Audio on my Shield does not play c0orrectly

[Gilgamesh_48 944]

Server 4.5.0.13

Shield P2571 V 9 SW Ver 8.0.2

Emby App  er 4.5.9.13

When I play some newer videos I have nu usable audio if I use Emby's player however if I tell Emby to use an external player (I have VLC installed) the same video plays fine. Also it plays fine on every other device I own. (Rokus, Fire TVs and Computers)

I can use VLC without much issue but I would prefer to use Emby's player so I can get progress info correctly and get resume on other devices.

What happens is that the audio plays without any audible dialog but the other sounds play fine. I have everything set to simple "stereo" VLC when set as the player plays the audio perfectly.

If I set Emby's audio to "auto" all I get is a loud crackling mess.

Stats for nerds reports that the video codec is H264 The audio codec is Dolby. audio bitrate is 384.00 Kbps. Audio channels is 5.1

The video is direct playing

I thought there was a way to force transcoding to test that but I cannot find that option.

Since I do not really know ahead of time where this bug will pop up it has pretty much rendered my Shield currently useless.

I had a problem like this in the past but I cannot remember if it was on my Shield or not. I "think" it was on my Roku and this is the first time I have had audio issues with my Shield.

I have only attached my server log because no other log seems appropriate because the file is not transcoding.

embyserver(1).txt

Edited June 20, 2020 by Gilgamesh_48

[Sammy 738]

Lossless audio requires it to be set to multi channel or pass through to your AVR.

Sent from my SM-G960U1 using Tapatalk

[Gilgamesh_48 944]

9 minutes ago, Sammy said:

Lossless audio requires it to be set to multi channel or pass through to your AVR.

Sent from my SM-G960U1 using Tapatalk
 

But all I want is for my Shield to play my files exactly the way my Fire does. I do not want or need multi channel. Emby has a setting to downmix to stereo and it does not seem to be doing that while it works on my Fire or my Roku and it works on my Shield when I use VLC as the player.

My receiver is a simple stereo receiver and does not even have HDMI input. Pass through makes no sense for my setup.

[Gilgamesh_48 944]

One more report:

I installed MrMc on my Shield and connected it to Emby and it plays he problem files perfectly. That means that I "can" use my Shield for Emby playback and MrMc correctly reports progress allowing me to resume where I left off so it does not have the limitations of using an external player. It has some little irritants but it does work.

That means that I have pretty much proven that the bug is not in the server and is not in the Shield but is in the Emby app on the Shield.

One more time: The files play perfectly or my Shield with VLC and with MrMc. They also play perfectly on my Fire 4K and my regular Fire and they play perfectly on my Roku Ultras and my Roku 3s. The only place where the audio fails to play correctly is in the Emby app on  my Shield.

I am very willing to supply any info needed but, so far, Emby has been silent on this bug.

[ebr 14936]

Exactly how is everything connected together (physically)?  Also, what is the app version?  The one you posted is not for this app.

[Sammy 738]

One more report:
I installed MrMc on my Shield and connected it to Emby and it plays he problem files perfectly. That means that I "can" use my Shield for Emby playback and MrMc correctly reports progress allowing me to resume where I left off so it does not have the limitations of using an external player. It has some little irritants but it does work.
That means that I have pretty much proven that the bug is not in the server and is not in the Shield but is in the Emby app on the Shield.
One more time: The files play perfectly or my Shield with VLC and with MrMc. They also play perfectly on my Fire 4K and my regular Fire and they play perfectly on my Roku Ultras and my Roku 3s. The only place where the audio fails to play correctly is in the Emby app on  my Shield.
I am very willing to supply any info needed but, so far, Emby has been silent on this bug.

How do you connect MrMC to Emby?

Sent from my SM-G960U1 using Tapatalk

[Gilgamesh_48 944]

13 minutes ago, ebr said:

Exactly how is everything connected together (physically)?  Also, what is the app version?  The one you posted is not for this app.

Sorry I made a typo in the version it should be: 4.5.9.13

To simplify things I have connected in three different ways:

1. From the Shield to an HDMI switch with audio extraction to receiver.

2. From the Shield to the TV (Tested both the audio out and the TV's speakers)

3. From the Shield to the a different HDMI audio extractor to my receiver.

If the Shield had a direct audio output I would use that but it does not

In all cases Emby fails to play the audio correctly while MrMc and VLC (set as external player) work fine.

There is clearly something wrong in the Emby player.

As I also have said when I put and of my Fire or Roku devices in exactly the same place as my Shield they work fine.

It occurred to me as I was typing this that I have a USB audio adapter that I can use to get audio out of my Shield. When I use that USB adapter with my Shield USB audio set to stereo the problem files do play correctly but at a lowered volume. That tells me that the Emby app is not putting stereo correctly on the Shield's HDMI output. I connect the Shields output to an inline stereo amp and adjust the volume and it works fine. I do not really want to have to rely on that level of complexity but it now does work using the USB audio adapter.

