Stream movies to PS3 and KEEP DTS MA

[alsobob]

Hi Everyone,
I've searched the net all over the place, but I can't seem to find an answer to this question and it's driving me bananas..

I have a Synology NAS that I want to store my mkv movies on and have it stream to my ps3 over gigabit ethernet. I know that by default, PS3 can't play mkv's so I have been using a varied assortment of programs (tsmuxer, mkv2vob, ps3muxer, etc) to convert the mkv to a file that can be played on the PS3. So far, I think I like the video quality of MKV2VOB the best... however I'm having a big problem with the fact that there seems to be a bug on all the versions (2.45, 2.47, 2.49) that I've downloaded where regardless if I have "Always Transcode DTS" checked in the configuration tab, it still converts the DTS track to AC3! It's driving me absolutely insane.

Now, don't get me wrong, the converted file IS working on my ps3 and it streams beautifully, but I want that 1500k DTS track to stream, not the 640k AC3 track..

Does anyone know how I can fix this? My understanding is that if I have the "Always Transcode DTS" button unchecked, it will leave the DTS-MA audio track alone, and the PS3 will send along the audio track to my Pioneer Elite receiver for it to handle the DTS-MA track.. but that's not what is happening. Even during transcoding, when the status is "DTS to AC3", the Transcode area says no. However it takes up to an hour sometimes just to get past that process and the resulting audio is always AC3 640 when I used media info to check the result..

As I've mentioned, I've tried other software, but they all seem to have the same problem where the DTS track is still converted to AC3.

I've posted on the mkv2vob forum but I see no help coming from there.. so any help would be so greatly appreciated... this is the last step I need to make my blu ray discs obsolete and have a viable, visually AND sonically fulfilling streaming home theater option.

[jman98]

I'm going to tell you what you need to hear, but probably won't pay attention to because it's not what you're looking for.

The PS3 and Xbox became obsolete as media players YEARS AGO. You do yourself no favors by ignoring that fact.

You have 2 choices here.
1) The rational, but non-free choice, is to give the PS3 the middle finger it deserves and buy a true media player like one of the Western Digital models. You can stop the DTS->AC3 and "can't play MKV" bs immediately and get on with your life by playing files as they are. However, please note that while the Western Digital models do support DTS they do NOT support high def audio formats like DTS-MA and Dolby Lossless. You would need to extract the DTS core for the Western Digital. Do you really have that many DTS-MA files that this would be a big deal?
2) The cheap and irrational choice is to continue to convert. It is irrational because you have placed no value on your spare time to continue to live like this. But it's your time and not mine.

I do not own the PS3 but it's my understanding that it is incapable of playing DTS files outside of normal DVDs and BD discs.

[alsobob]

thanks for your reply, though I have to admit, it wasn't much help at all. I'm aware of the limitations of the devices, and I am aware of the ability I have to purchase additional devices to meet my requirements.. What you fail to understand (or think I'm too ignorant cuz I want it this way) is that I don't want to purchase any additional devices. I have a ps3, it plays blu rays perfectly, it plays games nicely, it even streams 1080p blu ray rips almost perfectly.. In no way is it as obsolete as you suggest it is. In fact, I just streamed an mkv to my ps3 file without any conversion using serviio. I am just looking for a way (and I'm sure there is one) to allow for DTS-MA audio, which is on just about every blu ray rip I've gotten, to pass through the ps3 to my receiver. Thanks for your help, but honestly if it isn't an answer in the way I need it, or gives me useful tips, it isn't much help at all. Not looking to start a flame war with you or go in detail about who knows more than the other.. just please help me if you can.

[pandy]

I do not own the PS3 but it's my understanding that it is incapable of playing DTS files outside of normal DVDs and BD discs.

PS3 will not play DTS intentionally - DTS means separate royalties fee - for this reason Sony push DTS decoding up to external device - there is nothing wrong in avoiding paying multiple number of times for same functionality.

Similar should be for Dolby Digital, sadly i must say, Dolby bribes people and created AC-3 national (not only US) standard.
So many people need to pay multiple number of times for same codec... very good business for Dolby.

[pandy]

I've posted on the mkv2vob forum but I see no help coming from there.. so any help would be so greatly appreciated... this is the last step I need to make my blu ray discs obsolete and have a viable, visually AND sonically fulfilling streaming home theater option.

Give a chance to mencoder or ffmpeg - maybe it is not a GUI solution but for simple trans-multiplexing/remuxing should be more than enough.

[alsobob]

hi everyone,
so I did get it to work.. DTS streaming through PS3Mediaserver. I played the count of Monte Cristo on my my ps3 streaming from my laptop last night around 3:30 am..I was overjoyed, so now I know that you CAN INDEED stream DTS through the PS3. Now, I just need to make the command line entries to my NAS to enable this.. it's close and I will keep you guys updated.