Which audio track to use?

[AmDD]

This maybe a dumb question but when ripping a dvd what audio track should you pick? I know some are different languages (english, spanish, etc) and since I can only speak english I should pick one of those but I see 4 english in this example.

English AC-3/5.1
English AC-3/2
English AC-3/2
English AC-3/2

I assume the last number refers to the number of channels, 5.1 being 5.1 surround sound and 2 being stereo. Right?

I also know that some movies have a directors commentary of some kind which I assume is one of the "/2" tracks. What is the other one? How do you know which is which?

How does a DVD player (either stand alone unit or in a computer) decide which track to play between 5.1 and stereo? If I only include the 5.1 track in my rip will it play stereo at all or only surround sound?

[diogen]

5.1 being 5.1 surround sound and 2 being stereo. Right?Right.
I also know that some movies have a directors commentary of some kind which I assume is one of the "/2" tracks.Correct, most likely.
What is the other one?
Different resolution, different sampling rate, etc.
How do you know which is which?You don't until you try.
Or use a program like MediaUnfo. It will tell you the specs of each track.
How does a DVD player... decide which track to play between 5.1 and stereo?Unless configured otherwise, it starts with the best it can handle.
If I only include the 5.1 track in my rip will it play stereo at all or only surround sound?Yes, if the player can downmix. It's hard to find a recent player that can't.

Diogen.

[AmDD]

Thank you for the reply!

So I can assume that it would be best to just select the 5.1 track? Then the player can downmix it to stereo if need be. This will help with file size, keeping tracks I'll never use out of the mkv file.

thanks again!!

[QuantumRand]

Typically the first track listed is your best choice. In the example you listed, the 5.1ch track is almost certainly the one you should choose. Like you said, your player/audio driver will be able to downmix it for you, or you can downmix it during re-encode.

If your primary concern is file size, you can save around 200MB per hour by choosing the 2ch track, or downmixing and re-encoding the 5.1ch track to 2ch with a high compression codec. In the end, though, that usually means a 2GB video file instead of 2.4GB. A good audio track can make a world of difference when watching a movie, though, so I personally feel the extra 400MB (which is nearly no space at all in the grand scheme of things) is worth it.

But yes, choosing only one track will save space. The only reason you'd include more than one track would be if you wanted additional languages, directors commentary, or knew that certain playback devices wouldn't be compatible with 5.1ch or the codec you chose for the primary track.

[diogen]

So I can assume that it would be best to just select the 5.1 track? Then the player can downmix it to stereo if need be.Correct.

It is called MediaInfo (not MediaUnfo as in my previous post) - the program that tells you everything you want to know (and a lot that you didn't :))about a media file...

Diogen.

[Ghitulescu]

How does a DVD player (either stand alone unit or in a computer) decide which track to play between 5.1 and stereo?

The player is instructed to do this. If no SET_STN instruction is found, the player defaults to the first audio track it supports (lowest id) for the language set in the players' memory.

[AmDD]

Alright, good info, thank you!!