Music Media Helper (Tools for Multichannel Audio & Music Videos)

[HomerJAU]

Gary, would it be possible to change the Channel Volume in MMH to do negative numbers to reduce the volumn below zero?

Will do Mark. I’ll get a new MMH update out tomorrow.

 

[M-K]

Create or edit the advancedsettings.xml file in Kodi’s userdata folder, see this post:

https://www.quadraphonicquad.com/fo...d-music-videos-please-read.30473/#post-562974
You will need to add the MKV extension to the musicextensions entry like this.

<musicextensions>
<add>.mkv|.mp4</add>
</musicextensions>

This works well. For audio. Thank you.

But it looks a bit different when I play MKV videos. The menu for selecting audio when playing concerts did not appear (the "ear button"). This may be related to that change.

So, when MKV will stick to video only, (not adding .mkv, only mp4) what can I do instead? Playing CUE + MKA files containing surround music instead?
What do you think? Please let me (us) know.

PS: simply renaming (sometimes manually) *.MP4 music files to *.M4A play very well as audio in 4.0 or 5.1.

 

[HomerJAU]

Adding MKV to the musicextensions setting is telling Kodi that MKV is an audio file. If you want to see MKV files in your Kodi music library that is required.

For Kodi CUE with mka you must remove all the chapters for the CUE to be read, otherwise Kodi reads the chapters from the mka file instead of from the CUE file. MKVToolNix will remove the video and chapters from an MKV file.

You should create the CUE file prior to removing the chapters.

 

[M-K]

Adding MKV to the musicextensions setting is telling Kodi that MKV is an audio file. If you want to see MKV files in your Kodi music library that is required.

For Kodi CUE with mka you must remove all the chapters for the CUE to be read, otherwise Kodi reads the chapters from the mka file instead of from the CUE file. MKVToolNix will remove the video and chapters from an MKV file.

You should create the CUE file prior to removing the chapters.

Thank you Garry. I think, I'll try MKA+CUE. And leave MKV for video. Of course CUE has to be created before removing ...

 

[Albert Dagger]

Thank you Garry. I think, I'll try MKA+CUE. And leave MKV for video. Of course CUE has to be created before removing ...

Also round up the milliseconds in the cue sheet if you are using Kodi. It doesn’t pick the right time stamps without this trick.

 

[HomerJAU]

Gary, would it be possible to change the Channel Volume in MMH to do negative numbers to reduce the volumn below zero?

New MMH 7.0.0 Beta 5 has this fix:
Download link:
https://reva.blob.core.windows.net/mmh7/MMHInstaller.msi
Changelog since previous 7.0.0 beta version:
Fixes:
Channel Volume tool: Does not support negative gain values - fixed

Changes:
Updated MediaInfo to 23.03
Updated MKVToolnix to 75.0
Updated 3rd party UI controls to latest 22.2.5

 

[marpow]

Hi Garry, I am all up to date on the Beta (9) 7.0.0.
MMH working fine for my uses.
Question, I ripped the ATMOS MKV of Rodriguez Jr. Bliss and with MusicBrainz there was no tagging info I could get. I guess that happens rarely, first time for me. I assume the answer is to manually tag the chapters?

 

[HomerJAU]

Question, I ripped the ATMOS MKV of Rodriguez Jr. Bliss and with MusicBrainz there was no tagging info I could get.

If MusicBrainz does not have the album you could try finding the track list (on a web page) and copying it using the MMH feature.

I looked it up using the … button next to the Album Artist and the album is Blisss (three sss). The only album listed is the original LP but I assume the tracks will be very similar if not the same.

 

[marpow]

If MusicBrainz does not have the album you could try finding the track list (on a web page) and copying it using the MMH feature.

I looked it up using the … button next to the Album Artist and the album is Blisss (three sss). The only album listed is the original LP but I assume the tracks will be very similar if not the same.

View attachment 90992

That's great Garry, I will do that next time.

 

[HomerJAU]

Music Media Helper 7.0.0 Released

NOTE: See first post in this thread for links to the mandatory Microsoft .NET 7.1 Desktop Runtime installer.

MMH 7 download linkt:
https://reva.blob.core.windows.net/mmh7/MMHInstaller.msi
Version 7.0.0 (April 30 2023)
-------------
New:
.NET Runtime upgraded to version 7 (faster performance)

Fixes:
Channel Volume tool: Does not support negative gain values - fixed
Tag Editor Control: 'Disc Title' text box only allows numeric values - fixed

Changes:
Extract Audio from MKV tool: Added Panel Splitter control to allow resizing of Tag Editor Control
Tag & Rename tool: Added Panel Splitter control to allow resizing of Tag Control
Extract Audio from MKV tool: Added Panel Splitter control to allow resizing of Tag Editor Control
All three tools above have File and Folder buttons moved to top left of dialog (previously on extreme right side)
Merge Video and FLAC tool: Folder Selection dialog now supports multiple folders (CTRL+Click, SHIFT+Click for a ranges etc)
Media File Manager now displays HDR type (Dolby Vision, HDR10, HDR10+ and HLG

