5.1 surround sound, audio codex

[whereswally007]

Hey everyone,

I just have a few quick questions i hope everyone can help with.

1. what is the best audio codec i can use for a MKV video. It needs to do both 5.1 surround sound and stereo (use for laptop and sound system + tv).

2. What products do i need to get to be able to convert an .flac file to recommended audio codec? i require it to work via command line.

additional note. using mkvtoolnix, x264 for video.

thanks

[Cornucopia]

Best for what?

Lpcm, flac, aac, ac3, dts, even mp3 surround should work - if you have the appropriate encoders, and decoders on your target devices.

There are more questions you should be asking yourself about your choices, however.

Btw, mkvtoolnix is NOT an encoder, so you have to use something else first before remuxing into mkv.

Scott

[whereswally007]

I would like the best audio codec for playing surround sound and stereo audio with the best quality than best compression.

Flac i have a issue 5.1 doesn't work correctly with surround sound and the voices not coming out or very low and muffled. so i need to convert it and add it to my videos.

[El Heggunte]

Quality-wise, lossless compression is always the best choice. But if storage space is a limitation, then you must use lossy compression
( OR buy more disks ).
The ACTUAL problem of FLAC with multichannel was() to get the correct channel mapping, MAYBE the author of FLAC has fixed this issue in the most recent update. WavPack in theory is less problematic than FLAC, but the channel-mapping info is not stored in the WavPack stream itself, and IIRC the MKV container doesn't store such information in its headers Speaking for myself, I recommend ALAC, which is freeware, or MLP, if you have access to a commercial encoder.

Regarding the lossy audio codecs: AC3 and DTS are the most popular, obvious and effective choices. Perceptual transparency is achieved at 128kbps per channel for AC3 and at 256kbps per channel for DTS (keep in mind that the LFE channel doesn't need more than a very-low bitrate). There are no well-defined rules for multichannel decoding in the AAC specs, and this is the reason why I don't recommend it.

[yoda313]

Fyi so far as I know any surround sound file will play in stereo just fine.

[whereswally007]

If i went with Ac3. What command line program do i use to convert flac to ac3?

[Cornucopia]

ffmpeg should be able to do it.

Scott