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Dickbryant

This is a basic dumb newby question, but please HELP. I’m at my wit’s end. How do I get a lossless audio stream to my high-end Marantz receiver? I’m sending the mkv file verified with DTS Master HD from the Emby server on a high-powered Win 10 desktop. I’ve read the Roku client app won’t pass through a lossless stream. So I’m using a new Xbox One/s with Emby Theater connected to the Marantz via HDMI and receiving the served file via fast wi-fi. But I only get lossy DTS. Oh, and I have the Xbox set to output bitstream audio in DTS.

Can someone tell me how to get lossless audio to the Marantz either with this setup or some other client device? Ive researched this every way I know how and am about to just give up.

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Hi, unfortunately Microsoft is currently not allowing all third party apps to use hd audio pass through on the Xbox one.

 

It should work on Roku though if connected via HDMI. Is that correct @@speechles?

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The Roku unfortunately does not support HD audio of any sort. The only thing close is E-AC3 (dolby digital +) with ATMOS metadata passed with it. The Roku supports this and it is the best you can do with Roku for HD audio. We can only pass-through AC3 and DTS core audio. There is a firmware issue with the Roku regarding DTS master audio and the Roku refuses to extract the DTS core audio. We work around this by transcoding DTS master audio to AC3. This is the best we can do with what we are working with.

 

See here: https://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=174998

Edited by speechles
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Quick question on a similar topic: does the LG TV app extract the core from a DTS HD-MA track?

Yes

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The are a few topics in the LG forum around TrueHD and lossless HD audio. Without eArc which requires HDMI 2.1 support, this is not really possible if your want to send from the TV to the receiver

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@@Luke you are correct.  I stand corrected. :)

 

Roku Ultra (model #4660/#4661) does support pass-through of DTS-HD MA. Roku Ultra (model #4640) does not nor do any other Roku models.

 

The way we read capabilities in the app any models that support pass-through of DTS-HD MA will immediately benefit. That is the beauty of reading all capabilities from the device is we adapt immediately without having to do anything.

 

I personally guarantee the present Emby app on a Roku Ultra (model #4660/#4661) will pass-through lossless DTS-HD MA. The future is now.

 

Edit: Appears Roku also added support for True-HD to the same Roku Ultra models above. We will be adding support for this immediately and I have changes for this submitted and pending. So the answer is YES. The Roku Ultra #4660/#4661 will pass-through lossless audio in both DTS-HD MA and True-HD when using the Emby Roku app. Stay tuned... :)

Edited by speechles
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WiteWulf

Thanks for the feedback re. DTS-HD MA on LG. I was aware that HD formats couldn’t be forwarded via Arc so was curious as to whether a) the TV could parse the core and output that via Arc (it does, yay), and B) I needed to sit manually on all my media with only DTS-HD MA audio tracks to avoid server-side transcoding and loss of 4k/HDR (I don’t, also yay!)

 

It’s a shame that most 4k media comes with a pair of TrueHD and AC3 streams, as I find myself stripping out the TrueHD stream to save on storage space and bandwidth. DTS-HD MA is a far more elegant solution, imho.

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Dickbryant

Hey thanks everyone.

So to sum this up, the ONLY WAY to get lossless audio on my high-end component system is with the newest models of Roku Ultra. Is this correct? There aren’t any other client devices like Xbox that support HD audio pass-through.

 

Also, does the new Roku require Emby Premiere/Theater to do this or just the basic Emby client?

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Hey thanks everyone.

So to sum this up, the ONLY WAY to get lossless audio on my high-end component system is with the newest models of Roku Ultra. Is this correct? There aren’t any other client devices like Xbox that support HD audio pass-through.

 

Also, does the new Roku require Emby Premiere/Theater to do this or just the basic Emby client?

