Skip to main content

Notice

Please note that most of the software linked on this forum is likely to be safe to use. If you are unsure, feel free to ask in the relevant topics, or send a private message to an administrator or moderator. To help curb the problems of false positives, or in the event that you do find actual malware, you can contribute through the article linked here.
Topic: [DTS-HD MA to FLAC] Strange results (Read 13041 times) previous topic - next topic
0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

[DTS-HD MA to FLAC] Strange results

Hello.
I have used eac3to to convert the DTS-HD MA track of one of my ripped BluRay but I've got some strange results.

Here are the data of the input track I have used (DTS-HD MA 6.1 24-bit):


I've used eac3to (with the ArcSoft DTS decoder) to convert it to FLAC:
Code: [Select]
Command: eac3to.exe input.dts output.flac
DTS Master Audio, 6.1 channels, 24 bits, 48kHz
(core: DTS-ES, 6.1 channels, 24 bits, 1509kbps, 48kHz)
Remapping channels...
Decoding with ArcSoft DTS Decoder...
Encoding FLAC with libFlac...
Creating file "output.flac"...
The original audio track has a constant bit depth of 24 bits.
eac3to processing took 13 seconds.
Done.


Here are the data of the FLAC output track:


I don't understand why the FLAC file is larger than the DTS-HD MA, it should be the opposite. And it also contains a constant screechy noise (you can compare: input / output).


FYI, here's the configuration of eac3to:

Code: [Select]
Command: eac3to.exe -test
eac3to (v3.27) is up to date
Nero Audio Decoder (Nero 6 or older) doesn't seem to be installed
  http://www.nero.com/eng/store-blu-ray.html
  CAUTION: You need Nero 7. Nero 8 won't work with eac3to.
ArcSoft DTS Decoder (1.1.0.9) works fine
Sonic Audio Decoder (3.27.0.0) doesn't seem to be installed
Haali Matroska Muxer (2013-04-14) is installed
  There's a new version (2013-06-23) available
  http://haali.net/mkv
Nero AAC Encoder could not be located
  http://www.nero.com/eng/nero-aac-codec.html
  Copy NeroAacEnc.exe to the eac3to or to the Windows folder.
Surcode DTS Encoder doesn't seem to be installed
  http://www.surcode.com


If I don't use the ArcSoft DTS decoder, the MA part is ignored and only the core part is converted, which is not what I want. Can anyone help me?

[DTS-HD MA to FLAC] Strange results

Reply #1
Well, first of all, I was able to convert your input.dts file to a 24.6MB flac file with ffmpeg without any problems. Apart from the noise, other strange things are that for example the 5th channel is silent in the original DTS file (and the FLAC I converted it to myself) but it is not in your FLAC file. In fact, all channels are very similar. I don't now what is happening somewhere in the signal chain, but for some reason things seem to be changed quite a bit.

If you are able to use ffmpeg, I'd give it a try, it says it recognizes the DTS-HD MA part.
Music: sounds arranged such that they construct feelings.

[DTS-HD MA to FLAC] Strange results

Reply #2
Hi. Thank you for your reply!
What command did you use? I tried the following one:
Code: [Select]
ffmpeg -i input.dts output.flac

I get a 9 MB file with 7 channels but it's 16-bit audio.
Code: [Select]
ffmpeg version 0.8.6-6:0.8.6-1ubuntu2, Copyright (c) 2000-2013 the Libav developers
  built on Mar 30 2013 22:20:06 with gcc 4.7.2
*** THIS PROGRAM IS DEPRECATED ***
This program is only provided for compatibility and will be removed in a future release. Please use avconv instead.
[dts @ 0xbdeb20] max_analyze_duration reached
[dts @ 0xbdeb20] Estimating duration from bitrate, this may be inaccurate
Input #0, dts, from 'dtshd6.1.dts':
  Duration: 00:02:50.84, start: 0.000000, bitrate: 1536 kb/s
    Stream #0.0: Audio: dca (DTS-HD MA), 48000 Hz, 7 channels (FL|FR|FC|LFE|BC|SL|SR), s16, 1536 kb/s
Output #0, flac, to 'output.flac':
  Metadata:
    encoder         : Lavf53.21.1
    Stream #0.0: Audio: flac, 48000 Hz, 7 channels (FL|FR|FC|LFE|BC|SL|SR), s16, 200 kb/s
Stream mapping:
  Stream #0.0 -> #0.0
Press ctrl-c to stop encoding
size=    8834kB time=60.10 bitrate=1204.2kbits/s    
video:0kB audio:8826kB global headers:0kB muxing overhead 0.091281%

