MKV - Remove unwanted audio without affecting any video quality

[ratatouille]

Hi i am a newbie.
I have got more than 5 dozen 1080p movies in mkv format. Most of them contain unwanted audio files and subtitles (ie. audio in languages other than english). So i wanted to get rid of them all so that i can increase my hard disk space.
For conversion i used mkvmerge v4.9.1 ('Ich will') built on Jul 11 2011. and the movie was EXORCIST which contained many unwanted files. here r the details of that.

General
Format                           : Matroska
Format version                   : Version 2
File size                        : 7.93 GiB
Duration                         : 2h 12mn
Overall bit rate                 : 8 583 Kbps
Encoded date                     : UTC 2010-10-29 23:33:32
Writing application              : mkvmerge v4.0.0 ('The Stars were mine') built on Jun  6 2010 16:18:42
Writing library                  : libebml v1.0.0 + libmatroska v1.0.0
Attachment                       : Yes

Video
ID                               : 1
Format                           : AVC
Format/Info                      : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile                   : High@L4.1
Format settings, CABAC           : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames        : 4 frames
Codec ID                         : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration                         : 2h 12mn
Bit rate                         : 5 349 Kbps
Width                            : 1 920 pixels
Height                           : 1 080 pixels
Display aspect ratio             : 16:9
Frame rate                       : 23.976 fps
Color space                      : YUV
Chroma subsampling               : 4:2:0
Bit depth                        : 8 bits
Scan type                        : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)               : 0.108
Stream size        : 4.82 GiB (61%)
Title                            : x264   1920x1080   Bitrate=5348  AverageQuantizer=20.250   Rip by ShivaShanti
Writing library                  : x264 core 107 r1745+311 2317302
Encoding settings                : cabac=1 / ref=4 / deblock=1:-2:-1 / analyse=0x3:0x113 / me=esa / subme=9 / psy=1 / fade_compensate=0.00 / psy_rd=1.00:0.00 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=24 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=2 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=0 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=12 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / constrained_intra=0 / fgo=0 / bframes=5 / b_pyramid=2 / b_adapt=2 / b_bias=0 / direct=3 / weightb=1 / open_gop=0 / weightp=2 / keyint=240 / keyint_min=23 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=60 / rc=2pass / mbtree=1 / bitrate=5349 / ratetol=1.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=10 / qpmax=51 / qpstep=4 / cplxblur=20.0 / qblur=0.5 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00

Audio #1
ID                               : 2
Format                           : AC-3
Format/Info                      : Audio Coding 3
Mode extension                   : CM (complete main)
Codec ID                         : A_AC3
Duration                         : 2h 12mn
Bit rate mode                    : Constant
Bit rate                         : 640 Kbps
Channel(s)                       : 6 channels
Channel positions                : Front: L C R, Side: L R, LFE
Sampling rate                    : 48.0 KHz
Bit depth                        : 16 bits
Compression mode                 : Lossy
Stream size                      : 606 MiB (7%)
Title                            : English AC3 5.1 chnls 640 kbps
Language                         : English

Audio #2
ID                               : 3
Format                           : AC-3
Format/Info                      : Audio Coding 3
Mode extension                   : CM (complete main)
Codec ID                         : A_AC3
Duration                         : 2h 12mn
Bit rate mode                    : Constant
Bit rate                         : 640 Kbps
Channel(s)                       : 6 channels
Channel positions                : Front: L C R, Side: L R, LFE
Sampling rate                    : 48.0 KHz
Bit depth                        : 16 bits
Compression mode                 : Lossy
Stream size                      : 606 MiB (7%)
Title                            : Italian AC3 5.1 chnls 640 kbps
Language                         : Italian

Audio #3
ID                               : 4
Format                           : AC-3
Format/Info                      : Audio Coding 3
Mode extension                   : CM (complete main)
Codec ID                         : A_AC3
Duration                         : 2h 12mn
Bit rate mode                    : Constant
Bit rate                         : 640 Kbps
Channel(s)                       : 6 channels
Channel positions                : Front: L C R, Side: L R, LFE
Sampling rate                    : 48.0 KHz
Bit depth                        : 16 bits
Compression mode                 : Lossy
Stream size                      : 606 MiB (7%)
Title                            : French AC3 5.1 chnls 640 kbps
Language                         : French

