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[davewave]

I have an issue with bitstreamed audio working fine with VLC but not JRiver.   I suspect that VLC is somehow more tolerant of errors in the files.   I would love it if JRiver offered some advice or tools to analyze problem files and based on that offered some advice on potential fixes.

[JimH]

What format?  What are you playing them to?  Try without bitstreaming?

[haggis999]

I have a related issue with bitstreamed audio working fine with VLC but not JRiver.   I suspect that VLC is somehow more tolerant of errors in the files.   I would love it if JRiver offered some advice or tools to analyze problem files and based on that offered some advice on potential fixes.

You might get more of a response from the experts who lurk on this forum if you described what problem you are experiencing (Missing audio? Distorted audio?). Are they video soundtracks or audio files, and to repeat what JimH has already asked, what format are they in?

It's also unclear if you are just talking about a few specific files or all files of a similar type (whatever that may be).

[Awesome Donkey]

In addition to needing to know the format(s) you're trying to bitstream and the problems happening when attempting to bitstreaming, also would be good to know what output you're trying to bitstream over whether it be USB, HDMI, DLNA, etc.

[davewave]

I didn't realize that this comment had been pulled out as a separate thread.  Thanks for this.

Before I get into the specifics of the two problem files, I should note that almost everything else I play works very well using HTPCs over 8K capable cables.  That includes 4K and Atmos on the higher powered system  on a wide variety of files.  So the problems are not across the board, just with two self ripped files.  Both files have essentially the same characteristics when it comes to the video and audio signals.

The first is Roy Orbison, A Black and White Night 30th anniversary.  The title is h264 L4.1, yuv 420p, 1920x1080.   Audio is True HD 96000hz,  5.1(side), s24.

The second is Grateful Dead, Sunshine Daydream from a BluRay.  Most copies of this title were on DVD, but about 15,000 copies were pressed on BluRay.   Also h264 L4.1, yuv 420p, 1920x1080, True HD 96000hz,  5.1(side), s24.

At the same points in the file each time, when attempting bitstreaming of the highest quality audio signal, the audio cuts out (stutters).

It is true that this file will play with JRiver doing the audio decoding rather than utilizing the bitstream.   However, I much prefer to let the Marantz receivers (same problem on two PCs and two similar Marantz receivers) do the decoding.  The receivers in question are the 6012 and 6015.  I feel the bass is much better with the receiver doing the decoding.   I am guessing that my audio preference is related to. having the receiver do the bitstream decoding and feeding that to the audyssey processing.

I have experimented quite a bit with various video settings in JRiver, but I am sure there might be something I missed.   One Dell HTPC (XPS 8950) has a  NVidia 1660 Super video card and a 12th generation i7; and that one is actually more problematic than the antiquated Dell Vostro 260s HTPC with a Nvidia 1030 and a second generation Intel i5.   This machine is 12 years old but runs fine with its newly replaced power supply.

As noted above in the thread, these titles play fine with VLC on the same HTPCs.  They also play just fine with bitstreaming on my Dune HD Smart D1 and with Kodi sideloaded onto an Amazon Fire Cube 3rd generation.

[Hendrik]

What did you rip these files with? Ripping TrueHD properly is actually reasonably complicated, and some tools (and older versions of some tools) caused muxing errors that can show up like that, especially if its the same spot in the file each time.
MakeMKV, for example, had such a bug, but it was fixed in MakeMKV v1.15.4 (December 2020)

[davewave]

Yes, those were ripped with MakeMKV in the last year or so.  The version of MakeMKV was current.

I tried AnyDVD (the last version supported with a "lifetime" license before RedFox got involved) and that was no better. 

I would be inclined to agree that there are muxing errors, but remuxing using various tools has not helped.   For some reason VLC powers right through those errors, as do the other hardware / software platforms mentioned.  JRiver can power through but doing its own decoding of the TrueHD; but at the expense of some of the benefits of processing through the receiver.

Another murky title I have is David Gilmour's Remember That Night.   What is weird with that one is that my remux works fine; but when I play the original BluRay rip from the index file I get very strange behavior.   Audio and Video get very out of sync.   Those files also play fine on other platforms.   I didn't bring that up because I do have a fix of sorts. The remux is not an elegant solution but then again it does work.

Hendrik; your new engine is great and otherwise performs very nicely.  It is just this handful of titles that are funky.  The new engine, to me, is the most important improvement to JRiver in the last 10 years or so.