# Convering MP4 for Streambaby but nothing out of center channel?



## atomarchio (Sep 24, 2006)

I am converting video files to MP4 for playback on Streambaby.

It works fine but have been noticing I can't hear the spoken dialogue and am turning up/down volume during the entire video.

I have Left-Right-Center speakers in my AV receiver(Sony 3500ES) but am noticing no sound of center channel. I am not using surround sound on receiver but the multi-channel stero where sound comes out of all 3 speakers.

When coverting the file to MP4, is there a way to add convert the file so sound will come through center channel? 

I am using Handbrack and also have Aimersoft Video Converter.

I need help with the correct audio settings to get sound through center channel.

Please help. Thank you.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

Does the resulting file have AC3 audio? Or is it being recoded to AAC? If it's AC3 then you need to make adjustments on your A/V receiver. If it's AAC then you need to play with the options in your conversion program and increase the compression. Compression will make the dialog louder and the sound effects softer when converting to stereo.

Might also want to check that it's NOT using 5.1 AAC. AAC has the ability to store 5.1 but very few devices support it. So if that's what it has the TiVo might just be throwing out the extra channels and only playing Left/Right, which would exclude most of the dialog.

Dan


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## atomarchio (Sep 24, 2006)

Here is the information for the source file before I convert to MP4 in Handbrake.

Audio
ID : 2
Format : DTS
Format/Info : Digital Theater Systems
Codec ID : A_DTS
Duration : 1h 40mn
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 1 510 Kbps
Channel(s) : 6 channels
Channel positions : Front: L C R, Side: L R, LFE
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Bit depth : 24 bits
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 1.06 GiB (24%)
Language : English
Default : Yes
Forced : No

I am converting the file now in MP4 to Handbrake.

Under the audio tab in Handbrake under source it says,

1 English DTS 5.1
AAC (Faac)
Dolby ProLogic II

I don't see anything that refernces AC3 audio.

As it appears you're right about the AAC, what setting should I change under Handbrake when converting to MP4?

Or should I use the Aimersoft Video Converter instead? That seems to have more options but I don't understand most of them.

Please help. Thank you.


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## bigguy126 (Sep 4, 2007)

I use handbrake too and had this same problem. There should be a setting for AC3 passthru on the audio tab. This will preserve the dolby and center channel.


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## atomarchio (Sep 24, 2006)

bigguy126 said:


> I use handbrake too and had this same problem. There should be a setting for AC3 passthru on the audio tab. This will preserve the dolby and center channel.


When I ran the mediainfo for this file, it did not say AC3 anywhere though.

I see 3 passthrough options. There is AAC passthrough, AC3 passthrough, DTS passthrough, or auto passthrough.

Please let me know. Thank you.


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## lew (Mar 12, 2002)

atomarchio said:


> When I ran the mediainfo for this file, it did not say AC3 anywhere though.
> 
> I see 3 passthrough options. There is AAC passthrough, AC3 passthrough, DTS passthrough, or auto passthrough.
> 
> Please let me know. Thank you.


As per the PP you need to select AC3 passthrough.


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## atomarchio (Sep 24, 2006)

lew said:


> As per the PP you need to select AC3 passthrough.


When I select AC3 passthrough, it automatically changes my selection to DTS passthrough.

It's also changing to DTS passthrough for any of the other "passthrough" options.

Do I need to change another setting?


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## atomarchio (Sep 24, 2006)

lew said:


> As per the PP you need to select AC3 passthrough.


I used Hanbrake with the DTS passthrough as that was the only option it would allow.

Here is the detail on the audio.

Audio
ID : 2
Format : DTS
Format/Info : Digital Theater Systems
Codec ID : A_DTS
Duration : 1h 40mn
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 1 510 Kbps
Channel(s) : 6 channels
Channel positions : Front: L C R, Side: L R, LFE
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Bit depth : 24 bits
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 1.06 GiB (24%)
Language : English
Default : Yes
Forced : No

Is there any other setting in Handbrake I should try to improve this?

Please let me know. Thanks.


