Hi all I am in need of some advice before i go ahead and purchase one of these. My AV setup has a DD5.1 (AC3) receiver (old Yamaha RX-V396RDS) that cant handle DTS audio and I dont really want to upgrade it just yet. Here is my problem :- Will the WD Live passthough /downmix DTS audio from MKV files into DD5.1 (AC3) format that my amp will understand, or will it convert it into 2 channel Pro Logic? When using an HTPC i have to install FFDshow to do this task and i am hoping the WD Live can do this for me automatically. Hope this isnt a stupid question Cheers
No, it won’t downmix DTS to DD5.1. It will output plain STEREO 2-channel, though. I’m not sure if you would call it Downmixed “Pro-Logic,” or not… It seems to work fine on my system (a vanilla LCD TV, no audio system at all.) I set the WDTV to output STEREO, and it works fine… I’m not using the HDMI connection.
This applies to both DTS and AC3 encodings…
Ahh i see, thats a bit of a deal breaker for me, as i really like my 5.1 sound.
Looks like i am stuck with my HTPC unless there is another media streamer out there that can do it.
Cheers
It’d be interesting to find one.
Since both Dolby and DTS require licensing, I doubt either would allow a license to convert to one to the other, since they’re competitors… 
I don’t know if this is relevant to the subject at all but I used a PC Home Cinema speaker system with integrated DD 5.1/DTS decoder ( The Logitech Z- 5500 ) that I connected to my WD TV Live Media Player via an optical cable, set the AUDIO options to DIGITAL and I had surround DTS sound on *.mkv s that had a DTS track without any problem.
Yeah, this is the bit thats got me confused. The The Logitech Z- 5500 can handle DTS so i would expect it to work.
My AV receiver cant handle DTS just Dolby Digital (AC3), so i need a solution that will play DTS audio from MKV files via the optical link to my AV receiver.
Will i have to re encode all my MKV files to Dolby Digital (AC3), in order to get sound ouput?
Oh ok, well I’m afraid so then, otherwise it will downmix it to stereo.
How are you CURRENTLY playing these DTS-only MKVs?
Anyway, no, you won’t have to re-code ALL of them, only the ones where DTS is the ONLY audio track available.
That, to me, seems an oddity… Every DTS source I’ve ever seen had an accompanying AC3 or 2-Channel track available…
If you have the sources, you can pull the AC3s out and re-MUX with the original MKVs to ADD that as another audio track using software like mkvtoolkit
Currently I have a media center which can handle the DTS only MKV’s via a program called FFDSHOW. It converts them to DD 5.1 on the fly.
I believe ArcSoft TotalMedia Theatre has the same ability although i have never tried it.
I originally created my MKV’s with DTS audio only as at the time i was looking into getting a DTS reciever in the near furture. That not now going to happen any time soon
I believe ArcSoft TotalMedia Theatre has the same ability although i have never tried it.
The reason why i wanted a WD LIVE was that i will soon have to get rid of the media center as my girlfriend wants a new new TV stand. Look like i will have to do as you suggest and pull the AC3s out from my orignals and re-MUX.
thanks for all the help from the guys who have respsonded to my question
