I have been starting to burn old DVD's (not blu rays yet) and using either MakeMKV or DVD Decrypter and then using Handbrake to reduce the file size. Without messing with the settings and just using the high profile setting in Handbrake, I notice it automatically adds two audio tracks with 2 different codecs: AAC with 160 bitrate and AC3 passthru. From trying to figure out what those codecs mean on my own, it is my understanding that it is just a compatibility issue where one is more widely compatible than the other. Could someone just explain if one should be used over the other? I know when I use both, it just gives you the option to choose one or the other in Plex. Any input on which audio tracks to use would be helpful. Thank you.
You figured it out correctly.
Keep in mind that the AAC track is stereo only, while AC3 is mostly 5.1 (depends on the source DVD).
Plex uses the first audio track by default. So without explicitly selecting the AC3 audio, you would always hear the stereo audio in all clients.
You can choose to leave the AAC audio out.
Then Plex Server will transcode the AC3 audio into AAC stereo with every playback unless the client supports AC3.
It is mostly a matter of personal preference and what your primarily used clients are. If you only watch movies on mobile phone or tablet, keeping the AAC track makes sense.
If you have a genuine Home Theater with surround sound system and you primarily watch on this, then you probably want the AC3 as default.
I am streaming through a home theater system for now but maybe someday I will use my phone or tablet too. If I switch the order of them in Handbrake so the AC3 is listed first, would it automatically default to that when I play it at home, or am I better just leaving AAC out? And do I want just AC3 or AC3 passthru?
I am streaming through a home theater system for now but maybe someday I will use my phone or tablet too. If I switch the order of them in Handbrake so the AC3 is listed first, would it automatically default to that when I play it at home, or am I better just leaving AAC out?
As I said, this is mostly a matter of personal preference.
And do I want just AC3 or AC3 passthru?
Passthrough. The other option would unnecessarily transcode the original AC3 audio to AC3 with added loss in fidelity. :-)
Thank you so much. Sorry if I misunderstood, but please confirm that whichever codec is listed first in Handbrake, is that the one that will be first in Plex? And since you seem so knowledgeable about this, any advice on the rest of the Handbrake settings, especially the video? I just tried the default and it seems fine but if there is anything else you recommend (again for playing this on a home theater system) feel free to say.
Yes the audio tracks will appear in the same order as you set them in handbrake.
take the 'high profile' as basis.
'Filters' tab
- set everything to 'Off' when source BluRay
- when souce DVD, set 'Decomb' to 'Default'
'Video' tab
- set 'H.264 Level' to the highest your client devices can handle. PHT can handle everything. If you use Android clients or others you should probably not go over '4.2'
- Slide 'constant quality' to 16 for exceptional high quality (if you use a giant 4K TV or a full HD beamer)
If your screen is smaller or you are short on storage space go to 18
- if you set 'x264 Preset' to 'Slow' or 'slower' you can make the files a bit smaller by investing more time for the encoding process (while retaining the same quality)
This is a starter. All other parameters you should read up about yourself. There is no universally valid set of parameters.
Equip yourself with mkvmergeGUI. It allows you to change the order of tracks without encoding it anew.
You can also quickly combine the output of handbrake with the original audio and subtitle tracks from makemkv.
I appreciate your help. I guess it gets confusing since there is no universal best setting. Just like I hopefully learned correctly that there really is no better choice between mp4 and mkv as they are just containers and again it’s a compatibility preference. I will start with what you suggested and read up on the rest as I go. Thanks again.
Sorry to bring this old conversation up again but it’s the first one that brought an understandable explanation without reading trough pages and pages of “professionals” talking about the topic.
One thing I saw is when I convert my old Mini DV stuff over with Handbreak on the High Profile and leave everything on standard (except deinterlacing, I use the Bob method for that) that it does indeed add 2 audio tracks. When I play it in VLC tho it offers me a “Track 1” and 2 Stereo audio tracks for some reason. Is this normal? Medainfo still shows only 2 audio tracks.
I can’t speak to your audio issue not being there to see what your source looks like, but in the Filters Tab in Handbrake (for DVD material) if you set Detelicine to Default and Deinterlace to Decomb/Default also you can basically leave it right there. When Handbrake detects either Telecine or Combing Artifacts from Interlacing the filters kick in. When there are no artifacts they do nothing.
Of the thousands of DVD Handbrake jobs I have done with the above settings I have NEVER seen a single combing artifact. For a while I tried to turn those features on and off as needed, but it’s maddening when 1 DVD episode on the disc is Interlaced and the other 3 are Progressive. I gave up on that quickly and just left the filters on. Issue averted.
I never use more than 4.1 on anything. It better fits my client devices. I always use the Advanced Tab, variable framerate, SAS (same as source) and a set bit rate for differing sources. DVD black and white gets 1500Kbps (my eyes stop seeing improvements above that rate), 1600 for DVD color, 1800-2000 for 720p (after a preview or two) and 2200-3900 for 1080p depending on what the source looks like and how ‘important’ it is to me. YMMV.
Yea, my 1080p copy of Casablanca (1942) runs out at 8500Kbps - and that is absolutely overkill, but… it’s Casablanca!
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