Emby doesn't have an option to downmix 5.1 to Stereo...

[Mkilbride 87]

I see it on the Server, but on my NVIDIA Shield there's no option, so if I plug in headphones and my media file only has 5.1 available, it comes out very low and I need to turn my Amp up considerably to get proper volume.  I checked all the options. It's simply not downmixing and there's no way to force it.  I tried both Apps. 

[visproduction 363]

Mb,

Your 5.1 is probably being sent to your headphones without stereo conversion / mixdown.  So that would mean you get front left and right which mostly misses center dialogue for films.  That's why the dialogue is hardly there.  I would assume playback straight to a TV would auto mix down 5.1 to stereo.  5.1 or more would only stay surround ideally if you have a sound bar and surround set up.  AV multi channel amps have downmix to stereo options.  How is the video stream getting to playback?  Is Wifi involved.  Is there a HDMI connection from Nvidia?  Are you playing on a TV with a TV app or is it playback via Emby Web?

There are ways to convert 5.1 surround to stereo and either make a separate media copy with the stereo audio or add an extra stereo audio track to a media file so that the audio option pull down can be selected in the Emby mediapage.  That actually takes around 5 minutes work for a 2 hour video with 3rd party software like Audacity.

[ebr 16469]

9 hours ago, Mkilbride said:

I tried both Apps

The TV app definitely has the option.  It is under Playback/Audio

However, it sounds like you are plugging your headphones into an Amp/Receiver instead of the device that is actually running the app.  That means that the app cannot detect this and it is entirely up to the device the phones are plugged into to handle the audio conversion.