conversion help

[Kracov]

So, apparently Xmedia Recode does not properly convert audio. I'm not sure what settings I should be configuring but the audio is grainy and distorted. I know it's an issue with Xmedia because these same videos convert just fine with other converters. Hopefully someone knows what to configure


[Attachment 92487 - Click to enlarge]

[davexnet]

What is the format of the source (codec used, bitrate, number of channels) and similarly, what are you trying to covert it to?

[Kracov]

the source is matroska hevc 265 2000bit, 5.1 channels and the conversion is MP4

[davexnet]

the source is matroska hevc 265 2000bit, 5.1 channels and the conversion is MP4

OK . Why don't pass through the existing audio instead of trying to convert it?
Set mode on the audio tab to "copy"

[johns0]

Listen to davexnet,i would never re-encode audio.

[blud7]

Your issue may be with the audio channels. If you're going with 128k, you should downmix the audio to stereo, since that bitrate is low for 5.1 audio.
If you're keeping the 5.1, then just passthrough the audio.

[Kracov]

I tried the "Copy" option and got the same results. Can you explain more about "passthrough"? And what bitrate should i try?

[cholla]

I do not have Xmedia Recode.
If it only has copy that is what it should do.
Passthrough should mean what is says.
Passthrough the Audio as is.

A close look at the image you posted shows the Audio as aac 0 kbps.
To me that means there should be no audio to convert.

[Kracov]

not sure what to tell you guys. the audio works just fine on the PC and it converts properly on other converters. I'm guessing that passthrough means "copy". Let me know what bitrate the audio should be.

[cholla]

Can you post the audio sample before conversion ?
I don't have any audio files that show 0 kbps to test with.

What does MediaInfo show for the audio ?

[Kracov]

General
Unique ID                      : 3916292247053024453711046805424135024 (0x2F2401D8DCDFE742281DFE09FEF5B70)
Complete name                  : C:\Users\kraco\Onedrive\Desktop\Reign Of Fire 2002 1080p BluRay HEVC x265 5.1 BONE.mkv
Format                         : Matroska
Format version                 : Version 4 / Version 2
File size                      : 1.46 GiB
Duration                       : 1 h 41 min
Overall bit rate               : 2 045 kb/s
Frame rate                     : 23.976 FPS
Encoded date                   : 2025-04-17 17:18:42 UTC
Writing application            : [url=https://www.videohelp.com/software/HandBrake]HandBrake[/url] 1.9.2 2025022300
Writing library                : Lavf61.7.100
ErrorDetectionType             : Per level 1