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## moyekj (Jan 24, 2006)

Source video doesn't have AC3 audio so passthru is not going to help. I don't think Handbrake can encode AC3 audio (only pass it through) so you may have to use something else like ffmpeg if you want AC3. Otherwise your best bet is to switch to 2 channel AAC using Hanbrake which will play properly via TiVo.


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## atomarchio (Sep 24, 2006)

moyekj said:


> Source video doesn't have AC3 audio so passthru is not going to help. I don't think Handbrake can encode AC3 audio (only pass it through) so you may have to use something else like ffmpeg if you want AC3. Otherwise your best bet is to switch to 2 channel AAC using Hanbrake which will play properly via TiVo.


It does work but the spoken dialogue is quite low.

What I am looking for is a way to get the audio playing through my center channel speaker? The spoken dialogue is very low and then I have to turn up the volume which causes the sound effects to be too loud.

I have Aimersoft video converter will try that also. Any suggestions for resolving my issue?


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## moyekj (Jan 24, 2006)

That's why I say if you are going to have AAC audio then you should make it 2 channel so that you can hear dialog properly. Basically with TiVo there's limited audio options: AC3 or 2 channel AAC (as you've seen >2 channel AAC doesn't really work properly), so if you are going to use AAC then 2 channel will guarantee that it works properly (assuming Handbrake encodes properly down to 2 channel audio).


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## atomarchio (Sep 24, 2006)

moyekj said:


> That's why I say if you are going to have AAC audio then you should make it 2 channel so that you can hear dialog properly. Basically with TiVo there's limited audio options: AC3 or 2 channel AAC (as you've seen >2 channel AAC doesn't really work properly), so if you are going to use AAC then 2 channel will guarantee that it works properly (assuming Handbrake encodes properly down to 2 channel audio).


What is the setting in Handbrake for 2 channel AAC? It defaults to AAC (faac).

Should I change this setting to AAC (ffmpeg)?

Do I need to change any other audio settings in handbrake?

Please advise. Thanks.


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## moyekj (Jan 24, 2006)

I haven't used HB GUI in a long time and don't have access right now but I'm pretty sure there are options somewhere to specifically set how many audio channels you want. (FAAC is fine)


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## atomarchio (Sep 24, 2006)

moyekj said:


> I haven't used HB GUI in a long time and don't have access right now but I'm pretty sure there are options somewhere to specifically set how many audio channels you want. (FAAC is fine)


The options are Automatic, None, Mono, Stereo, Dolby Surround, Dolby Pro Logic II, and 6 channel discrete.

I am guessing Stereo would be 2-channel, right?


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## lew (Mar 12, 2002)

moyekj said:


> Source video doesn't have AC3 audio so passthru is not going to help. I don't think Handbrake can encode AC3 audio (only pass it through) so you may have to use something else like ffmpeg if you want AC3. Otherwise your best bet is to switch to 2 channel AAC using Hanbrake which will play properly via TiVo.


Handbrake has an option AC3 (ffmpeg). Would this work for the OP?


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## moyekj (Jan 24, 2006)

lew said:


> Handbrake has an option AC3 (ffmpeg). Would this work for the OP?


 Sounds like it, yes. I guess it means it uses ffmpeg for AC3 encoding.


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## atomarchio (Sep 24, 2006)

moyekj said:


> Sounds like it, yes. I guess it means it uses ffmpeg for AC3 encoding.


I was able to do this with Handbrake. Is there a particular setting on my AV receiver that I should be using?


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## moyekj (Jan 24, 2006)

atomarchio said:


> I was able to do this with Handbrake. Is there a particular setting on my AV receiver that I should be using?


 If you have AC3 audio in output video then receiver should get Dolby and be good to go. I would try a short clip and check the output specs of the resulting video to make sure it has H.264 + AC3.


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## atomarchio (Sep 24, 2006)

moyekj said:


> If you have AC3 audio in output video then receiver should get Dolby and be good to go. I would try a short clip and check the output specs of the resulting video to make sure it has H.264 + AC3.