Audio #4
ID                               : 5
Format                           : AC-3
Format/Info                      : Audio Coding 3
Mode extension                   : CM (complete main)
Codec ID                         : A_AC3
Duration                         : 2h 12mn
Bit rate mode                    : Constant
Bit rate                         : 640 Kbps
Channel(s)                       : 6 channels
Channel positions                : Front: L C R, Side: L R, LFE
Sampling rate                    : 48.0 KHz
Bit depth                        : 16 bits
Compression mode                 : Lossy
Stream size                      : 606 MiB (7%)
Title                            : Japanese AC3 5.1 chnls 640 kbps
Language                         : Japanese

Audio #5
ID                               : 6
Format                           : AC-3
Format/Info                      : Audio Coding 3
Mode extension                   : CM (complete main)
Codec ID                         : A_AC3
Duration                         : 2h 12mn
Bit rate mode                    : Constant
Bit rate                         : 640 Kbps
Channel(s)                       : 6 channels
Channel positions                : Front: L C R, Side: L R, LFE
Sampling rate                    : 48.0 KHz
Bit depth                        : 16 bits
Compression mode                 : Lossy
Stream size                      : 606 MiB (7%)
Title                            : Spanish AC3 5.1 chnls 640 kbps
Language                         : Spanish

Text #1
ID                               : 7
Format                           : UTF-8
Codec ID                         : S_TEXT/UTF8
Codec ID/Info                    : UTF-8 Plain Text
Title                            : english
Language                         : English

Text #2
ID                               : 8
Format                           : UTF-8
Codec ID                         : S_TEXT/UTF8
Codec ID/Info                    : UTF-8 Plain Text
Title                            : italian
Language                         : Italian

Text #3
ID                               : 9
Format                           : UTF-8
Codec ID                         : S_TEXT/UTF8
Codec ID/Info                    : UTF-8 Plain Text
Title                            : french
Language                         : French

Text #4
ID                               : 10
Format                           : VobSub
Muxing mode                      : zlib
Codec ID                         : S_VOBSUB
Codec ID/Info                    : The same subtitle format used on DVDs
Title                            : japanese
Language                         : Japanese

Text #5
ID                               : 11
Format                           : UTF-8
Codec ID                         : S_TEXT/UTF8
Codec ID/Info                    : UTF-8 Plain Text
Title                            : spanish
Language                         : Spanish

Text #6
ID                               : 12
Format                           : VobSub
Muxing mode                      : zlib
Codec ID                         : S_VOBSUB
Codec ID/Info                    : The same subtitle format used on DVDs
Title                            : chinese
Language                         : Chinese

Text #7
ID                               : 13
Format                           : UTF-8
Codec ID                         : S_TEXT/UTF8
Codec ID/Info                    : UTF-8 Plain Text
Title                            : croatian
Language                         : Croatian

Text #8
ID                               : 14
Format                           : UTF-8
Codec ID                         : S_TEXT/UTF8
Codec ID/Info                    : UTF-8 Plain Text
Title                            : czech
Language                         : Czech

Text #9
ID                               : 15
Format                           : UTF-8
Codec ID                         : S_TEXT/UTF8
Codec ID/Info                    : UTF-8 Plain Text
Title                            : danish
Language                         : Danish

Text #10
ID                               : 16
Format                           : UTF-8
Codec ID                         : S_TEXT/UTF8
Codec ID/Info                    : UTF-8 Plain Text
Title                            : dutch
Language                         : Dutch

Text #11
ID                               : 17
Format                           : UTF-8
Codec ID                         : S_TEXT/UTF8
Codec ID/Info                    : UTF-8 Plain Text
Title                            : estonian
Language                         : Estonian

Text #12
ID                               : 18
Format                           : UTF-8
Codec ID                         : S_TEXT/UTF8
Codec ID/Info                    : UTF-8 Plain Text
Title                            : finnish
Language                         : Finnish

Text #13
ID                               : 19
Format                           : UTF-8
Codec ID                         : S_TEXT/UTF8
Codec ID/Info                    : UTF-8 Plain Text
Title                            : german
Language                         : German