Video
ID                             : 1
Format                         : HEVC
Format/Info                    : High Efficiency Video Coding
Format profile                 : Main@L4@Main
Codec ID                       : V_MPEGH/ISO/HEVC
Duration                       : 1 h 41 min
Width                          : 1 920 pixels
Height                         : 820 pixels
Display aspect ratio           : 2.35:1
Frame rate mode                : Constant
Frame rate                     : 23.976 (24000/1001) FPS
Color space                    : YUV
Chroma subsampling             : 4:2:0 (Type 0)
Bit depth                      : 8 bits
Writing library                : x265 4.1+1-1d117be:[Windows][GCC 13.2.0][64 bit] 8bit+10bit+12bit
Encoding settings              : cpuid=1111039 / frame-threads=4 / numa-pools=20 / wpp / no-pmode / no-pme / no-psnr / no-ssim / log-level=2 / input-csp=1 / input-res=1920x820 / interlace=0 / total-frames=0 / level-idc=0 / high-tier=1 / uhd-bd=0 / ref=3 / no-allow-non-conformance / no-repeat-headers / annexb / no-aud / no-eob / no-eos / no-hrd / info / hash=0 / temporal-layers=0 / open-gop / min-keyint=24 / keyint=240 / gop-lookahead=0 / bframes=4 / b-adapt=2 / b-pyramid / bframe-bias=0 / rc-lookahead=20 / lookahead-slices=5 / scenecut=40 / no-hist-scenecut / radl=0 / no-splice / no-intra-refresh / ctu=64 / min-cu-size=8 / no-rect / no-amp / max-tu-size=32 / tu-inter-depth=1 / tu-intra-depth=1 / limit-tu=0 / rdoq-level=0 / dynamic-rd=0.00 / no-ssim-rd / signhide / no-tskip / nr-intra=0 / nr-inter=0 / no-constrained-intra / strong-intra-smoothing / max-merge=3 / limit-refs=1 / no-limit-modes / me=1 / subme=2 / merange=57 / temporal-mvp / no-frame-dup / no-hme / weightp / no-weightb / no-analyze-src-pics / deblock=0:0 / sao / no-sao-non-deblock / rd=3 / selective-sao=4 / early-skip / rskip / no-fast-intra / no-tskip-fast / no-cu-lossless / b-intra / no-splitrd-skip / rdpenalty=0 / psy-rd=2.00 / psy-rdoq=0.00 / no-rd-refine / no-lossless / cbqpoffs=0 / crqpoffs=0 / rc=abr / bitrate=1750 / qcomp=0.60 / qpstep=4 / stats-write=0 / stats-read=0 / ipratio=1.40 / pbratio=1.30 / aq-mode=2 / aq-strength=1.00 / cutree / zone-count=0 / no-strict-cbr / qg-size=32 / no-rc-grain / qpmax=69 / qpmin=0 / no-const-vbv / sar=1 / overscan=0 / videoformat=5 / range=0 / colorprim=1 / transfer=1 / colormatrix=1 / chromaloc=1 / chromaloc-top=0 / chromaloc-bottom=0 / display-window=0 / cll=0,0 / min-luma=0 / max-luma=255 / log2-max-poc-lsb=8 / vui-timing-info / vui-hrd-info / slices=1 / no-opt-qp-pps / no-opt-ref-list-length-pps / no-multi-pass-opt-rps / scenecut-bias=0.05 / no-opt-cu-delta-qp / no-aq-motion / no-hdr10 / no-hdr10-opt / no-dhdr10-opt / no-idr-recovery-sei / analysis-reuse-level=0 / analysis-save-reuse-level=0 / analysis-load-reuse-level=0 / scale-factor=0 / refine-intra=0 / refine-inter=0 / refine-mv=1 / refine-ctu-distortion=0 / no-limit-sao / ctu-info=0 / no-lowpass-dct / refine-analysis-type=0 / copy-pic=1 / max-ausize-factor=1.0 / no-dynamic-refine / no-single-sei / no-hevc-aq / no-svt / no-field / qp-adaptation-range=1.00 / scenecut-aware-qp=0conformance-window-offsets / right=0 / bottom=0 / decoder-max-rate=0 / no-vbv-live-multi-pass / no-mcstf / no-sbrc / no-frame-rc
Default                        : Yes
Forced                         : No
Color range                    : Limited
Color primaries                : BT.709
Transfer characteristics       : BT.709
Matrix coefficients            : BT.709

Audio
ID                             : 2
Format                         : AAC LC
Format/Info                    : Advanced Audio Codec Low Complexity
Codec ID                       : A_AAC-2
Duration                       : 1 h 41 min
Channel(s)                     : 6 channels
Channel layout                 : C L R Ls Rs LFE
Sampling rate                  : 48.0 kHz
Frame rate                     : 46.875 FPS (1024 SPF)
Compression mode               : Lossy
Delay relative to video        : 1 s 1 ms
Title                          : Surround
Default                        : Yes
Forced                         : No

Text #1
ID                             : 3
Format                         : PGS
Codec ID                       : S_HDMV/PGS
Codec ID/Info                  : Picture based subtitle format used on BDs/HD-DVDs
Duration                       : 1 h 36 min
Language                       : English
Default                        : No
Forced                         : No

Text #2
ID                             : 4
Format                         : PGS
Codec ID                       : S_HDMV/PGS
Codec ID/Info                  : Picture based subtitle format used on BDs/HD-DVDs
Duration                       : 1 h 36 min
Title                          : English - SDH
Language                       : English
Default                        : No
Forced                         : No

[cholla]

Try an Audio only rip.
This is the way I made the settings:

[Attachment 92509 - Click to enlarge]

[Attachment 92510 - Click to enlarge]

Can you create a short clip & post it ?