7 minutes ago, Sammy said:

How do you connect MrMC to Emby?
 

I simply set MrMc to use Emby as a source.

[ebr 14936]

Audio over HDMI works fine or we'd have everyone in here with this problem :).  I'm sure the wrinkle here is the "audio extraction".  Can you please explain exactly what that is?

[Gilgamesh_48 944]

14 minutes ago, ebr said:

Audio over HDMI works fine or we'd have everyone in here with this problem :).  I'm sure the wrinkle here is the "audio extraction".  Can you please explain exactly what that is?

Oh good grief. The audio extractor, which I have tried three different ones including what is built into my TV simply does the standard thing of converting the digital audio to analog so it can actually be output by a speaker which, after all, is always an analog device. For now lets ignore the HDMI extractor and try to focus on the fact that I plug my Shield directly into my TV and the stereo audio is screwed up.

Also once again MrMc and VLC (used as an external player) and every other app except Emby work fine. Also I can put a Fire device or a Roku in the exact same place as my Shield and they all work fine.

It is the Emby app on the Shield with just a few files as described earlier that fail to play correctly. If it were my hardware in any way that was causing problems then other apps on my Shield would fail to play the exact same file correctly and they don't. Every app, except Emby, has no problem.

Audio over HDMI works correctly for 99% of the files BUT it does not for 1% in the case of trying to use simple stereo. I do NOT use 5.1 or any other advanced audio setup.

Once again MrMc works using the Emby server and VLC when used as an external player works. It is only the Emby app that does not.

I will attempt to send you a file that malfunctions. Remember that it fails when the file is played with  the  HDMI plugged into my TV and the audio output is sent to my simple stereo receiver.

 

[seanbuff 841]

9 hours ago, Gilgamesh_48 said:

Sorry I made a typo in the version it should be: 4.5.9.13

that's also still not a valid app version on Android TV, it should start with either a v1.7.xxx or v1.8.xxx for the beta

[Gilgamesh_48 944]

1 hour ago, seanbuff said:

that's also still not a valid app version on Android TV, it should start with either a v1.7.xxx or v1.8.xxx for the beta

Sorry I get confused in my old age. That is my server version as it appears in the lower left of the settings screen.

Trying again, this time from the lower right, 1.8.00g Is that better???

 

It occurs to me that this may be related to my Shield being older. It was one of the early Shields purchased back in 2016. It is the "Pro" version that was available back then.

Edited June 22, 2020 by Gilgamesh_48
addition

[rbjtech 4289]

"What happens is that the audio plays without any audible dialog but the other sounds play fine"

@Gilgamesh_48 - can you expand on this - as I think this is key here.

So on a 5.1 system (which I assume the source file contains) - the Centre channel is very likely the 'dialogue' - but you are saying that is effectively 'missing' correct ?  but you do get left/right 'music/sound effects etc - is there 'any' dialogue in your stereo speakers - even if very low volume ?

Under 'Advanced System Sounds' on the Shield - what options do you have set ?  There are many 'downmix' and 'Stereo' type options so I'm wondering if there is simply a conflict here and Emby is not 'downmixing' your multi-channel and is literally playing left/right into your left/right speakers but the other apps are downmixing automatically and thus including the Centre channel.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 22, 2020 by rbjtech

[Gilgamesh_48 944]

30 minutes ago, rbjtech said:

"What happens is that the audio plays without any audible dialog but the other sounds play fine"

@Gilgamesh_48 - can you expand on this - as I think this is key here.

So on a 5.1 system (which I assume the source file contains) - the Centre channel is very likely the 'dialogue' - but you are saying that is effectively 'missing' correct ?  but you do get left/right 'music/sound effects etc - is there 'any' dialogue in your stereo speakers - even if very low volume ?

Under 'Advanced System Sounds' on the Shield - what options do you have set ?  There are many 'downmix' and 'Stereo' type options so I'm wondering if there is simply a conflict here and Emby is not 'downmixing' your multi-channel and is literally playing left/right into your left/right speakers but the other apps are downmixing automatically and thus including the Centre channel.

Everything is set to use ONLY stereo. Also it cannot be anything on the Shield because audio plays fine through MrMc on the Shield and when VLC is set as an external player. I might add that the same file plays perfectly through Plex on the Shield. It is ONLY the Emby app on the Shield that has any problem playing the file at all.

