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[joeMC-1]

Hello All,

Has anyone tried playback of 5 channel Quadraphonic flac files that contain a LFE channel (4.1 ch) on MC28? I am currently on MC23 and I cannot get 5 channel flac files to play back correctly (channels are either missing or mis-mapped depending on which Channels setting I have tried - Same as source, 4.0, 5.1, etc.). I have not had a reason to upgrade past MC23 before, but I am very happy to upgrade to MC28 if it has a 5 channel output option or can play these files correctly.

Thanks

In case anyone is interested in the problem specifics, they are posted here:

http://https://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php/topic,131420.0.html   

[JimH]

There's another recent multichannel thread here.  You might take a look.

Download and install MC28 to try it.  You can leave MC23 in place.

[joeMC-1]

Thanks Jim, I saw that post. Those Quadraphonic files were 4.0, which I would expect MC to playback with no issue. The files I am trying to play are unusual in that they are Quadraphonic with the addition of a LFE channel. I wonder of that's a scenario the software ever expects to see and how it maps or passes 5 channels under various channel option settings. In any event, I will take your advice and try it on MC28. Probably about time I upgrade anyway.

[kr4]

Thanks Jim, I saw that post. Those Quadraphonic files were 4.0, which I would expect MC to playback with no issue. The files I am trying to play are unusual in that they are Quadraphonic with the addition of a LFE channel. I wonder of that's a scenario the software ever expects to see and how it maps or passes 5 channels under various channel option settings. In any event, I will take your advice and try it on MC28. Probably about time I upgrade anyway.

You can remap the order of the channels in MC to suit these files.

[joeMC-1]

I did not know that was possible. That should solve the problem. Thanks for the suggestion. Where in MC can I make that channel reassignment?   

[kr4]

I did not know that was possible. That should solve the problem. Thanks for the suggestion. Where in MC can I make that channel reassignment?   

Under DSP and Output Format >> Parametric Equalizer (or PE2) >> Add Filter >> Order Channels.

[joeMC-1]

This feature is brilliant and should eventually enable me to get the source channels into the right speakers. However, when I first tried using it, the channel assignment was still wrong. Thinking I must have made a mistake remembering the source file channel layout, I used mediainfo to look at the source tracks again and discovered something interesting. The channel layout on the flac album file before I split it into separate tracks was this: L/R/LFE/Ls/Rs.  After I used MC to split the album into separate tracks the channel layout changed to this: L/R/C/Ls/Rs. I don't know where the LFE channel went but it is definitely not coming out of the Center channel (I have a 5.1 speaker setup). However, there is other music coming out of the Center channel. The original source recording has no music in the Center channel and a LFE channel. Not really a showstopper as I can go back to using the album flac as the source. I will try a few more configurations to see if I can get it right. To me, 5.1 with a silent Center channel would be perfectly acceptable as long as I can get all the other channels to the right speakers.
 
A question I still have is how does MC know whether a 5 channel track is 5.0 or 4.1? That question would also extend to the flac album to track splitting process.

Something that is making this difficult to get right is that each piece of software in the conversion chain from original bluray to flac tracks appears to be changing the channel layout (according to the mediainfo app).

Original Bluray Disk is:                              L/R/Ls/Rs/LFE
after Audio Extract to flac Album it is:         L/R/LFE/Ls/Rs   
after MC Split of Album to flac tracks it is:    L/R/C/Ls/Rs   

[JimH]

You can set up zones differently if you need to.  See the wiki for details.

[joeMC-1]

Yes, I have used zones in the past. The biggest challenge is accounting for all the original source channels. Once I verify that I have all those (especially LFE) I will finalize the filter to put them into the correct speakers and will likely set up a zone switch for 4.1 content.

[joeMC-1]

Upgraded to MC28. It did not solve the 4.1 channel playback problem, but I like it a lot!

I was finally able to get the 4.1 tracks to playback the same as the original Bluray disk (all 5 channels going to the correct speaker) by doing the following:
1. Set output channels to 5.1
2. No Upmixing or Downmixing
3. Add and Enable Parametric Equalizer filter to MOVE Center Channel to SubWoofer  (thanks KR4)

Done. Quad channels playing where they should, SubWoofer active, no Center channel sound.

While this works, I would still prefer to use the "Source Number of Channels" without any filters and additional zones, switches, etc.. This is what I normally use and it assigns channels correctly with every track and channel format in my library except 4.1.

So my questions are:

1. What is making MC think the LFE channel is a Center channel (is it source channel position, metadata, ??) and
2. Can that identification process be made to recognize LFE channel content so that it is always routed to the SubWoofer (when LFE exists and the output Channels setting is set to "Source Number of Channels") ?

   

[kr4]

1. What is making MC think the LFE channel is a Center channel (is it source channel position, metadata, ??)

  AFAIK, 4.1 is a non-standard format and, by default, it is processed as if it was 5.0.

2. Can that identification process be made to recognize LFE channel content so that it is always routed to the SubWoofer (when LFE exists and the output Channels setting is set to "Source Number of Channels") ?

I do not know to do it but I suspect that you can add a tag for such files that will trigger having them processed as you wish.