Putting DVD performance content onto server

[JDlugosz]

I'm putting all my CDs onto a media server in flac format, and will box up the originals to store away compactly.

But I also have a number of DVDs that are really part of the music collection. Especially with DTS CDs not taking off, videos seemed the best way to get >stereo sound.

What's a good way to store these on the media server? I'd like to get "track" indexing like with CDs, which means either breaking it up into smaller files or having a pseudo-file that's an index into the big file. Either way, I'd like to replay seemlessly like the regular DVD did, as well.

Meanwhile, DVDs have several audio tracks. Looking at one for example, it has Dolby Digital 5.1, DTS 6 channel, and LPCM stereo. If watching or listening in the den, I'll want the DTS. But if playing in another room, lossless stereo is better than downmixing the DTS. Other than storing two copies under different names, is there an elegant or automatic way to do this in a home system?

It would also be great if the sound-only showed up on the DLNA as "music" and sent a music-only stream. The receiver, for example, doesn't do video (as opposed to ignoring the video streams).

That's what I'm looking into. Any pointers to guides or advice to someone who doesn't need another hobby but wants to do it right as a batch project?

[Ghitulescu]

I think you should start with what your player knows and can. Only a couple of years ago FLAC couldn't be used for streaming/DLNA.

[foxyshadis]

How will you be using them? Streaming via a PC? Popcorn Hour? XBLA? Or directly accessing the file over the network or USB? (I assume not USB, since you mention DLNA.) The first three give lots of flexibility, and allow you to archive the program with every stream and real-time remux them with only the streams you want in whatever format you need. Direct access pretty much requires you to store multiple copies for multiple purposes.

(Note that I haven't used XBLA in a long time and back then it could only re-encode streams, but I've heard that it can remux now instead of re-encoding.)

[JDlugosz]

I think you should start with what your player knows and can. Only a couple of years ago FLAC couldn't be used for streaming/DLNA.

I'm having no trouble with .flac files. The Denon receiver, the Samsung TV, and any open-source program on a PC, as well as anything on Android, can play it.

[JDlugosz]

How will you be using them? Streaming via a PC? Popcorn Hour? XBLA? Or directly accessing the file over the network or USB? (I assume not USB, since you mention DLNA.) The first three give lots of flexibility, and allow you to archive the program with every stream and real-time remux them with only the streams you want in whatever format you need. Direct access pretty much requires you to store multiple copies for multiple purposes.



I'm open to suggestions.

I like using the Denon receiver directly for music (only handles audio files).

For video I currently use a Windows PC attached to the theater equipment. I bought CyberLink PowerDVD in order to play 3D BluRay discs, and it seems useless for anything else despite their grand claims. I currently use VLC as the first player I reach for. I'll use whatever works and is easy to operate.

Browsing or playing queued music to leave on while I do other things or just listen is a different activity from watching a movie or TV show. So I don't mind a different method of turning on my background music, but I would like to be able to include "videos" in the mix even if I'm not caring about the video portion for that activity.

—John

[Ghitulescu]

What you need is a NAS - that acts only as a storage. The players should access the files and according to their capabilities will play them.

DLNA has also security issues (eg if your internal network is connected to the outside world).

[JDlugosz]

The file server is primarily a NAS (FreeNAS), and I can navigate the file share from a PC-based player. But, that won't do anything about playing the audio track only on a DLNA rendering appliance. For indexing, I suppose using a different tool to search a file tree for metadata matches would actually be better than using the DLNA menus.