I've tried AVPlayerHD, PlayerXtreme & Infuse. I cant find any video app in the store that will play MKV/x264 videos with DTS audio. I have to convert the DTS to AC-3 for it to play. I was able to use to Infuse tonight to play a 1080p video but I used an app to conver the DTS to AC-3 before hand. Anyone have anything that will play MKV with DTS audio? Btw, I'm on iPad Air.
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Need help playing MKV videos with DTS audio? What app can I use?
- Thread starter budmonster
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1, can you JB? Then, use RushPlayer+, it's by far the best solution.
2, if you don't JB, your best choice is quickly remuxing your videos into h.264 / AAC files (or just add an AC3 or AAC audio track - MKVTools is certainly capable of this.)
I've discussed this problem in several of my articles here at MR; for example, in my latest CineXPlayer (the only AppStore player with DTS - note that I do NOT recommend this player) review right here in the iPad Apps forum: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1654256/
EDIT: now you see you're on Air, meaning no JB. That is, learn MKVTools, MP4Tools and/or Subler. They're worth it.
Do you know of any windows tools capable of remuxing? If I'm not mistaken, handbrake is a full reencode?
Air Video HD. Converts on the fly when streaming or converts to AC-3 while importing.
http://www.inmethod.com/index.html;jsessionid=6F99BBEE80B65518A8249C376E6FF1BB
Nope - I don't have much Windows experience, remuxing-wise. Haven't had the time to properly discover the tools available there. Probably some time in the future...
I ALWAYS add two audio tracks to my encodes, first track is almost always a 2ch AAC audio file that is there for playing on pretty much anything and for compatiblity and the second track is a DTS or AC-3 surround track for an AVR. I would go ahead and convert the DTS track to a very compact AAC (or even AC-3) stereo track and mux it in via MKVtoolnix, I believe windows has MKVtoolnix, windows generally has more tools for this sort of stuff so it DEFINITELY exists.
saw http://www.videohelp.com/tools/XMedia-Recode
in another thread, seems to work, running an attempt now
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Cool, thanks.
I need something for the iPad though. I put the MKV file onto my iPad an hook it up via the HDMI/Lightning adapter and then play the video on my TV. Air Video is a streaming app? I dont know if I could stream 10gb 1080p video over my wifi with out stuttering.
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Do you mean MKVmerge? Is there a tutorial on how to do this? I just want to remux, I don't want to wait 2 hours to convert a movie. I know mkv2vob(which I've used) remuxes video for the Playstation 3 because the PS3 can't play DTS.
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There isnt a JB yet for the latest iOS. MKVTools is only for MAC, cant find PC>
It's streaming OR download. Your option. And if you're on wireless N, it should stream 1080p video just fine. Even streaming 2 ways (from your computer and out to an Apple TV)
Basically, when it streams it converts the audio and remuxes on the fly, and when it downloads it remuxes and copies the file to your iDevice.
If you really want to convert your files though (on a Windows PC), check out http://www.mediacoderhq.com/device/ipod_iphone_ipad.html
It will do all kinds of re-encoding when necessary, but also has a pass-through mode if the video's iPad compatible.
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I have an Apple TV too. Does Apple TV still require my iPad to have a video app like Air? What do I do? Just throw the untouched MKV onto my iPad then open up Air and connect it wireless to my Apple TV. I haven't set my Apple TV up yet so I dont know what the hell I'm doing lmao. I bought both the Apple TV and Lightning Adapter to see what would be better, easier and play the files I need played.
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Air Video HD is awesome! It streamed a 12GB 1080p video from my PC to my iPad Air with no issues "so far". Sorry I doubted you. Is the the only app you use? Before I got my iPad, I would use my PS3 to play streams. I put Plex on my PC and would try to stream video to my HDTV using my PS3, but it would stutter even on small 720p videos, I thought it was maybe my crap router that FiOS gave me years ago. I even tried streaming from my HTC phone, just lagged thogh. They just bumped up my internet to 75dn/35p two days ago and gave me this new router: http://www.actiontec.com/41.html Do you think my new router is allowing me to do this or does the Air just have good wifi? There were only 2 issues with Air Video...I couldnt figure out how to work subtitles and I couldnt drag videos into the Air Video HD folder. I downloaded iFunBox so I could see the file on my iPad, it allows me to drag and drop files right onto my iPad. When I installed AVPlayerHD, PlayerXtreme & Infuse they all allowed to me to just drag and drop videos right onto it. Air Video HD wont allow me, I dont know what folder to drag videos into.
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You don't drag files in. You navigate to the video folder while in the app and there should be a list of video files. You can play or download. It manages the files itself.
It's the only app I use on the iPad. On the computer itself I use XBMC and VLC. I know some internet providers still use wireless G routers that are useless for streaming. I guess they upgraded you.
For subtitles you can only change when the video is stopped - an annoying quirk, especially as it defaults to on. Look under the language button.
BTW, it ALSO streams remotely.
Apple TV only plays the same formats as an iPad, so you still need something to play MKVs. Air Video HD does this - on the lower right of the screen is an Airplay icon that allows you to send it to Apple TV. For some videos, depending on your Wifi speed and the bit rate of the video, it may stutter. After all, you're sending a stream to the iPad and from the iPad. If that happens, downloading the video to the iPad should take care of it. For me this has only happened with direct blu-ray rips, where a movie is 20 GB or more.
It's the only app I use on the iPad. On the computer itself I use XBMC and VLC. I know some internet providers still use wireless G routers that are useless for streaming. I guess they upgraded you.
