eac3to - audio conversion tool

[tebasuna51]

@Bigmango
I accept, but not share your opinions (headphones for 7.1, better than 5.1?).
Of course commercial encoders can be better than free ones.

BTW this is a eac3to thread than can't encode to eac3 byself.
The eac3 bitrate limitation is in the UsEac3to GUI than use ffmpeg to encode.
That GUI can be modified, I supply the autoit source code, and recompiled for free (https://www.autoitscript.com/site/)

You only need change the line 1895:
GUICtrlSetData($bit_2, "640|576|512|448|384|320|256|224|192|160|128|112|E640|E576|E512|E448|E384|E320|E256|E224|E192|E160|E128|E112|E96|E80|E64", "640")

And include the bitrates desired:
GUICtrlSetData($bit_2, "640|576|512|448|384|320|256|224|192|160|128|112|E6144|...|E768|E640|E576|E512|E448|E384|E320|E256|E224|E192|E160|E128|E112|E96|E80|E64", "640")

[tebasuna51]

As far as i know, the source code is not avaible, and it's in delphi.

You are right, madshi never want public the source code.

[Bigmango]

Can you upload both of your test sample encodes for us please?

I don't have the time now for some demuxing/cutting, but I'll see if I can get this for you a little later.

In the mean time, I will give you all the info I can below:

Have you compared both encoders using the same 5.1 PCM source encoded at the same bit-rate?

Yes the difference is there, not only with 7.1, but also with 5.1 sources.

In comparison, the ffmpeg DD+ sounds more "flat" / bland.

The Dolby Media Encoder audio has more "presence". On some good reference headphones like the Sennheiser HD 650 which have an amazing soundstage, the surround is perfectly positioned and moves around in an amazing way.

With the Dolby Encoder audio, the movies just "move" more. Immersion is much better. The result is that the movies are better (I often feel like I am rediscovering my movies after replacing the 5.1 ffmpeg DD+ @ 1536k with the Dolby Encoder version @ 1664k).

The difference is not huge, but it is there. It's sometimes subtle (but even subtle when compared on a short clip, if you watch a movie for a longer time the experience/immersion is a lot better thanks to these improvements) and perhaps to understand the subtlety level I am talking about, you could compare it to something like the difference between a 384k ac3 and lossless (or DTS 1509). (But here I am not talking about audio quality, but "presence". More Flat vs more Alive).

I suspect this better/stronger presence of the surround effects to be caused by the way the Dolby Encoder is applying the metadata, and using an AV receiver that knows how to decode this metadata.

These are the settings the Dolby Media Encoder uses by default (which I use):

Encoder settings:

Dialog level: -31
Data rate : 1280k for 7.1 , 768k for 5.1 (I set it @ 1664k for both)
Bitstream mode: "Complete main" (Other options are: "Music & Effects", "Visually Impaired", "Hearing Impaired", "Dialog", "Commentary", "Emergency", "Voice over").

Preprocessing:

Line mode profile: Film standard (Other options are : "Film light", "Music standard", Music light", "Speech", "None").
RF mode profile: Film Standard (Other options: all the same as Line mode profile)

Channel bandwidth low pass filter: ON
LFE low pass filter: ON
DC high pass filter: ON
Surround channel 90-Degree phase shift: ON
Surround channel 3db attenuation: OFF

(All of these settings and what they do is explained in the Dolby Media Encoder PDFs, which you can easily find with a google search).

As you can see, my guess is that these settings (which are the defaults) is where the magic is happening.

[Bigmango]

Hey, there’s a source code for eac3to? I wish, if possible, to adapt it for cross platform means to be used in Linux/Mac too...

It works perfectly on Linux with wine (I use "wine UsEac3to.exe" all the time, works perfect).

But yes, a native port would be great.

[kdantas]

It works perfectly on Linux with wine (I use "wine UsEac3to.exe" all the time, works perfect).

But yes, a native port would be great.

Hi @Bigmango, nice to know. Can you indicate a tutorial explaining, if possible, how to install and run eac3to with UsEac3to on Ubuntu Server 16.04 Xenian Xerus? I would like to remux my BluRays from my dedicated server. I also know that I will need to run mkvtoolnix to join the demuxed files. Any information is welcome. And sorry if this is a noob question, but my knowledge of linux is almost zero.

[cypher007]

trying to convert a THD stream. ive demuxed the mkv using eac3to then tried to extract the wavs but it complains about Lossless check failed and eventually errors with:

The libav decoder reported error -1094995529 while decoding. <ERROR>
Aborted at file position 1268252672. <ERROR>

[tebasuna51]

Try decode to w64 with ffmpeg, if it also abort maybe you have a corrupt track.

