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Videodrome bluray is pcm_s24le ... But there it no passthru option in either MKV or MP4 container in HandBrake. What audio codec should I use then to preserve the highest quality?

HE-AAC
AC3
E-AC3
Vorbis
Flac 16-bit
Flac 24-bit

thanks for any help.

My preference is AC3, but that's in part because the AAC encoder in handbrake isn't the best.

Theory says the lossless encoder, FLAC, will give you "best quality" (no loss), but that limits your playback options.

Anything you know of that won't be able to play FLAC?

I have the movies on my plex server and play them through an Apple TV.

Thanks for the help.

If you're using Plex, it can change the audio codec on the fly for device profiles that do not support FLAC.

If you're targeting Apple products, it is best to encode on a Mac, because the Mac has a better AAC encoder that handbrake will use. Apple likes AAC, since they pretty much invented it.

You can find a LOT more information about handbrake on their forum. You can search for "plex" and "appletv" to find recommendations.

Thanks a lot. Big help.

So are you suggesting that I use AAC (CoreAudio) instead of FLAC? Which would give me better quality audio in your opinion?

I will check out the handbrake forum also.

CoreAudio's AAC is one of the best AAC encoders. AAC is also preferred by AppleTV. ANYTHING lossy is going to offend someone's ear, and even the big guns in "lossless audio" use a lossy core in their lossless audio tracks, for compatibility.

But you're really asking the wrong person to compare audio codecs - while I can discern a 1% or less speed change in playback, I'm just not that fussy about the "GREATEST MOST FABULOUS SOUND SYSTEM IN THE WORLD". If it takes an oscilloscope to prove to me that there is .002% error in the wave form at 400 watts output, I don't care; nature isn't that accurate, either, and things sound pretty good at 25-30 watts.

Woodstock wrote: ↑

Sun Oct 20, 2019 3:32 am

But you're really asking the wrong person to compare audio codecs - while I can discern a 1% or less speed change in playback, I'm just not that fussy about the "GREATEST MOST FABULOUS SOUND SYSTEM IN THE WORLD". If it takes an oscilloscope to prove to me that there is .002% error in the wave form at 400 watts output, I don't care; nature isn't that accurate, either, and things sound pretty good at 25-30 watts.

This is a similar argument I gave someone that never wanted to buy a chip based amplifier. He gave me these distortion numbers and I asked questions like, at what volume, what volume is too loud even for you, etc. Chip amps are much noisier than tube amps, but for every day home theater use, they're perfectly fine.