Music Media Helper (Tools for Multichannel Audio & Music Videos)

[jacobacci]

I have been trying to extract flac files from the following Pure Audio BluRay:
https://pureaudiorecordings.com/en/product/karl-richter-j-s-bach-cantatas/Most tracks work ok and I get the 24/192kHz files, but for some tracks only a 24/48kHz track is extracted. I have tried DVDAE and MakeMKV / MMH and I am getting exactly the same result.
With my Oppo BDP-93 all tracks play without issues at the correct sample rate. Also jRiver / AnyDVD plays all tracks at 24/192kHz.
Seems to be an issue with the DTS-HD MA decoder. Mediainfo reports the following for a track that does not extract correctly

 

[HomerJAU]

I’ll take a look today. MMH uses ffmpeg to convert to FLAC and should handle 192kHz.

 

[M-K]

I have been trying to extract flac files from the following Pure Audio BluRay:
https://pureaudiorecordings.com/en/product/karl-richter-j-s-bach-cantatas/Most tracks work ok and I get the 24/192kHz files, but for some tracks only a 24/48kHz track is extracted. I have tried DVDAE and MakeMKV / MMH and I am getting exactly the same result.
With my Oppo BDP-93 all tracks play without issues at the correct sample rate. Also jRiver / AnyDVD plays all tracks at 24/192kHz.
Seems to be an issue with the DTS-HD MA decoder. Mediainfo reports the following for a track that does not extract correctly
View attachment 82676

Try foobar to convert as alternative. Is less comfortable for sure. But do not use foobar's ffmpeg wrapper then. There's a DTS (HD) plugin available. Use this instead. Could work.
May be Garry has a better solution for you.

 

[HomerJAU]

@jacobacci I got you test files. Thanks.

The FLACs are 192kHz but for some reason Foobar shows them as 48kHz.

here's is what mediaInfo says:

General
Complete name                            : D:\TEST\Output-04.flac
Format                                   : FLAC
Format/Info                              : Free Lossless Audio Codec
File size                                : 46.3 MiB
Duration                                 : 1 min 17 s
Overall bit rate mode                    : Variable
Overall bit rate                         : 5 035 kb/s
Track name                               : (removed)
Writing application                      : Lavf59.27.100

Audio
Format                                   : FLAC
Format/Info                              : Free Lossless Audio Codec
Duration                                 : 1 min 17 s
Bit rate mode                            : Variable
Bit rate                                 : 5 034 kb/s
Channel(s)                               : 2 channels
Channel layout                           : L R
Sampling rate                            : 192 kHz
Bit depth                                : 24 bits
Compression mode                         : Lossless
Stream size                              : 46.3 MiB (100%)
Writing library                          : Lavf59.27.100

 

[jacobacci]

I also noticed that the files play at 1/4 of the expected speed. So maybe all the bits are there and the samplerate is simply wrong. Some searching lead me to ffmpeg -i 1.flac -af asetrate=192000 2.flac and that seemed to do the job for the time being. Hope a permanent fix can be found

 

[HomerJAU]

Thanks for the info. I’ll update MMH to add the sample rate if > 96kHz. Maybe ffmpeg 5 has a change as I’ve definitely converted 192kHz BD’s previously.

 

[jacobacci]

The Richter / Bach Cantatas BluRays I am trying to rip seem to be strange indeed. In order to get round the issue of some of the flacs being erroneously @48kHz, I have settled on the following workflow, which seems to work (well, to a point)
Save an MKV file using MakeMKV
Convert the MKV to flac in one piece using ffmpeg. This big flac file is entirely @192kHz, so my original issue is resolved. It is obviously also gapless.
Generate a cue sheet with MMH
Split the flac file into one flac per chapter

Now I have hit the following snag:
The cue sheet shows 238 chapters in the MKV (this corresponds to the booklet). I saved this cue sheet
Total time of all the tracks is around 12h45'



Loading this cue sheet into the 'join or split audio' tool also shows 238 chapters



Applying the cue sheet to the big flac file only results in 234 chapter flac files. The length of the big flac file is 12h45', as is the total length of the chapters in the MKV.


I have attached the cue file that MMH generated. It does not show any start times for the later chapters. Puzzled

 

[himey]

The Richter / Bach Cantatas BluRays I am trying to rip seem to be strange indeed. In order to get round the issue of some of the flacs being erroneously @48kHz, I have settled on the following workflow, which seems to work (well, to a point)
Save an MKV file using MakeMKV
Convert the MKV to flac in one piece using ffmpeg. This big flac file is entirely @192kHz, so my original issue is resolved. It is obviously also gapless.
Generate a cue sheet with MMH
Split the flac file into one flac per chapter

Now I have hit the following snag:
The cue sheet shows 238 chapters in the MKV (this corresponds to the booklet). I saved this cue sheet
Total time of all the tracks is around 12h45'

View attachment 82790

Loading this cue sheet into the 'join or split audio' tool also shows 238 chapters

View attachment 82791

Applying the cue sheet to the big flac file only results in 234 chapter flac files. The length of the big flac file is 12h45', as is the total length of the chapters in the MKV.

View attachment 82792
I have attached the cue file that MMH generated. It does not show any start times for the later chapters. Puzzled

When there are anomalies like this, I always break out backup methods.

Try loading the large flac in Audiomuxer on the main input screen. Then use the split by cue function and load the text file.

If that doesn't work, regenerate the chapter stop text file by using HD DVD BLURAY Stream extractor, and use that as a cue in Audiomuxer. Regenerate the large flac if need be if the first two tries don't work.

