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Need help playing MKV videos with DTS audio? What app can I use?

MyopicPaideia

MyopicPaideia

macrumors 68020
Mar 19, 2011
2,155
980
Sweden
Road Movie on my Mac Mini is my one stop shop for remuxing/reencoding. It does both seamlessly with presets for all the Apple devices. A remux of an 8GB 1080p MKV file with DTS audio to an MP4/MV4 with 5.1 AAC take about 2 minutes, and all the metadata is retrieved automatically, embedded subtitles can also be included in the remux. Simples.

Well worth the $20!
 
H

hpman247

macrumors regular
Jun 6, 2011
126
26
Just for anyone that wants to know.

I was just playing a 720p MKV feature film with DTS audio in VLC no problems at all.

I was also able to play 720p MKV tv shows with AC3 or A52 audio with no issues by changing the "Date/Time Zone" to Toronto, Canada, rather than having it auto select.

It seems that there's issues with the use of those codecs in the USA, but not in Canada. So try that. I had no idea iPad Air could play MKV natively like that. It made me one happy camper :), even with the little caveat of changing the time zone.
 
M

Menneisyys2

macrumors 603
Jun 7, 2011
5,997
1,101
hpman247 said:
Just for anyone that wants to know.

I was just playing a 720p MKV feature film with DTS audio in VLC no problems at all.
Click to expand...

On an Air, 720p video can indeed be played w/o glitches. Of course, your battery life will still suffer, compared to a true hardware player.

hpman247 said:
I had no idea iPad Air could play MKV natively like that.
Click to expand...

I've even shown example videos of this (showing the definitely slower iPhone 5 playing back 1080p video in VLC pretty well) in my latest MKV playback article at https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1679716/
 
A

Anndy1972

macrumors newbie
Jan 2, 2014
6
0
Menneisyys2 said:
On an Air, 720p video can indeed be played w/o glitches. Of course, your battery life will still suffer, compared to a true hardware player.



I've even shown example videos of this (showing the definitely slower iPhone 5 playing back 1080p video in VLC pretty well) in my latest MKV playback article at https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1679716/
Click to expand...

Hello Menneisyys2,

Best wishes for the new year.

Why don't you never consider BUZZ Player.

I like it a lot because not only it plays all formats (AC3 + DTS) but it has also excellent network capabilities.

Thank you for your comments:)
 
M

Menneisyys2

macrumors 603
Jun 7, 2011
5,997
1,101
Anndy1972 said:
Hello Menneisyys2,

Best wishes for the new year.

Why don't you never consider BUZZ Player.

I like it a lot because not only it plays all formats (AC3 + DTS) but it has also excellent network capabilities.

Thank you for your comments:)
Click to expand...

"Never"? Actually, back in time (before 4.0.2), I've even recommended it the most. An excerpt from my then-published article: "BUZZ Player is the best choice for MKV playback for the time being."

After that, however, because of the drop (and the later reintroduction) of AC3 and DTS support, there have been a lot of bugs in all versions. For example, as is explained HERE, the removal of AC3 support rendered the then-current version (4.0.2) practically useless.

4.1.0 is already better (for example, it added back DTS) but still has some major problems:

- no AC3
- MKV's with any(!) AAC tracks aren't played back in hardware at all

And let's fast forward to the current situation: the now-current 5.0.2 is buggy too. While it has none of the above-listed AAC / AC3 / DTS problems (all audio work as expected), it just doesn't make use of the Retina screen. Everything is scaled down at XGA resolution. Obviously this isn't a problem on a non-Retina iPad but it is on a Retina one.

I'll mail the dev.
 
A

Anndy1972

macrumors newbie
Jan 2, 2014
6
0
Thank you for your prompt reaction.

Please update the thread when you have a response from devs.

Excuse me, I did not see your previous comments.

I am new to the Forum (I bought a mini retina and a Seagate Wireless+) and I am searching for the best player all around.

For my personal needs Mkv with DTS is priority.

So nPlayer (otherwise very good) is limited.

Am also Jailbroken since last week so I am giving both Rushplayer+ and XBMC a try!

I have several other ipads of all generations and am trying all possible configurations.

BTW Are you aware of the any player supporting nfs (streaming)?

Thank you in advance, :)

Best regards,
 
M

Menneisyys2

macrumors 603
Jun 7, 2011
5,997
1,101
Anndy1972 said:
Thank you for your prompt reaction.

Please update the thread when you have a response from devs.

Excuse me, I did not see your previous comments.

I am new to the Forum (I bought a mini retina and a Seagate Wireless+) and I am searching for the best player all around.

For my personal needs Mkv with DTS is priority.

So nPlayer (otherwise very good) is limited.

Am also Jailbroken since last week so I am giving both Rushplayer+ and XBMC a try!

I have several other ipads of all generations and am trying all possible configurations.

BTW Are you aware of the any player supporting nfs (streaming)?

Thank you in advance, :)

Best regards,
Click to expand...

DTS MKV on a Retina iPad? That's bad news.

RushPlayer+ has definitely slower DTS MKV decoding than BUZZ. Too bad the latter doesn't support Retina now. That is, to avoid skipped frames, stick with BUZZ for the time being - the lower resolution isn't as annoying as dropped frames.

Of course, the best would be remuxing your files - for example, by automatically adding an AAC audio track to them so that all players can play them back/

----------
Anndy1972 said:
Please update the thread when you have a response from devs.
Click to expand...

Email sent. Hope he answers me this time. (He didn't back in Oct/2012 when I emailed him about the 4.0.2 problems.)
 
M

Menneisyys2

macrumors 603
Jun 7, 2011
5,997
1,101
Menneisyys2 said:
it just doesn't make use of the Retina screen. Everything is scaled down at XGA resolution. Obviously this isn't a problem on a non-Retina iPad but it is on a Retina one.
Click to expand...

And it's also a MAJOR problem on iPhones when decoding MKV's (no such problems with iOS-native files like MP4):

http://www.flickr.com/photos/33448355@N07/11796538385/

this is how it should look like:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/33448355@N07/11796953884/

4.1.0 has no such problems with MKV's. (Of course, as has been previously explained, it can only play back MKV's with DTS audio but noting else - no AAC, no AC3).
 
A

Anndy1972

macrumors newbie
Jan 2, 2014
6
0
Thank you.

Most instructing.

It is however pity that there is no player that can playback everything perfectly, given that the actual processors and GPUs if ipads and iphones are apparently more than capable of....

Anyway,

Thanks again for your time
 
A

Anndy1972

macrumors newbie
Jan 2, 2014
6
0
I have one more question.

Is any of the reviewed by you apps for ipad NFS streaming capable of
?

Thank you in advance
 
M

Menneisyys2

macrumors 603
Jun 7, 2011
5,997
1,101
Anndy1972 said:
Thank you.

Most instructing.

It is however pity that there is no player that can playback everything perfectly, given that the actual processors and GPUs if ipads and iphones are apparently more than capable of....
Click to expand...

That's mostly the fault of
- Apple (for being ridiculously restrictive)
- Dolby (for their outrageous licensing fees)
 
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