[DTS-HD MA to FLAC] Strange results

Reply #3
ffmpeg cannot decode lossless part of DTSHD/DTSMA
Schn4pper, I changed extension of file to .dtshd and decoded it with eac3to 3.27 and arcsoft dts decoder 1.1.0.0 and everything seems OK (no noise), FLAC is smaller than DTS  - https://www.dropbox.com/s/la26ol1m4oks6vc/decoded.flac
eac3to log:
Quote
DTS Master Audio, 6.1 channels, 24 bits, 48kHz
(core: DTS-ES, 6.1 channels, 24 bits, 1509kbps, 48kHz)
Remapping channels...
Decoding with ArcSoft DTS Decoder...
Writing WAV...
Creating file "stdout.wav"...
The original audio track has a constant bit depth of 24 bits.
eac3to processing took 27 seconds.
Done.

Spectrogram:

Spectrogram of lossy part only:

[DTS-HD MA to FLAC] Strange results

Reply #4
I don't understand why the FLAC file is larger than the DTS-HD MA, it should be the opposite. And it also contains a constant screechy noise

The odd, metallic, spaceship noise is what's causing your FLAC file to be larger than the original DTSMA.  Encoding that noise takes bits.

As for your overall situation, something is definitely screwed up.  Beyond the noise, your output file is listed as 1:09 in duration.  Everything I can see tells me the clip is 1:00.  Also, as ktf said, all the channels sound the same in your output file.  This is most obvious on the LFE channel which has content WAY beyond just LFE.  That's obviously wrong.

I just downloaded the input file, ran it through eac3to, and got a 25.5 MB FLAC file that sounds perfectly fine.  Like ktf experienced, the back-center channel is silent for me.  Perhaps the key difference is that I'm running version 1.1.0.0 of the Arcsoft DTS decoder.  One would expect a newer version to work better, but that's not always the case. 

Lastly, as an aside, when you do get this working, you might want to consider down-converting to 16-bits.  The difference is inaudible, but the space savings are huge.  I just did it now.  Converting the DTSMA to 16-bit FLAC gave a 9.8 MB file (1372 Kb/s bitrate), which means it's smaller than the lossy DTS core but sourced from the full MA.  Pretty sweet.

Edit:  While I was typing and testing, Rollin posted with some similar information.  His result is bit identical to my result.

[DTS-HD MA to FLAC] Strange results

Reply #5
I changed extension of file to .dtshd and decoded it with eac3to 3.27 and arcsoft dts decoder 1.1.0.0 and everything seems OK (no noise), FLAC is smaller than DTS

Quote
I just downloaded the input file, ran it through eac3to, and got a 25.5 MB FLAC file that sounds perfectly fine. Like ktf experienced, the back-center channel is silent for me. Perhaps the key difference is that I'm running version 1.1.0.0 of the Arcsoft DTS decoder. One would expect a newer version to work better, but that's not always the case.


Thank you very much for your help. The problem was indeed surprisingly the 1.1.0.9 version and also the fact that I used the .dts extension instad of .dtshd. Now I managed to get the same output as gib by using the 1.1.0.0 version and it sounds perfect.

[DTS-HD MA to FLAC] Strange results

Reply #6
Ah, I forgot to mention in the edit to my previous post that I did NOT change the file extension.  eac3to understands what the file is regardless of extension.  Look: 

Code: [Select]
c:\Users\[removed]\Desktop>eac3to input.mp3
DTS Master Audio, 6.1 channels, 24 bits, 48kHz
(core: DTS-ES, 6.1 channels, 24 bits, 1509kbps, 48kHz)

c:\Users\[removed]\Desktop>eac3to input.txt
DTS Master Audio, 6.1 channels, 24 bits, 48kHz
(core: DTS-ES, 6.1 channels, 24 bits, 1509kbps, 48kHz)

c:\Users\[removed]\Desktop>eac3to input.blah
DTS Master Audio, 6.1 channels, 24 bits, 48kHz
(core: DTS-ES, 6.1 channels, 24 bits, 1509kbps, 48kHz))

The culprit here was the version of the Arcsoft DLL.

[DTS-HD MA to FLAC] Strange results

Reply #7
also the fact that I used the .dts extension instad of .dtshd.


The extension shouldn't matter when it comes to eac3to.
It was most likely just the 1.1.0.9 version that caused the issue.
eac3to can detect with any extension used (as far as dts formats go).
I like to use "HD audio" in PaulStretch. "HD audio", lol.