My Standalone (Pioneer DV-C503) won't accept my AC3 tracks - what have I missed?

[psantucc]

I am using DVD Maestro to author video files captured from analog sources and encoded with TMPGEnc. I set TMPGEnc to encode the video as DVD compliant MPEG2 and the Audio as PCM. I then feed the PCM to BeSweet to make a 2 channel AC3 (I live in an NTSC country, and want wide compatibility).

The problem is that discs thus made won't play in my own standalone. If I make a DVD with the same video, but substitute MP2 or PCM (WAV) audio, it plays just fine. All of the AC3 variants I have tried thus far freeze after about 2 seconds of play.

Chapter navigation and scan work; only the attempt to play audio fails.

Here's the BeSweet Log from the last two encodes:

BeSweet v1.4 by DSPguru.
--------------------------
Using Shibatch.dll v0.2 by Naoki Shibata & DSPguru (shibatch.sourceforge.net).
Using AC3enc.dll v0.2 by Gerard Lantau & Dg (http://ffmpeg.org).

Logging start : 04/22/03 , 20:43:47.

D:\xtract\besweet\BeSweet.exe -core( -input C:\Documents and Settings\Boss\My Documents\My Videos\wright2.wav -output C:\Documents and Settings\Boss\My Documents\My Videos\wright2.ac3 -logfilea D:\xtract\besweet\BeSweet.log ) -ssrc( --rate 48000 ) -ac3enc( -b 192 )

[00:00:00:000] +------- BeSweet -----
[00:00:00:000] | Input : C:\Documents and Settings\Boss\My Documents\My Videos\wright2.wav
[00:00:00:000] | Output: C:\Documents and Settings\Boss\My Documents\My Videos\wright2.ac3
[00:00:00:000] | Floating-Point Process: No
[00:00:00:000] | Source Sample-Rate: 48.0KHz
[00:00:00:000] +------- AC3ENC ------
[00:00:00:000] | Bitrate method : CBR
[00:00:00:000] | AC3 bitrate : 192
[00:00:00:000] | Channels Mode : 2.0
[00:00:00:000] | Error Protection: Yes
[00:00:00:000] +---------------------
[00:54:06:911] Conversion Completed !
[00:54:06:911] Actual Avg. Bitrate : 191kbps
[00:02:28:000] <-- Transcoding Duration
Logging ends : 04/22/03 , 20:46:15.

BeSweet v1.4 by DSPguru.
--------------------------
Using Shibatch.dll v0.2 by Naoki Shibata & DSPguru (shibatch.sourceforge.net).
Using AC3enc.dll v0.2 by Gerard Lantau & Dg (http://ffmpeg.org).

Logging start : 04/23/03 , 21:47:54.

D:\xtract\besweet\BeSweet.exe -core( -input C:\Documents and Settings\Boss\My Documents\My Videos\wright2.wav -output C:\Documents and Settings\Boss\My Documents\My Videos\wright2-New.ac3 -logfilea D:\xtract\besweet\BeSweet.log ) -ssrc( --rate 48000 ) -ac3enc( -b 224 )

[00:00:00:000] +------- BeSweet -----
[00:00:00:000] | Input : C:\Documents and Settings\Boss\My Documents\My Videos\wright2.wav
[00:00:00:000] | Output: C:\Documents and Settings\Boss\My Documents\My Videos\wright2-New.ac3
[00:00:00:000] | Floating-Point Process: No
[00:00:00:000] | Source Sample-Rate: 48.0KHz
[00:00:00:000] +------- AC3ENC ------
[00:00:00:000] | Bitrate method : CBR
[00:00:00:000] | AC3 bitrate : 224
[00:00:00:000] | Channels Mode : 2.0
[00:00:00:000] | Error Protection: Yes
[00:00:00:000] +---------------------
[00:54:06:911] Conversion Completed !
[00:54:06:911] Actual Avg. Bitrate : 223kbps
[00:02:13:000] <-- Transcoding Duration
Logging ends : 04/23/03 , 21:50:07.

