eac3to - audio conversion tool

[Nico8583]

Thanks a lot :)
If I want to convert DTS-HD to AC3, I'll extract first DTS core then convert it ;) so no need to an external decoder.

[kypec]

If I want to convert DTS-HD to AC3, I'll extract first DTS core then convert it ;) so no need to an external decoder.

No need to extract DTS core first, eac3to can convert it directly to AC3 on-the-fly if no suitable external DTS-HD decoder is installed.;)

[Nico8583]

No need to extract DTS core first, eac3to can convert it directly to AC3 on-the-fly if no suitable external DTS-HD decoder is installed.;)
Thanks for the info, so why an external decoder is needed ?

[nevcairiel]

The external decoder is only needed if you want to decode the full DTS-HD.

[jj666]

It doesn't make sense to convert the DTS (lossy) core to AC3, the sensible approach would be to convert the full lossless DTS-HD stream.

Cheers,

-jj-

[Nico8583]

I don't have any idea about size difference between DTS and AC3, if size is similar yes it doesn't make sense. But if there is a consequent difference, it could be util.
So if I want to convert DTS-HD to AC3, I need an external decoder but if I want to convert TrueHD to AC3, no need to an external decoder ?

[jj666]

I mean from a compression point of view, compressing from DTS to AC3 is just reducing the audio quality (as you are compressing the original source twice). Compressing DTS-HD to AC3 would be a single compression step. You would need the Arcsoft decoder dll installed to facilitate working with DTS-HD.

TrueHD on Blu-ray will always contain an AC3 core which you can extract, there should be no need to encode anything.

Cheers,

-jj-

[Nico8583]

Thanks :)
I've seen there are several versions of Arcsoft decoder, one support 6.1, another support 7.1 but not a single version to support both. Is it true ?

[tebasuna51]

Nope. At least version 1.1.0.0 support 6.1 and 7.1

[Nico8583]

Good news, thank you !

[Nexin]

Thanks ndjamena for the .bat script will see if can make eac3to work with them for what I need

[elmarikon]

Cheers!

And thanx for your great tool!

I have two questions about it:

1. is it possible to decode / export lossless dts-hd audio?
I could not find a way to do so...

2. Is there a way to not have the "annoying" .log file?
Any options to suppress the creation of it?



All the best from Dammtor!

SwK

[the_weirdo]

1. is it possible to decode / export lossless dts-hd audio?
I could not find a way to do so...
Yes. However, for decoding, you'll need some commercial decoders, e.g. ArcSoft DTS decoder.

2. Is there a way to not have the "annoying" .log file?
Any options to suppress the creation of it?

I don't understand why log file is "annoying". Anyway, you can disable log creation by adding -log=NUL to the command line.

[filler56789]

I don't understand why log file is "annoying".

Perhaps because it fills the HDD with unrequested junk? :)

[DarkSpace]

I don't understand why log file is "annoying".
Perhaps because it fills the HDD with unrequested junk? :)
I must say, I agree here. I'd much rather enable writing of a log file and have it disabled by default than having to add -log=NUL every time.
After all, I have to specifically request eac3to to not create a file that I didn't ask for, which seems counterintuitive to me. And I must say, so far I have had absolutely no use for log files, because I always took the time to read what eac3to output to the console directly. And of course, I remember what my input command was (if necessary, I re-run it).

[Ryushin]

Solution found to dsmux problem when going to certain hard drives. Threads found on this problem:
https://www.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=1485220#post1485220
https://www.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=1546026#post1546026

Solution was changing the storage controller driver that the hard drive was connected to. In my case, I was using the AMD AHCI RAID driver. I changed that to Microsoft's AHCI driver and the problem was resolved.

It took a better part of an entire day to finally find a solution to this issue.

I hope this helps someone that might run across this same issue.

[beto]

Hi, I have a bunch of AC3 files that I have to apply a delay to. I know I can use eac3to or delaycut to apply this delay.

The problem with delaycut is that it does not support batches and I have to apply the delay manually to each file (it works but its cumbersome).

As for eac3to I know that Eac3to and More GUI support batches but for the life of me I cannot figure out how to use it to just apply a delay to my AC3 files. I am on Windows 8.1

Can anyone please advise on how to use the EAC3to GUI to apply this delay? I would prefer not to use the command line directly.

Thanks.