Text #14
ID                               : 20
Format                           : VobSub
Muxing mode                      : zlib
Codec ID                         : S_VOBSUB
Codec ID/Info                    : The same subtitle format used on DVDs
Title                            : greek
Language                         : Greek

Text #15
ID                               : 21
Format                           : VobSub
Muxing mode                      : zlib
Codec ID                         : S_VOBSUB
Codec ID/Info                    : The same subtitle format used on DVDs
Title                            : hebrew
Language                         : Hebrew

Text #16
ID                               : 22
Format                           : UTF-8
Codec ID                         : S_TEXT/UTF8
Codec ID/Info                    : UTF-8 Plain Text
Title                            : hungarian
Language                         : Hungarian

Text #17
ID                               : 23
Format                           : UTF-8
Codec ID                         : S_TEXT/UTF8
Codec ID/Info                    : UTF-8 Plain Text
Title                            : icelandic
Language                         : Icelandic

Text #18
ID                               : 24
Format                           : VobSub
Muxing mode                      : zlib
Codec ID                         : S_VOBSUB
Codec ID/Info                    : The same subtitle format used on DVDs
Title                            : korean
Language                         : Korean

Text #19
ID                               : 25
Format                           : UTF-8
Codec ID                         : S_TEXT/UTF8
Codec ID/Info                    : UTF-8 Plain Text
Title                            : norwegian
Language                         : Norwegian

Text #20
ID                               : 26
Format                           : UTF-8
Codec ID                         : S_TEXT/UTF8
Codec ID/Info                    : UTF-8 Plain Text
Title                            : portuguese
Language                         : Portuguese

Text #21
ID                               : 27
Format                           : UTF-8
Codec ID                         : S_TEXT/UTF8
Codec ID/Info                    : UTF-8 Plain Text
Title                            : romanian
Language                         : Romanian

Text #22
ID                               : 28
Format                           : VobSub
Muxing mode                      : zlib
Codec ID                         : S_VOBSUB
Codec ID/Info                    : The same subtitle format used on DVDs
Title                            : russian
Language                         : Russian

Text #23
ID                               : 29
Format                           : UTF-8
Codec ID                         : S_TEXT/UTF8
Codec ID/Info                    : UTF-8 Plain Text
Title                            : slovenian
Language                         : Slovenian

Text #24
ID                               : 30
Format                           : UTF-8
Codec ID                         : S_TEXT/UTF8
Codec ID/Info                    : UTF-8 Plain Text
Title                            : swedish
Language                         : Swedish

Text #25
ID                               : 31
Format                           : VobSub
Muxing mode                      : zlib
Codec ID                         : S_VOBSUB
Codec ID/Info                    : The same subtitle format used on DVDs
Title                            : thai
Language                         : Thai

Text #26
ID                               : 32
Format                           : UTF-8
Codec ID                         : S_TEXT/UTF8
Codec ID/Info                    : UTF-8 Plain Text
Title                            : turkish
Language                         : Turkish