Here is the audio. Yes, I has AC-3 and Dolby Digital. It says L-R channel positions but I am getting audio out of my center channel.

What are the settings I should be using on my receiver?

Audio
ID : 2
Format : AC-3
Format/Info : Audio Coding 3
Format profile : Dolby Digital
Mode extension : CM (complete main)
Format settings, Endianness : Big
Codec ID : ac-3
Duration : 1h 40mn
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 160 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Channel positions : Front: L R
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Bit depth : 16 bits
Compression mode : Lossy
Delay relative to video : -83ms
Stream size : 115 MiB (7%)
Language : English
Encoded date : UTC 2012-09-14 19:26:37
Tagged date : UTC 2012-09-14 19:58:21


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## moyekj (Jan 24, 2006)

I think you're good to go as is though are you sure you can't get 6 channel AC3 using ffmpeg? (Could be ffmpeg AC3 encoding can only do 2 channel).


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## atomarchio (Sep 24, 2006)

moyekj said:


> I think you're good to go as is though are you sure you can't get 6 channel AC3 using ffmpeg? (Could be ffmpeg AC3 encoding can only do 2 channel).


I only have 3 speakers. Left-Center-Right.

I am using 3 speaker/3 channel in my setup. Is that right?


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## moyekj (Jan 24, 2006)

Yes.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

You should be able to convert the audio to AC3. In Handbreak set the Audio Codec option to AC3 (ffmpeg) then the Downmix option to "6 channel discrete". That will recode the DTS audio to full 5.1 AC3 which should sound fine on your system.

If you still have trouble hearing it play with the gain and range settings in the advanced section.

Dan


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## atomarchio (Sep 24, 2006)

Dan203 said:


> You should be able to convert the audio to AC3. In Handbreak set the Audio Codec option to AC3 (ffmpeg) then the Downmix option to "6 channel discrete". That will recode the DTS audio to full 5.1 AC3 which should sound fine on your system.
> 
> If you still have trouble hearing it play with the gain and range settings in the advanced section.
> 
> Dan


Would 6 channel discrete make send if I only have the left-center-right speakers?

Do you know which audio settings in handbrake I can adjust to increase the spoken dialogue while decreasing the movie sound effects? I have noticed improvement but I need to figure out how to even out the audio so I don't have to increase/decrease volume for an entire movie.

Please let me know. Thanks.


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## atomarchio (Sep 24, 2006)

Dan203 said:


> You should be able to convert the audio to AC3. In Handbreak set the Audio Codec option to AC3 (ffmpeg) then the Downmix option to "6 channel discrete". That will recode the DTS audio to full 5.1 AC3 which should sound fine on your system.
> 
> If you still have trouble hearing it play with the gain and range settings in the advanced section.
> 
> Dan


I see the range setting in handbrake as you mentioned. My source file before the conversion to AC3 (ffmpeg) does not allow the range setting to be changed.

However, once the file is converted to AC3 I can then adjust range setting.

Is there a way to adjust range setting without to having to convert the file twice? (first to AC3, second to adjust range)


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

6 channel discrete will simply convert the audio from DTS to AC3 which your system should be able to decode by itself. If DVDs and other 5.1 content sound OK with your 3 speaker setup then this should work fine. 

If it doesn't work then go to AAC stereo and play with the range and gain settings. 

Dan


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## atomarchio (Sep 24, 2006)

Dan203 said:


> 6 channel discrete will simply convert the audio from DTS to AC3 which your system should be able to decode by itself. If DVDs and other 5.1 content sound OK with your 3 speaker setup then this should work fine.
> 
> If it doesn't work then go to AAC stereo and play with the range and gain settings.
> 
> Dan


I am getting sound of center channel now. Problem I am having is that the movie starts and I set the volume usually to spoken dialogue or into to the movie.

Then when it gets to the sound effects the sound is way to loud. So the entire time I have to manually increase/decrease volume for an entire movie depending on the sound/event.

I am setting DRC to 4 and then trying to lower the gain. Is that what I should be changing to prevent this from happening? I am not getting the results I hoped for.


