Android application cannot playback audiostream (DTS-HD MA Stereo in *.mkv)

[voodoo5_6k 31]

I wanted to start watching a movie but then wondered why it wouldn't start. The TV switched to DV mode, but the picture stayed black. Using the remote, it looked like playback was paused, but it wouldn't resume on unpausing. Switching the audiostream however worked.

I went to a computer and logged into the emby server and started playback from there (browser). The audiostream worked fine.

Back to the TV, and switching around between the audiostreams. On rare occasions the not working audiostream would start playing, but I cannot reproduce this. All others worked for the Android application (at least one of them is using the same codec).

Emby server is latest stable, Android application is latest beta (public IP removed- why is that in there?), logs attached.

Thanks

embyserver.txt emby_android_1780081182146.txt

[Luke 42823]

[voodoo5_6k 31]

Thanks Luke.

But I'm not sure why it would need to transcode. This is a DTS-HD MA track. The other DTS-HD MA track is working fine.

In the log, it says:

Fri May 29 21:00:32.621 GMT+02:00 2026 DecoderAudioRenderer: Audio sink error
  androidx.media3.exoplayer.audio.AudioSink$InitializationException: AudioTrack init failed 0 Config(48000, 252, 8, 4500000) Format(4, Surround 5.1, video/x-matroska, audio/vnd.dts.hd, null, -1, en, [-1, -1, -1.0, null], [6, 48000])

This is a stereo track however, not Surround 5.1. Is it trying to initialize the audio sink for 5.1?

Looking at the track in e.g. Audacity also shows it as stereo.

[Luke 42823]

@voodoo5_6kif the player signals some kind of error with the file, then the app can automatically recover and continue playback using server transcoding. As you've taken that away, this makes that not possible.

[voodoo5_6k 31]

OK, that's understood. But transcoding in that case would've only hidden the error. That's not what I'm looking for. Everything on my server should work with direct-play, there shouldn't be any transcoding. The audio sink is DTS-HD MA capable, as it plays all other DTS-HD MA tracks. That sort of points to a) the file and/or b) the player. I'll re-do the file to exclude that.

[voodoo5_6k 31]

Unfortunately, re-doing the file didn't change anything.

[voodoo5_6k 31]

I've found another track which seems to be comparable (DTS-HD MA, stereo), and it plays fine. I'll go back to the disc and re-rip it. But before that, I'll look deeper into what differences there are between these two tracks, as one of them works.

[voodoo5_6k 31]

Re-ripped the disc, and once more re-did the file. No change. Having a quick look shows that, according to FFmpeg, this file is

Duration: N/A, start: 0.000000, bitrate: N/A
  Stream #0:0: Audio: dts (dca) (DTS-HD MA), 48000 Hz, stereo, s32p (24 bit)

Whereas the other is:

Duration: N/A, start: 0.000000, bitrate: N/A
  Stream #0:0: Audio: dts (dca) (DTS-HD MA), 48000 Hz, stereo, s16p

[ebr 16554]

So, my guess would be that its the bit depth that is not supported by the device.

[voodoo5_6k 31]

Yeah, but interestingly, on the same disc/file is another DTS-HD MA track (Surround 5.1), and that works just fine.

Duration: N/A, start: 0.000000, bitrate: N/A
  Stream #0:0: Audio: dts (dca) (DTS-HD MA), 48000 Hz, 5.1(side), s32p (24 bit)

Same bit depth...

[Luke 42823]

Does it play successfully if transcoding is allowed?

[voodoo5_6k 31]

Well, sometimes. Never initially. Only after switching tracks, it sometimes plays. But this isn't because of transcoding. That can be done too without it, sometimes.

One log with transcoding allowed for the user, one without, plus the server log. (Still wonder why it would record the public IP in its logs?)

Maybe I should make the file available for testing?

emby_android_1783235266311.txt emby_android_1783236378231.txt embyserver.txt

[voodoo5_6k 31]

I tried a little experiment today. I've been using the regular Android application for many years now, but I thought that I'll give the Android TV application a try again.

And...

It plays the very same audio streams... (on the same device, Shield TV Pro 2019, using the same server, and therefore, the only variable is the Emby client)

Here we go. The Android application has a bug.

As I said, I can make the file available for your testing.

Edited Wednesday at 08:48 PM by voodoo5_6k
Clarification

[voodoo5_6k 31]

I tested a little back and forth. The Emby Android client situation seems to have gotten worse since when I originally reported the issue in late May (as now tracks that did work won't play anymore).

• Monty Python's Life Of Brian 4K UHD: DTS-HD MA Tracks Stereo and 5.1
  • Emby Android: Doesn't work. It looks like playback is paused (TV switches to DV but screen stays black, playback sits at 00:00:00 and is not moving. No sound.).
  • Emby Android TV: Everything works flawlessly.
• Dirty Harry 4K UHD: DTS-HD MA Track 5.1
  • Emby Android: Doesn't work. It looks like playback is paused (TV switches to HDR but screen stays black, playback sits at 00:00:00 and is not moving. No sound.).
  • Emby Android TV: Everything works flawlessly.

Both clients are installed on the same nVidia Shield TV Pro 2019. Both use the same user account with identical settings, access the same server, and thus, the same files. Logs have been provided already.

I could look for more examples, but I don't see the benefit of doing this. It seems pretty obvious that the Emby Android client is doing something incorrectly in regards to DTS-HD MA audio streams.

Thanks for looking into this.

[Luke 42823]

2 hours ago, voodoo5_6k said:

I tested a little back and forth. The Emby Android client situation seems to have gotten worse since when I originally reported the issue in late May (as now tracks that did work won't play anymore).

• Monty Python's Life Of Brian 4K UHD: DTS-HD MA Tracks Stereo and 5.1
  • Emby Android: Doesn't work. It looks like playback is paused (TV switches to DV but screen stays black, playback sits at 00:00:00 and is not moving. No sound.).
  • Emby Android TV: Everything works flawlessly.
• Dirty Harry 4K UHD: DTS-HD MA Track 5.1
  • Emby Android: Doesn't work. It looks like playback is paused (TV switches to HDR but screen stays black, playback sits at 00:00:00 and is not moving. No sound.).
  • Emby Android TV: Everything works flawlessly.

Both clients are installed on the same nVidia Shield TV Pro 2019. Both use the same user account with identical settings, access the same server, and thus, the same files. Logs have been provided already.

I could look for more examples, but I don't see the benefit of doing this. It seems pretty obvious that the Emby Android client is doing something incorrectly in regards to DTS-HD MA audio streams.

Thanks for looking into this.

 

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

 

[voodoo5_6k 31]

Hi Luke, logs were attached previously already.

[Luke 42823]

3 minutes ago, voodoo5_6k said:

Hi Luke, logs were attached previously already.

Yes but you made it sound like you were providing new information that wasn't provided previously.

[voodoo5_6k 31]

Ah, OK. Sorry for that.

The only new part was that Emby Android TV client does play what the Emby Android client currently can't.