 

Roku ultra (model #4660 or model #4661) will support your HD audio pass-through, yes. I will be buying one of these new Roku ultra models today and using it to get True-HD pass-through support into the app. It doesn't require Emby Premiere to do this. You will need to use the BETA of the Roku app once I finalize this addition, pass it off to the rest of the team, and they put it in the app. This addition should be able to get pushed through to BETA very quickly. We want you to be happy. :)

Edited by speechles
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Jdiesel

Dang now I regret getting a Premiere+ over the Ultra. At the time the Ultra didn't offer anything extra that interested me 

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Yes, according to Roku the newest 9.0 firmware version on Roku ultra model #4660 and #4661 include both DTS-HD MA and True-HD lossless audio support. I just bought one of these models literally a half hour ago. Support for DTS-HD MA should already be in the app. The True-HD detection is missing in the app presently which is why I bought one of these devices so I can add that detection. I should have changes submitted today that allow for True-HD now that I have this model to test with.

Edited by speechles
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Dickbryant

Thanks Speechless. This is the best response I’ve ever gotten from any forum.

While you’re at it with the Roku, a kind of big difference I noticed between the current Roku client and the Xbox Emby theater is that the Roku app won’t let me turn off embedded subtitles, while the Xbox theater version will. Might be nice to have theater for Roku along with the free app.

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Reporting back. This device is much faster than the older Roku ultra. But.. this firmware it is on is quite buggy. So far when using input to change back to the Roku I've lost connection with the remote numerous times, and it also just locks up the device entirely and hangs. Never had this behavior on the older Roku ultra. So it seems this new #4660 I have is what Roku is using as the guinea pig for their firmware updates. You get the good, bad and ugly.. lol. This new model #4660 has an IR transmitter as well as Wifi Direct. So this will turn on/off your TV and control volume if your TV doesn't support HDMI-CEC. Mine doesn't so this is a nice benefit. :)

 

But it seems TrueHD may not actually be supported, but is converted on the device into Dolby Digital+ in 7.1. It seriously looks this way. I have a thread on Roku forums where I am attempting to learn more about this from the exact same Roku employee who mentioned TrueHD is supported on the Roku ultra #4660. The #4661 is only a model number on the box, includes JBL headphones, and is model #4660 when reading deviceinfo.

 

https://forums.roku.com/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=103315&p=629556#p629556

 

Follow along at the URL above. Waiting on a response.

Edited by speechles
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Dickbryant

Thanks for the update speechless. Did you confirm whether it supports DTS Master HD or is it the same problem?

 

So far, getting lossless soundtracks has been far and away the hardest and most frustrating thing about setting up my HTPC. With Emby everything else is super easy. You have a great, straightforward, intuitive interface. But the audio component is frustrating as hell because of the dependency on the client device. I’ve been working on this off and on for about 3 years. Of all the research I’ve done, I’ve made more headway by creating this forum 3 days ago and with your quick responses than in the past three years. So thanks for that.

 

For everyone else in this small group of us who actually care about the sound in what we watch, it looks like the Emby platform is our only hope. I’ve considered the option of connecting a dedicated HTPC directly to my receiver and tv so I don’t need a client device or app. But that comes with its own set of problems, like whether the Windows OS and my particular video card will allow a bitstream that carries HD audio.

 

Anyway, thanks speechless and anyone who has solved this problem please tell us how.

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The DTS-HD MA will pass-through using the Emby Beta for Roku as long as you are using Roku ultra #4660/#4661. I was incorrect about TrueHD. The users reporting that worked were confusing DTS-HD MA with it. This is the best we can do at the moment. Hopefully in the future Roku allows TrueHD on their devices but ATM it is just DTS-HD MA. We try our best to give you the maximum capabilities of your devices but in this case we are limited by the choices Roku makes.

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  • 2 months later...
Dickbryant

Speechless, anyone help. I’ve connected my new Roku 4661R to my receiver and am using the Emby beta client but I still only get DTS audio from my mkv files that identify as having lossless DTS Master HD soundtracks. I’m running the Emby server on Edge and it is direct playing to the Roku..

