First of all, make sure you have “digital” selected as your audio source in the Live video/audio settings. This HAS to be set for the Live to passthrough DTS sound.
Secondly, the Live does not decode DTS, only passes it through. Your receiver or TV needs to be able to decode it. So make sure it is capable of this function (most TVs will not do this, but most AV Receivers will). If your AV or TV cannot decode it, then the Live must be set to “stereo” instead, and the file MUST have a core (AC3) that the Live can decode.
The Live will NOT passthrough DTS-HD, so if that’s the only audio track in your MKV file it won’t play no matter what.
However, *most* DTS-HD tracks have either a DTS or AC3 core which *should* play. But it depends on how they were mastered – some ill-mastered ones may not. You might want to try remastering your source by putting it through Handbrake and doing a passthrough on the DTS track (assuming you have the source and not just the MKV file). You don’t need to run blu-rays through Handbrake (although it does help) because re-encoding will take some time (another possibility is to simply run the M2TS file through mkvmerge – this will not re-encode but *will* create a “proper” MKV file for Handbrake’s use).
The MKV format is one which the Live likes best – but it CAN be badly mastered.
The bluray movies I have only include DTS HD MA and AC3 5.1 so in that case I have to find a way to convert the DTS HD into normal DTS. For now I’ll have to create mkv that only includes the AC3 track.
I think the DTS track on DVDs is at 768Kbps.
The mkv files I have that won’t play the audio are around 1500 Kbps, don’t know if the bitrate might be the problem for my receiver though.
Why do not TV Live pass the DTS HD track? Will there be an updated firmware for that later?
You can use something like mkvmerge to convert your DTS-HD to DTS without having to re-encode the video.
DTS-HD will never be supported by ANY media player – the license holders don’t want anything other than a blu-ray player to be able to decode it so they won’t allow it.
It’s possible your blu-ray player is doing the decoding on the DTS you are playing and not your receiver.
It’s a little confusing sometimes, but decoding can be done at either the player or receiver level. The Live will NOT decode DTS 5.1 but does pass it through. So if your receiver cannot decode it (and you should be able to just look this up in the manual) then that would be the issue. Most blu ray players nowadays do indeed decode DTS (the Playstation, for example).
It’s a little confusing sometimes, but decoding can be done at either the player or receiver level. The Live will NOT decode DTS 5.1 but does pass it through. So if your receiver cannot decode it (and you should be able to just look this up in the manual) then that would be the issue.
This is incorrect. The Live and Live Plus can downmix DTS to stereo.
We are investigating reports of issues with DTS audio. Can those of you with DTS audio issues please post your TV and receiver make and model along with the current firmware rev of your WDTV?
mkelley, my receiver can handle DTS according to the manual.
When WD TV Live pass-through the DTS from a DVD it works fine but not when it pass-through the DTS from an MKV.
The only difference as I see it is the bitrate of each DTS the WD TV Live passes through.
One of my friends has a rediculously expensive surround system. I’ll test the WD TV Live with the same mkv files on his system. He’s on vacation now though so it have to wait.
And I do agree that there are much to be confused about in all this. Thanks for the help though.
I know for certain the Live does pass through DTS 5.1 just fine – both of my Yamaha receivers decode the signal it sends from my MKV files.
Try this – take an original source (NOT an MKV file) with DTS off a DVD or blu-ray and run it through Handbrake. Use the High Profile preset, but change the output type to MKV. Go to the audio options and choose DTS passthrough on the audio track (just the first DTS track). Try playing THIS file.
If it plays fine (and I suspect it will) then the problem is your file and not your Live or receiver. (Handbrake is the gold standard of compatibility).
I ran a DVD through Handbreak and the resulting MKV plays audio in DTS without problem.
I also took one file of a BluRay (to speed things up) and ran that through Handbreak as well but the resulting MKV plays without sound.
If I compare the two MKV files in mediainfo there is a difference, the bitdepth of the DTS. 16 for DVD and 24 for BD.
DVD to MKV ---------- Audio ID : 2 Format : DTS Format/Info : Digital Theater Systems Codec ID : A_DTS Duration : 1h 34mn 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 : 16 bits Stream size : 1 023 MiB (63%) Language : English
BluRay to MKV ------------- Audio ID : 2 Format : DTS Format/Info : Digital Theater Systems Codec ID : A_DTS Duration : 9mn 6s 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 Stream size : 98.4 MiB (66%)
At least you’ve pinpointed the problem, then. You can try downsampling your audio (assuming you want to do this) – ffmpeg will handle it (and should be relatively quick, taking only a few minutes even on a blu-ray MKV). Relevant command would be something like:
ffmpeg will leave the video alone, just convert the audio. Did you use the command I gave you? If so, it shouldn’t be doing *anything* to the video (and you can tell because it will only take a few minutes to convert just the audio, whereas if it resamples the video it will take a while).
I don’t have a sample to test this out on, but worst comes to worst you could always mux the original video back with the converted audio using mkvmerge.