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## atomarchio (Sep 24, 2006)

I can't get the Dynamic Range Compression working. Even when I set that number to 4, I still find myself decreasing/increase volume for an entire movie.

The gain works but that's not going to help. Can anyone help me with that?


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

Compression can only help so much. I run into this a lot with movies as well. Dialog too low, sound effects way too loud. When that happens I go into the settings of my HT system and just crank up the volume for the center speaker, then adjust the overall volume accordingly. Most of the dialog comes from the center speaker so that usually helps, but it's not perfect either. Apparently the people who do the sound for movies assume everyone wants their teeth to rattle when watching a movie with special effects.

Dan


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## atomarchio (Sep 24, 2006)

Dan203 said:


> Compression can only help so much. I run into this a lot with movies as well. Dialog too low, sound effects way too loud. When that happens I go into the settings of my HT system and just crank up the volume for the center speaker, then adjust the overall volume accordingly. Most of the dialog comes from the center speaker so that usually helps, but it's not perfect either. Apparently the people who do the sound for movies assume everyone wants their teeth to rattle when watching a movie with special effects.
> 
> Dan


Even when cranking up the center channel, I still get the teeth rattling sound when an explosion comes on during a move. I've heard that before about turning up center channel but there's plenty of other sound from the center speak besides dialogue.

I was hoping changing the DRC setting would help but I don't find that to be much difference between 0 and 4 (max).


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

Compression is suppose to help normalize the discrete channels to each other, but as you discovered it's not perfect. You may want to check the settings in your system. It might have a built in compression option that will work better then the one in Handbrake. However it will probably only work with 5.1 sound, so you'll need to use one of the discrete files for testing.

Dan


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## lrhorer (Aug 31, 2003)

Dan203 said:


> Compression can only help so much.


Actually, not true. It is possible to compress the dynamic range of an audio track so much that there is virtually no change in volume throughout the entire piece, but it is true most DRC controls don't allow that much compression.



Dan203 said:


> I run into this a lot with movies as well. Dialog too low, sound effects way too loud.


It happens, although this is often more a case of a noisy environment than a bad audio mix from the movie. If one has fans, air conditioners, outside noises, etc. intruding on the theater environment, then one will have to turn up the audio so that otherwise normal low level sounds are much higher than would be necessary in a quiet room, and the loud passages are then that much louder. One should be able to hear sounds that are right at the threshold of hearing coming from the speakers, and if one can, then the loud passages won't be too loud. Few, if any, video sources are capable of delivering even an 80dB dynamic range in the main program material (excluding momentary peaks). The theoretical maximum for a 16 bit linear amplitude sample is 96dB, and that with a rather large amount of distortion in the low volume sounds and in the peaks.



Dan203 said:


> Apparently the people who do the sound for movies assume everyone wants their teeth to rattle when watching a movie with special effects.


Well, the fact is a typical gunshot, or especially an explosion is a great deal louder than anything your audio system is likely to produce. The smallest sound an average human can hear is set at 0dB. A jet engine at takeoff can produce in excess of 150dB at 25 meters. One audio researcher attempting to reproduce the sound of the snip of an ordinary pair of scissors chained together a number (ten if I recall) of 1000 Watt amplifiers, and the peaks of the audio wave were *still* clipped. Now, of course I am not suggesting anyone listen to music or video at levels that approach 150dB - which can rupture the tympanic membrane, or even at 110 dB, which is the average human threshold of pain. For that matter, one is definitely counseled to keep all exposure to sound below 80dB except for very brief and very infrequent excursions. Eight hours of continuous exposure to 80dB sound can produce permanent hearing damage, and constant repeated exposure to such levels can also do so. A 60dB dynamic range is not excessive, though, yet the sounds in such a sample will either be inaudible at the low end or unpleasantly loud at the high end if one cannot hear one's own normal breathing at rest or a normal whisper at 1.5 meters (about 20dB). The quieter the room, the lower the volume of the audio can be.