For subtitles you can only change when the video is stopped - an annoying quirk, especially as it defaults to on. Look under the language button.
BTW, it ALSO streams remotely.
Apple TV only plays the same formats as an iPad, so you still need something to play MKVs. Air Video HD does this - on the lower right of the screen is an Airplay icon that allows you to send it to Apple TV. For some videos, depending on your Wifi speed and the bit rate of the video, it may stutter. After all, you're sending a stream to the iPad and from the iPad. If that happens, downloading the video to the iPad should take care of it. For me this has only happened with direct blu-ray rips, where a movie is 20 GB or more.
NO ipad video player supports DTS or AC3...
Best to transcode the mkv audio...
Subler does a great quick and free job of it and packages the file as an m4v.
I use Oplayer HD ( there's a free ad supported lite version to try it out), plays mkv, avi etc etc, and connects on its internal browser to my 2 tb seagate wireless plus where i can stream or download files from.
Best to transcode the mkv audio...
Subler does a great quick and free job of it and packages the file as an m4v.
I use Oplayer HD ( there's a free ad supported lite version to try it out), plays mkv, avi etc etc, and connects on its internal browser to my 2 tb seagate wireless plus where i can stream or download files from.
Not true. XBMC, RushPlayer+ (JB only) and VLC, CineXplayer (AppStore) all support DTS; and a lot more AC3. (This has also been explained in my numerous, dedicated articles here at the MR forums, one of them being linked to above.) Of these, I only truly recommend RushPlayer+ but, again, it does require JB'ing.
I in no way recommend Oplayer HD for MKV playback - it, as of the latest, current version, still doesn't use hardware acceleration. Get nPlayer - or, if you're JB'n, RushPlayer+. The free version of the latter will do just fine.
Great news: HD Player Pro still supports DTS:
https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=18441211
https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=18441211
The new VLC should work fine since you have an A7 SOC. Just drag and drop from iTunes and you should be good to go. Also has subtitle support.
Note that it'll still result in, in cases (e.g., low backlight level) considerably higher battery usage / possible heatup. This is the biggest problem with software decoding.
I'm just doing some real-world battery usage tests using the best players. Have already benchmarked VLC. It, assuming the lowest backlight level on the iPhone 5* so that the power usage because of CPU decoding can as safely be measured as possible, consumes about three times more battery than top hardware players: HD Player Pro, nPlayer, AVPlayer(HD). (The latter three are also already tested.)
*: I stick with A6 (the iPhone 5) in these tests so that the new results are directly comparable to my previous ones published this February: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1547504/ . The results do also carry over to the A7. I'll, when I have some time (these kinds of benchmarks are VERY time-consuming as I use a 130-minute MKV for testing), repeat the tests for A7's.
True, VLC definitely will run down your battery, but if I'm correct it's really the only player that's free unless one is willing to pay $4.99+ for one of the apps mentioned.
Yup - but I would be much more likely to spend $5 for an app if I know it'll much more gentle on my battery. I win a LOT by not having to recharge as often as with VLC.
(Nevertheless, as can also be noticed by the conditional, currently, there's no decent and DTS-capable video player in the AppStore. HD Player Pro is accessible if you have already downloaded it onto you iDevice and RushPlayer+, the other player to go for, is JB-only.)
I don't know how you got on. For me, at least until a JB is out for the air I do this for DTS audio:
MKVExtract the DTS audio
MKVMerge the DTS audio to a 5 second black screen clip (That I got from the 'preview' of handbrake + mkvextract).
Then go into handbrake, it now thinks its a proper video, let it convert the DTS to AC-3. It will stop at like 0.07% or something (which is the video), but it will still continue doing the audio, takes about 40 seconds to finish the whole thing.
MKVExtract the new AC-3 audio.
Merge the audio back into the original file with MKVMerge.
I suppose I could use something else like eac3to but the whole process probably takes less than 5 minutes for me to do now. And the nice thing about just doing the audio with handbrake and a 5 second clip is I can merge as many DTS audio files in this handbrake 'video' clip as I want to do bulk videos.
MKVExtract the DTS audio
MKVMerge the DTS audio to a 5 second black screen clip (That I got from the 'preview' of handbrake + mkvextract).
Then go into handbrake, it now thinks its a proper video, let it convert the DTS to AC-3. It will stop at like 0.07% or something (which is the video), but it will still continue doing the audio, takes about 40 seconds to finish the whole thing.
MKVExtract the new AC-3 audio.
Merge the audio back into the original file with MKVMerge.
I suppose I could use something else like eac3to but the whole process probably takes less than 5 minutes for me to do now. And the nice thing about just doing the audio with handbrake and a 5 second clip is I can merge as many DTS audio files in this handbrake 'video' clip as I want to do bulk videos.
BTW, why don't you just use the one-step MKVTools to quickly add a 2-channel AAC audio track in addition to a DTS one? (If you don't need 5.1 audio, that is.)
All you need to do is click the buttons / radio boxes in MKVTools (after dragging the MKV file into the app) as is annotated in the next screenshot:
(green buttons / radiobox first, red "Convert" button at the end)
I don't have a Mac, is MKVTools Mac only?
I also kinda want to keep the 5.1 audio too, never know what might happen in the future
OIC... any chances of OSX86 running on your PC? Even if for example WiFi / 3D acceleration / BT isn't supported, you could use it for video conversion. OS X is so much better in this regard than Windows...
I'm not that fussed tbh, I don't plan on not being able to play DTS audio very long (jailbreak), I don't have that much stuff with solely DTS and if I do can sort it in 2-3 mins