[Overdrive80]

I dont test it, you try this:

@echo off
Title Add/Remove delay by Overdrive

set /p delay="Insert delay in miliseconds (negative:-200 or positive:+200): "

for %%@ in (*.ac3) do (

"C:\Program Files\MeGUI\tools\eac3to\eac3to.exe" "%%@" "%%~p@\%%~n@_fixed.ac3" %delay%ms -silence
)

pause&exit

EDIT: Tested.

[beto]

Thank you. I will sure try this batch and see if I can adapt to it. Regards.

[LigH]

In general, I would recommend using the audio skew value during multiplexing into the container, instead of manipulating the audio stream... but well, AC3 is famous enough to know the bitstreams of silence blocks for many channel configurations.

[Motenai Yoda]

There is a way to do a speedup/slowdown with pitch correction?
Currently eac3to doesn't permit this...

[tebasuna51]

There is a way to do a speedup/slowdown with pitch correction?
Currently eac3to doesn't permit this...

You can try AviSynth-TimeStretch (BeHappy) or audio editors (Audacity or others).

Work fine for stereo audio but the are problems preserving the phase between channels with 5.1.

Or you can use TimeFactory (http://www.prosoniq.com/www/TimeFactory_II.html) for $499.00

[DoctorM]

BeSweet (probably related to BeHappy) can do the pitch correction. Use the Tempo setting at -4.096 to slow the audio without altering the pitch for PAL to NTSC, and +4.2709376043 for NTSC to PAL.
Sony SoundForge can do this to, but I believe it works in cents... and don't ask me what those numbers are.

[Thingol]

How can I convert 6.1 channels DTS to 5.1 AC3 properly? When I do this, AC3's file duration is getting longer.

[Motenai Yoda]

BeSweet (probably related to BeHappy) can do the pitch correction. Use the Tempo setting at -4.096 to slow the audio without altering the pitch for PAL to NTSC, and +4.2709376043 for NTSC to PAL.
Sony SoundForge can do this to, but I believe it works in cents... and don't ask me what those numbers are.

BeSweet/BeHappy use Avisynth TimeStretch (based on SoundTouch) for speed change, while MeGui use SSRC to resample/speed and TimeStretch for pitch correction.

Also other sw for do this can be Audacity, Sox, mencoder (ffmpeg seems to have only atempo), ecc...

-4.096 and +4.2709376043 come out from 100*((24/1.001)/25)-100 and 100*(25/(24/1.001))-100

@tebasuna51 so no way neither to have an implementation in future?

[tebasuna51]

@tebasuna51 so no way neither to have an implementation in future?

madshi want the pitch change because it say than correct the previous change made with NTSC -> PAL conversion.

Maybe this is true with english tracks but not always with other languaje/translation.

BTW you can always 'pipe' eac3to output to sox.

[Nico8583]

I'm lost with Arcsoft 1.1.0.0 to 1.1.0.8 versions when I read posts from eac3to or LAV filter topics, or from differents sites :(
None of 1.1.0.0 to 1.1.0.8 versions can decode properly all types of streams (5.1, 6.0, 6.1, 7.1...) ?
I would like to simply convert DTS/DTS-HD to AC3 because one of my device doesn't support DTS decoding (but I don't know if it supports TrueHD AC3 core or if I must extract it)...

[Boulder]

AFAIK, the safest bet is to use v1.1.0.0. There are at least two different builds around, I think the CRC comparisons (and instructions which one to use) is buried somewhere in this thread.

[frumble]

It's this:
Yes, we need switch in this situation.
In case of non-standart scheme decoder 1.1.0.0 give garbage in some channels. So, i tried other two versions and they are decoded properly. If you have DTS-HD M.A.S. you can try yourself. If not, try decode test sample (http://www.mediafire.com/?kagbxe5zg7tdzg0) of DTS-HD 7.1 (scheme 2) and compare results.
AFAIK, there are only two differences between 1.1.0.0 and 1.1.0.8:
- 1.1.0.0 can decode DTS(-HD) 6.1/6.0 but can't decode non-standart 7.1
- 1.1.0.8 can't decode DTS(-HD) 6.1/6.0 but can decode non-standart 7.1
Both decode DTS(-HD) 1.0 correctly, unlike 1.1.0.7.
So there are different 1.1.0.0 builds?

[Nico8583]

I've searched CRC on the thread without result, if you have more informations about it I'm interested ;)

Edit : I've found this link http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=1167775#post1167775 but is 113 or 120 the best version to use ?

[tebasuna51]

I have this one:

dtsdecoderdll.dll version 1.1.0.0 (from the latest TMT build 120)
MD5 644aa3ade7742079533dcde2abf153e2

and work fine for me also decoding non-standard 7.1

[Nico8583]

Thanks :) it's what I have also

[sl1pkn07]

and about 1.1.0.9? have any problem?

