Help with DVD-A & Bluray for Plex

[baward]

Having finally made up the set, I have been ripping my BD for Howard Shore - The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers - The Complete Recordings , which works fine as far as playing its with Plex on my home cinema system is concerned. Rips of my other BD discs (Steven Wilson XTC remixes, for example). have also worked fine for my needs. MKV creates multichannel MP4 files from my discs, which although just one big file, is fine.

When it comes to my DVD-A's of the other two films in that series, even though I can rip the discs using DVD Audio Extractor, the results are a series (one of the discs has 37 separate tracks) of ALAC multichannel files, one for each track of the DVD-A. But I can't play them on my TV, like I can with a BD rip. Is it the format I am ripping them in the wrong format?

Many thanks!

 

[baward]

Anyone?

 

[Sixtyten]

I'm guessing that it's the ALAC format your ripping these to. ALAC isn't as widely supported by TV manufacturers as FLAC (for example). In DVD Audio Extractor there should be an option to rip them to a different format. Or, easier still convert your ALAC files to FLAC then try it. But, and as caveated earlier, I'm only guessing the format is the issue

 

[baward]

Thank you, I will give that a go.

 

[konoyaro]

@baward Just out of curiosity, what happens if you take one of your existing ALAC files and manually change the file extension from .m4a to .m4v?
This has been a workaround in some cases where the user wishes to access the multichannel content of an ALAC file without reconverting it.

 

[baward]

I tried this but unfortunately, the resultant file was only stereo. I am going to experiment and burn it to DVD-RW for a test, as my home cinema is the only way I can experience surround.

 

[baward]

@baward Just out of curiosity, what happens if you take one of your existing ALAC files and manually change the file extension from .m4a to .m4v?
This has been a workaround in some cases where the user wishes to access the multichannel content of an ALAC file without reconverting it.

I have made progress of a sort. I took your advice again and renamed my ALAC file(s) from .m4a to .m4v . Plex now recognises them as 5.1, but I can't get them to play back in surround, so I assume it's settings on my Sony 1080. I do find the 'Sound Effects' section of the Sony quite opaque, but I am going to carry on trying!

 

[SeeMoreDigital]

so I assume it's settings on my Sony 1080. I do find the 'Sound Effects' section of the Sony quite opaque, but I am going to carry on trying!

Are you referring to the Sony STR-DN1080 AVR (Audio Video Receiver)? If so you should disable any/all "sound effects" (on all your devices). Set everything on your AVR to 'pass-through' mode - or whatever Sony call it!

Also... What device do you have Plex running on?

 

[baward]

Yes, it's the Sony STR-DN1080. I will go through it and switch off any Sound Effects (which usually I don't like).

Plex is running on my Synology NAS, which is where all my content lives also. I administer Plex from my iMac, all on the same network.

 

[SeeMoreDigital]

Is your iMac directly connected to your Sony AVR via HDMI or some other method?

 

[baward]

No, the Mac is connected through wi-fi to the network that the NAS is on. The Sony is completely independent from both, acting as a receiver for my 7.1 system.

 

[SeeMoreDigital]

No, the Mac is connected through wi-fi to the network that the NAS is on. The Sony is completely independent from both, acting as a receiver for my 7.1 system.

I see...

Just so you know... Some makes and models of AVR are unable to play certain multi-channel 'audio only' formats over a network connection. Some can't even do it via a USB connected HDD. They can only do it via an HDMI connected playback device

 

[baward]

Many thanks for your helpful info. The trouble I've got is that the computer is upstairs, whereas the NAS and TV are downstairs. I am considering going the cheap server idea, and connect it directly to the NAS just for Plex duties, which I know other people do.

All the best.