DTS-MA to DTS with ffdshow? (1 Viewer)

[nd4spdbh]

MediaPortal Version:
MediaPortal Skin:
Windows Version: Win 7 pro 64
CPU Type: E7200 @ 3.0Ghz
HDD: 80gb hd
Memory: 2x1gb ddr2 667
Motherboard: Gigabyte P35-DS3L
Video Card: gt210
Video Card Driver:
Sound Card:
Sound Card AC3: optical SPDIF
Sound Card Driver:
1. TV Card:
1. TV Card Type:
1. TV Card Driver:
2. TV Card:
2. TV Card Type:
2. TV Card Driver:
3. TV Card:
3. TV Card Type:
3. TV Card Driver:
4. TV Card:
4. TV Card Type:
4. TV Card Driver:
MPEG2 Video Codec:
MPEG2 Audio Codec:
h.264 Video Codec:
Satelite/CableTV Provider:
HTPC Case: Lian Li PC6070 silent
Cooling:
Power Supply: Antec Earthwats 380
Remote: Ati remote wonder plus
TV: Samsung 52inch 7 series
TV - HTPC Connection: HDMI (DVI)

OK so hears the deal, i have media portal setup with SAF 5. at its default settings ffdshow encodes EVERYTHING to AC3 (causes way to high of center channel levels and TBH i see no point of reencoding stuff thats already encoded)... i do not want this, so i pass the regular DTS stream via spdif to the reciever (by checking spdif DTS in the output section of ffdshow audio BUT NOT THE DTS-HD).

Problem is i have a coupla files that are DTS-MA, and when you go to play them they either dont play at all, or are just plain messed up and end up crashing MP.

So the question is, how do i set it up so that the DTS-MA has the DTS core stream extracted and passed to the receiver (this is an optical connection to a reciever that does not support DTS-MA)?

With out of the box mediaportal using the MPC audio codec to spdif DTS and AC3 it does it no problem with a DTS-MA stream... but the problem is this causes video stutter, hence the use of SAF5.

 

[SiLenTYL]

post a small sample so we can try it also

 

[nd4spdbh]

How would i go about making a 50mb or so snippit of the MKV?


Also. It seems as though DTS-MA and DTS-HD are two different entities, and for what ever reason DTS-MA falls under just plain ole DTS within FFDShow, so when i set it to spdif DTS, it also trys to do DTS-MA bitstreaming (which it cant)... still does not make sense why MPC HC audio codec has no problem doing SPDIF of the DTS 5.1 core.

Here is a snippet of my avatar bluray rip. Its 1080p h.264 and DTS-MA

http://teamlosi.andrevas.net/random/Avatar 1080p DTS-MA h264.mkv

and here is the mediainfo on it

General
Format                           : Matroska
File size                        : 70.3 MiB
Duration                         : 26s 693ms
Overall bit rate                 : 22.1 Mbps
Encoded date                     : UTC 2010-12-14 06:38:02
Writing application              : mkvmerge v4.4.0 ('Die Wiederkehr') built on Oct 31 2010 21:52:48
Writing library                  : libebml v1.0.0 + libmatroska v1.0.0

Video
ID                               : 1
Format                           : AVC
Format/Info                      : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile                   : High@L4.1
Format settings, CABAC           : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames        : 3 frames
Muxing mode                      : Container profile=Unknown@4.1
Codec ID                         : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration                         : 26s 693ms
Width                            : 1 920 pixels
Height                           : 1 080 pixels
Display aspect ratio             : 16:9
Frame rate                       : 23.976 fps
Color space                      : YUV
Chroma subsampling               : 4:2:0
Bit depth                        : 8 bits
Scan type                        : Progressive
Language                         : English

Audio
ID                               : 2
Format                           : DTS
Format/Info                      : Digital Theater Systems
Format profile                   : MA
Muxing mode                      : Header stripping
Codec ID                         : A_DTS
Duration                         : 26s 693ms
Bit rate mode                    : Variable
Channel(s)                       : 6 channels
Channel positions                : Front: L C R, Side: L R, LFE
Sampling rate                    : 48.0 KHz
Bit depth                        : 24 bits
Video delay                      : 10ms
Language                         : English

I also thought it might just be that movie for what ever reason... so i got another MKV with DTS-MA and it does the same thing... you go to play it, screen changes refresh rate to 24p (dynamic refresh rate) then changes back to 60hz and the movie never plays.

 

[SiLenTYL]

im at work so i cant check it right now..

try changing the .mkv for .ts or .m2ts and see if that makes any difference

also..does your screen support 24p (23.976 hz)?

do u have haali / matroskasplitter installed?

 

[nd4spdbh]

Yes screen supports 24p, and yes i do have hali installed (its part of SAF 5).

I will try renaming the file extension when i get home from school.

 

[SiLenTYL]

ok i gave this a go tonight

i have the latest haali matroskasplitter and ffdshow tryouts beta 7 (not SAF)

i can get pretty much all mkvs working here (downloaded and ones ive made myself) with and without DTS-MA

i cannot get blurays to work

i got the file to play for about 3 seconds then it stopped


interesting we have the same mobo ..do u use hdmi or spdif? from the mobo? your amp does dts-ma? or only DTS like mine


in any case...i cant get your file working in MP..though it works fine in VLC

 

[nd4spdbh]

I actually have a different mobo now, and am using a RocketFish (creative) sound card with optical SPDIF out, to a receiver that DOES NOT support DTS-MA.

Could you possibly post a small snippet of one of your MKV's that has DTS-MA that WORKS in mp?

 

[nd4spdbh]

renaming the mkv to ts made mediaportal crash

Renaming to m2ts yeilded the image below.

 

[nd4spdbh]

YEAH i have found a work around.

The key is to use an OLDER version of ffdshow.... in this case i tried FFDSHOW tryouts beta 7 stable.

this one ffdshow_beta7_rev3154_20091209.exe ... the one you get when you go right to ffdshow tryouts page and click download.

Unfortunatly this version does not have the ffdshow DXVA video codec, so i used CoreAVC with cuda enabled. this combo keeps cpu usage low, gets rid of stuttering due to audio video sync issues AND properly extracts the DTS core out of DTS-MA tracks.


It seems as if the later versions of ffdshow, wether it be tryouts or the ones included with SAF, that have options in the output section to SPDIF stuff other than just AC3 or DTS actually mess DTS spdif passthrough up quite a bit.


Now the question is.... why is this, you would think it would work like it use to but with added stuff like DTS-HD passthrough etc etc. Also is there any way to get the latest DXVA video codec, with the older audio codec?


For anyone with the same problem i am using the following.

CoreAVC 2.0.0.0 w/ cuda enabled
Latest Haali
the ffdshow above (beta 7 tryouts stable release ... NOT THE LATEST SVN)

ffdshow = output set to spdif ac3 and dts

 

[SiLenTYL]

so it played fully? i only got 3 seconds then it stopped

although apparently we have differernt mobos

yeh i also noticed that SAF 5 doesnt have the same ffdshow audio decoder as the tryouts..different settings page under "output"