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[bspachman]

Hi all--

It's been a hot minute since DTS WAV files have been discussed (at least 1000 days, using those search terms).

I have a small collection of DTS-encoded tracks in my library. Some were ripped from DVD-A and DVD-V discs, but 2 albums were ripped from the short-lived DTS on CD format. These DTS WAV from CD files used to play--but something has changed, and they no longer work.

As far as I can tell, nothing has changed with my audio output settings since I last attempted to play these DTS WAV files:

- Output is my primary Realtek motherboard S/PDIF connection in WASAPI Exclusive.
- Bitstreaming (S/PDIF) is enabled.
- Both AC3 and DTS formats are checked in the bitstreaming 'Custom' box. They're the only formats my receive can decode.
- All of the options in DSP Studio are turned off.
- The ".dts" extension is assigned to JRiver Media Center in "File Options".
I get slightly different errors depending on whether the file options "Playback Method" is 'Automatic' or 'JRiver Video Engine'--but neither playback method works.

The error I get when trying to play these 2 albums is either:
"Playback could not be started on the output 'WASAPI' using the format '44.1 kHz 2ch." (when file option playback is 'automatic')
OR
"Playback could not be started on the selected audio output." (when file option playback is 'JRiver Video Engine')

The first confounding part of this problem for me is that my other DTS files play fine--they have all come from DVD-A or DVD-V discs.

The final kicker is that using JRiver to play the actual physical DTS CDs works. Signal sent--receiver decodes as DTS--and music comes out of the speakers

Can anyone give me further ideas about what I might be missing?

Thanks!
brad

[cncb]

Have you tried simply renaming them as .wav and reimporting?  I have 1 dts-wav cd and ended up just converting it to multi-channel flac to be compatible with more devices.

[bspachman]

Good thought...

Existing files exhibit the behavior described above regardless of .dts or .wav extensions.
Thought maybe the existing files may have gotten corrupted (somehow). Re-ripped a couple of tracks with both MC and EAC.
New rips import fine (showing 'Compression'=DTS or dts), but exhibit the behavior described above regardless of .dts or .wav extensions. Oddly the rips are slightly different sizes (EAC is smaller than MC). I'm guessing due to tags?

....?
brad

[Hendrik]

As a test, what if you disable bitstreaming and let MC decode it?

That would tell us if it properly recognizes the files at all.

[cncb]

It's been a while, but I don't recall MC recognizing it as dts at all.  It would just treat it like 2-channel wav, and play back as static in MC.  The device on the other end of the spdif output will recognize it as dts.

[bspachman]

Disabling bitstreaming gives me the 'playback could not be started on WASAPI' error as in the first post (both WAV and DTS extensions).

I went back into the yabb archives--found an old post of mine from 2015 about MC20 working just fine with DTS WAV files. I then went into my personal archives and did some reinstalling of old versions of MC to test. I may not have the 'final' release of any of the versions, but can report that v17.0.20, v19.0.164, and v20.0.132 all work when playing my test files with the following caveats: only the WAV extension works. The DTS extension fails when the filetype playback is set to 'Automatic' saying that there is no audio in the file. The DTS extension also fails on these old versions when filetype playback is set to 'JRiver Video Engine' because it can't download the required components (LAV Splitter). No surprise there

However, v21.0.90, v22.0.110, v28.0.106, v30.0.47 and my current version (v31.0.87) all fail--so something has changed, but a very long time ago....

I tried to collect some logs for comparison, and I've left the older versions installed for the time being in case that's helpful to anyone...

Any ideas as to next steps?
brad

[craigmcg]

Silly question for the OP- wouldn't it be easier to convert the two problematic rips to multi-channel FLAC as cncb mentioned he had done?

It seems to me that finding what broke when so that it can maybe be fixed without breaking something else more commonly used might be risky.  I mention this based on the fact that you mentioned that the last working version for these files was MC 20.0.132 and that was a long time ago.

My two cents,

[bspachman]

Circling back around after a few days away...

Silly question for the OP- wouldn't it be easier to convert the two problematic rips to multi-channel FLAC as cncb mentioned he had done?

I'm not opposed to doing that, but I'm not sure how my relatively elderly A/V receiver will cope with the new file(s). I'm constrained (due to cabling and I/O considerations) to using an optical S/PDIF connection, so I'm all about that bitstreaming life. Open to guidance and pointers about the conversion process from DTS-WAV--most of what I've seen is old and somewhat contradictory.

It seems to me that finding what broke when so that it can maybe be fixed without breaking something else more commonly used might be risky.  I mention this based on the fact that you mentioned that the last working version for these files was MC 20.0.132 and that was a long time ago.

Sure, but even though this particular thing has (possibly) been broken for a long time, it may be a symptom of something else, or something simple, or just worth doing to make things better Ultimately Jim, Matt, Hendrick and everyone else at JRiver will have to make that decision.

So...anyone have any good, up-to-date guides on multi-channel file conversion and the benefits/pitfalls of doing something like that?

Thanks!
brad

[bspachman]

Bumping in hope of some multi-channel file conversion tips.

One problem with converting out of DTS is that my rig is limited to bitstreaming for the foreseeable future. My memory is that is one of the reasons why I've never converted these files in the past. My receiver can't re-create the surround sound matrix (AFAIK).

[EdBrady]

Bumping in hope of some multi-channel file conversion tips.

Recent versions of dbPoweramp can read dts files and convert them to multichannel. This is what I've done. It allows you to adjust the levels as well, is nice. The only trick is the files to be converted must have the extension .dts to be recognized as such.

One problem with converting out of DTS is that my rig is limited to bitstreaming for the foreseeable future. My memory is that is one of the reasons why I've never converted these files in the past. My receiver can't re-create the surround sound matrix (AFAIK).

Yep, definitely a problem. Might be time to bite the bullet and get something with HDMI. Works much better that way.