Emby DTS-HD Master Audio Detection Problem and Possible Solution

[BnWMovieWatcher 0]

Emby DTS-HD Master Audio Detection Problem — Summary

The problem

I've discovered that Emby Server incorrectly identifies the English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack in a movie as ordinary DTS 5.1 with some video files.

MediaInfo correctly identifies the soundtrack as DTS-HD MA, confirming that the audio is present in the MKV file.

The problem remained after I refreshed the movie's metadata and upgraded Emby Server from the latest stable to the latest beta.

What I discovered

I tested Emby's own bundled FFprobe (5.1-emby_2023_06_25_p6) and discovered that its default probe size was insufficient to identify the DTS-HD MA extension.

By increasing the -probesize parameter, I was able to get FFprobe to correctly identify the soundtrack without modifying the movie or replacing any software.

My test results

Probe size	Result
Default	DTS only
10,000,000 bytes	DTS only
11,591,680 bytes	DTS only
11,595,776 bytes	DTS-HD MA detected
12,000,000 bytes	DTS-HD MA detected

 also confirmed that increasing -analyzeduration was unnecessary.

My working command

/bin/ffprobe -v error \
  -probesize 12000000 \
  -select_streams a:0 \
  -show_entries stream=codec_name,profile,channels,sample_rate \
  -of default=noprint_wrappers=1 \
  "/path/to/movie.mkv"

Correct output

codec_name=dts
profile=DTS-HD MA
sample_rate=48000
channels=6

My conclusion

From my testing, I've established that the problem isn't a missing codec, damaged audio track, or outdated FFprobe version.

Emby's own bundled FFprobe is perfectly capable of detecting DTS-HD Master Audio when given a sufficiently large probe size.

I've confirmed that setting the probe size to 12,000,000 bytes (12 MB) allows FFprobe to correctly identify the soundtrack.

What still needs fixing

Although I've found a working solution when running FFprobe manually, this hasn't permanently fixed the problem within Emby Server.

Emby still needs to use a sufficiently large probe size when automatically scanning a media library.

I'd therefore like to suggest that the Emby developers either:

• Increase the default FFprobe probe size used during media analysis.

• Introduce a user-configurable probe-size setting so users can adjust it when necessary.

I believe this would resolve incorrect DTS-HD Master Audio identification without requiring users to modify their media files or replace Emby's bundled FFprobe.

Here's some proof:-

 
 

[Luke 43389]

Hi, we’ll have a new ffmpeg build on the server beta channel soon so perhaps that will help without requiring a greater probe size.

[BnWMovieWatcher 0]

I understand you tweak the actual program, but even the latest stock ffprobe doesn't do it without help... Either way I look forward to a dedicated fix.


admin@truenas[~]$ sudo docker run --rm --entrypoint ffprobe \
lscr.io/linuxserver/ffmpeg:latest -version | head -1
ffprobe version 9.0.2 Copyright (c) 2007-2026 the FFmpeg developers

 

admin@truenas[~]$ sudo docker run --rm \
--entrypoint ffprobe \
-v /mnt/NASLarge/media:/media:ro \
lscr.io/linuxserver/ffmpeg:latest \
-v error \
-select_streams a:0 \
-show_entries stream=codec_name,profile,channels,sample_rate \
-of default=noprint_wrappers=1 \
"/media/Movies/V/Virtuosity 1995 2160p UHD Blu-ray Remux HEVC DV DTS-HD MA 5 1/Virtuosity 1995 2160p UHD Blu-ray Remux HEVC DV DTS-HD MA 5 1.mkv"
codec_name=dts
profile=unknown
sample_rate=48000
channels=6

admin@truenas[~]$ sudo docker run --rm \
--entrypoint ffprobe \
-v /mnt/NASLarge/media:/media:ro \
lscr.io/linuxserver/ffmpeg:latest \
-v error \
-probesize 10000000 \
-select_streams a:0 \
-show_entries stream=codec_name,profile,channels,sample_rate \
-of default=noprint_wrappers=1 \
"/media/Movies/V/Virtuosity 1995 2160p UHD Blu-ray Remux HEVC DV DTS-HD MA 5 1/Virtuosity 1995 2160p UHD Blu-ray Remux HEVC DV DTS-HD MA 5 1.mkv"
codec_name=dts
profile=unknown
sample_rate=48000
channels=6

 

admin@truenas[~]$ sudo docker run --rm \
--entrypoint ffprobe \
-v /mnt/NASLarge/media:/media:ro \
lscr.io/linuxserver/ffmpeg:latest \
-v error \
-probesize 12000000 \
-select_streams a:0 \
-show_entries stream=codec_name,profile,channels,sample_rate \
-of default=noprint_wrappers=1 \
"/media/Movies/V/Virtuosity 1995 2160p UHD Blu-ray Remux HEVC DV DTS-HD MA 5 1/Virtuosity 1995 2160p UHD Blu-ray Remux HEVC DV DTS-HD MA 5 1.mkv"
codec_name=dts
profile=DTS-HD MA
sample_rate=48000
channels=6
 

Edited October 14 by BnWMovieWatcher