Does anyone know if WD will ever support dts master audio in the future???
I know it supports dolby true hd and can play it at a pcm but I like the listening experience of 24 bits.
I heard something about dts claiming that only blue ray players and computers with the proper hd sound card will only
work for this capability and not media boxes.
Short answer: probably never.
Slightly longer answer: Only if DTS change their licensing model to explicitly allow DTS-HD bistreaming from “media player” devices.
Right now, only BluRay devices are licensed to bitstream and WD won’t bend the rules like other manufacturers (Netgear, AC Ryan, D-Link, Xtreamer, Syabas, etc.) seem to be doing.
thank you for that reply that was a good professional answer.
So what about Dolby True HD, I’m always confusing these two. And what about downmixing?
According to the available Sigma technical documents, the Sigma chip used in the WDTV Live has the capability of streaming Dolby True HD. WD have stated that they do not have a licence to stream Dolby True HD. That means that they are not licenced to enable the Sigma Dolby True HD driver. According to the available Sigma documents, Dolby True HD conversion is carried out by a Dolby True HD capable amplifier not the Sigma chip.
No, they are able to stream Dobly TrueHD. They are able to DOWNMIX DTHD to 2.0, as well.
The only issue with DTHD I’m aware of is that it doesn’t work well within an MKV container.
But BluRay and VOB and several other containers support DTHD just fine.
From the WD Knowledge Base:
DTS support for all WD TV models
Answer ID 3590 Last Updated 02/04/2011
Note: WD does not support DTS technology on the original WD TV HD Media Player (WDAVx00) or the WD TV Mini Media Player. However the WD TV Live HD Media player, WD TV Live Plus HD Media Player and WD TV HD Media Player (WDBABx) will play DTS audio in 2 channels without the need for an audio receiver that can decode the codec. While the original WD TV HD Media Player (WDAVx00) does allow for DTS passthrough to an audio receiver, this feature is unsupported by WD and technical support cannot assist if you are unable to get this function to work.
Important: The following file types can be played by the WD TV HD Media Player, WD TV Mini Media Player, WD TV Live HD Media Player, WD TV Live Plus HD Media Player, WD TV Live Hub Media Center or the WD Elements Play. Any file type not listed below is not supported. If a file type is not listed in the compatible formats below, and does not play on your model of the WD TV, you can attempt to convert the file to a compatible format type using video conversion software.
Audio – MP3, WMA, MPA, M4A, MP4A, OGG, WAV/PCM/LPCM, AAC, FLAC, Dolby Digital, AIF/AIFF, MKA
An audio receiver is required for surround sound output (including the unsupported DTS audio codec). For more information see Answer ID 3590: DTS support on the WD TV Media Player
AAC/Dolby Digital decodes in 2 channel output only.
If the WDTV Live is capable of playing Dolby TrueHD Audio, how do you play the native Dolby TrueHD Audio stream embedded in a m2ts movie without conversion?
http://community.wdc.com/t5/General-Discussions/Dolby-TrueHD-Audio-DIGITAL-Problem/td-p/23616
Every time I’ve tried it, DTHD in a TS / M2TS worked without any issues.
The thread you’re pointing to is well over a year old. A lot has happened since then…
Like Tony says, DDTrueHD support is a lot better than it was at launch.
I have a number of M2TS sample files that bitstream DDTrueHD without issue. I also have some MKV samples that, again, bitstream DDTrueHD without issue.
Of the DTS-HD files I have (M2TS and MKV), all bitstream the DTS ‘core’ without issue. So you still get decent sounding audio (and DTS is a step up from regular DD at least!).
Looking to the future, WD are working on fixing multichannel PCM output. They can’t convert DTS-HD to PCM 5.1 on-the-fly (license limitation; technically not a problem). However, users can convert their own DTS-HD files to multichannel PCM and get lossless audio that way. It’s far from an ideal solution but is something to consider once WD get PCM 5.1 / 7.1 working.
The WDTV Live is supposed to be plug and play. The WDTV Live is a good general purpose streaming box for people who want to play recorded TV, downloaded movies and MPG files with an attached hard drive and directly connected to a TV. Where WDTV Live fails is buggy Windows networking. That is not the fault of WD but Microsoft. The only solution is for WD to supply additional drivers to automatically configure the network.
There is too much conflicting information and opinions posted on the WD forum. I can only confirm if the posted information is correct by searching the official WD Knowledge Base. If the information on the WD Knowledge Base is out of date, maybe WD should update their Knowledge Base to reflect the current state of the WDTV Live development.
According to the available technical data on the Sigma chip, the drivers were written by Sigma and available for licencing. It is my understanding that it will add farther costs to the WDTV Live to stream Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD. The only rational reason that a licence was not negotiated in the first place is marketing. ie reduce the cost of the product in the retail market place.
The solution is simple. Negotiate the required licences; it is the consumer that pays the licences not WD? Anyone who wants the added functions pays the licence directly to WD. They receive an email from WD with a serial number. That serial number is entered in the WDTV Live via a splash screen and the functions are unlocked.
I conducted comprehensive audio tests with the WDTV Live streaming audiophile grade audio. Frankly the WDTV Live is not an audiophile grade device but an average consumer grade Hi-Fi device. WD would have professional audio equipment in their testing laboratory. Maybe the real reason that the Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD licences were not negotiated was that the difference in the audio quality is not adequately distinguishable to justify paying extra for the licences.
I gave up converting Bluray, too time consuming. I want to watch high definition video in high definition including listening to the Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD soundtracks. I purchased a ASUS Xonar audiophile card for $200AUD installed the card in a spare computer and converted that computer to a dedicated audio and video computer directly connected to the high definition plasma TV and audio system.
The Sigma chip *IS* capable of DTS-HD MA. No question there.
However, DTS will *NOT* grant a license unless the device has an OPTICAL BD DRIVE BUILT-IN.
But again, I can tell you that BD M2TS files with Dolby True HD works fine for me and several others when set to HDMI PASSTHROUGH. OPTICAL will not work because TOSLINK doesn’t have the required bandwidth.
Hey good feedback !!! I am interested in where you talked about negotiate the licensing to WD… can you tell me in more detail about how exactly to do this??? this would be my first step to getting dts hd master audio and dolby true hd to work because I’m not sure I want to wait until WD works on the PCM multichannel 5.1 and 7.1. Any approximation on how much this would cost has anyone one done this???
You cannot. DTS only deals with vendors. If you want to know more you could have easily have found- http://www.dts.com/
Cost, well I don’t know for DTS. But I have been involved in similar licensing discussions and my rough guess would be an up-front commitment of somewhere starting at $200K, and that is likely on the very, very low end.
hey thanks for your reply … sorry for my ignorance but what do you mean by 200 K??? the K???
As in $200, 000. And of course that figure would only be for future sales. WD would not spring for the cost of providing this to existing customers.
thank you for your reply again … I guess I just have to wait like everyone else for WD to fix multichannel PCM 5.1 and 7.1 or just buy a damm computer with a good sound card and replace this WD box and have no issues that way
Please see the comment on this idea: http://community.wdc.com/t5/Live-Hub-Ideas/Support-Digital-Pass-Through-of-DTS-HD-MA-Audio/idi-p/125592
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