Good speaker placement and room design also has a great deal to do with it. Of course, few of us can afford a completely isolated anechoic theater room, and sometimes speaker placement must be compromised for practical considerations, but the more uniform the sound distribution, and the less reflective the surfaces of the room, the better the sound will be, and again the more audible lower volume sounds will be, allowing for lower amplitude high volume sounds.


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## atomarchio (Sep 24, 2006)

Dan203 said:


> Compression is suppose to help normalize the discrete channels to each other, but as you discovered it's not perfect. You may want to check the settings in your system. It might have a built in compression option that will work better then the one in Handbrake. However it will probably only work with 5.1 sound, so you'll need to use one of the discrete files for testing.
> 
> Dan


What do you mean by discrete files? What settings in my AV receiver should I be checking? As I mentioned, I only have left-center-right speakers.

Please let me know. Thanks.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

atomarchio said:


> What do you mean by discrete files? What settings in my AV receiver should I be checking? As I mentioned, I only have left-center-right speakers.
> 
> Please let me know. Thanks.


I said discrete channels, not files. A 5.1 audio track actually contains 6 discrete audio channels. Left, Right, Center, Left Rear, Right Rear and LFE (aka subwoofer). Since your setup only has 3 speakers you're either losing the LR, RR and LFE channels or they are being shifted and blended with the other channels. (depends on your receiver)

The easiest way to deal with this is to simply turn up the center channel as much as you can, turn down the L and R a little, and if you have any options for LR and RR turn those down a lot. That should make the audio more even. Now whether you have enough control over that in your system I don't know. Every system has different options and capabilities.

Dan


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## atomarchio (Sep 24, 2006)

Dan203 said:


> I said discrete channels, not files. A 5.1 audio track actually contains 6 discrete audio channels. Left, Right, Center, Left Rear, Right Rear and LFE (aka subwoofer). Since your setup only has 3 speakers you're either losing the LR, RR and LFE channels or they are being shifted and blended with the other channels. (depends on your receiver)
> 
> The easiest way to deal with this is to simply turn up the center channel as much as you can, turn down the L and R a little, and if you have any options for LR and RR turn those down a lot. That should make the audio more even. Now whether you have enough control over that in your system I don't know. Every system has different options and capabilities.
> 
> Dan


Are you referring to the EQ settings in the receiver for each speaker? (They range from +10 to -20)

Would it make sense to decrease base/treble for Left/Right speakers all the way down and then increase base/treble for the center channel all the way up?

Is that what you're referring to?


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

Base and treble are different. The EQ setting might be the right one. Honestly every receiver is different so you're just going to have to play with it until you find something that works for you. Just make sure you write all the settings down (or take a picture of them) before you start playing with them that way you can revert back if you need to.

Dan


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## atomarchio (Sep 24, 2006)

Dan203 said:


> Base and treble are different. The EQ setting might be the right one. Honestly every receiver is different so you're just going to have to play with it until you find something that works for you. Just make sure you write all the settings down (or take a picture of them) before you start playing with them that way you can revert back if you need to.
> 
> Dan


I think my receiver is likely the problem. I spent over $800 on a Sony3500ES about 4 years.

The receivers now which cost about 1/2 the price sound so much better. I am really annoyed how poorly this recever has performed.


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## thewebgal (Aug 10, 2007)

atomarchio said:


> I think my receiver is likely the problem. I spent over $800 on a Sony3500ES about 4 years.
> 
> The receivers now which cost about 1/2 the price sound so much better. I am really annoyed how poorly this recever has performed.


There have been huge innovation in technology since that receiver came out (6 years ago now) ... 
new audio schemes, new codecs, just the changes in the HDMI spec have driven a number of vendors out of the marketplace!
I gave up on receivers per se and went to preamp/Processors and discrete amps.
As long as it has preamp outputs, I can always replace the front end every couple of years 
and keep the high quality amp stages over time.


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## atomarchio (Sep 24, 2006)

I switched to Sonos for my entire home audio solution and it was the best thing I ever did. It was so much that screwing around with an AV receiver. Will never go back to that again.


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