DTS-CD DTS .wavs burned to CD now only play as stereo, not DTS??

[colman]

I tried using another program to burn the DTS files in question, PowerISO, and the disc plays fine, so there must be some problem with my ImgBurn setup which results in DTS files being converted to regular audio CD files.. will uninstall, reboot and reinstall and see if that fixes the problem.

 

[atrocity]

And to add even more mystery to this, I tried re-burning a DTS .wav file I had already successfully burned to CD - and which played in 6-channel surround - and now it only plays in stereo (even though the first disc still plays as DTS).. so it's not (or not just) a file corruption issue, something has changed in the way ImgBurn is burning these files to CD, I just wish I could figure out what it was.

I'm completely stumped. You've done all the tests I can think of--and come up with an excellent additional one--and it just doesn't make any sense. I guess you could check ImgBurn to see if it now has something buried deep in the options to decode DTS, but I'm really, really grasping at straws and don't believe for a minute there is such a thing. Do you have alternative burning software? Do you have another computer that can burn CDs but may have missed out on whatever "enhancement" is currently plaguing you?

So it appears the original DTS file(s) is/are indeed 6-channel but were corrupted.

Does it then make sense I should try to create a cue sheet for "F:\File 1.fixed.wav" (and the other 13 fixed files) and then try and burn *them* to CD?

I would absolutely try that...I just hope you have some CD-RW around the house and aren't creating a ton of coasters that can't be re-used!

Or should I use the larger "F:\Output.wav" for each of the files, and burn those to DVD?

You probably could, but it wouldn't be a DVD-A and likely won't play on normal hardware.

Interestingly the much larger "Output.wav" file (over 6 times the size of File 1.wav) is read by dbpoweramp as 6-channel, whereas it reads the original File 1.wav file as 2-channel.

That actually makes sense. DTS is a lossy compression scheme that crams 6-channel audio into the space normally used for lossless 2-channel. AudioMuxer is converting/bloating that to a WAV with six discrete channels. And, while the initial DTS encode was lossy and that data is gone forever, the WAV file can't help but be the same size as it would be were the source material lossless. (I can't figure out a good way to put that in writing, I hope it makes sense.)

 

[atrocity]

I tried using another program to burn the DTS files in question, PowerISO, and the disc plays fine, so there must be some problem with my ImgBurn setup which results in DTS files being converted to regular audio CD files.. will uninstall, reboot and reinstall and see if that fixes the problem.

http://forum.imgburn.com/index.php?/topic/23052-dts-burn-to-cd-r-results-in-stereo-playback/ - apparently you aren't the only one who has seen this behavior and it's been happening for at least a year.

I can picture ImgBurn deciding there's some issue with the file and screwing up the results in some inconvenient way, but I just can't wrap my head around the idea that it even has the ability to do the conversion that you and the poster at the link are seeing.

 

[atrocity]

http://forum.imgburn.com/index.php?/topic/23052-dts-burn-to-cd-r-results-in-stereo-playback/ - apparently you aren't the only one who has seen this behavior and it's been happening for at least a year.

http://forum.imgburn.com/index.php?/topic/12670-burning-dts-audio-cd/ is a complaint from 2009!

 

[colman]

After uninstalling ImgBurn, rebooting, and then re-installing it with a fresh copy from their website, I then tried to burn surround DTS files again to CD, and got the same result - a stereo audio CD. So there must be some other change I've made to my computer (installing other programs, codecs, etc.) that is somehow causing ImgBurn to start converting DTS .wav files to audio CD files- since it used to burn these types of files perfectly before - and I would need to do a full format and re-install of operating system and programs to likely fix it. So I'll just use PowerISO, which seems to do the job, to burn these type of files... ImgBurn still seems to work fine for other formats (except 50GB Blu-Rays, for some reason, and I have a post about that here.)

 

[ArmyOfQuad]

Does it then make sense I should try to create a cue sheet for "F:\File 1.fixed.wav" (and the other 13 fixed files) and then try and burn *them* to CD?

Yes.

