Emby Surround Sound 7.1 theatre

[FreeBSD_Lover 14]

Admins, hope all is well with you folks; this post is indeed about Emby, but is also not about Emby, so feel free to move it to another discussion category. 

All, I just completed my surround sound 7.1 system using an mid/high range Onkyo 4K 7.1 AV receiver with a 7.1 speaker system. My primary playback device currently is Sony PS3, and when using it with Emby I use DLNA (yes still, ....I know).  I intend on doing lots of research but since Emby + FreeBSD is my primary media server, that part is not going to change. Emby + FreeBSD continues to be a rock-solid heavy-duty capable server which is just one reason why I buy the yearly Emby subscription.

I would like to maximize / optimize my home AV theatre to get the most out of it, and Emby must remain a key component. So a few questions to help anyone to respond:

1. Does or will Emby fully playback true 7.1 surround sound encoded media?
2. Is true 7.1 playback supported in DLNA or not? (I'm guessing not.)
3. What 4K HDMI capable playback device, can I install Emby 'app' on, to get true 7.1 output? Ignore cost.
4. What same 4K HDMI capable playback device, can I also install popular streaming service 'apps' like Netflix and Amazon (even if they currently have limited or no 7.1 based content.)
5. What same 4K HDMI capable playback device will provide a great and 'rock-solid heavy-duty' experience?
6. What is the best software and OS currently to rip BlueRay and HD DVD discs? (I like to buy content, and rip it to load into my media folders.)
7. Is there a legit service website where I can buy HD/4K video 7.1 'SS' audio based media, that is fully compatible with Emby?
8. What else do I need to know?

So ideally I will buy my content, rip it if necessary, load it into Emby, and enjoy with ice cold Pepsi and popcorn!  Hope everyone is well. 

Thanks again,

FreeBSD_Lover

 

 

Edited April 9, 2022 by FreeBSD_Lover
Scratched off line #2 - seems to be distracting a bit.

[FreeBSD_Lover 14]

Admins, did I post this here in DLNA or did you move it? I didn't think I did. Please consider moving this to another category, as this discussion is absolutely NOT a DLNA discussion. Its about finding a device that I can install Emby app on, that will do 7.1 surround sound. Thank again.

[roaku 842]

The Nvidia Shield is the one if you want TrueHD and/or DTS-HD.

I recommend MakeMKV to get the contents off the Blu-ray/HD-DVD/DVD and Handbrake to compress/reencode after that.

There are other options that become more attractive for bulk encoding or expert tweaking.

[Luke 42085]

Quote

1. Does or will Emby fully playback true 7.1 surround sound encoded media?
2. Is true 7.1 playback supported in DLNA or not? (I'm guessing not.)

Hi, these two always depend on what device you're playing on. If supported, the answer is yes.

I agree about the Nvidia Shield.

[FreeBSD_Lover 14]

Righto guys, thanks a bunch. After doing more reading, I understand there are different flavors or capability of 7.1 surround sound audio. For example, there is 7.1, 7.1 DTS-MA 7.1, TrueHD 7.1,  DTS-MA 7.1 24bit, TrueHD 7.1 24bit, etc.

Does Nvidia Shield do all of these, or for my use case will it simply be a case that Nvidia Shield will simply pass through the audio streams to my playback device, in my case a rather nice Onkyo AV receiver, and so I will need to verify what the receiver can/can't do, and then buy my content accordingly? What about music done in FLAC; any issues there?

Lastly - for SHIELD TV PRO, I have no intention of running Emby server on it, I'll keep using Emby server on FreeBSD for as long as Emby makes it possible. I see that Shield TV Pro comes with PLEX Media Server pre-installed. Can that be easily un-installed or is it like those apps on my smart TV that Samsung will simply not let me remove? Ignoring Plex pre-installed on Shield TV Pro, are there any advantages over the non-Pro version other than what the manufacture states ...."more storage space, two USB 3.0 ports for expandability"?

Thanks again guys,

FreeBSD_Lover

Edited April 17, 2022 by FreeBSD_Lover
Added FLAC question.

[BillOatman 596]

38 minutes ago, FreeBSD_Lover said:

 I see that Shield TV Pro comes with PLEX Media Server pre-installed. Can that be easily un-installed or is it like those apps on my smart TV that Samsung will simply not let me remove?

You can remove it, but it keeps coming back during the update process like herpes.  

[FreeBSD_Lover 14]

Just now, BillOatman said:

You can remove it, but it keeps coming back during the update process like herpes.  

LOL - I finding for me Plex is like a bad mistake in my life and even though I have left it behind, it still finds ways to haunt me.

I'm hoping there is no real good reason for me to buy PRO; so I can save a few bucks to be honest.

[ebr 16193]

Hi.  If you care about all of those flavors of HD audio then you probably also will have rather high-bitrate content.  That isn't necessarily true, but I'm assuming.  If that is true, get the Pro.  The non-pro version struggles with high bitrate content at times (less memory and only a 32bit environment).

[ebr 16193]

1 hour ago, FreeBSD_Lover said:

After doing more reading, I understand there are different flavors or capability of 7.1 surround sound audio. For example, there is 7.1, 7.1 DTS-MA 7.1, TrueHD 7.1,  DTS-MA 7.1 24bit, TrueHD 7.1 24bit, etc.

This will depend on the capabilities of the receiver.  The Shield should be able to pass anything the receiver can handle natively (with the possible exception of the rare DTS-HRA).  Be sure to hook the Shield directly to the receiver via HDMI.

[FreeBSD_Lover 14]

Thank you ebr.  My Onkyo AV receiver does a small boat load of audio modes, including 9 flavors of DTS, but not the rare DTS-HRA, but does include DTS-HD HR.....oh my it getting like choosing from 100 kinds of shampoo. 

I've always been a 2-ch audiophile, but diving into 7.1 audio, plus the various video capabilities we have, it's a whole new paradigm of home entertainment.

Thanks a bunch. I've got more research to do, but I'll find a good path with you folks (Emby staff and forum users) as my 'council'. 

[arrbee99 1817]

If you intend ripping 4K discs, you need to check out MakeMKV forums, as there are specific drives and specific firmware to go with those drives for that kind of thing.

[visproduction 316]

FreeBSD

As an audiophile, you may like this article: https://www.audioadvice.com/videos-reviews/home-theater-av-receiver-setup-calibration/

They, of course, promote new gear with this article, but the info is still interesting.  I don't have EQ but I can adjust individual volumn per speaker.  I also noticed that new AV processors have memory settings to balance the room for one person center, vs. a full room of people in all the seats.  This is done by taking readings from multiple seats locations and the AV does EQ to flatten the frequency response curve and then storing the EQ and volumn differences as 'Single person' or 'Full room' presets.

These guys also have videos on many issues.  One trick that was sort of interesting was to put the bass speaker in the chair of the Single person viewer and then crawl around the room until you find a place where the bass sounds good.  Then put the sub there.

If you significant other sees you do this, you will get the full "Audiophile fanatic" classification, you deserve. 

Edited April 19, 2022 by visproduction

[CassTG 113]

The shield pro passed through dts hd ma 7.1 and true hd 7.1 fine. I would agree that the pro has more headroom for high bitrate. I have both pro in living room and tube style In bedroom. Both are decent devices.

However and it's a big however. If you get one do not update to experience 9.0 it's an absolute cluster foobar of a software version. I think I'm on the 6th hotfix and it's still not all fixed. Emby works fine but other things just crash reboot or can't access external drives properly.