DTS CD files not detected by Plex (on PC)... need help plz

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impetigo

Active Member
Joined
Mar 4, 2019
Messages
65
Location
Seattle
I've been converting all my surround music on SACD, blu-ray and DVD-A to multichannel flac on my PC which serves as my Plex server and has worked flawlessly thus far. All those sources converted to flac will be detected when I click "scan library files" almost instantly. The only problem so far has been with DTS CDs, which I understand are quite unique and a bit of an oddball format. Audio CDs with 16/44.1 DTS audio track that needs to be played on a device that can decode DTS otherwise you only hear hiss/static.

I first encountered this issue when I tried to use DVDAE to rip Sting's Nothing Like The Sun DTS CD and found that it was not a DVD (I didn't really know what it was until then) but an audio CD. I then used Foobar2000 with DTS decoder plugin (and using the "decode DTS" option) to rip the CD to flac, which yielded 5.1 16/44.1 flac files which I put it in my Plex library folder but for the first time it wasn't detected. Doing some research I could only conclude/guess/hope that it was because Plex does not decode DTS and the file was presumably a DTS track in a flac container (not sure about this though since I had used the "decode DTS" option when ripping the disc using foobar, so maybe it was converted to PCM when ripped and converted to flac by foobar?). I read that you can convert the DTS file to PCM (in a flac or wav container) which I hoped would solve the problem.

So with the (presumably) DTS flac files from the original foobar rip (5.1 channel, 16/44.1) I tried to use MMH to "convert DTS flac to PCM flac" but it wouldn't accept the flac files. It seems it was because the original foobar rip used "decode DTS" option and so I ripped the DTS CD again unselecting the "decode DTS" option and I got 2 channel, 16/44.1 files (presumably DTS files since they were 2 channel) that I could use MMH on for the "convert DTS flac to PCM flac, which yielded 5.1, 16/44.1 tracks which were about 3x the size as the original 5.1 flacs (about 150MB vs 50MG per track). Anyway, those files weren't detected either and so now I have no idea what the issue is and I am at a complete loss.

Sorry for the confusing post but hopefully someone can help me figure this out as I'm sure I'm not the only one to try ripping DTS CD multichannel audio to play/stream through Plex! I should also add that the issue is that the files are not detected by Plex, but I can play them fine using VLC or foobar players, but only want to stream them using Plex.
 
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Okay actually I've been doing some more testing and I found odd results so will try to clarify here with the hopes that someone can help me figure things out...

So using "Nothing Like The Sun" DTS CD:

1. ripped using EAC >>> 2 channel wav (16/44.1) >>> converted to flac using Foobar2000 with DTS decoding ("enable decode [DTS] postprocessing") >>> 6 channel flac (16/44.1) >>> plays in Foobar2000 (have DTS decorder plugin) >>> cannot use MMH for "convert DTS flac to PCM flac"
2. ripped using EAC >>> 2 channel wav (16/44.1) >>> converted to flac using Foobar2000 with no DTS decoding >>> 2 channel flac (16/44.1) >>> static when played in Foobar2000 >>> use MMH to convert DTS flac to PCM flac >>> 2 channel flac (16/44.1) >>> static on Foobar2000
3. same as #1 but ripped using Foobar2000 (with DTS decoding) >>> same results as #1
4. same as #2 but ripped using Foobar2000 (without DTS decoding) >>> same results as #2

Not sure if MMH was working in this case as the "converted" flac still had 2 channels and played static on Foobar2000, whereas the ones where I decoded DTS in Foobar2000 when converting to flac had 6 channels and played properly on Foobar2000.

Problem is that the 6 channel files still don't show up in Plex...
 
So, if I understand it correctly...

Because Foobar2000 is unable to decode dts.wav files correctly (all you hear is hiss/static), you now want to convert your dts.wav sources into multi-channel FLAC files. Is this correct?
 
So, if I understand it correctly...

Because Foobar2000 is unable to decode dts.wav files correctly (all you hear is hiss/static), you now want to convert your dts.wav sources into multi-channel FLAC files. Is this correct?
Sorry my post was too poorly worded and confusing. Foobar is working and can decode DTS (e.g. when ripping a DTS CD or converting wav to flac). I only hear the hiss when I rip or convert but choose not to use DTS decoding (when I was experimenting with different things).

The reason I was doing all these things was because I assumed that this was the reason the files weren't showing in Plex (because plex doesn't decode DTS), but I have no idea if that's true. But I couldn't figure out another reason only my DTS CD tracks weren't showing in Plex while my SACD, DVD-A and blu-ray (mostly DTS-HD MA files converted to flac) tracks all show up no problem.
 
Sorry my post was too poorly worded and confusing. Foobar is working and can decode DTS (e.g. when ripping a DTS CD or converting wav to flac). I only hear the hiss when I rip or convert but choose not to use DTS decoding (when I was experimenting with different things).

The reason I was doing all these things was because I assumed that this was the reason the files weren't showing in Plex (because plex doesn't decode DTS), but I have no idea if that's true. But I couldn't figure out another reason only my DTS CD tracks weren't showing in Plex while my SACD, DVD-A and blu-ray (mostly DTS-HD MA files converted to flac) tracks all show up no problem.
I have decoded DTS files into FLAC using Foobar and the DTS decoder plugin and it has worked fine in Plex (haven't done it in a while though). Is the file naming convention correct. I think in audio, Plex relies on the extension and often the ".dts" doesn't go away.
 
I'm still a bit confused... Exactly which file types are not 'showing' in Plex... dts.wav, elementary .dts streams... What?
I have decoded DTS files into FLAC using Foobar and the DTS decoder plugin and it has worked fine in Plex (haven't done it in a while though). Is the file naming convention correct. I think in audio, Plex relies on the extension and often the ".dts" doesn't go away.

Thanks guys I figured it out with some help with troubleshooting that it was purely a Plex issue caused by my using three periods "..." at the front of the title for the folder for "...Nothing Like The Sun." I got way ahead of myself and made silly assumptions about what could be the root cause when it turned out to be simply be an issue of how Plex deals with folder titles (cannot detect ones starting with a period).
 
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