[laserfan]

and about 1.1.0.9? have any problem?
I wonder about this too--there are no comments on 1.1.0.9 anywhere here that I can find.

There is a new update to TMT, v6.6.1.190--has anyone installed it yet and what version of dtsdecoderdll.dll does it have?

[sl1pkn07]

TMT 6.6.1.190 is 1.1.0.9

the checkactivate.dll. not found in installation (still need?)

[tebasuna51]

checkactivate.dll is always needed for eac3to, you can use a old version.

[Bigmango]

I'm lost with Arcsoft 1.1.0.0 to 1.1.0.8 versions when I read posts from eac3to or LAV filter topics, or from differents sites :(
None of 1.1.0.0 to 1.1.0.8 versions can decode properly all types of streams (5.1, 6.0, 6.1, 7.1...) ?


This is a problem with eac3to.

Makemkv doesn't have this problem.

This is what the makemkv developper has to say about this:

This statement is not correct for MakeMKV. I have to dig into details what dtsdecoderdll.dll really is. It is a reference DTS decoder library (written by DTS) with an API layer on top of it (written by Chinese developers). So, all versions of dtsdecoderdll, from 1.0.0.0 to 1.0.0.8 have exactly the same reference decoder library linked in - "VERSION=325,REVISION=27" . The only difference is a Chinese crap on top. Unlike eac3to and others, MakeMKV uses the reference decoder directly as stated on /dtshd/ . All other software, including eac3to, use the Chinese API. Any version of dtsdecoderdll.dll will work equally fine with MakeMKV, even early 1.0.0.0 variant. MakeMKV decodes proper channel layouts for all possible configurations (that one can create with DTS HD master audio suite). I encourage you to check MakeMKV log file - it lists the DTS decoder version, DTS channel layout and output channel mask.


The tests I have done also seem to confirm what he says. The FLAC audio produced by Makemkv doesn't have the channel mapping and audio corruption issues depending on the dtsdecoderdll.dll versions.

So, if you want to make sure you are having a perfect DTS-HD to flac converstion as done by the reference DTS decoder, without needing to worry about the decoder dll version, process your MKV or bluray/iso with Makemkv.

(if you want maximum flac compression with Makemkv set it to 12 in flac.mmcp.xml).

edit: also, with makemkv you only need to copy the "dtsdecoderdll.dll" to the program directory. It doesn't need the other files and doesn't need the checkactivate, etc... no need to register the dll as it reads the DTS decoder contained within the file directly.

[DoctorM]

Thanks for the info Bigmango. It makes it pretty clear that Eac3to has a new goal in its next update: to make DTS decoding work right since we know it can be done.

[filler56789]

Another big :thanks: to Bigmango,

BTW, that useful info was originally written @

http://makemkv.com/forum2/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=7201#p30255

[tebasuna51]

This is a problem with eac3to.

Makemkv doesn't have this problem.
...
So, if you want to make sure you are having a perfect DTS-HD to flac converstion as done by the reference DTS decoder, without needing to worry about the decoder dll version, process your MKV or bluray/iso with Makemkv...

Thanks to show us a new method to decode DTS-HD.

BTW let me say than the conversion of DTS-HD 7.1 strange setup is not perfect because the channels Ls-Rs from DTS are converted to SL-SR channels in flac/wavex, when the channels SL-SR are the DTS channels Lss-Rss from the standard 7.1 setup.

[Bigmango]

Some other advantages to the way makmkv converts DTS-HDMA:


multiple DTS-HDMA track conversion on the fly, in 1 shot (eac3to can only do 1 at a time)
thanks to the way it directly reads the dts decoder dll, it also works on Linux (and I guess Mac too, although I haven't used the Mac version)
it writes the channel layout in the FLAC tags (as DTS and Dolby do). I'm not sure if this really changes anything as FLAC is supposed to have a standard channel mapping, but it is nice to have nevertheless as we get a FLAC that more resembles the original audio track. Perhaps this is useful for channel number (matrix) down conversion (i.ex 7.1 to 5.1 to 2.0) as found in DTS/Dolby (when the original track used this feature) ?
Better compression. Makemkv uses the ffmpeg flac encoder (max compression level 12), whereas eac3to is using libflac (max compression level 8). In my experience, the ffmpeg level 12 results in better compression for ~98% of the tracks. Some rare tracks will however still compress a little better with eac3to's libflac (perhaps ~2% of the tracks I have done or less).