Do I have to have Emby Premiere or something? Is there a server setting I’m missing? Any ideas?

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Speechless, anyone help. I’ve connected my new Roku 4661R to my receiver and am using the Emby beta client but I still only get DTS audio from my mkv files that identify as having lossless DTS Master HD soundtracks. I’m running the Emby server on Edge and it is direct playing to the Roku..

Do I have to have Emby Premiere or something? Is there a server setting I’m missing? Any ideas?

 

Hi.  The Roku - to my knowledge - does not support DTS-HD MA on any of their devices.

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Speechless, anyone help. I’ve connected my new Roku 4661R to my receiver and am using the Emby beta client but I still only get DTS audio from my mkv files that identify as having lossless DTS Master HD soundtracks. I’m running the Emby server on Edge and it is direct playing to the Roku..

Do I have to have Emby Premiere or something? Is there a server setting I’m missing? Any ideas?

 

DTS-HD MA should be supported on the Roku Ultra model #4660/#4661. This was confirmed by @RokuDale on Roku forums. He stated that DTS-HD MA will bitstream in 8 channels as pass-through audio. There is nothing special done in the app to allow this. We see if the Roku says it supports 8 channel DTS and if it does we allow it. Same as every other codec on the device. There are no special treatments to any codecs. We read everything strictly from your device. My Roku Ultra #4661 does support 8 channel DTS. I just have no equipment that supports DTS to verify.

 

We do not force premier to use the Roku app or for playback (it's free :)), except for the LiveTV because that actually costs Emby money to maintain on a very regular basis.

 

The capabilities reads all from your device. Make sure you are NOT using AUTO for HDMI (settings >> audio >> hdmi) use anything else. Probably you want "Dolby D+, DTS" selected for HDMI. Then test a DTS-HD MA soundtrack. Enable stats for nerds in the video player OSD. Open the OSD and find the gear/cog and click it. Then in this playback menu enable stats for nerds. Now you should be able to see on the Roku what is happening when you play the DTS-HD MA soundtrack. Is it transcoding? I do not have equipment to verify if this works or not. I just know in the app the detection/capabilities we have will allow it to pass-through. This should work. Please let us know if it does not. Thanks. :)

 

 

@@ebr you silly. I know you are busy with so much that your focus isn't just on Roku so of course you forgot this post of mine in this thread. We both raced out to buy new Rokus to test this. I just couldn't test it(only write detection code for it) but I do know it passes through and can see it pass-through as 8 channel DTS-HD MA on stats for nerds. Whether the sink device can decode whatever the Roku is sending it and how what the Roku is sending it is decoded by that sink device is clearly a Roku firmware issue. We are doing the right thing and passing through DTS-HD MA if supported and right now only Roku 4660/4661 models are confirmed by Roku to have this support. Our code can already support any device that is detected with 8 channel DTS support and pass-through to it. We future proofed that already. The future looks bright for Emby. Very bright. Need sunglasses so bright. 

Edited by speechles
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@@ebr you silly. I know you are busy with so much that your focus isn't just on Roku so of course you forgot this post of mine in this thread. We both raced out to buy new Rokus to test this. I just couldn't test it(only write detection code for it) but I do know it passes through and can see it pass-through as 8 channel DTS-HD MA on stats for nerds. Whether the sink device can decode whatever the Roku is sending it and how what the Roku is sending it is decoded by that sink device is clearly a Roku firmware issue. We are doing the right thing and passing through DTS-HD MA if supported and right now only Roku 4660/4661 models are confirmed by Roku to have this support. Our code can already support any device that is detected with 8 channel DTS support and pass-through to it. We future proofed that already. The future looks bright for Emby. Very bright. Need sunglasses so bright. 

 

I was trying to get TrueHD to work and then we confirmed that isn't supported.  I never actually tested DTS-HD but I just tried it and, we are direct playing the item but it is only passing the DTS core.  This is on an Ultra (4660X2).

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