Convert DTS-HD to Flac

[SeeManRun]

Any tools out there to convert DTS-HD to Flac? I read that eac3to will convert dolby trueHD, but not DTS-HDMA. Anyone know a way?

[jman98]

eac3to claims to be able to extract a DTS core from DTS-HD streams. If it can similarly extract a DTS core from DTS-HDMA, you might be able to convert that with another tool to Flac or perhaps extract the core first and then run eac3to to convert that to Flac. You do understand that converting to Flac will not any way improve the quality of your audio (it will be the same) and will result in larger files, don't you?

[SeeManRun]

I understand that whenever you convert to another format, you cannot improve quality. The reason I would like to use Flac, is because Flac is a recognized format, and is also lossless, and it might result in a larger file, might not, but it will be playable from a computer. Right now, DTS-HDMA is not playable on anything other than HDMI.

Would be nice to capture all that beautiful audio and be able to play it.
DTS core is no good, I want the full spectrum.
Thanks for the input!

[jman98]

DTS core is no good, I want the full spectrum.
Thanks for the input!

That's not a realistic want.

[SeeManRun]

I believe it is realistic. The information is there and can be read, so it should be able to be written. Unless there is some technical limitation, like bandwidth through traditional cables. Hell, even if I have mux the audio stream with the encoded video, I still need a codec to play it and output it through my soundcard (HDMI in my case). There seems staggeringly little information about HD audio while there is tons about HD video.

[jman98]

There seems staggeringly little information about HD audio while there is tons about HD video.

This is EXACTLY why I said it's not a realistic want. If you are willing to wait months, maybe even another year, to do what you want, then I'm sure that eventually someone will figure out how to do it. If you want to do convert the audio today, then work with DTS-core because that's all that you can convert today.

[SeeManRun]

Thanks for the continued responses. Asus is releasing a soundcard that does HDMI 1.3 passthrough, so even if I can't convert the audio to a format that might compress it (lossless) I would like to put the original audio in the muxed file and output it via the HDMI soundcard to my receiver where it can be processed by dedicated hardware.

I am puzzled by the lack of software supporting DTS-HD MA, and I think it will come at some point, hopefully not years like you suggest. People that use HTPC's at this point have no way of using their nice machine for good sound, sounds like a problem that should and will be solved.

Hopefully sooner than later.

[jman98]

People that use HTPC's at this point have no way of using their nice machine for good sound, sounds like a problem that should and will be solved.

Many people have a fallacy where they start from the assumption that they are a fairly typical person, so therefore anything they do or anything that happens to them is typical. The fact is that HTPC owners make up a rather insignificant portion of the population. I know a lot of people and I know exactly one person who has anything resembling an HTPC and that guy has a Mac Mini that is capable of playing some, but not all, HD formats. That's it.

I'm sure somebody, some day will solve this, but it's not happening today. Later this year? Next year? Two years from now? I have no idea. Heck, BluRay just BARELY and I mean BARELY as of about 1 month ago started supporting DTS-HD and people are pissed off that few players are even capable of supporting the format. I'd suggest that you keep up with the forums at http://www.doom9.net. There are some hard core BluRay people there and if anybody is going to find a way to support DTS-HD in software, it will be them.

[SoundDude]

You haven't got long to wait to enjoy full res sound. By the middle of July the Asus Xonar will be released with full bit audio, both PCM and bit-stream. No more fooling with flac or anything else needed. Problem solved for us insignificant HTPC owners.

[SeeManRun]

Oh wow, how times have changed. Ripping and keeping full DTS-HD-MA or Dolby TrueHD is now the standard for me. I just bitstream it to my amp and life is good.

I believe this solution might have been available back in the day when I posted the original question, but nothing could read the extended day and would be stuck with the core, which would have worked fine.

[hogger129]

MakeMKV can convert TrueHD and MA to FLAC on the fly if you have the dtsdecoderdll that comes with TMT5.

Then all you need is a receiver that can decode FLAC.