Advantage of eac3to:


when a 24 bit DTS-HDMA (or TrueHD) only contains 16 bit, it removes the empty bits to output a smaller file. Makemkv doesn't do this yet (the developer said he'll add this feature in the future). So after converting with Makemkv, I often re-extract the resulting FLAC tracks with eac3to to check this. (but in my experience, although this often happened with movies a few years ago, it rarely is the case today. Most new films almost always contain real 24bit audio on their 24bit tracks; especially DTS-HDMA. This is however still less the case with TrueHD, as 24bit audio is a prerequisite for TrueHD it can't contain 16 bit audio; so, some studios convert the 16 bit to 24bit and this results in a file eac3to will save back in 16 bit).

[junior_l3oss]

i want to use slowdown speeddown and another option?

why dont you add another option?
for example i saw 25300 fps...
i want to change this fps to 23976...
...
is this possible ?

[tebasuna51]

why dont you add another option?
for example i saw 25300 fps... i want to change this fps to 23976...

is this possible ?

Nope, with eac3to only standard fps can be used (23.976, 24.000 and 25.000).

You can use SSRC with AviSynth to do the same job, but not all conversions can be done, read http://avisynth.nl/index.php/SSRC

[torturesauce]

I'm trying some DTS-ES files to FLAC with eac3to. I'm using Arcsoft and everything. The .dts files have been demuxed properly from the DVD (they show up as ES in MediaInfo), but when I'm using the "convert to flac" command, the files, though 6.1, sound distorted and slowed down.

[the_weirdo]

I'm trying some DTS-ES files to FLAC with eac3to. I'm using Arcsoft and everything. The .dts files have been demuxed properly from the DVD (they show up as ES in MediaInfo), but when I'm using the "convert to flac" command, the files, though 6.1, sound distorted and slowed down.

Which version of dtsdecoderdll.dll you're using? IIRC, version 1.1.0.8 has problem with decoding DTS(-HD) 6.1.

[r0lZ]

When I convert DTS 5.1 to AC3 with eac3to v3.27 (using the ArcSoft DTS decoder v1.1.0.0), the conversion is extremely slow: around 15 minutes to convert an input file of 1:16:00. Is it normal, or should I try to re-install eac3to or the ArcSoft decoder? Is it something I can do to boost the conversion?

> eac3to.exe Fra.dts Fra.ac3 -640

DTS, 5.1 channels, 1:15:53, 1509kbps, 48kHz
Decoding with ArcSoft DTS Decoder...
Remapping channels...
Encoding AC3 <640kbps> with libAften...
Creating file "Fra.ac3"...
The last DTS frame is incomplete and thus gets skipped.
eac3to processing took 15 minutes, 3 seconds.
Done.

[Boulder]

I'd check Task Manager to make sure that the eac3to process is running as fast as it can. Have you tested decoding to WAV, is it as slow?

[r0lZ]

Thanks.

Nothing wrong in task manager. eac3to uses only one CPU core. It's a pity, but afaik it's normal.

I just did a conversion to WAV. The process took exactly the same time: 15 minutes, 5 seconds. So, it appears that it's the decoding process that is damn slow. I will try to uninstall the ArcSoft decoder, to see if the default DTS decoder (which one is it?) is faster...

[Groucho2004]

Thanks.

Nothing wrong in task manager. eac3to uses only one CPU core. It's a pity, but afaik it's normal.

I just did a conversion to WAV. The process took exactly the same time: 15 minutes, 5 seconds. So, it appears that it's the decoding process that is damn slow. I will try to uninstall the ArcSoft decoder, to see if the default DTS decoder (which one is it?) is faster...
eac3to just uses the functions that the decoder/encoder libraries provide (dtsdecoder.dll, libaften, libav, etc.). If these are not multi-threaded, the process won't be multi-threaded. The default DTS decoder is libav and it is a lot faster than Arcsoft's.
Encoding to AC3 with libaften should be multi-threaded (I think).

[madshi]

The ArcSoft DTS decoder is pretty slow - and it's single threaded. eac3to itself tries to process multi-threaded, as far as possible. But if the main decoder is single threaded that's the bottleneck and there's not much eac3to can do about it. No need to uninstall ArcSoft, try "-libav", that will use libav for decoding and process quite a bit faster (but also single threaded). But of course the ArcSoft decoder is using DTS reference code, so it might be "better" than libav. Or maybe not, who knows...

Edit: Cross-post, Groucho2004 was faster...