Embycon transcoding audio with such low quality ac3 bitrate

[fr0z3n 20]

Hi again @@TeamB,

When embycon transcodes a video, it always transcodes the audio to what appears to be AC3 192kbps stereo. It sounds so bad on every video! Almost unlistenable.

Can we please be given an option in Embycon to choose whether to transcode the audio, and if yes, to choose to what kbps to transcode to and whether to down mix to 2 channel or not...

For example, my kodi box supports passthrough of up to 5.1 DTS 1.5mbps and AC3 448/640.

If its a 5.1 DTS video, in most circumstances I'd be happy for embycon NOT to transcode it.. If im on an unstable connection I might want to go to AC3 if my internet connection is slow but at 448kbps..

We have such fine tune control over when to transcode videos (xvid, mpeg4, 8bit etc) but the lack of control of audio transcoding is really limiting, particularly when the default hardcoded 2ch AC3 192kbps for all transcodes is almost unlistenable and there is no way to override it.

So the new settings would look something like this (along side the video transcode settings) :

Transcode Audio to AC3? Yes/No
Bitrate of transcoded AC3: 192 or 448 or 640
Downmix to 2ch? Yes/No

Happy to help testing or assist in any other way.

Really hope you can see the merit in this request.

Thanks

Edited June 2, 2020 by Luke

[TeamB 2414]

it always transcodes the audio to what appears to be AC3 192kbps stereo. It sounds so bad on every video! Almost unlistenable.

your standards of what is unlistenable and mine are very different.

 

Here is the line that builds the transcode request

 

https://github.com/faush01/plugin.video.embycon/blob/0979077146fd0337b6a3116d7e08f3b094e3a788/resources/lib/utils.py#L109

 

Yes it forces ac3.

I could probably add some more options for the audio target.

[fr0z3n 20]

Ok thanks!

Yes maybe i am an audiophile - but the difference between 5.1 448kbps and192kbps is night and day for me even on an entry level soundbar!

Yep fine tuning the audio transcode would be awesome.

Thanks for your understanding and considering the request

Great app by the way; first time using it and other than the few minor things i've pointed out its rock solid.

Cheers!

[TeamB 2414]

If you are an audiophile do you not care about the video, transcoding video or audio is going to reduce your quality, why not just direct stream the content?

[fr0z3n 20]

Hi,

 

Sometimes my internet connection is unstable (when streaming remotely), so i'll need to drop down the bitrate of the video just a tad to get a more stable stream. Or sometimes the content is acceptable bitrate but is encoded in x265 or another video codec which my box struggles to decode natively, so i'll force the transcode.

 

It's so handy with the video because you can specify the desired bitrate for the transcode; i guess my thinking is something similar should exist for the audio transcode too instead of defaulting to what i think is 192kbps 2ch ac3 every time all the time.

 

Thanks!

Edited June 4, 2020 by fr0z3n

[TeamB 2414]

The only default for the audio is ac3, no bit rate or channel limit is set, I think it is emby or ffmpeg using its defaults. Adding an explicate value should help with this.

[pünktchen 1350]

If i remember correctly, the maximum that Emby offers is 384 kbps. Everything above will fallback to 384.

[TeamB 2414]

I have added more audio options when trans-coding, released in the latest beta build 1.9.78

[fr0z3n 20]

Good one!

Seems to be working well and as expected for both aac and ac3 across the different bitrates

Good stuff!

Edited June 9, 2020 by fr0z3n