Atmos Helper tool Changes:
Encoding DD+ Atmos to MP4/M4A files now uses MP4box (if GPAC is installed on same PC) for increased compatibility with DRP and iOS playback
Decoding Atmos: Now faster than previous versions (combined conversion steps) & now shows file decode progress
Decoding Atmos: Added option to swap sides & rears for 7 channel bed outputs 7.1, 7.1.4 & 9.1.6 etc - default is 'off' with sides first
Decoding Atmos: New Option to Auto Calculate and set Max Peak Volume for all files in current decode list (album)
Decoding Atmos: New dialog displays files in current session
Decoding Atmos: Added new 'Add Folder(s)' button - adds all supported files in folder(s) selected (use CTRL + Click to add multiple folders)
Decoding Atmos: Add support for multiple folders to a decode session (supporting auto Gain by folder for multiple albums in same session)

Updated MediaInfo to 23.04
Updated MKVToolnix to 75.0
Updated ffmpeg to latest 6.0 build
Updated 3rd party UI controls to latest 22.2.5

 

[cherryduck]

I've generated cue files for 3 albums I have in MKA format that Kodi wasn't picking up. With each one, in the cue file the first and second track are both given TRACK 01 AUDIO designation, which means they show up in Kodi as both being track 1. All the other tracks are then adjusted incorrectly, so the actual track 3 shows as track 2 for example. This is despite my tags being correct, and despite MMH showing track 1 as having a track tag of 01, track 2 as having the track tag as 02 etc.

 

[HomerJAU]

Fixing the Tracks in Kodi: Kodi won’t re-read the updated cue without you forcing a rescan (it looks at the date of the mka file, which has not changed). Go to the Settings, Media and locate your Music Source folder, then to each of your album folders with the cue files: right-click or long-click (hold your remote select button down) on the folder and a pop-up menu will appear, select the option to scan tags and force a reread.

The .MKA file must have no chapters as Kodi reads the mka chapters prior to the cue which causes issues in Kodi. You need cue + chapterless mka/MKV.

I’ll take a look at the MMH code that creates cue files today to see why the track numbers are incorrect and post an update if required.

EDIT: I found the issue. Its when a user creates a CUE from with files - fixed in today's MMH update

 

[HomerJAU]

Music Media Helper 7.0.1 Released

Version 7.0.1 (May 12 2023)
-------------
New:
Join and Split Audio tool: Added support for splitting MKV and MKA files from a CUE file

Fixes:
Creating CUE file from multiple files: Track Numbers not correct - fixed

Changes:
Updated 3rd party UI controls to latest 22.2.6
Updated MKVToolnix to 76.0

 

[cherryduck]

Fixing the Tracks in Kodi: Kodi won’t re-read the updated cue without you forcing a rescan (it looks at the date of the mka file, which has not changed). Go to the Settings, Media and locate your Music Source folder, then to each of your album folders with the cue files: right-click or long-click (hold your remote select button down) on the folder and a pop-up menu will appear, select the option to scan tags and force a reread.

The .MKA file must have no chapters as Kodi reads the mka chapters prior to the cue which causes issues in Kodi. You need cue + chapterless mka/MKV.

I’ll take a look at the MMH code that creates cue files today to see why the track numbers are incorrect and post an update if required.

EDIT: I found the issue. Its when a user creates a CUE from with files - fixed in today's MMH update

Thanks for the quick fix, I actually created a powershell script to automatically correct the files for me after running them through MMH, but this is much appreciated for future albums.

 

[HomerJAU]

Thanks for the quick fix, I actually created a powershell script to automatically correct the files for me after running them through MMH, but this is much appreciated for future albums.

If you are using Kodi the easiest way to play Atmos is by using .m4a files as they can be fully tagged, just like FLAC etc. Kodi will read the tags into its music library.

I only use cue files for gapless play, keeping the entire album in a single mka file.

 

[cherryduck]

If you are using Kodi the easiest way to play Atmos is by using .m4a files as they can be fully tagged, just like FLAC etc. Kodi will read the tags into its music library.

I only use cue files for gapless play, keeping the entire album in a single mka file.

I did have a go with converting a file to m4a and playing it in Foobar2000, which is what I use when I'm at my PC, and it doesn't like lossless Atmos files in m4a containers, it gets confused. Works with lossy Atmos (e-ac3), not with TrueHD, don't know why. So for compatability between my PC upstairs and my Kodi installation on the Shield downstairs I'm happy to stick with mka + cue.

 

[HomerJAU]

Foobar on my PC plays TrueHD .m4a just fine. I’m using latest version.

 

[cherryduck]

Presumably you've set it up as a format in ffmpeg decoder wrapper? AFAIK Foobar2000 doesn't support TrueHD files and I can't find any components for this specifically.
Initially this was working but not showing the track details, but I closed and re-opened Foobar2000 and it's showing all the proper info now.

 

[mandrix]

So I converted a folder of 360RA to wav then encoded to both lossless and lossy (DD+) Atmos.

During the encoding to lossless Atmos I got two warning about long paths and creating temp files. But the process completed for the folder anyway. So no problem. (it was a one level nested folder)

But I have a question...I assume this intentional on your part....why is DDP added to the filename when encoding to lossy Atmos? I mean if it was in parenthesis that would be cool, otherwise it just adds letters to the file name that should not be there. Or maybe an underscore or dash/- sign or just something that differentiates the actual file name from the DDP addition.
Eh?

 

[HomerJAU]

But I have a question...I assume this intentional on your part....why is DDP added to the filename

I guess: it seemed like a good idea at the time Maybe I should add user preferences?