The only thing I see that is special about the file is that "stats for nerds" reports the audio codec is Dolby, audio bitrate is 384.00 Kbps and audio channels is 5.1. This is somewhat unusual as the codec says only (Dolby} while most of my other files that have an audio codec of AC3 and audio channels something like 6(Surround 5.1)

To emphasize once again the Emby app is the only app that cannot play the file correctly on my Shield. Rather that focusing on settings on my Shield the focus should be on what the Emby app is doing differently than all my other apps that is causing it to fail where all others succeed.

I shared a misbehaving file with @ebr but I have kind of decided that others might want to test so the link to the file is:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/b807y187wpx5bmh/NCIS- New Orleans - s04e12 - Identity Crisis.mkv?dl=1

[rbjtech 4289]

So my Receiver is reporting (and playing) this as a Dolby Digital + (EAC3), while the media is reported (in emby and mediainfo) as only being AC3.

I cannot not get the centre channel to play - Turning off the 'Process Dolby' option on the shield, it then plays as AC3 as opposed to EAC3 - but centre channel still plays.

It's possible that emby is doing something special with EAC3 vs AC3 - and that is where the problem lies or the source file headers are incorrect and emby cannot handle this.

Worth remuxing a new AC3 to test the theory.

 

Edited June 22, 2020 by rbjtech

[ebr 14936]

13 hours ago, Gilgamesh_48 said:

Trying again, this time from the lower right, 1.8.00g

Okay, that is an old beta version.  Can you try either the release version or upgrade to the current beta of 1.8.10 (you will have to side-load)?

[Gilgamesh_48 944]

21 minutes ago, ebr said:

Okay, that is an old beta version.  Can you try either the release version or upgrade to the current beta of 1.8.10 (you will have to side-load)?

OK. I am now at 1.8.10g and the problem is still there.

[rbjtech 4289]

5 hours ago, ebr said:

Okay, that is an old beta version.  Can you try either the release version or upgrade to the current beta of 1.8.10 (you will have to side-load)?

Is this to target a particular problem Eric ?  

As per my post above - I downloaded the file and it played perfectly for me via the Shield - so unless this beta changes the Stereo downmixing elements, then I can't see there being any difference here..

[ebr 14936]

Different versions of Exo... but I didn't really think that would be the issue.  I think you are on to it with the audio being encoded or tagged incorrectly.

Gilamesh - have you tried a simple remux of one of these items?

[Gilgamesh_48 944]

51 minutes ago, ebr said:

Different versions of Exo... but I didn't really think that would be the issue.  I think you are on to it with the audio being encoded or tagged incorrectly.

Gilamesh - have you tried a simple remux of one of these items?

No. I am able to play them on all other clients and I thought you might wish to get them to play correctly so that others might not have the problem.

I do wonder if the "fault" is in the encoding why the file plays perfectly on all other clients and through MrMc on the Shield and even through Emby when VLCis used as an external player.

Since the file(s) do work so well with everything else it seems to me that the focus should be on what Emby is doing/not doing that causes playback of audio to fail only through the Emby app on the Shield and not anywhere else and not on what might be wrong with the file. It seems that is an attempt to shift the blame rather than fixing the problem so it does not crop up later for others.

I was just reporting the problem so it could be prevented from showing up again and for others. Personally I do not really care if it gets fixed on the Shield or not as all my other clients work fine.

I do want to note again that my Shield is an old one and one the earliest sold just in case that testing might be missing something that is unique to that earlier model. It does give other problems that seem to be related to my older hardware.

[ebr 14936]

23 hours ago, Gilgamesh_48 said:

I do wonder if the "fault" is in the encoding why the file plays perfectly on all other clients and through MrMc on the Shield and even through Emby when VLCis used as an external player.

The reason is that almost every single one of those other players uses ffmpeg to process the video and that program is extremely robust when it comes to dealing with "bad" actors.  Exoplayer, OTOH is not.  In Google's words, they simply are not interested in having to code for bad inputs.  You sent me your sample so I'll see if I can figure anything out.

Thanks.

[Gilgamesh_48 944]

52 minutes ago, ebr said:

The reason is that almost every single one of those other players uses ffmpeg to process the video and that program is extremely robust when it comes to dealing with "bad" actors.  Exoplayer, OTOH is not.  In Google's words, they simply are not interested in having to code for bad inputs.  You sent me your sample so I'll see if I can figure anything out.

Thanks.

If MrMc and VLC on the Shield are using ffmpeg and ffmpeg is truly better then, maybe, Emby should also use ffmpeg on the Shield. I believe that using the best engine possible to process the video just might be a good idea.

[Hyp3rD 10]

If MrMc and VLC on the Shield are using ffmpeg and ffmpeg is truly better then, maybe, Emby should also use ffmpeg on the Shield. I believe that using the best engine possible to process the video just might be a good idea.

I think too, but I’m pretty sure that is not realistic, if it’s was, I think that every platform would use it ...