[cypher007]

Try decode to w64 with ffmpeg, if it also abort maybe you have a corrupt track.

same error. but if i use ripbot264 it will create a W64.

i did wonder if i could use this to then extract wavs from. when i tried it worked but when i checked the wavs they were 16bit not 24bit as i expected.

[tebasuna51]

For what do you expect 24 bits, what is the source?

[cypher007]

its a truehd stream so assumed 24bit. though my knowledge of bit depth in truehd is limited.

why is it ripbot can demux the truehd to w64? and not eac3to.

[tebasuna51]

Many TrueHD are only 16 bitdepth.

I think ripbot uses AviSynth decoders, maybe are more permissives for errors and skip some bad frames, check if the length is correct.

[cypher007]

Many TrueHD are only 16 bitdepth.

I think ripbot uses AviSynth decoders, maybe are more permissives for errors and skip some bad frames, check if the length is correct.

will do. thanks very much for the help.

[StormMeows]

Hi guys, hopefully someone can help. I'm trying to do something that I thought would be relatively easy but cannot figure it out.

Here is my goal first of all: I am trying to figure out what subtitles are "forced" and also which title is the main title of the movie on blu-ray files, folders, and ISOs so that I can use MKVtoolnix to convert the movie to .MKV and then I can check the box for "default track" when there is a forced track. A movie example would be something like "Avatar" where there is foreign language spoken but only in certain parts of the movies. If I use something like MakeMKV and do the backup blu-ray disc to .MKV then I can select all of the sub title tracks and save it, but when I play the file in something like Kodi or Plex, then I will have to manually select a subtitle track and know which movies have forced subtitles. There are movies like 10 Things I Hate About You that have a French forced subtitle track that I would have no clue it existed unless I knew the movie.

I was advised that I could use eac3to and figure out which title on the disc is the "main title" and if it has a forced subtitle track within 30 seconds or so. Then I could use something like BDSupforsub and get the correct subtitle, then remux the movie using the MKVtoolnix.

So here's my problem. I downloaded the eac3to and have it in a folder on my desktop (it has the .exe file in here and some .dll files) then I went into the System C drive to locate CMD.exe . I copy and pasted the CMD.exe into the folder for eac3to.

Then I am trying to type in this: C:\Users\robma\Desktop\Remux\eac3to>D:\Pulp Fiction.1994\ and I get "DNS server not authoritative for zone."

What am I doing wrong? I just want to figure out which movies have forced subtitles so I can select the subtitle track in MKVtoolnix as the "default" track to blu-rays and 4K .MKV files so when I play them in Plex and Kodi I won't have to worry about finding out which sub track is the correct one, etc.

Thanks for any help from a newb.

[tebasuna51]

I copy and pasted the CMD.exe into the folder for eac3to.
For what? It's not needed.

Then I am trying to type in this: C:\Users\robma\Desktop\Remux\eac3to>D:\Pulp Fiction.1994\

For what the >?

C:\Users\robma\Desktop\Remux\eac3to "D:\Pulp Fiction.1994"

[Edited because r0lZ next post]

[r0lZ]

For what the >?

C:\Users\robma\Desktop\Remux\eac3to D:\Pulp Fiction.1994\
Or:
C:\Users\robma\Desktop\Remux\eac3to "D:\Pulp Fiction.1994"
The quotes are necessary due to the space between pulp and fiction.

[tebasuna51]

Yep, I don't see the space.

[StormMeows]

For what? It's not needed.



For what the >?

C:\Users\robma\Desktop\Remux\eac3to "D:\Pulp Fiction.1994"

[Edited because r0lZ next post]

Or:
C:\Users\robma\Desktop\Remux\eac3to "D:\Pulp Fiction.1994"
The quotes are necessary due to the space between pulp and fiction.

Hey guys I have tried both of these and it just gives me this error: Desktop\Remux\eac3to is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file. Any thoughts? Thanks for the help!

For what? It's not needed.



For what the >?

C:\Users\robma\Desktop\Remux\eac3to "D:\Pulp Fiction.1994"

[Edited because r0lZ next post]

I put them in the same folder so I do not have to type out the first part every time. I can just start with the "D:" portion, but as mentioned in my last post, I cannot get the eac3to to even work. I really want to figure out what blu-rays have forced subtitles and this is the only way I know that I can do this. Hope you can help. thanks

[StormMeows]

edited my other post.