It may be worth while to note that though the log indicates a 2.0 channel encode on this last attempt, 'Create 5.1' was checked in the AC3 options section of BeSweetGUI

Any pointers? These DVDs play in two computers and one standalone I know of, so I'm looking for some sort of spooky half-compliant weirdness. I should also mention that AC3 audio only backups of studio movies do not exhibit this problem.

Thanks-
psantucc

[psantucc]

I base this statement on the fact that the player finds the ouput of Softencode perfectly acceptable in place of the AC3enc version. I hesitate to call this an AC3Enc 'bug', because it seems equally likely that the player has esoteric requirements - but it would be nice to find the factor that causes the incompatibility, especially as Softencode is no longer sold.

I just noticed, though, that DSPGuru is leaving us - so I've no idea who might be able to find the difference factor.

It's way over my head, for sure!

psantucc

[alamatula]

Yep, i got that same exact problem when i do any AC3 encoding. And it only freezes in Pioneer's DVD players (that i've tested so far) there are some other brand that produces a jerky playback and even others that do it fine....don't know if there is any particular way that i must use or so!
Let's wait someone can help on this matter

[FulciLives]

Hello :)

For what it's worth I also have an older Pioneer model (the 606D) and I have had problems with 2.0 AC-3 files.

For instance, I had a progressive PAL DVD that I converted from 25fps to 23.976fps so I used BeSweet and the BeSweet GUI to convert the original AC-3 using the preset PAL (25fps) ---> NTSC (23.976fps)

The result? If the original AC-3 is 5.1 then the new AC-3 works on the Pioneer. However, if the original AC-3 is 2.0 the new AC-3 does not work and "locks" up the player.

I did 2 PAL DVD videos so far. One has the movie in 5.1 AC-3 and it plays fine. I also put the trailer on and made it selectable via the menu but the trailer had a 2.0 AC-3 and it locks up.

The other movie only had a 2.0 AC-3 and it also locks up the Pioneer.

So to sum up my Pioneer works if I went from 5.1 AC-3 to 5.1 AC-3 but doesn't like 2.0 AC-3 to 2.0 AC-3. The Samsung was basically the same way. However, these exact same DVD-R discs play back perfectly on my Cyberhome CH-500 and my friend's Panny RV-32 ... both the Cyberhome and Panny can handle the 2.0 AC-3 as well as the 5.1 AC-3

Just for the record, I used SpruceUp to do the authoring since it is fairly easy to use and accepts AC-3 input.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

P.S.
Both converted NTSC DVD discs work fine in a Panasonic (RV-32 I think is the model number) as well as my Cyberhome CH-500 but I let a friend borrow both and like my Pioneer his Samsung model DVD player (I don't know the model number otherthan it is a 5 disc changer and is 2 to 3 years old) had no problem with the 5.1 AC-3 but in his words, "had stuttered playback on the 2.0 AC-3" which I was not able to observe myself.

FINAL NOTE
My Pioneer plays back factory made DVD discs with 2.0 AC-3 tracks just fine though it has a lot of trouble (at times it seems to vary) playing back any DVD-R recorded on a Panny stand alone DVD recorder. Yet it will play back DVD-R discs perfectly that are made on a computer if you do a DVD5 to DVD-R using DVD Decrypter in ISO read/write mode. Also will work with discs made on the computer that are DVD9 to DVD-R using DVD2ONE (create image from the VIDEO_TS folder then burn image with DVD Decrypter). So go figure. This might be off topic but while the Cyberhome plays the BeSweet created 2.0 AC-3 files fine it will only play DVD5 to DVD-R discs ... Panny stand alone DVD recorder DVD-R discs lock it up completely and the same DVD2ONE created discs that work fine in the Pioneer also don't work on the Cyberhome. All I can say is BLAH. So far the Panasonic RV-32 and the newer S35 (which a friend just bought at BEST BUY for like $99) has played EVERY DVD-R no matter how it was created. Chock one up for Panasonic players. Oh wait, the Panasonic S35 didn't play a VCD I made that the Cyberhome did play but then again it was on a TDK black CD-R so maybe that was why the Panasonic didn't like it. My Pioneer didn't like that either although it has played back VCD discs I've made with Fuji CD-R disc (but the Pioneer has always been very picky with CD-R media ... afterall it is an old 3rd generation DVD player).