DTS playback gone wrong very recently

[RobG69 2]

Server version 4.7.14.0 running on Windows

Emby app version 2.0.93a running on FireCube gen 2.

DTS audio is no longer working properly.  In the Emby app, I have the Audio Output set to 'Auto'.  Any file with a DTS 5.1 track plays the left and right channels OK but the centre is completely missing and it's not coming through as a 5.1 track (amp is decoding it as ProLogic).

If I set Audio Output to 'Convert Unsupported Audio to Dolby Digital' I get no audio at all.

This was all working absolutely fine until very recently.  The FireCube, the Emby server and the app have all had updates over the past week or so I don't even know where to start.

Anyone else seen this or have a fix?

[ebr 16169]

 

Hi there, let's look at an example. Please attach the information requested in how to report a media playback issue. Thanks!

 

[RobG69 2]

OK, I've attached a server log.  Do you need a log from the app also?

 

ffmpeg-directstream-ae8a5493-0c17-45cb-a3f4-b3634e11ebaf_1.txt

[ebr 16169]

1 hour ago, RobG69 said:

Do you need a log from the app also?

Yes, please.  The instructions are in that same document.

Thanks.

[RobG69 2]

OK I've send the log from the app at 20:09 UK time (UTC+1) and the user was Robin.

The file playing at the time was: His Dark Materials - S3E01 - The Enchanted Sleeper.mkv

I think you can ignore the server log I attached earlier.   These are the logs that are available on the server from this evening but I don't know which one you need:
 

[RobG69 2]

I've attached embyserver.txt file anyway
 

embyserver.txt

[ebr 16169]

Hi.  Can you please try sending the app log again and, this time, do it directly from the player OSD right after playback has started?  It is under the "cog" button.

Thanks.

[RobG69 2]

That's what I did yesterday but I'll do it again....

 

[RobG69 2]

Just sent it - 15:21, same details as before.

[ebr 16169]

3 hours ago, RobG69 said:

Just sent it - 15:21, same details as before.

Unfortunately, I got almost nothing in that log.  Android likes to compress these on a whim with no real rhyme or reason to exactly why but can you try one more time?  Let the item play for about 30 seconds.

Thanks.

[RobG69 2]

OK, played the same file for just over 30 seconds, log sent at 12:09.

[ebr 16169]

Finally got what I needed there, thanks.  The device chain is reporting no support for DTS so it is being decoded and mixed down to stereo.  What your amp is doing with it after that, I'm not sure.

09-29 12:07:59.110  5699  5699 I System.out: Reported device audio support is: ,ac3,eac3

 

[RobG69 2]

Thanks for looking. 

I don't think this is an amp issue.  It's an old (20yr) Denon amp from before the days of HDMI.  

The issue is either the Emby app or the Fire Cube.  I know the cube can't handle DTS so somewhere in the chain it needs to be converted to Dolby D.

Up to a couple of weeks ago this all worked just fine.  The exact same file played and amp decided the (converted) Dolby 5.1 signal perfectly OK.

Setting the Emby app to 'convert unsupported audio to Dolby' gives me no audio at all.

Something has changed very recently.

 

[blgentry 51]

30 minutes ago, RobG69 said:

I don't think this is an amp issue.  It's an old (20yr) Denon amp from before the days of HDMI.  

How is the Fire Cube connected to the Denon then?  It does not have any digital audio out other than HDMI.  You must be using an HDMI converter box of some sort?  If that box does not handle DTS then I'm not sure what the point of playing DTS tracks is.  Converting from DTS (lossy) to Dolby Digital (lossy) is going to be worse than starting with the DD5.1 track.  Do you maybe have a title or two that only has a DTS track and nothing else?

 

Slightly off topic:  If you have not yet heard a modern surround track with lossless audio, like DTS-HD MA, you are in for a real surprise.  I was BLOWN AWAY by the first one I heard on my new receiver a few years ago.  The ability to play lossless tracks was well worth the price of a new receiver.  For me.

 

Best of luck,
Brian.

[RobG69 2]

The Cube's HDMI output goes through a powered splitter which feeds a digital audio signal to the amp.  It works well and I've no issues with it.

The DTS tracks are just part of the encoded file that came out from Handbrake, originally ripped from Blu-Ray.  Before I got the Fire Cube I used an Shield TV = it could handle DTS fine,  but had other issues with that I wasn't prepared to put up with (namely Netflix video quality  was atrocious and support just shrugged their shoulders).

So anyway, I've got nearly 20TB of media library and I'm not going back and converting hundreds of mkv files to have a Dolby track. 

Again, all of this worked fine up to a few weeks ago.  The files with DTS tracks converted quite happily to Dolby and all was well.   I'm just trying to figure out what has changed.

[blgentry 51]

6 minutes ago, RobG69 said:

So anyway, I've got nearly 20TB of media library and I'm not going back and converting hundreds of mkv files to have a Dolby track. 

I certainly was not trying to suggest that.  I expected that most files that have DTS also have a DD track.  If your files only have DTS, then I get it.

Best of luck,

Brian.

[ebr 16169]

3 hours ago, RobG69 said:

Setting the Emby app to 'convert unsupported audio to Dolby' gives me no audio at all.

Please send a log from the app of that and also include the ffmpeg log for having will be created on the server. 

[RobG69 2]

OK, sent at 10:37, same details as before.  Server log attached.

Has there been any change to the app that would make this suddenly stop working?
 

ffmpeg-directstream-f6914030-9e51-4d1e-bb74-7684f1aa9e40_1.txt

[ebr 16169]

The server is not doing the conversion for some reason.

@softworkzwhy is it trying to stream copy the DTS track when the app is clearly indicating DTS is unsupported?

[Luke 42077]

Hi, here is your issue:

[RobG69 2]

OK, however this comes back to my original question... what has changed?

I've never transcoded audio (or video).  It's always been set up for direct play.  Never had a need to transcode anything.   I haven't changed anything in terms of server settings.  The only thing in the chain that has changed recently is the app running on the Fire Cube which notified me of an update a couple of weeks ago or so.

Now granted the Fire Cube itself did an auto update (damn thing) so that could have changed something also.

 

[ebr 16169]

Unless the outboard equipment was doing some sort of conversion for you, there's no way we converted it if you had that option disabled.

[RobG69 2]

Which suggests then that the app update turned off that setting.  Not a big issue at all and it's all working now.... it's confusing when settings change without you realising.

Anyway, thanks for your help.

 

[ebr 16169]

15 hours ago, RobG69 said:

Which suggests then that the app update turned off that setting.

No...  as that setting was never going to work if you had the ability to convert audio disabled on your server.  It seems much more likely that is what changed.

[RobG69 2]

Ignore - stupid Amazon box doing stupid things again...

Edited February 21, 2024 by RobG69