I’m a new Plex users, and have recently converted my DVD collection to MP4 with 5.1 sound. I have found that when I launch Plex on my PS4, it seems to default all movies to stereo only. When I am in the movie, I can bring up the popup menu at the bottom, click the settings icon (the three bars), and there I can select 5.1 sound.
Is there anywhere on the Plex app that I can make this my default setting?
Is the first audio track in your MP4 a two channel track? I’ve found that the first track is the default track, so it seems like that might your issue.
@kegobeer-plex said:
Is the first audio track in your MP4 a two channel track? I’ve found that the first track is the default track, so it seems like that might your issue.
I have no idea. I actually didn’t know there was an order to the audio tracks. How do I check this?
I believe you can use mediainfo to check the file, and you might be able to use the xml file that Plex generates to see what the order of the tracks looks like.
https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/201998867-Investigate-Media-Information-and-Formats
I installed mediainfo, here is an example of one of my files. How should do things differently?
General
Complete name : H:\MP4 Movies\300.mp4
Format : MPEG-4
Format profile : Base Media / Version 2
Codec ID : mp42 (isom/iso2/avc1/mp41)
File size : 1.09 GiB
Duration : 1h 56mn
Overall bit rate mode : Variable
Overall bit rate : 1 339 Kbps
Encoded date : UTC 2036-02-06 06:28:16
Tagged date : UTC 2036-02-06 06:28:16
Writing application : HandBrake 0.10.2 2015060900
Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : High@L3
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 4 frames
Codec ID : avc1
Codec ID/Info : Advanced Video Coding
Duration : 1h 56mn
Source duration : 1h 56mn
Bit rate : 947 Kbps
Width : 720 pixels
Height : 308 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 2.35:1
Frame rate mode : Variable
Frame rate : 29.970 fps
Minimum frame rate : 14.985 fps
Maximum frame rate : 29.970 fps
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.142
Stream size : 789 MiB (71%)
Source stream size : 789 MiB (71%)
Writing library : x264 core 142 r2479 dd79a61
Encoding settings : cabac=1 / ref=3 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x3:0x113 / me=hex / subme=7 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.00:0.00 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=1 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=12 / lookahead_threads=2 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / bluray_compat=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=2 / b_adapt=1 / b_bias=0 / direct=1 / weightb=1 / open_gop=0 / weightp=2 / keyint=300 / keyint_min=30 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=40 / rc=crf / mbtree=1 / crf=20.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=0 / qpmax=69 / qpstep=4 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00
Encoded date : UTC 2036-02-06 06:28:16
Tagged date : UTC 2036-02-06 06:28:16
Color range : Limited
Color primaries : BT.601 NTSC
Transfer characteristics : BT.709
Matrix coefficients : BT.601
Menus : 4
Audio #1
ID : 2
Format : AAC
Format/Info : Advanced Audio Codec
Format profile : LC
Codec ID : 40
Duration : 1h 56mn
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 192 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Channel positions : Front: L R
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Frame rate : 46.875 fps (1024 spf)
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 160 MiB (14%)
Title : Stereo / Stereo
Language : English
Default : Yes
Alternate group : 1
Encoded date : UTC 2036-02-06 06:28:16
Tagged date : UTC 2036-02-06 06:28:16
Menus : 4
Audio #2
ID : 3
Format : AC-3
Format/Info : Audio Coding 3
Mode extension : CM (complete main)
Format settings, Endianness : Big
Codec ID : ac-3
Duration : 1h 56mn
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 192 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Channel positions : Front: L R
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Frame rate : 31.250 fps (1536 spf)
Bit depth : 16 bits
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 160 MiB (14%)
Title : Stereo / Stereo
Language : English
Default : No
Alternate group : 1
Encoded date : UTC 2036-02-06 06:28:16
Tagged date : UTC 2036-02-06 06:28:16
Menus : 4
Menu
ID : 4
Codec ID : text
Duration : 1h 56mn
Language : English
Encoded date : UTC 2036-02-06 06:28:16
Tagged date : UTC 2036-02-06 06:28:16
Menu For : 1,2,3
00:00:00.000 : Chapter 1
00:09:03.243 : Chapter 2
00:18:56.836 : Chapter 3
00:28:28.907 : Chapter 4
00:37:30.448 : Chapter 5
00:47:48.566 : Chapter 6
00:55:39.536 : Chapter 7
01:04:25.995 : Chapter 8
01:12:36.485 : Chapter 9
01:24:30.198 : Chapter 10
01:32:28.676 : Chapter 11
01:43:33.340 : Chapter 12
Bit rate mode : VBR
In Handbrake you should select the 5.1 audio track as the first source. It looks like you have a two channel track selected for the first track.
@kegobeer-plex said:
In Handbrake you should select the 5.1 audio track as the first source. It looks like you have a two channel track selected for the first track.
Is there any reason why I should even include the stereo track at all? If I later play an mp4 that only has the 5.1 track on a system that is only in stereo, will it convert the 5.1 to stereo? I ask this as I was using one of Handbrakes default settings, but am not sure it is needed.
@eahansen2112 said:
@kegobeer-plex said:
In Handbrake you should select the 5.1 audio track as the first source. It looks like you have a two channel track selected for the first track.Is there any reason why I should even include the stereo track at all? If I later play an mp4 that only has the 5.1 track on a system that is only in stereo, will it convert the 5.1 to stereo? I ask this as I was using one of Handbrakes default settings, but am not sure it is needed.
You include an AAC/MP3 stereo track if you want to avoid transcoding to AC3 incapable devices. If you include only an AC3 audio track it will have to transcode for those aforementioned devices. Depends on what your PMS is hosted on. Audio transcoding is not nearly as cpu taxing as the video. I’m not sure how much but maybe someone else can share their knowledge on that subject matter.
Thanks for your help, this is all new to me. Can I assume that if I create my MP4’s with the 5.1 channel first, that they will play in 5.1 on a 5.1 device, but if I stream to a stereo device, the audio will default to stereo without having to transcode?
No it has to be selected otherwise the default will be 5.1 and get transcoded by non AC3 capable devices
After trying a few different codecs I was able to get it to work fine. Thanks for your help!