[r0lZ]

Hey guys I have tried both of these and it just gives me this error: Desktop\Remux\eac3to is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file. Any thoughts? Thanks for the help!
Desktop\Remux\eac3to is not the complete path. You have to type:
C:\Users\robma\Desktop\Remux\eac3to
Or, easier, just open the command prompt window and the folder containing eac3to. Then, drag eac3to.exe to the command prompt window. The full path of the command will be inserted automatically. Then, all you have to do is to type the path of the folder to process, like "D:\Pulp Fiction.1994". You can also type just the beginning of the path (like D:\p) and then use the TAB key to complete automatically the path name.

cmd.exe must NOT be copied, and it is not necessary to type its full path. It's a system command, available from everywhere. If you really want to open it from a specific folder, right-click the background of the folder and select New -> Shortcut. In the dialog, type cmd and hit OK twice. Now, right-click the new shortcut and select Properties. Remove whatever path is in the "Start in:" field. Hit OK. Now, when you will double-click that shortcut, the command prompt window will be opened, with the current directory already defined.

[dade49]

Any chance Madshi would be willing to look at the following to properly fix seamless branching of MLP/Atmos tracks? Been using eac3to forever, but there does appear to be issues with TrueHD seamless branching. Thanks.

https://github.com/domyd/mlp

[tormento]

Is this project dead?

I see FFMPEG doing leaps and circles around eac3to. What a pity.

[richardpl]

Is eac3to open source at all?

[tebasuna51]

Nope, madshi don't free the source code.

[tormento]

Nope, madshi don't free the source code.
Isn't possible to write a patch or a pipeline to allow ffmpeg shared dll use instead of almost ancient eac3to included ones?

I mean: they are from March 2015.

[tebasuna51]

The avcodec/avutil from ffmpg aren't compatibles with eac3to (https://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=1078513#post1078513) in 2007.

I sugest to madshi make them compatibles (https://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=1781207#post1781207) in 2016 but without answer

[tormento]

The avcodec/avutil from ffmpg aren't compatibles with eac3to (https://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=1078513#post1078513) in 2007.
That's the purpose of my message.

With all the brilliant code writers here, could be possible to compile some "fake" old ffmpeg dlls to redirect to the new ones?

[LigH]

Probably not that easy, because application interfaces only change when there is an important reason. Usually because the previous interface lacked of a feature a new format needs. If someone would try to wrap it into an older interface, such newer features would be missing, and that may break using several formats completely.

[Sonic3R]

It works perfectly on Linux with wine (I use "wine UsEac3to.exe" all the time, works perfect).

But yes, a native port would be great.

Wine won't work on Ubuntu Server until you install desktop version.

Very bad that madshi don't want to share code, a lot of people want to improve it ... it's his choice

[richardpl]

I really wonder why such software is used at all.

[LigH]

"Such software" as eac3to? ... Probably because of some unique features no other software provided for a long while. Are there now equal alternatives? Great. That was not always the case.

[kdantas]

Hi, is there any way (chenge dll, edit registry, etc) to correct the version information of Haali Matrosk Muxer? I already installed the latest version found on the site... MatroskaSplitter23062013, as well as, I installed the latest version of the K-Lite Mega Codec Pack ... v15.5.7. I know it's just a date error, but I would like to see the correct information. Thanks.

Haali Matroska Muxer (2013-04-14) is installed
There's a new version (2013-06-23) available
http://haali.net/mkv

[kdantas]

Hi, is there any way to get a progress bar for eac3to running on the Windows command line, like this one below?

https://i.imgur.com/1hrIKcc.gif

[LigH]

Only if madshi would code that. And the console output of eac3to is already a little weird (if you redirect the help output into a text file, its formatting is most peculiar). In case of output redirection, one may not wish the output to contain a frequently updated progress message.

[tormento]

Trying to extract eac3 track from Solo – A Star Wars story. The mpls combines different m2ts as there are 3 different language scrolling screen at the beginning.

eac3to v3.34
command line: "D:\Eseguibili_x86\Media\eac3to\eac3to.exe" "F:\Raw\Solo — A Star wars story" 2) 4:"E:\in\2_14 Solo — A Star wars story\2_4_audio.flac" -progressnumbers
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
M2TS, 1 video track, 3 audio tracks, 8 subtitle tracks, 2:14:47, 24p /1.001
1: Chapters, 50 chapters
2: h264/AVC, 1080p24 /1.001 (16:9)
3: DTS Master Audio, English, 7.1 channels, 24 bits, 48kHz
(core: DTS, 5.1 channels, 1509kbps, 48kHz)
4: E-AC3, Italian, 7.1 channels, 896kbps, 48kHz, dialnorm: -27dB
(core: AC3, 5.1 channels, 512kbps, 48kHz, dialnorm: -27dB)
5: DTS, Spanish, 5.1 channels, 1509kbps, 48kHz
6: Subtitle (PGS), English
7: Subtitle (PGS), Italian
8: Subtitle (PGS), Spanish
9: Subtitle (PGS), Portuguese
10: Subtitle (PGS), Modern Greek
11: Subtitle (PGS), English
12: Subtitle (PGS), Italian
13: Subtitle (PGS), Spanish
[a04] Extracting audio track number 4...
[a04] Removing AC3 dialog normalization...
[a04] Extracting E-AC3 core...
[a04] Decoding with libav/ffmpeg...
[a04] The libav decoder reported error -22 while decoding. <ERROR>
Aborted at file position 1048576. <ERROR>