[Kracov]

Ok i was unable to cut it as it requires re-encoding. so you need to skip to parts where there is audio. also i'm not sure why this video matters- xmedia is unable to properly convert the audio for anything- other videos and formats.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lyYMSiQNX0a0Io0UgtRqzOH8ME23Qz_Q/view?usp=sharing

[cholla]

@ Kracov,
This is the first time I have ever used Xmedia Recode .

What software created the audio file in the link ?
I ask because it is different than the audio in the MediaInfo you posted.
If it was not created with Xmedia Recode then I will encode it with Xmedia Recode.

This is an audio file I made from a clip I have with Xmedia Recode set as the images I posted.
It sounds OK to me.
If you find it "grainy and distorted" then your hearing is better than mine.

[Kracov]

did you play my audio file? yes it was made by xmedia

[cholla]

Yes & it sounds OK to me.
It is only 2 channel though.

[Kracov]

yeah i choose stereo when encoding, like the other guy told me to do. sounds like xmedia is just a flawed program. years ago xmedia couldn't even properly convert certain mkv's. its a little better now but now the audio is wonky. its hard to find better converters. Any Video Converter is more reliable, but because of issues with subtitles i have to re-encode twice. the version of AVC i use is from +5 years ago. it's one of a few programs that can handle .ass subtitles and also have a easy to use interface for multiple videos. going to try handbrake but i'm betting it's still not quick and easy like AVC.

[cholla]

I use ffmpeg cli most of the time.
I do not have Any Video Converter

[Kracov]

its insane to use a command line for every single show episode individually

[cholla]

I usually only work with individual videos.
Have you tried ProWo's Clever for a converter ?
It is a good ffmpeg front end .

[Kracov]

yeah, it doesn't support subtitles (at least from what i could see), and that still requires setting the video dimensions individually. with AVC it changes the video dimensions for all videos.

[davexnet]

@Kracov, I looked at your you audio posted above. It's 2-channel stereo - I assume XMR mixed the original 5.1 audio.
It's too loud, and it's distorted - this is possibly due to way XMR down mixed the audio.

In this case I would convert the original audio to ac/3 like this:

[Kracov]

there is no "ac3 dolby digital" in the list. I just installed the newest version.... not sure what to do

[davexnet]

there is no "ac3 dolby digital" in the list. I just installed the newest version.... not sure what to do

I just downloaded the latest portable version, running on Windows 10. It's OK for me - as expected/
Try the portable version

[Kracov]

portable still doesn't have it. i would email the author but he never replies.

[davexnet]

Do you have a recent pc? XMR uses the latest FFmpeg 8.1 for its conversions
I can't think of any other reason it's not showing up
Perhaps try an older version

[Kracov]

i just tried to put the 8.1 files in C:/ffmpeg where i had my old files. i'm not sure where else it could be located but that did not fix the issue in xmedia.

[cholla]

I have a slightly older version of XMR because I use Windows 7 32-bit.
The settings look identical to what davexnet has.
The About is different.

[Attachment 92519 - Click to enlarge]

I have ffmpeg in C:\Program Files\ffmpeg
The ffmpeg.exe is in C:\Program Files\ffmpeg\bin
I also added these locations to my Environmental variables path .
So various softwares can find them.
Use ffmpeg -version in the command prompt to see the version you are using.
If not added to Environmental variables path you need to cd C:\ffmpeg\bin in the command prompt then Enter.
Then ffmpeg -version

[davexnet]

I would perhaps try an older version of XMR, perhaps version 3589.
FFmpeg.dll is put in the main XMR folder when it is installed

Is it possible your anti-virus is messing with your install ?

[Kracov]

no antivirus. there was no ffmpeg.exe in the main XMR folder.... so i put ffmpeg.exe in the folder.... still no difference. perhaps it could be that XMR relies on the ffmpeg that's installed on my system somewhere. i did a search but only found 2 locations. replaced the ffmpeg files with the new one.... still no AC3 showing up in XMR. maybe i need an installation version of ffmpeg?