Is there a way to bitstream audio to only a single device?

[Max Overdrive 9]

I have two audio devices set up to watch Emby in our living room (Windows 10, latest Emby desktop version). One audio device is an LG soundbar and one is a pair of Bluetooth headphones. In order to get Atmos on the soundbar, I have Emby set up to bitstream most audio formats directly to the soundbar.

However, the headphones don't support bitstreaming the audio formats to them, causing Emby to not play anything with those audio formats (as it's trying to bitstream to a device that doesn't support it). The solution at the moment is to simply uncheck all the bitstreaming boxes before using the headphones, but was hoping there was a more elegant solution.

We regularly switch between the audio devices depending on if we need to keep the noise down or not. Switching works great except for the bitstreaming aspect. Is there a way to set up different audio profiles per audio device maybe? And have the audio bitstreamed to one device but not to another?

Edited January 18, 2021 by Max Overdrive

[sooty234 266]

I'm pretty sure mpv has no way of automatically determining which device you're using at any one time. I think the only possibility would be to rely on Windows setting the default device. And maybe there is an audio device property that can be applied in an auto-profile. But if Windows won't disable the sound bar when you turn the headphones on, then the answer is no. I haven't looked if mpv has an audio device property.

[sooty234 266]

And you'd have to stop using the settings in Theater, and only use an mpv.conf

[Max Overdrive 9]

Thanks for the reply @sooty234. I was hoping there was a GUI option I was overlooking somewhere, but it sounds like that's a no-go.

I'll have to take a look at what's possible through Windows or mpv. Not sure how much I'd be able to do through Windows as the bitstreaming seems to be controlled through Emby (no idea if that's something you could push through a global Windows setting instead). I'm not really familiar with mpv but will do some reading and see if audio profiles/properties are a thing that I could specify through configuration.

 

[sooty234 266]

Turn your headphones on and set them to default in Windows. When you turn them off, does Windows switch back to your AVR as the default?

[Max Overdrive 9]

Yep, the switching between audio devices works flawlessly. I can even turn the headphones on in the middle of a video in Emby and Windows will switch over to the headphones automatically (and then back to the soundbar as soon as I turn them off). All this presumes that all bitstreaming options are unchecked. With bitstreaming checked, the video won't play properly (I'm assuming because the headphones can't handle the bitstreamed audio like the soundbar can).