 

[HomerJAU]

Now I have hit the following snag:

I’ll send you a beta version of MMH which will add the ffmpeg -setrate fix so you can just split the MKV into FLACs by chapter in one stup. Give me an hour.

I’ll look into the new problem too.

 

[jacobacci]

Thanks, Garry
take your time, no hurry ........

 

[HomerJAU]

Music Media Helper 6.2.5 released:

Version 6.2.5 (Sept 5 2022)
-------------
Changes:
Channel Volume tool: Now supports wav files > 12 channels
Remix Channels tool: Updated User Defined Remix mapping tool (now supports 5.1.4, 7.1.4 and 9.1.6 layouts for wav mixing)
Remix Channels tool: User Defined mixes now auto apply channel gain factor (it can be manually edited)
Remix Channels tool: Now uses ffmpeg (previously Sox was used)

Fixes:
Tag & Rename, Extract Audio from MKV & Split MKV tools: Issues if grid state saved in an early 6.1 beta version - fixed
Tag & Rename, Extract Audio from MKV & Split MKV tools: Editing tags in grid does not immediately update Tag Editor - fixed
Extract Audio from MKV: Some 192kHz streams caused issues with FLAC conversions - fixed
Extract Audio from MKV tool: Improved support for M4A files M4A files
Join & Split File tool: Failed to loads files with > 11 hours of total duration- fixed
MMH: Creating CUE files from single file with > 5 hours duration failed - fixed

Known Issue: MMH won't play wav > 8 channels due to ffmpeg issue (hopefully will be fixed soon)

 

[Jiko]

Thanks Garry!

 

[humprof]

At any rate, enjoy your vacation! I watched a video years ago about the area, how people live, etc.

I will add context meanwhile to my thinking about the art. When playing Atmos encoded files, I use VLC media player because it will bitstream to my AVR, and so I get the Atmos encoding. Instead of a blank screen, for years I used another app that would show "slides" per track and I guess I got used to it. (obvious platitudes following! get out the rags to wipe off the grease.)
But except for a few things I do out of habit, these days I mostly use MMH. You have won me over with a collection of utilities that you have masterfully combined with your own programming prowess to give us quite the program. (fact, that)
In the end, art, no art, no big deal, really, as I'm usually doing something else on the pc while the music plays!

Deviating from the thread a bit here: I know I should finally learn MMH and just switch to it for everything, but in the meantime, I'm stuck in my ways (and sticking to what I'm used to--mainly foobar2000, but sometimes MediaMonkey).

That said: with a growing collection of Atmos m4a files, like @boondocks I find I'm turning to VLC media player more and more, since unlike foobar, it will bitstream from my laptop to my AVR over HDMI.

So here's my question: the vast majority of the skins I'm finding for VLC are geared towards video playback, which doesn't interest me. Does anyone know of an attractive, uncluttered skin suited to audio playback--similar to the DarkOne skin for foobar--for VLC?

 

[HomerJAU]

Kodi. Once you learn how its library works. Full screen Artist slideshow, Artist biography ticker tape at bottom, album art, disc art, Atmos .m4a playback… If you were in AU I’d send you one of my spare media players, setup ready to run to try. It’s really easy to use once you know how.

 

[humprof]

Kodi. Once you learn how its library works. Full screen Artist slideshow, Artist biography ticker tape at bottom, album art, disc art, Atmos .m4a playback… If you were in AU I’d send you one of my spare media players, setup ready to run to try. It’s really easy to use once you know how.

I appreciate that, @HomerJAU, and I know you're a tireless and effective evangelist for Kodi (!). I've taken it for a test drive or two, and it's still a non-starter for me, mostly because of the way I prefer to organize and maintain my files & folders. (The "Library" paradigm just doesn't work for me. Also not fond of the way Kodi defaults to full screen mode.) Now, if Kodi would allow me to just browse my files in Windows Explorer and drag or send them to the player, I'd be all over it.

 

[HomerJAU]

There is away to browse to media files.

How do you like to organise you files? I can group by Atmos, quad, surround, stereo, concerts.

Edit; Music in full screen mode is a setting in Kodi

 

[humprof]

There is away to browse to media files.

How do you like to organise you files? I can group by Atmos, quad, surround, stereo, concerts.

Edit; Music in full screen mode is a setting in Kodi

It's just that the locations of a given file/folder (and hence the contents of a given folder) are constantly changing--I move things in and out based on how recently I acquired them, whether they're "shareable," test files that I'm temporarily auditioning, etc.

 

[HomerJAU]

I can see why you want to browse to files!

You could do this in Kodi using the Kodi file browser. I should build a ‘Kodi Music Browser’ app, it wouldn’t be too difficult to implement using a MMH style interface. But I have my ensuite reno project right now and that’s another few weeks of priority so a MMH style Kodi Music Browser is a couple months away probably.

But in the mean time the Kodi File Browser will do what you want. We should start a new thread for a ‘How to’.

 

[steelydave]

You can do both of those things - there's a tickbox in the options somewhere (probably 'display' or 'video') where you can choose to start Kodi in windowed or full-screen mode.

Similarly, when you add a source (folder or drive), there's an option to exclude it from your library - I've done this with my quad conversions folder because it's of variable quality (and not all tagged) so the way I browse it is to have it excluded from my library, but then from the main screen in Kodi I go to the Music section, and then scroll down to the list of options in there and one of them is 'files' and you can browse it as a filesystem.

I agree though with @HomerJAU the Library function in Kodi is awesome, and worth tagging your media properly for, especially if you have a large and/or growing collection of files.

 

[himey]

Using a Harmony hub companion remote via bluetooth is the bomb for Kodi! Every keyboard shortcut can be cloned to any button. The fullscreen/windowed shortcut is especially handy...