Playing MKV - DTS audio stutter

[onyx00]

I am trying to play an MKV with DTS sound, and the audio is stuttering horribly. About every two seconds the audio cuts out for a half second. I have no other issues with my receiver listening to anything else in DTS, seems to be with certain MKVs and the Sage box.

My AV receiver seems to loose the DTS signal or something because I can see a flicker on the display showing the audio format, like the sound information is dropping out.

Any ideas? This is driving me crazy on certain MKVs I have.

[Lucas]

I also just noticed that some videos with DTS have a similar issue in my system. You should report it to sagetv.

[onyx00]

How do I submit a problem report to Sage?

[onyx00]

I reported the issue.

It seems to only occur on 1080p w/ DTS MKV files. All 720p DTS files are fine. Maybe its a bandwidth issue? I have no idea honestly, but would like to find out what the limitation is so I at least know.

[cansat]

Hi onxy00
Have the same problem.
I first I thought it was a bandwidth issue as well. But after trying the original .m2ts file from a bluray and copied the file to my media server and then watched the same movie (e.g.’ Monster vs. Aliens’) with no stuttering/freezing/choppy issues.
I always converted the movies (DVD or BluRay) to an .mkv file with makeMKV.
DVD rips are never a problem. But most of my BluRay rips are choppy. Plus there is no (readable) subtitle on the BluRay mkv rips.
But after using the m2ts format strayed from BluRay disk there is no more issue with stuttering/freezing/choppy video playback via my HD200 and I’m able to read all the subtitles now.
So I don’t think it is a bandwidth issue at all. More like ripping the movies to an .mkv file format.

[nanohits]

Ouch, I hope this is not a common issue on MKV as I just bought the unit. And I know the 863X Chips do handle 1080P and MKV and DTS well as evidenced in machines like the Popcorn Hour etc.

[Clift]

There are plenty of us that enjoy MKV rips without a problem. There could be some very specific issues with the setups or files here causing that. This is not a common problem (stuttering for 1080P mkv's).

[nanohits]

Ok thats good to know. Thanks.

[bjkiller]

onyx00, i have same issues on some mkv with DTS...
did sagetv advice you some way?

[onyx00]

They said it is an encoding issue and I didn't have time to follow up until a couple days ago. I am waiting on a response. They sent me a re-encoded sample file I had sent them that worked fine with no issues. So that was why they said it was an encoding issue.

I sent a reply back asking why they think it plays fine on VLC or Windows Media Player if the encoding was an issue.

I am looking in to it more on my own right now as well.

[onyx00]

Okay, got it fixed!

Basically go here and get this utility: http://audioconverter.heartware.dk/ (it will prompt to download an .exe).

Make a directory for it, and then run it. When you run it, and when it says "Would you like to download the author-approved versions of the various utilities" click "Yes."

Once that is done, simply select the source file, and then a target (output) file. On the right, you want to select the radio button "Cleanup track" so that it does nothing else but this. This is on the DTS tab, and the third radio button option. You don't need any other options selected.

This should take care of it for you. If you get some error about "AC3 Fix" missing, go to the "Audio Tools 1" tab and uncheck the "AC3 Fix" checkbox.

This fixed any files I had with DTS stuttering. I believe the Popcorn Hour had this same issue, but the developers were able to fix it in their firmware somehow. I only say this based on what I read online - I have no actually tested this on the two pieces of hardware to confirm the Popcorn Hour can actually deal with the DTS stuttering issues entirely by itself.

[cure33]

Thanks a lot onyx00, this solved my problem too (I've got a LG BD390 bluray player with multimediacenter and it has got the same stuttering DTS sound when viewing 1080p mkv files).

[arod2051]

I have the same audio stuttering issue. I will try the audio converter on my files.