 

[LizardKing]

I always use a CUE sheet for CD-Text display on my Oppo and for the car player.

 

[Franklin]

I got caught out by a fake imgburn site/download address in the last six months or so, which was linked from a different audio software site. My anti virus software blocked the file before I could even open it. You might want to try a scan just in case.

 

[TimK]

I'm sure you already looked for this. On the audio conversion page, there is a check box that allows you to convert to stereo(and other formats). Is the box accidentally checked? Maybe try checking and unchecking the box?

 

[neil wilkes]

Only just seen this thread.
Can I ask where you got the DTS-WAV files from?
The way DTS-CD works is by packing the discrete multichannel into a lossy wrapper making it look like a 16/44.1 WAV file to an Audio-CD burning program, and getting white noise at a low level indicates the DTS stream is there but not getting picked up on for some reason. So something has either changed or altered the header, and you is getting a stereo downmix. Or just front left/right.
If this was extracted via audiomuxer it is possible to get the downmix if not careful - IMGBurn does not alter the data as far as I am aware and there is nothing in it's settings to change PCM to WAV or the like.

I also confess I have never used IMGBUrn for DTS-CD but instead WaveLab, as splitting a DTS stream into multiple tracks with a CUE sheet can result in the decoder resetting after every track & the result being a chopped off or truncated start. For this reason I always use WaveLab - set up a new Audio CD, turn it immediately into a montage and add track points to the contiguous stream instead. Make sure "Audio In Pauses" is checked, sort out the CD Text & job well jobbed.
In the meantime I will run some tests here & see what happens with DTS-CD output from various encoders

 

[colman]

Only just seen this thread.
Can I ask where you got the DTS-WAV files from?

The origin of the file is not relevant since, as I write above, I tried burning an older DTS .wav file I had already successfully burned a DTS CD with using ImgBurn, and that disc only plays as stereo (even after I uninstalled ImgBurn, rebooted and reinstalled it) - and other programs are able to burn the file successfully to produce a DTS CD. So there has been some change in my computer that is resulting in ImgBurn now converting DTS .wav files to play as regular audio CDs, and it would take a full hard drive format and reinstall of the operating system to fix that, I imagine, and since I have other programs that can do the job, I can't be bothered. There doesn't seem to be any issue with the files themselves.

I wish I had $500 to spend on Wavelab, but it's a bit beyond my budget!

Thanks for your input all the same! Let me know what your tests reveal!

 

[neil wilkes]

I wish I could work out what the problem is - it's as if the files are getting rewritten somewhere.
What happens if you make an ordinary Audio CD using the regular Windows interface (Windows Media Player) using the DTS files?
For example, here is a whole load of audio CD utilities to check out and it would be interesting to know if they all do the same.....something is changing headers somewhere and I think it is IMGburn seeing that the DTS file is actually a 24/44.1 with a 16/44.1 header that is the issue and IMGBurn is "correcting" this somehow......I will find out later today (finishing off the last of the King Crimson THRAK titles right now) and post back.

 

[skherbeck]

I also am unable to burn a multichannel DTS CD using imgburn... does anyone know of a free program (besides imgburn) that I can use to burn a DTS CD from a disc image .cue file?

 

[LizardKing]

Strange - I know my IMGburn has worked in the past for a DTS CD using a Cue file... I'll run a test tonight...

 

[skherbeck]

Strange - I know my IMGburn has worked in the past for a DTS CD using a Cue file... I'll run a test tonight...

I'm using the latest version; the CD burns fine, but then only plays in stereo. I did find an alternative... Just get the CD burning add-on for Foobar2000... burns multichannel DTS CDs just fine!

 

[ssully]

I'm sure you already looked for this. On the audio conversion page, there is a check box that allows you to convert to stereo(and other formats). Is the box accidentally checked? Maybe try checking and unchecking the box?

Where is the audio conversion page? I don't see one in ImgBurn-->Settings

 

[LizardKing]

Version 2.5.7.0 of IMGBurn worked creating a DTS CD.