Auto Select Audio When Transcoding

[njmckenzie96 3]

I can't for the life of me get remote streams to select the secondary audio. the moment it transcodes the video to also transcodes the audio. if I manually select the secondary compatible audio, then the server only transcodes the video. so like, it is possible to only do the video, but is there a way for it to look for compatible audio before deciding to transcode the audio? 

Edited March 27 by njmckenzie96

[yocker 1592]

On 12/13/2025 at 6:38 AM, Luke said:

Hi, we actually already do what you're asking, assuming all other factors are equals.

What I mean by that is, your user audio preferences come first. That is the criteria that is used to determine which track to play. But if two tracks are determined to be equally eligible, then it looks at which one might be able to direct play as a secondary criteria.

Does that answer your question?

Agree with njmckenzie96.
If audio gets transcoded i can't get it to choose the compatible track instead.

My fix so far has to be setting to compatible track to default and have people with supporting hardware have to choose the better track them self.

[Luke 42526]

9 hours ago, njmckenzie96 said:

I can't for the life of me get remote streams to select the secondary audio. the moment it transcodes the video to also transcodes the audio. if I manually select the secondary compatible audio, then the server only transcodes the video. so like, it is possible to only do the video, but is there a way for it to look for compatible audio before deciding to transcode the audio? 

HI there, can you please provide a specific example?

How to Report a Problem

Thanks !

 

[Luke 42526]

@njmckenzie96?

[njmckenzie96 3]

yeah sorry I'll try to send some logs over soon.

[Luke 42526]

15 hours ago, njmckenzie96 said:

yeah sorry I'll try to send some logs over soon.

That would be great. Thanks.

[yocker 1592]

@Luke is there any function or plan for Emby to automatically choose the highest sound formal the device can handle?

[Luke 42526]

8 hours ago, yocker said:

@Luke is there any function or plan for Emby to automatically choose the highest sound formal the device can handle?

HI, user audio preferences are evaluated first, and then after that, this already happens if all other factors are equal.

[yocker 1592]

23 minutes ago, Luke said:

HI, user audio preferences are evaluated first, and then after that, this already happens if all other factors are equal.

I can't seem to find where to set this in the settings, i always have to manually choose for example TrueHD because the compatibility track is always default on my server to avoid unnecessary transcoding by users.

[Luke 42526]

There is nothing to configure. If one track is required to avoid transcoding, then that is the one that will usually get picked. If neither track can direct play, or they both can, then that's when secondary criteria gets looked at.

[yocker 1592]

2 hours ago, Luke said:

There is nothing to configure. If one track is required to avoid transcoding, then that is the one that will usually get picked. If neither track can direct play, or they both can, then that's when secondary criteria gets looked at.

Strange.
I specifically have to make the compatibility track first and as default to avoid clients transcoding.
If a for example a TrueHD track is first then that is what the client will play and transcode is needed even though there is a AC3 track that it can direct play.

Will do a little testing.

Edited April 20 by yocker

[Luke 42526]

On 4/20/2026 at 7:09 PM, yocker said:

Strange.
I specifically have to make the compatibility track first and as default to avoid clients transcoding.
If a for example a TrueHD track is first then that is what the client will play and transcode is needed even though there is a AC3 track that it can direct play.

Will do a little testing.

What client?

[yocker 1592]

1 hour ago, Luke said:

What client?

Pretty much all of them.
I specifically started making the compatible track first and default in movies because of Samsung clients but from my own testing the webclient, Android and LG does the same.

[Luke 42526]

On 4/25/2026 at 2:32 AM, yocker said:

Pretty much all of them.
I specifically started making the compatible track first and default in movies because of Samsung clients but from my own testing the webclient, Android and LG does the same.

HI there, can you please provide a specific example?

How to Report a Problem

Thanks !

 

[yocker 1592]

On 5/10/2026 at 9:39 PM, Luke said:

HI there, can you please provide a specific example?

How to Report a Problem

Thanks !

 

Working on it now.

[yocker 1592]

On 5/10/2026 at 9:39 PM, Luke said:

HI there, can you please provide a specific example?

How to Report a Problem

Thanks !

 

Sent you a log file in private where i first try running the file without choosing any sound track and it chooses a DTS-HD MA 5.1 track as it's the first and default.
It can not direct play it and there for has to transcode.
The movie has a AC3 track that does not need transcoding but it does not choose that instead of transcoding.

I can only test this with my webclient as all my other players support all the formats i have.

I sadly do not have access to any Samsung, LG and so on that my family has where the problem also is.
 

[Luke 42526]

the example i see is all quiet on the western front and it transcoded due to secondary audio being selected. So it was playing secondary audio.

[njmckenzie96 3]

Okay I’ve been testing this and it seems like for mobile apps and remote users it will select the secondary audio automatically IF the second track is flagged as default in the mkv container. For example: my movie has 2 tracks. First track is Dolby trueHd, and second is eac3 compatibility. If both are labeled as default, remote users and my phone will automatically play the second track. And devices that can natively play trueHd, will play that one. However, it only works automatically if both are labeled as default. If my secondary audio track does not have “yes” enabled in the container, the apps don’t automatically select it.  Not saying this is wrong, but this is what I’ve discovered on how to get it working. 

Edited 57 minutes ago by njmckenzie96