Never tried to extract tracks from mpls with ffmpeg. Need some help about command line. :o

[Boulder]

You are not demuxing but decoding and encoding. To get around the issue, you could try demuxing first to ac3 and then transcode that to FLAC with a recent ffmpeg build.

[tebasuna51]

Is know than eac3to can't decode eac3 tracks like this.
You can extract it with:

eac3to "D:\Eseguibili_x86\Media\eac3to\eac3to.exe" "F:\Raw\Solo — A Star wars story" 2) 4:"E:\in\2_14 Solo — A Star wars story\2_4_audio.eac3" -keepDialnorm

(when eac3to try to change Dialog Normalization crash)

After that my recomendation is preserve the track as is, recode to flac doesn't make sense for me.
A lossy track when is decoded the output is 32 float (even 64 float) and make a flac with this...

[Thunderbolt8]

has anyone tried if this https://github.com/domyd/mlp

is it more accurate than demuxing THD tracks with eac3to (or any other tool)? could this tool be incorporated here as well like other components?

[tebasuna51]

Here?

Seems madshi don't want make new versions.

I will try to include it to the UsEac3to GUI.

I can't get binary with stream selection, maybe in next release.

[planet1]

Seems madshi don't want make new versions.

Ohh, so there is not much of a point in posting any feature requests here or at http://eac3to.bugs.madshi.net then?

[Thunderbolt8]

I hope there still is and that madshi is currently just prioritizing madvr

[stax76]

madvr is closed source and under-maintained as well I believe, meaning hardly progress for both in the last 2-3 years, or maybe I'm just not well-informed.

[tebasuna51]

has anyone tried if this https://github.com/domyd/mlp

is it more accurate than demuxing THD tracks with eac3to (or any other tool)? could this tool be incorporated here as well like other components?

Included the use of the version than can select the TrueHD stream (https://github.com/domyd/mlp/actions/runs/120022192) in UsEac3To (https://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=1920050#post1920050)

[pottzman]

Hi, is there any way (chenge dll, edit registry, etc) to correct the version information of Haali Matrosk Muxer? I already installed the latest version found on the site... MatroskaSplitter23062013, as well as, I installed the latest version of the K-Lite Mega Codec Pack ... v15.5.7. I know it's just a date error, but I would like to see the correct information. Thanks.

Haali Matroska Muxer (2013-04-14) is installed
There's a new version (2013-06-23) available
http://haali.net/mkv

Yes, download a program called "attribute changer" https://www.petges.lu/download/ and use it on "splitter.ax" and "splitter64.ax" in the haali media splitter directory to change the creation and modified dates to 2013-06-23. eac3to will not complain anymore.

[Skyrocket]

Can anyone please help me. Been trying for a few days to learn how to fix it with no luck.
I am wanting to convert my audio with eac3to to aac. When trying it comes up with the Nero error. I have Nero 7 installed on my computer but dont think its linked with the eac3to. What can or should i do to convert to aac?

[tebasuna51]

Nero 7 is used to decode AAC, to encode to AAC you need NeroAacEnc.exe from here (https://www.videohelp.com/software/Nero-AAC-Codec) in the same folder than eac3to

[Csimbi]

Hi there,
is there any plan to add Atmos to wav conversion?
(with metadata support, not just TrueHD conversion)
Thanks!

[SeeMoreDigital]

Hi there,
is there any plan to add Atmos to wav conversion?
(with metadata support, not just TrueHD conversion)
Thanks!Are you're hoping to encode the 'spatially-coded sub-stream meta-data' for the height/object channels into separate mono PCM streams?

[stax76]

I would like to request Windows 10 long path support if this app isn't dead. It works via prefix workaround so probably only misses the manifest info.

https://github.com/staxrip/staxrip/wiki/Windows-10-long-path-support

[pottzman]

Let me know if you get it to work.
I am using arcsoft, nero, sonic and surcode with eac3to, all without installing them completely on my system.


If someone knows how to get the sonic decoder working qithout installing it could they post it here. I can get nero, arcsoft and surcode all working without installing them but not the sonic decoder

[tebasuna51]

The sonic or arcsoft decoders are not needed at all with eac3to v3.34 (and nero only for aac sources)