Menu
00:00:00.000                     : en:Iraq: Interesting Finds
00:04:19.676                     : en:"Something I Must Do"
00:08:46.609                     : en:Face To Face
00:10:30.380                     : en:Rats In The Attic
00:13:04.784                     : en:On The Set
00:15:00.483                     : en:Chris' Walk Home (Tubular Bells)
00:16:14.432                     : en:Mother And Daughter
00:17:44.438                     : en:Karras Visits His Mother
00:22:10.412                     : en:The Ouija Board
00:23:37.374                     : en:Birthday Ideas
00:25:56.346                     : en:Lost And Unconnected
00:27:52.504                     : en:Attic Noises
00:31:06.073                     : en:Chapel Desecration
00:32:15.517                     : en:Nervous Disorder
00:36:40.532                     : en:The Hospital
00:39:16.062                     : en:Chris' Party
00:41:16.140                     : en:"You're Gonna Die Up There"
00:43:34.779                     : en:"Make It Stop!"
00:44:48.352                     : en:And I Shall Be Healed
00:47:50.659                     : en:Temporal Lobe Diagnosis
00:52:14.465                     : en:"The Sow Is Mine!"
00:54:16.795                     : en:Pathological State?
00:57:42.417                     : en:Death Strikes; Down The Stairs
01:01:02.492                     : en:Psychiatric Exam
01:02:54.145                     : en:From Garfield To Mineo
01:08:07.083                     : en:Heard Of Exorcism?
01:10:32.228                     : en:Scene Of The Crime
01:13:05.423                     : en:Kinderman's Theory
01:17:57.256                     : en:"Do You Know What She Did?"
01:19:33.686                     : en:Just Help Her
01:23:39.598                     : en:Unwelcome Visitor
01:25:55.317                     : en:That Thing Upstairs
01:29:12.430                     : en:Holy Water And Tongues
01:32:56.821                     : en:Chris' Realization
01:35:31.476                     : en:English In Reverse
01:36:41.462                     : en:Body Language
01:37:50.698                     : en:Choosing The Exorcist
01:39:44.979                     : en:Merrin Arrives
01:42:55.127                     : en:Ritual Guidelines
01:44:19.462                     : en:"I Cast You Out"
01:50:13.440                     : en:"The Power Of Christ Compels You"
01:53:54.536                     : en:Karras' Own Demons
01:57:36.466                     : en:Merrin's Final Battle
02:00:59.919                     : en:"Take Me!"
02:02:21.000                     : en:Absolution
02:03:06.588                     : en:A Keepsake From Karras
02:06:40.968                     : en:"I've Got Passes"
02:08:05.595                     : en:End Credits (Fantasia For Strings, Tubular Bells)

This was converted using the above mentioned software to remove contents other than English. And the info of new file is below

General
Format                           : Matroska
Format_Version                   : Version 2
FileSize/String                  : 5.54 GiB
Duration/String                  : 2h 12mn
OverallBitRate/String            : 5 990 Kbps
Encoded_Date                     : UTC 2011-08-18 14:34:11
Encoded_Application              : mkvmerge v4.9.1 ('Ich will') built on Jul 11 2011 23:53:15
Encoded_Library/String           : libebml v1.2.1 + libmatroska v1.1.1
Attachment                       : Yes

Video
ID/String                        : 1
Format                           : AVC
Format/Info                      : Advanced Video Codec
Format_Profile                   : High@L4.1
Format_Settings_CABAC/String     : Yes
Format_Settings_RefFrames/String : 4 frames
CodecID                          : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration/String                  : 2h 12mn
BitRate/String                   : 5 349 Kbps
Width/String                     : 1 920 pixels
Height/String                    : 1 080 pixels
DisplayAspectRatio/String        : 16:9
FrameRate/String                 : 23.976 fps
ColorSpace                       : YUV
ChromaSubsampling                : 4:2:0
BitDepth/String                  : 8 bits
ScanType/String                  : Progressive
Bits-(Pixel*Frame)               : 0.108
StreamSize/String  : 4.84 GiB (87%)
Encoded_Library/String           : x264 core 107 r1745+311 2317302
Encoded_Library_Settings         : cabac=1 / ref=4 / deblock=1:-2:-1 / analyse=0x3:0x113 / me=esa / subme=9 / psy=1 / fade_compensate=0.00 / psy_rd=1.00:0.00 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=24 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=2 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=0 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=12 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / constrained_intra=0 / fgo=0 / bframes=5 / b_pyramid=2 / b_adapt=2 / b_bias=0 / direct=3 / weightb=1 / open_gop=0 / weightp=2 / keyint=240 / keyint_min=23 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=60 / rc=2pass / mbtree=1 / bitrate=5349 / ratetol=1.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=10 / qpmax=51 / qpstep=4 / cplxblur=20.0 / qblur=0.5 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00
Language/String                  : English

Audio
ID/String                        : 2
Format                           : AC-3
Format/Info                      : Audio Coding 3
Format_Settings_ModeExtension    : CM (complete main)
CodecID                          : A_AC3
Duration/String                  : 2h 12mn
BitRate_Mode/String              : Constant
BitRate/String                   : 640 Kbps
Channel(s)/String                : 6 channels
ChannelPositions                 : Front: L C R, Side: L R, LFE
SamplingRate/String              : 48.0 KHz
BitDepth/String                  : 16 bits
Compression_Mode/String          : Lossy
StreamSize/String                : 606 MiB (11%)
Language/String                  : English

