Hello, I’ve been converting a lot of my movie/TV discs to my Terramaster NAS. Sadly for a while on some of the files, the centre channel comes out the left front speaker. I use DVDfab to convert them, I try audio pass through, selecting dts 5.1, eac3 but for certain things the audio is always wrong.
It does this either playing plex on my Hisense TV or using the Nvidia Shield TV Pro, which is also the server. My Sony amp can output all modern audio to 7.2.
It’s strange as some files are OK but quite a few aren’t, even after trying with multiple reconverted files. Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks, Paul.
It could be several things. The source material could be wrong or have the channel layout mapped incorrectly. It could be the software you’re using to convert things. There might be a audio format or channel layout that Plex is misidentifying.
FWIW, I’ve not noticed any issues with my Shield and the usual 5.1/7.1 audio formats (AC3/EAC3/TrueHD/dts/PCM).
You might try using MakeMKV to rip DVDs and Blu-ray discs. It rips the media unchanged. It does not transcode the video or audio.
MediaInfo is a good analysis tool. Among other things, it shows the channel layout for audio tracks.
Handbrake and X Media Recode are good, free tools for transcoding. X Media Recode can passthrough video if you do not want it transcoded.
Here’s some channel check videos I’ve collected over the years. You can use them to verify your Plex clients, audio equipment, etc. are processing things correctly (they’ll direct play on your Shield).
Never used DVDfab, but if you’re passing through audio not sure why you’d need to select anything.
As suggested above use MakeMKV then test with that file. If it works use handbreak to transcode if you’re looking for smaller files and test again. If that works, could be a bug in DVDfab or a misunderstanding of the settings.
MakeMKV is free while it’s in beta, this is the link to the key.
I also like mediainfo to see the channel layout for a video:
Here’s a DTS layout
And here’s AC3, EAC3, and DDP w/Atmos
And Dolby TrueHD w/Dolby Atmos
Also knowing the common names of layouts that mpv uses in
Plex for Mac, Windows, Linux
Plex HTPC for Mac, Windows
is fun. It turns out mpv help will list them.
$ mpv --audio-channels=help
Speakers:
fl (front left)
fr (front right)
fc (front center)
lfe (low frequency)
bl (back left)
br (back right)
flc (front left-of-center)
frc (front right-of-center)
bc (back center)
sl (side left)
sr (side right)
tc (top center)
tfl (top front left)
tfc (top front center)
tfr (top front right)
tbl (top back left)
tbc (top back center)
tbr (top back right)
dl (downmix left)
dr (downmix right)
wl (wide left)
wr (wide right)
sdl (surround direct left)
sdr (surround direct right)
lfe2 (low frequency 2)
tsl (top side left)
tsr (top side right)
bfc (bottom front center)
bfl (bottom front left)
bfr (bottom front right)
na (not available)
Standard layouts:
empty ()
mono (fc)
1.0 (fc)
stereo (fl-fr)
2.0 (fl-fr)
2.1 (fl-fr-lfe)
3.0 (fl-fr-fc)
3.0(back) (fl-fr-bc)
4.0 (fl-fr-fc-bc)
quad (fl-fr-bl-br)
quad(side) (fl-fr-sl-sr)
3.1 (fl-fr-fc-lfe)
3.1(back) (fl-fr-lfe-bc)
5.0 (fl-fr-fc-bl-br)
5.0(alsa) (fl-fr-bl-br-fc)
5.0(side) (fl-fr-fc-sl-sr)
4.1 (fl-fr-fc-lfe-bc)
4.1(alsa) (fl-fr-bl-br-lfe)
5.1 (fl-fr-fc-lfe-bl-br)
5.1(alsa) (fl-fr-bl-br-fc-lfe)
5.1(side) (fl-fr-fc-lfe-sl-sr)
6.0 (fl-fr-fc-bc-sl-sr)
6.0(front) (fl-fr-flc-frc-sl-sr)
hexagonal (fl-fr-fc-bl-br-bc)
6.1 (fl-fr-fc-lfe-bc-sl-sr)
6.1(back) (fl-fr-fc-lfe-bl-br-bc)
6.1(top) (fl-fr-fc-lfe-bl-br-tc)
6.1(front) (fl-fr-lfe-flc-frc-sl-sr)
7.0 (fl-fr-fc-bl-br-sl-sr)
7.0(front) (fl-fr-fc-flc-frc-sl-sr)
7.0(rear) (fl-fr-fc-bl-br-sdl-sdr)
7.1 (fl-fr-fc-lfe-bl-br-sl-sr)
7.1(alsa) (fl-fr-bl-br-fc-lfe-sl-sr)
