audio disc with Atmos that I ripped to MKV with only the Atmos track. If I extract the audio to an MKA file and split them by chapter (don’t think this part matters), plex will direct stream the audio but for some reason the Apple TV only presents stereo to the receiver. If I add the full MKV and play the video, plex handles the audio the way it normally would, by transcoding to 7.1 channel FLAC which sounds much better, obviously.
As far as DSF (I misspoke earlier, they are not DSD) files, these are direct streamed to the Apple TV and seem to play just fine. They sound great.
I did also find another app that would allow me to edit tags on the MKA files, but it does not appear that Plex reads them.
It isn’t just the AppleTV that downmixes to Stereo, Plex does that on the NVIDIA Shield as well.
What we need from Plex is for them to enable the Audio player to pass Atmos (TrueHD, eAC3 JOC, or eAC4 JOC). In my office I use JRiver Media Center for my music playback and it passes Atmos just fine from MKA and M4A files.
I don’t want to have to store all my Atmos music twice on the server, once as MKV albums and again as MKA tracks. If Plex would just fix this one little thing I wouldn’t have to. Plus, let’s be honest, playing music by track is a far better experience than opening an album “video” - which may have just a black screen (about a dozen of my Atmos albums are like this) - then navigating by chapter to the song you want. Makes for a much slower and cumbersome music playing experience.
Quick update. I found that this works in Emby, at least with the NVIDIA Shield. So now I’m using Plex for streaming my movies and television shows and Emby for streaming my music.
Honestly, I’d much rather use Plex for everything as I prefer the way Plex shows the music library, but since Atmos doesn’t pass (and multichannel FLAC is flaky), I’m forced to use both systems.
Plex engineers/product managers: please prioritize this! Atmos audio is already a very big thing in the music industry and, per friends at Dolby, is going to get a lot bigger next year. Would be so nice if Plex could fix this support problem.
I have been using Plex for multichannel music for years. I have Atmos blu rays, the old DTS 96/24 and Dolby Digital DVD’s and coverted SACD’s and all were played via a Nvidia Sheild (I used to use a Roku Premiere as I only had DTS & DD DVD’s at the time). I then found a way to convert my multi channel SACD’s (Depeche Mode and Genesis SACD and DVD boxsets) to DTS-HD Master Audio (there are guides online) and I then just MKVToolnix muxed them to the original video slideshows that were on the DVD. For my other SACD’s I created a slideshow and again muxed the audio to the video and added chapters. I then went onto Atmos Blu Ray’s (Beatles, Tears For Fears etc) and ripped them to MKV files.
In plex I have a 5.1/Atmos library where all my files are easily accessible although it is a manual process. It would be nice if Plex has a feature that could get info from sites like Musicbrainz or Discogs.
