Sony Blu-Ray Players used for SACD ripping

[barfle]

Wow! Thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule to proclaim that your Roku does shuffle play. Our little community is better for it.

Mostly, I use it for a folder of Christmas music on my NAS. Both Rokus can shuffle the songs in the folder.

 

[SeeMoreDigital]

Ahh, that’s what you meant. Yes, there’s a “Roku | Media Player” “app.”

I just tried playing my 5.1 FLAC rip of “Tubular Bells” and nothing is coming out of the rears. Through my Oppo 105, the same file plays through as it should.

Bummer! So your Roku is unable to transcode a 5.1 FLAC file to a 5.1 PCM file for passing via HDMI to your AVR.... Shame

Is it able to correctly play 5.1 PCM files?

 

[SeeMoreDigital]

@barfle,

Does you AVR support dsd decoding. Have you tried playing a dsd file using your Roku's media player?

 

[himey]

Ahh, that’s what you meant. Yes, there’s a “Roku | Media Player” “app.”

I just tried playing my 5.1 FLAC rip of “Tubular Bells” and nothing is coming out of the rears. Through my Oppo 105, the same file plays through as it should.

Thanks for setting the record straight. There was some context to the discussion you obviously missed. A quick recap is, if you try to shuffle play different formats, you are probably going to have issues. Keeping everything converted to PCM 5.1, rather than DTS/DSD/DD/4.0, will provide a much better shuffling experience. Also, again a thumbs up for the Shuffle Doctor feature in jRiver!

 

[4_everyman]

I don’t usually play back that way because I prefer using my Oppo 105’s playback, but I know the Roku is perfectly capable of 5.1 playback from Netflix and Prime.

That's been my experience...and it seems to be true with Hulu, as well.

 

[barfle]

Bummer! So your Roku is unable to transcode a 5.1 FLAC file to a 5.1 PCM file for passing via HDMI to your AVR.... Shame

Is it able to correctly play 5.1 PCM files?

To be honest, I never tried any MCH WAV files. What’s on my NAS are old MP3s and more recent FLACs. I usuallly play through my Oppo, which doesn’t have a shuffle feature.

Of course, the Roku plays 5.1 material from Netflix and Prime without problem.

 

[barfle]

@barfle,

Does you AVR support dsd decoding. Have you tried playing a dsd file using your Roku's media player?

It’s actually a pre/pro. Amps are external. But I doubt it. I play all DSD/DXD files from a USB stick plugged into my Oppo. I’ve had it for 8 or 9 years, and although it’s pretty good for the time, I don’t believe it’s all that universal. And I’m unsure of where the decoding breaks down when playing MCH FLAC files through the Roku. NAS to router to Roku via Ethernet, then Roku to pre/pro through HDMI. Analog from pre/pro to amps, of course.

 

[barfle]

Thanks for setting the record straight. There was some context to the discussion you obviously missed. A quick recap is, if you try to shuffle play different formats, you are probably going to have issues. Keeping everything converted to PCM 5.1, rather than DTS/DSD/DD/4.0, will provide a much better shuffling experience. Also, again a thumbs up for the Shuffle Doctor feature in jRiver!

The Roku will play MPs and FLAC files from my NAS in stereo. It plays all the fies in a folder unless it doesn’t recognize the format. I have had it skip files, but it never tells me why. There is a shuffle feature in the Roku Media Player screen. It shows track art, the title of the piece from metadata, as well as a handful of other metadata like time and file type.

Again, it’s something I use rarely. I have a couple of folders on my NAS that have Christmas music and background stuff, so it’t not serious listening.

And as a result of this discussion, I learned that my Roku won’t play MCH FLAC files properly. But my Oppo,does that wonderfully, it just doesn’t have a shuffle feature.

 

[SeeMoreDigital]

To be honest, I never tried any MCH WAV files. What’s on my NAS are old MP3s and more recent FLACs. I usuallly play through my Oppo, which doesn’t have a shuffle feature.

Attempting to play a lossless 5.1 wav file will determine if the Roku is able to pass such audio streams via HDMI. Same goes for lossy 5.1 LC or HE-AAC streams...

Of course, the Roku plays 5.1 material from Netflix and Prime without problem.

Indeed it should as these services offer lossy compressed audio bit-streams. Probably Dolby Digital Plus...

Essentially, I'm trying to determine the Roku's capabilities...

 

[barfle]

Essentially, I'm trying to determine the Roku's capabilities...

I’ll put a few files in a playlist later today and I’ll let you know.

 

[SeeMoreDigital]

I’ll put a few files in a playlist later today and I’ll let you know.

Here's a '5.1 channel check pcm.wav' sample, if you need one

 

[Kal Rubinson]

My Roku skips 5.1 wav/flac files.

 

[himey]

My Roku skips 5.1 wav/flac files.

Have you tried the new Firestick Max 2nd Gen, the one with 16gigs of storage? I hear they work with Kodi. Problem is that even if they work now, they have in the past, killed functions with new firmware. Also, next gen they are moving on from Android.

 

[Kal Rubinson]

Have you tried the new Firestick Max 2nd Gen, the one with 16gigs of storage? I hear they work with Kodi. Problem is that even if they work now, they have in the past, killed functions with new firmware. Also, next gen they are moving on from Android.

Nope. No interest. I use the Roku for TV.

 

[himey]

Nope. No interest. I use the Roku for TV.

I use an Apple TV 4K, but it doesn't do 5.1 music lossless.

 

[SeeMoreDigital]

I use an Apple TV 4K, but it doesn't do 5.1 music lossless.

Really...

I find that odd considering the Apple TV 4K outputs all audio as Dolby MAT via it's HDMI port. Which utilises lossless PCM as a carrier stream.

 

[Sal1950]

Really...

I find that odd considering the Apple TV 4K outputs all audio as Dolby MAT via it's HDMI port. Which utilises lossless PCM as a carrier stream.

Good point, I don't know for sure.
We do know that the Atmos streams are compressed but 5.1 ?

 

[himey]

Really...

I find that odd considering the Apple TV 4K outputs all audio as Dolby MAT via it's HDMI port. Which utilises lossless PCM as a carrier stream.

It might with a paid monthly/yearly app, but I haven't gone down that route. My mini PC is my goto, With JRiver, Foobar2000, ect. I am actually just looking for a cheap solution for when I visit my parents and want a quick 5.1 music fix in lossless. Firestick 4K had worked, but firmware update killed it, so lossy only now

 

[barfle]

Here's a '5.1 channel check pcm.wav' sample, if you need one

Well, it played in stereo through the Roku. The left and right channels were fine, the center was virtual, and the rest were silent.

I already noted that it played 5.1 FLACs in stereo, with the back channels lost.

It doesn't recognize DSD files as being playable at all. M4A stereo tracks play fine.

That's pretty much what I've got so far. I can transcode some of my 5.1 FLACs into other file formats, but I guess nobody here cares much about OGGs.

 

[Sal1950]

That's pretty much what I've got so far. I can transcode some of my 5.1 FLACs into other file formats, but I guess nobody here cares much about OGGs.

I use OGG for my little SansaDisc Clip rips.