Converting Dolby Atmos to 5.1 Flac

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elmer

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Not wanting to go off topic on another thread re: the latest Dolby Atmos releases (REM/INXS) - I thought better to start a new thread - so here goes;

As much as I love the future forward nature of the latest surround codecs (Auro 9.1/DTS X/Dolby Atmos), I find it sort of ironic that while 5.1 music is still a foreign concept to most, we now have 9.1 (plus) to further complicate matters. I would love to be able to invest in a new system, but would require an investment I am not yet willing to make. So I have to make do. My current set-up, 5.1 speakers with universal blu ray (oppo 103) and receiver (yamaha v675) will both accommodate up to 7.1 Dolby TrueHd. The Oppo will down convert 7.1 to 5.1 - basically mixing down the the side and rear channels into one. Playing the hard disc is not an issue. The outlier is 7.1 Flac - that is a no go for streaming purposes - at least with my current capabilities and know how. In the meantime...

I currently use 2 different methods to extract audio from blu ray - DVD Audio Extractor and Audiomuxer. Dolby Atmos, to my knowledge, is contained within the Dolby TrueHD container (along with Dolby 5.1 AC3). Without a Dolby Atmos capable device - my set-up defaults to Dolby TrueHD. Both DVDAE and Audiomuxer recognize the TrueHD 7.1 (although DVDAE shows 6 channel and then converts to 8 channel). They both convert to 7.1 Flac flawlessly. I can play the 7.1 Flac files on my computer via Foobar (again I am only set-up for 5.1 on my computer so I'm making the assumption that it is being automatically down converted - I would appreciate any clarification on this if its out there). I go through this process on every title as I convert to flac on an external hard drive and stream via Twonkyvision to the OPPO 103 for wireless home theater. Unfortunately, streaming 7.1 flac won't work - nothing but silence. The Oppo sees the files - even the tagged artwork but plays nada. What to do?

My work around is as follows - open each 7.1 FLAC file in Audacity, arrange the hierarchy of the correlating side surround and rear surround files so that the file with most information (so far with these two titles its the rear surrounds) is first and then use the mix and render command to downmix each left and right combo to one channel - creating a 5.1 Flac file. Once completed - voila! Labor intensive and flying in the dark - I know!. Any more effective and/or simpler solutions would be much appreciated
 
I've been thinking about this too since my INXS BDA only shows Atmos and no TrueHD 7.1 or 5.1 substreams as expected. I was wanting to create a DTS 5.1 DVDV for my car.

I think the only solution may be to convert 7.1 to 5.1 by mixing the Right Rear/Side and Left Rear/Side to provide a stereo Rear pair (RR LR). I'm pretty sure I can automate that so I can run a 7.1 to 5.1 conversion easily.

The alternative, which I did this morning, is to convert the 5.1 DD (lossy) track on INXS to wav then to DTS 5.1 for my DVDV, but that's two lossy conversions in series = shite.
 
I've been thinking about this too since my INXS BDA only shows Atmos and no TrueHD 7.1 or 5.1 substreams as expected. I was wanting to create a DTS 5.1 DVDV for my car.

I think the only solution may be to convert 7.1 to 5.1 my mixing the Right Rear/Side and Left Rear/Side to provide a stereo Rear pair (RR LR). I'm pretty sure I can automate that so I can run a 7.1 to 5.1 conversion easily.

The alternative, which I did this morning, is to convert the 5.1 DD (lossy) track on INXS to wav then to DTS 5.1 for my DVDV, but that's two lossy conversions in series = shite.

Yes - that is what I have done using audacity, specifically with INXS Kick - would love to know how to automate that process. Also, just as an aside, several of the tracks require further editing as several start and end points carry over to subsequent tracks - not good if you don’t have gapless Flac playback. AC3 to DTS is not desirable.
 
Yes - that is what I have done using audacity, specifically with INXS Kick - would love to know how to automate that process. Also, just as an aside, several of the tracks require further editing as several start and end points carry over to subsequent tracks - not good if you don’t have gapless Flac playback. AC3 to DTS is not desirable.

I just tried this and it works well. You will need to download SOX and put it in a folder on your desktop:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B67BGVX7nHIldlF5RGJMeDAxTW8/view?usp=sharing


Now create a bat file in Windows with this:

IF NOT EXIST "Output 5.1" MD "Output 5.1"

for %%A IN (*.flac) do (
"C:\Users\YourName\Desktop\YourSoxFolder\Sox.exe" "%%~nA.flac" "Output 5.1\%%A" remix 1 2 3 4 5,7 6,8
)
pause


NOTE: Change 'YourName' and 'YourSoxFolder' above into the correct folder names for your PC

SaveAs: "Convert 7.1 to 5.1.bat'

Copy the new bat to same folder as your 7.1 FLACs

Run:
Convert 7.1 to 5.1.bat

THis creates a new folder under your 7.1 folder named 'Output 5.1' and creates new 5.1 files from each of the 7.1 files by merging right side with right rear, same for left side/rear.

