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

[nickleb474]

As far as I can tell AC4 is only used for stereo content. The Dolby Media Encoder can produce AC4 and the Dolby Reference Player can decode it.

So if the DRP can decode it, is it a binaural decode? I feel like the DRP was mostly designed for speaker setups. I'd love to find a solution to generate binaural PCM renders.

 

[mandrix]

So if the DRP can decode it, is it a binaural decode? I feel like the DRP was mostly designed for speaker setups. I'd love to find a solution to generate binaural PCM renders.

That's a good question. I'm wondering now if AC-4 is more than stereo, truthfully I have no first hand knowledge.
The DRP has several downmix modes, including headphone virtualization.

EDIT: As SMD linked the wiki content, I see it can be mch.

 

[mandrix]

This is under the AC-4 decoding.

 

[nickleb474]

That's a good question. I'm wondering now if AC-4 is more than stereo, truthfully I have no first hand knowledge.
The DRP has several downmix modes, including headphone virtualization.

I generally see AC-4 files labeled as "2.0 Immersive Stereo, 2 Channels." Does the latest update of MMH support headphone virtualization PCM renders?

 

[SeeMoreDigital]

As I see it... The primary reason why Dolby wants to move over to AC-4 is because it's "all about the meta-data"...

 

[himey]

Dolby wants to move over to AC-4

What are you basing this on?

 

[SeeMoreDigital]

What are you basing this on?

Because being able to control all aspects of an audio stream using meta-data has got to be the future...

 

[EmaMusicGeek]

Hello @HomerJAU, thank you very much for this useful tool!
The first time I installed version 7.1.7 (if I remember correctly) and successfully used the function to get the dynamic range of audio files (Batch Audio Tools). However, after updating to the latest version, when scanning to detect the dynamic range, no results are displayed in the window. The software says "Completed getting the Dynamic Range," but no results are shown.

 

[HomerJAU]

However, after updating to the latest version, when scanning to detect the dynamic range, no results are displayed

Thanks for reporting this. I was making changes to this tool for the next release, then moved the changes to a new source branch. Looks like broke something. I will check in the morning and get a fix. (The new version is faster than the old one in 7.1.7).

 

[HomerJAU]

I generally see AC-4 files labeled as "2.0 Immersive Stereo, 2 Channels." Does the latest update of MMH support headphone virtualization PCM renders?

No ac4 support yet in MMH but you are the 2nd user to ask in about a week!

AC-4 supports multichannel, it has a more efficient data compression algorithm so files are smaller than DDPlus. Better for streaming (audio and DTV etc) @mandrix

My understanding AC-4 is using similar technology to Dolby Atmos but where its 2 channels carry up to a 6 channel encoded stream. (Like Atmos JOC has 6 channels carrying even more data to create 5.1.4 on decode etc).

There‘s a thread here on Dolby Audio surround streaming! Thats AC-4 quad titles on Apple mainly (from memory).

 

[mandrix]

I just wanted to report updates still don't get downloaded for me from within the app. They show as downloading but don't appear on the computer.
As I think I told you, the download folder is moved from the C: drive to another drive.
It's no big deal as I can go to your drive and download but thought I'd advise again. Since Windows knows where it is not sure what's going on as no other downloads disappear. lol.

I don't clutter up my OS drive with downloads, documents, pics etc and have all those folders moved to other drives. FWIW.

 

[Stupy]

Thank you again for all you do with MusicMediaHelper, HomerJAU. This is critical software for the full enjoyment of the myriad of multi channel formats we enjoy. Cheers!

 

[HomerJAU]

A new MMH 7.1.12 released

Version 7.1.12 (January 27 2024)
-------------
Changes:
Batch Audio Tools: Now uses parallel/multi threading (faster processing) (was to be released in MMH 8)

Fixes:
Batch Audio Tool: Dynamic Range option fails to display DR values - fixed ** (7.1.11 regression) @EmaMusicGeek
Extract Audio from MKV: MMH splitting caused issues with Gapless album playback - fixed @albertop

Direct link to new installer:
https://reva.blob.core.windows.net/mmh7/MMHInstaller.msi
** (this was another of those Visual Studio losing events with no warnings/errors - in latest Visual Studio 2022 the signature of events must be identical to the definition - previous versions weren't strict)

 

[HomerJAU]

I just wanted to report updates still don't get downloaded for me from within the app.

As you know I've had a few goes at fixing that, when a users Download folder has been moved from its Windows default location.

If you have time to test and report I'll give you a test build that logs everything going on so we can see where MMH it fails?

 

[EmaMusicGeek]

It works. And as you wrote it is much faster than the old version I used, thank you @HomerJAU !

While I'm at it, I have a question. I tried searching the forum, but I couldn't find anything related: is there a way to perform a clean and high-quality conversion of a multichannel FLAC file (5.1 or more) to stereo 2.0? In the program, I found only the custom option "Remix (User Defined)" in Remix Audio Channels, but I didn't understand how to configure it. Thanks, and sorry if the question has already been asked.

 

[mandrix]

As you know I've had a few goes at fixing that, when a users Download folder has been moved from its Windows default location.

If you have time to test and report I'll give you a test build that logs everything going on so we can see where MMH it fails?

Sure. I would not make it a high priority but anytime you want to is fine.
It's all beyond me, but normally Windows seems to know where the download folder is located. I just use the properties/location to move it. You could do that on your own machine for that matter (if you have multiple drives) but I'd be happy to do it.

 

[HomerJAU]

is there a way to perform a clean and high-quality conversion of a multichannel FLAC file (5.1 or more) to stereo 2.0?

Nothing in MMH but I can probably add a new option in the remix tool to remix 5.1 and quad to stereo. I’ll take a look this morning.

I think Foobar2000 may have something, not sure. Maybe post that question in a new thread here on QQ.

 

[himey]

to stereo 2.0

Have you tried Audacity?

 

[mandrix]

Nothing in MMH but I can probably add a new option in the remix tool to remix 5.1 and quad to stereo. I’ll take a look this morning.

I think Foobar2000 may have something, not sure. Maybe post that question in a new thread here on QQ.

Foobar does have that dsp, but I've never used it.

 

[EmaMusicGeek]

The conversion is possible with Audacity, but it allows you to convert only one file at a time and does not retain the original filename (both of things are quite inconvenient). I also tried using a batch macro with actions: convert to stereo FLAC (my source files are in m4a) -> normalize (necessary to prevent clipping), but unfortunately, it doesn't preserve the track filenames.

In the end, I managed the issue using the WavePad program from NCH Software (free in its basic version, which includes this type of conversion), using the "Batch Converter" option. It retains the filename and automatically normalizes the volume (although I had to amplify it afterward because it was too low). The final result seems pretty good to me, but I cannot judge how the conversion quality compares to what other programs might achieve.

I've noticed that the open-source software fre:ac also supports this type of conversion, but I haven't tried it yet (same with Foobar).

Of course, it would be very convenient to have such a converter in MMH, making it a truly comprehensive software