Emby transcoding EAC3 from M4A files

[vicviper 0]

How can I stop Emby from automatically transcoding EAC3 w/ JOC to AAC in M4A files? The audio codec is natively supported on my device and is not transcoded in MKV/MP4 containers.

[Abobader 3464]

Hello vicviper,

** This is an auto reply **

Please wait for someone from staff support or our members to reply to you.

It's recommended to provide more info, as it explain in this thread:

Thank you.

Emby Team

[Luke 42077]

 

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

 

[vicviper 0]

Stepped back from this topic for a while but since I've been expanding my Dolby Atmos music collection, I really want this issue looked into further.

Here are the latest log files:ffmpeg-remux-67974696-2588-4d68-a7b5-8a3979086a06_1.txtembyserver.txt

My observation are as follows (same EAC-3 source used in all examples):

- MKV file with video track and EAC-3 /w JOC audio: Plays fine, no transcoding

- MKA file with EAC-3 /w JOC audio only: Transcoding to AAC 384 kbps

- M4A file with EAC-3 /w JOC audio only: Transcoding to AAC 384 kbps

So the only way I can get emby to play my Atmos music files without transcoding is to add dummy video tracks to them and disguise them as MKV files. Surely there must be a workaround to this? Are there no transcoding settings that would allow me to just always prevent EAC-3 from transcoding?

Edited February 6 by vicviper

[Luke 42077]

One good way to test is to temporarily restrict all transcoding permissions from your emby user. this will force the emby samsung app to try and direct play the file.  At that point, we will see how well the Samsung audio player handles them.

[vicviper 0]

Yeah that works. Files play back fine with audio transcoding disabled. Obviously this is not a solution as I need the transcoding feature for other audio formats (e.g. DTS and TrueHD).

I wish we had more granular control over transcoding rules for individual devices. Will the capabilities for this TV (Samsung S95D) be corrected in a future emby update? Thanks for the stellar support and keep up the good work!

[Luke 42077]

Spoiler

 

@SamES

[vicviper 0]

For what it's worth, I'm also experiencing the exact same issue on a 2019 Samsung Q70R. EAC3 direct playback only works in movie containers.