If you have WAV files then chnage the BAT file to use '.wav' extension instead of '.flac'
 
atmos streams are really just core 7.1 streams with embedded metadata. The metadata is like an algorithm that tells the receivers dsp decoder where to place the objects.

In other words, there is no such thing as a single atmos stream, it’s always attached to a 7.1 stream so anytime you want to rip an atmos stream you really just need to be able to rip a 7.1 stream and disregard the metadata which is what i assume the dvdfab hi-fi converter does
 
atmos streams are really just core 7.1 streams with embedded metadata. The metadata is like an algorithm that tells the receivers dsp decoder where to place the objects.

In other words, there is no such thing as a single atmos stream, it’s always attached to a 7.1 stream so anytime you want to rip an atmos stream you really just need to be able to rip a 7.1 stream and disregard the metadata which is what i assume the dvdfab hi-fi converter does

All good in theory. All the tools I have for converting do not see the core HD stream on INXS. Therefore they can't be selected to convert. I can only see 7.1 which is fine if I'm using a 7.1 system (I am at home but not in my car).
 


I just tried this and it works well. You will need to download SOX and put it in a folder on your desktop:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B67BGVX7nHIldlF5RGJMeDAxTW8/view?usp=sharing


Now create a bat file in Windows with this:

IF NOT EXIST "Output 5.1" MD "Output 5.1"

for %%A IN (*.flac) do (
"C:\Users\YourName\Desktop\YourSoxFolder\Sox.exe" "%%~nA.flac" "Output 5.1\%%A" remix 1 2 3 4 5,7 6,8
)
pause


NOTE: Change 'YourName' and 'YourSoxFolder' above into the correct folder names for your PC

SaveAs: "Convert 7.1 to 5.1.bat'

Copy the new bat to same folder as your 7.1 FLACs

Run:
Convert 7.1 to 5.1.bat

THis creates a new folder under your 7.1 folder named 'Output 5.1' and creates new 5.1 files from each of the 7.1 files by merging right side with right rear, same for left side/rear.

If you have WAV files then chnage the BAT file to use '.wav' extension instead of '.flac'

This looks really useful... thanks! So... how do you "Create a bat file"? ( this looks scary, but I'm willing to try anything for surround)
 


I just tried this and it works well. You will need to download SOX and put it in a folder on your desktop:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B67BGVX7nHIldlF5RGJMeDAxTW8/view?usp=sharing


Now create a bat file in Windows with this:

IF NOT EXIST "Output 5.1" MD "Output 5.1"

for %%A IN (*.flac) do (
"C:\Users\YourName\Desktop\YourSoxFolder\Sox.exe" "%%~nA.flac" "Output 5.1\%%A" remix 1 2 3 4 5,7 6,8
)
pause



NOTE: Change 'YourName' and 'YourSoxFolder' above into the correct folder names for your PC

SaveAs: "Convert 7.1 to 5.1.bat'

Copy the new bat to same folder as your 7.1 FLACs

Run:
Convert 7.1 to 5.1.bat

THis creates a new folder under your 7.1 folder named 'Output 5.1' and creates new 5.1 files from each of the 7.1 files by merging right side with right rear, same for left side/rear.

If you have WAV files then chnage the BAT file to use '.wav' extension instead of '.flac'


This is great! Thanks - I'll give it a try tomorrow.
 
This looks really useful... thanks! So... how do you "Create a bat file"? ( this looks scary, but I'm willing to try anything for surround)

Create a text file (.txt) and edit with Notepad. Then rename to .bat.

I'll add a new tool to my Music Media Helper to do this from a UI. I will probably add it as a general 'Audio Mixer' dialog where users can map any channel to another or mix any together.
 
Create a text file (.txt) and edit with Notepad. Then rename to .bat.

I'll add a new tool to my Music Media Helper to do this from a UI. I will probably add it as a general 'Audio Mixer' dialog where users can map any channel to another or mix any together.

Hey Thanks again! Took just a few seconds to create the bat file and test it out - worked great - saves a load of time. Much appreciation for your help and ingenuity!
 
Hey folks, I can't use the remix tool for OS reasons. No complaints, just reality.

I'm using Audacity, and I'm combining channel 5 & 7 and Channel 6 & 8 into a new 5.1 Flac file. Am I doing this correctly?

Here is a screenshot:

i5qgd4.png
 
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