Text
ID/String                        : 3
Format                           : UTF-8
CodecID                          : S_TEXT/UTF8
CodecID/Info                     : UTF-8 Plain Text
Language/String                  : English

Menu
00:00:00.000                     : en:Iraq: Interesting Finds
00:04:19.676                     : en:"Something I Must Do"
00:08:46.609                     : en:Face To Face
00:10:30.380                     : en:Rats In The Attic
00:13:04.784                     : en:On The Set
00:15:00.483                     : en:Chris' Walk Home (Tubular Bells)
00:16:14.432                     : en:Mother And Daughter
00:17:44.438                     : en:Karras Visits His Mother
00:22:10.412                     : en:The Ouija Board
00:23:37.374                     : en:Birthday Ideas
00:25:56.346                     : en:Lost And Unconnected
00:27:52.504                     : en:Attic Noises
00:31:06.073                     : en:Chapel Desecration
00:32:15.517                     : en:Nervous Disorder
00:36:40.532                     : en:The Hospital
00:39:16.062                     : en:Chris' Party
00:41:16.140                     : en:"You're Gonna Die Up There"
00:43:34.779                     : en:"Make It Stop!"
00:44:48.352                     : en:And I Shall Be Healed
00:47:50.659                     : en:Temporal Lobe Diagnosis
00:52:14.465                     : en:"The Sow Is Mine!"
00:54:16.795                     : en:Pathological State?
00:57:42.417                     : en:Death Strikes; Down The Stairs
01:01:02.492                     : en:Psychiatric Exam
01:02:54.145                     : en:From Garfield To Mineo
01:08:07.083                     : en:Heard Of Exorcism?
01:10:32.228                     : en:Scene Of The Crime
01:13:05.423                     : en:Kinderman's Theory
01:17:57.256                     : en:"Do You Know What She Did?"
01:19:33.686                     : en:Just Help Her
01:23:39.598                     : en:Unwelcome Visitor
01:25:55.317                     : en:That Thing Upstairs
01:29:12.430                     : en:Holy Water And Tongues
01:32:56.821                     : en:Chris' Realization
01:35:31.476                     : en:English In Reverse
01:36:41.462                     : en:Body Language
01:37:50.698                     : en:Choosing The Exorcist
01:39:44.979                     : en:Merrin Arrives
01:42:55.127                     : en:Ritual Guidelines
01:44:19.462                     : en:"I Cast You Out"
01:50:13.440                     : en:"The Power Of Christ Compels You"
01:53:54.536                     : en:Karras' Own Demons
01:57:36.466                     : en:Merrin's Final Battle
02:00:59.919                     : en:"Take Me!"
02:02:21.000                     : en:Absolution
02:03:06.588                     : en:A Keepsake From Karras
02:06:40.968                     : en:"I've Got Passes"
02:08:05.595                     : en:End Credits (Fantasia For Strings, Tubular Bells)

It is clearly visible from the above info that the video stream size has got increased by some 200 MB. I don't understand how this was done. Is there any setting which i must enable/disable in the software so that the video and the desired audio r left UNTOUCHED.

Note: In the extra options in mkvmerge i had set the "compression" to "none"

I would like anybody to kindly guide me in the right path of removing UNWANTED audio/subs without AFFECTING/Changing even a bit of anything that is to be kept.

[jagabo]

MkvMerge doesn't reencode the video. There was no loss or change of quality. Different programs mux the audio and video differently. That's the reason for the slight change of stream size. Also, MediaInfo calculates the stream sizes based on what's in the header. It's not always accurate.

[dragonkeeper]

I've seen many types of problems when loading a MKVmerge to remove\adding certain files from the container (Recently acquired a a lot of friends whose first language is not English, having English subtitles or subtitles in their native language helps a lot. ). I've had better luck using MKVextract, extracting only the files i Wanted to keep. I then use MKVmerg to create a new MKV containing these files adding any additional files.

Has worked pretty good for me.