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
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