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

[ted_b]

Don't worry, nothing can play MKV chapters gaplessly...the HDMI that MKV requires takes seconds to switch MKVs. As you said, if you want an MKV album to be gapless (DSOTM, Abbey Road, etc) it needs to be a single MKV (and can be augmented with cue files but never tried).

 

[mandrix]

Well, MKV is smaller than .iso, for sure, but storage is cheap these days. VLC and PoweDVD will play .iso so that's just like playing the disc.
But like I said, sometimes I do rip to MKV and split into chapters, probably for different reasons, and don't worry about gapless playback.

When I was using a "frankenstein" Atmos system I could not split mkv into chapters then extract the truehd because evidently there are no tools yet that will do that, that the Dolby Reference Player likes, which is what i had to use at the time. So I was having to extract the truehd/atmos from one large MKV file for playback with the DRP. I guess that still stands, unless Garry has found some tools that will make those oddball apps like the DRP happy.

Happy to have a new AVR and don't have to use the DRP anymore but there are people that do, and splitting chapters with Atmos and playback could still be a problem for them.
But I still use MMH for other things and always happy Garry keeps pushing the boundaries.

 

[marpow]

So is a .iso a disc or a file? And if a disc, why does a file stick to the disc and not just play as a file, sorry just never quite understood.

 

[ted_b]

An ISO (xxx.iso) is a disc image file on your computer or file serving drive. JRiver is a good ISO reader (even reads SACD iso files and shows them in JRiver as either 2 channel or lists both 2 channel and 5-6 channels).

 

[HomerJAU]

Don't worry, nothing can play MKV chapters gaplessly..

Kodi can. Using a CUE file (MMH chapter editor tool can create a CUE for a MKV with chapters). You need to change an external setting in Kodi to tell it MKV files are music files, scan the album folder and all the CUE tracks appear in the Kodi Music Library. You can navigate a play any song but if all subsequent songs are gapless.

 

[himey]

Kodi can

Pretty sure he meant between split files...

 

[ted_b]

Kodi can. Using a CUE file (MMH chapter editor tool can create a CUE for a MKV with chapters). You need to change an external setting in Kodi to tell it MKV files are music files, scan the album folder and all the CUE tracks appear in the Kodi Music Library. You can navigate a play any song but if all subsequent songs are gapless.

No offense but I meant natively, and then put the "cue file" caveat in my answer.

 

[HomerJAU]

No offense but I meant natively, and then put the "cue file" caveat in my answer.

Kodi will play an MKV without a CUE gapless too. The CUE is only there allow selection of individual tracks (songs) playback.

 

[ted_b]

Kodi will play an MKV without a CUE gapless too. The CUE is only there allow selection of individual tracks (songs) playback.

? We are not talking about playing an MKV gapless, we are talking about playing a series of MKVs split into chapter MKVs. Yes, MKV's by their nature (at least on my media players) play gapless.

 

[spearse]

@HomerJAU can MMH re-assign default audio stream for MKVs? I have some rips that default to stereo in Plex vs. truehd/Atmos.

 

[spearse]

Actually I can re-mux using MKVToolnix and move Atmos stream to the top; that makes Plex use it as default. Plex seems to ignore the "default track" flag and always plays the first stream. So it requires a full re-mux to force Plex to play the audio stream you really want. Bad Plex.

 

[HomerJAU]

@HomerJAU can MMH re-assign default audio stream for MKVs? I have some rips that default to stereo in Plex vs. truehd/Atmos.

MMH’s Chapter Editor tool can change the default audio stream without remuxing.

 

[spearse]

MMH’s Chapter Editor tool can change the default audio stream without remuxing.

When I drag an .mkv into chapter editor, nothing happens except I see an overlay at the top saying "default audio stream:..." This is for both 6.4.5 as well as the the 7.x beta

 

[HomerJAU]

The view is populated with the Input file’s chapters. I assume there are no chapters. You can select the stream to make default.

If you have many files with the same audio streams without chapters (i.e.The MKV files came from splitting an MKV with chapters), you can drag them all into the MMH first tool (together) and select the stream to make default.

 

[Albert Dagger]

Kodi will play an MKV without a CUE gapless too. The CUE is only there allow selection of individual tracks (songs) playback.

Yes, Kodi can and can also play gapless MKA files. The only issue is that the time stamps on the CUE sheet are not read correctly. I mean, the first couple of seconds of each song are trimmed if the song selected is not the first (and the album is not played in its entirety from beginning to end). I've noticed this behaviour after ripping Robert Fripp's Exposure and The Beatles' Abbey Road. I'm using an MKA file with a CUE sheet generated using MMH Chapter editor (from the original MKV file). The time stamps on the cue sheet are correct, but are not read correctly by Kodi.