7.1(wide) (fl-fr-fc-lfe-bl-br-flc-frc)
7.1(wide-side) (fl-fr-fc-lfe-flc-frc-sl-sr)
7.1(top) (fl-fr-fc-lfe-bl-br-tfl-tfr)
7.1(rear) (fl-fr-fc-lfe-bl-br-sdl-sdr)
octagonal (fl-fr-fc-bl-br-bc-sl-sr)
cube (fl-fr-bl-br-tfl-tfr-tbl-tbr)
hexadecagonal (fl-fr-fc-bl-br-bc-sl-sr-tfc-tfl-tfr-tbl-tbc-tbr-wl-wr)
downmix (fl-fr)
22.2 (fl-fr-fc-lfe-bl-br-flc-frc-bc-sl-sr-tc-tfl-tfc-tfr-tbl-tbc-tbr-lfe2-tsl-tsr-bfc-bfl-bfr)
auto ()
We can see how DTS is unlike others, at least in the films I inspected. Those go back 10+ years when they were ripped. I figure Plex remaps these but never took a close look at the logs to see.
So I’ve done some testing, MakeMKV seems ok for transferring the video and the audio seems ok on Plex, it does sometimes not display correctly on plex but it does passthrough ok. Plex may say its PCM5.1 when it outputs as DTS-HD MA 5.1.
If possible id like to convert it to a smaller mp4. I had thought of handbreak as the other DVDfab software for doing that isn’t passing through the audio like i tell it too. I’ve given feedback to them about it.
Unless there is something different, handbreak has loads of options, but if anyone has some good settings to balance quality/size with either audio passthrough or a similar 5.1/7.1 encode, i would be very grateful.
Use MediaInfo to examine the audio track codec and label.
MakeMKV does not modify/transcode the audio format. It applies generic track titles such as “Surround 5.1” and “Stereo” (which, if desired, you can change before ripping).
Use MKVToolNix Header Editor to modify track names, etc. if needed.
Consider using the MKV container. It is not as restrictive as the MP4 container for audio & subtitle formats.
Regarding Handbrake, find a preset that you like. Transcode a 5 - 10 minute segment of the same movie/show using various presets, then compare them (play with VLC on your PC or put in a “other videos” library in Plex). If you tweak it a bit, then you can save it as your own preset.
There is no right or wrong, just what works best for you.
Personally, I started with the H.265 MKV 2160p60 4K preset then changed it a bit. I make sure the subtitles and audio are passed, not converted. I set the video framerate and color range to Same as Source. I use H.265 for SDR video, not H.265 10-bit. Also, I only enable deinterlacing if transcoding interlaced video instead of letting Handbrake auto-detect it.
Is it the best? Probably not, but it works for me.
So I have been testing again, I’ve been trying mkv files, i’ve been used to doing mp4 but actually mkv has offered more scope. Quite a few of my issues have been fixed I think. even though my tv may not output the TrueHD properly on plex, it says its Dolby Digital, but if I play it from my Shield TV Pro, which passes through my tv for sound, it plays perfect. That i’m ok with, on last thing, subtitles.
If i have forced subs, and i want them to display from the start, if I used MKVToolNix and set the “Forced Subs“ flag to yes, would that make it to be shown automatically or is it just an identifier? Thanks for your help.
No TV supports TrueHD passthrough from TV based apps. Plex Media Server will transcode it to a supported format.
Some TVs support TrueHD passthrough from devices attached to an HDMI input. HDMI-eARC between the TV and audio gear is also required.
Yes. Plex honors the forced flag for subtitles.
The language tag must be set correctly for the audio and subtitle tracks.
Plex will default to the forced subtitle that matches your language settings.
Plex remembers subtitle settings. If you change to a different subtitle, then Plex will remember that choice the next time you play the same file. It will not automatically return to forced.
Your language settings must also be configured in your account settings.
