Anyone was able to encode the full EX / ES mixes (ie. 7.1) ???

[Jones_R]

I tried to simply rip the EX/ES tracks of several movies which were encoded with a 7.1 mix. But the problem is, that when I try to play them back, I only get 5.1. Where have the rear surrounds went ?.

[KpeX]

The 7.1 mix is matrixed into the 5.1 format (think pro logic), there are not 7.1 discrete channels, it's a little late to change DVD specs ;). To play back a track, just demux it like any 5.1 track, and you'll either need to pipe it via s/pdif to a 7.1 receiver or use one of the few 7.1 capable audio cards.

[Jones_R]

KpeX,
I am using a 7.1 channels sound card (M-Audio Revolution 7.1), together with Power DVD 5 and WinDVD 5 audio decoders, and the rear surrounds are never active. What could it be ?. I made sure to put both audio decoders at 8 channels decoding, but it doesn't matter, the rear surrounds are always silent... :-(

[KpeX]

Couldn't tell ya, no experience here with 7.1. My above post was theoretical knowledge only.

[Soulhunter]

Is Power DVD 5 or Win DVD 5 able to read this files as 7.1 ???

Could the problem be that this progs. read them as normal 5.1, because they have not the ability to know the EX way !?!

Bye

[Jones_R]

Soulhunter,
Both PowerDVD 5 and WinDVD 5 support both EX and ES. They should recognize it. Unless, myabe the flag for EX/ES is somehow lost in the transfer from the original .VOB, to the .AVI ...

[specise_8472]

Originally posted by Jones_R
Soulhunter,
Both PowerDVD 5 and WinDVD 5 support both EX and ES. They should recognize it. Unless, myabe the flag for EX/ES is somehow lost in the transfer from the original .VOB, to the .AVI ...

You will find that they only output EX/ES 96/24 to the spdiff channel. (Because it is passthrough. None of the current decoders will decode these signals that I know of. Test it yourself.
Play some true EX and ES tracks and have the onscreen info on - they will all report 5.1. That is why we cannot decode 6.1 to wave yet.
I have seen the latest Direct DVD advertised as ES/EX, but have not tryed it yet.

[Jones_R]

specise_8472,
I'm not completely sure that you are entirely correct about this one.
With my 7.1 sound card, I've received a copy of WinDVD 4, which on the top of it says that it is capable of decoding Dolby Digital EX content. Notice they used the word "decoding" and not "passing through". Anyway, when WinDVD and PwerDVD version 5 were released, I've contacted both companies, and they both assured me that their software is fully capable of decoding the EX/ES signal, and sending it to the appropriate rear surround output channels, of a 7.1 sound card.

[Soulhunter]

Maybe the flag for EX/ES is somehow lost in the transfer from the original .VOB, to the .AVI ...

Reminds me something Ive read some time ago here ! (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=58231)

I also remember Ive read also that demuxing with DVD2AVI (maybe else progs.) removes flags in the AC3 file, that are necessary to let the encoder know that it is a EX file...

But cant remember where in this forum it was...
Damn, Cant search for EX or ES coz it has only 2 typos... 3 are needed ! :(

Bye

[SeeMoreDigital]

I would have thought extracting the rear centre channel would be easier to do with DTS ES 'Discrete' DVD's (such as Goldmember) rather than Dobly Digital EX or DTS ES DVD's which only offer an matrixed rear centre channel.

I can't understand why DTS does not discribe it's sound formats better. Surely DTS ES-M for 'matrixed' audio and DTS ES-D 'discrete' audio would be easier for us consumers to understand!

Cheers