As an example, these are the three tracks of RF's Exposure. According to the time stamps, track 2 should be 2m 24s long, but Kodi reads it as 2m 34s long. Don't know... maybe it has to do with the milliseconds in the cue sheet.

TRACK 01 AUDIO
    TITLE "Preface"
    PERFORMER "Robert Fripp"
    INDEX 01 00:00:000
  TRACK 02 AUDIO
    TITLE "You Burn Me Up I’m a Cigarette"
    PERFORMER "Robert Fripp"
    INDEX 01 01:15:075
  TRACK 03 AUDIO
    TITLE "Breathless"
    PERFORMER "Robert Fripp"
    INDEX 01 03:39:802

 

[Albert Dagger]

Yes, Kodi can and can also play gapless MKA files. The only issue is that the time stamps on the CUE sheet are not read correctly. I mean, the first couple of seconds of each song are trimmed if the song selected is not the first (and the album is not played in its entirety from beginning to end). I've noticed this behaviour after ripping Robert Fripp's Exposure and The Beatles' Abbey Road. I'm using an MKA file with a CUE sheet generated using MMH Chapter editor (from the original MKV file). The time stamps on the cue sheet are correct, but are not read correctly by Kodi.

As an example, these are the three tracks of RF's Exposure. According to the time stamps, track 2 should be 2m 24s long, but Kodi reads it as 2m 34s long. Don't know... maybe it has to do with the milliseconds in the cue sheet.

TRACK 01 AUDIO
    TITLE "Preface"
    PERFORMER "Robert Fripp"
    INDEX 01 00:00:000
  TRACK 02 AUDIO
    TITLE "You Burn Me Up I’m a Cigarette"
    PERFORMER "Robert Fripp"
    INDEX 01 01:15:075
  TRACK 03 AUDIO
    TITLE "Breathless"
    PERFORMER "Robert Fripp"
    INDEX 01 03:39:802

It has to do with the milliseconds. Rounding up (or down) the milliseconds to get precise time stamps with only minutes and seconds solves the issue. It's not ideal because the cue sheet is altered, but it's not audible in most cases.

 

[spearse]

I'm trying; when I add multiple .mka's nothing appears. When I add a single one, it looks like a bad windows overlay.

 

[spearse]

I'm trying; when I add multiple .mka's nothing appears. When I add a single one, it looks like a bad windows overlay.

Yes, Kodi can and can also play gapless MKA files. The only issue is that the time stamps on the CUE sheet are not read correctly. I mean, the first couple of seconds of each song are trimmed if the song selected is not the first (and the album is not played in its entirety from beginning to end). I've noticed this behaviour after ripping Robert Fripp's Exposure and The Beatles' Abbey Road. I'm using an MKA file with a CUE sheet generated using MMH Chapter editor (from the original MKV file). The time stamps on the cue sheet are correct, but are not read correctly by Kodi.

As an example, these are the three tracks of RF's Exposure. According to the time stamps, track 2 should be 2m 24s long, but Kodi reads it as 2m 34s long. Don't know... maybe it has to do with the milliseconds in the cue sheet.

TRACK 01 AUDIO
    TITLE "Preface"
    PERFORMER "Robert Fripp"
    INDEX 01 00:00:000
  TRACK 02 AUDIO
    TITLE "You Burn Me Up I’m a Cigarette"
    PERFORMER "Robert Fripp"
    INDEX 01 01:15:075
  TRACK 03 AUDIO
    TITLE "Breathless"
    PERFORMER "Robert Fripp"
    INDEX 01 03:39:802

FYI I have noticed Kodi always cuts a couple seconds off all my .mka's at the beginning. I've searched for solutions and have found none.

 

[Albert Dagger]

I'm trying; when I add multiple .mka's nothing appears. When I add a single one, it looks like a bad windows overlay.

You have to generate the cue sheet from the ripped MKV, and then edit the file to red the MKA file. I’ve also rounded up the milliseconds to get a more precise split of the tracks in Kodi.
the cue sheet and the MKA file must have the same file name. One single MKA, no chapters, and it will work.

 

[M-K]

Kodi can. Using a CUE file (MMH chapter editor tool can create a CUE for a MKV with chapters). You need to change an external setting in Kodi to tell it MKV files are music files, scan the album folder and all the CUE tracks appear in the Kodi Music Library. You can navigate a play any song but if all subsequent songs are gapless.

Garry, what do I have to change that KODI accepts MKV as audio? Please let me (us) know. (I'm using a Raspberry Pi). Thank you.