DTS encoded CD's

[stevezygote]

A friend transferred a large wave file to me that requires PC with PowerDVD XP with the DTS decoder option, or VLC media player installed on your computer and a compatible sound card and speakers. Do I need a special codec to play this file? Currently all I'm hearing is static.

[Arite]

The file format you descibe is a DTS-WAV file - which is effectively a stereo WAV file (16-bit 44100Hz - like a CD), however the audio is encoded into DTS. The static that you are hearing is the raw undecoded DTS (so the RAW LPCM audio), which is what would be heard if played back on a normal CD player. However, players that support DTS-WAV should be able to decode the audio first (into audible 6 channel DTS).

Anyway - yes, VLC is able to playback both normal DTS and DTS-WAV (not having a 5.1 sound card shouldn't make any difference - VLC will automatically downmix the audio). However, when playing DTS-WAV files VLC should ordinarily detect the format, and decode it by default - it is possible that the RIFF header is missing from the file (not sure if VLC requires that)? When playing the file, press "Ctrl + I" and go to the "Advanced information" tab - if it has detected the DTS it should say "dts".

If it does not, it is possible that the version of VLC you are using does not support DTS. VLC media player 0.7.2 was the last version to support DTS (libdca), until it was reintroduced in 0.8.5 (0.8.6c, the latest release, has DTS support). What version of VLC are you using?

Finally, one other thing you could try would be to rename the file from *.wav to *.dts.

Cheers, Arite.

[stevezygote]

1. There was nothing advanced information tag. 2. I'm using the most recent version. 3. I got audio when I copied the file to a DTS format. Thank you. Sounds a bit odd though. Not really full bodied, if you know what I mean.

[Arite]

OK - it is possible that it was a DTS file and not a DTS-WAV file (so not encapsulated in WAV), however if it works when named *.dts then that is fine.

The audio not sounding full bodied could either be to do with your sound setup (do you have 5.1? If so, is you sound card setup for 5.1 or 2 channels?), or it could just be the audio file. As it is 6 channels the low freqency effects get channel to the LFE sub-channel (the ".1"), and so can sometimes not sound as "full bodied" as say, a stereo track where the full spectrum is passed through both speakers. But then I think that is more to do with the hardware, and not the software - as 5 of the 6 channels are still "full" channels, indicating that they do contain the full spectrum.

Arite.

[stevezygote]

do you have 5.1? you ask. I wouldn't know. How do I check this? I'm on a 2.2Ghz Celeron with .5GIG RAM on a 80GIG HDD. I'm running WIndows XP Home SP2, fully patched.

[stevezygote]

An Addendum to the last post. Is there a way for me to burn them to an audio CD so I can play it on my stereo?

[Arite]

do you have 5.1? you ask. I wouldn't know. How do I check this? I'm on a 2.2Ghz Celeron with .5GIG RAM on a 80GIG HDD. I'm running WIndows XP Home SP2, fully patched.

Well - having 5.1 can mean two things. If you have a 6 channel, or 8 channel sound card, then that means you can output 5.1, however if you don't have 6 speakers then you should be ouptutting (if you have 2 speakers) 2 channels. I am assuming you only have 2 speakers? If so, then you would want to be outputting 2 channels only, as outputting more would mean, when playing e.g. 5.1 audio, then, for exmaple, the LFE bass channel would not be heard.

A quick way to do this is to, in VLC (when playing the DTS file), go to "Audio >> Audio Device" and see what is selected. If it is 5.1, then VLC things you have 6 speakers (so you system in incorrectly setup). If it is selected on "stereo", then that is fine. If is in on "5.1", then change it to "stereo, and it should sound better. If you want it to always be on "Stereo" by default, then you will need to change that in you audio driver/sound card setup (system releated).

An Addendum to the last post. Is there a way for me to burn them to an audio CD so I can play it on my stereo?

Yes, If you were to just burn it as a normal CD you would get the static noise on a normal CD player (would need a DTS-WAV comaptible CD player to hear the DTS). If you are happy with just hearing it in stereo, then you can convert (in VLC) the DTS file into a stereo WAV file.

To do this - go to "File >> Open File..." and select your DTS file. Then tick the "Stream/Save" tick box and click on "Settings...". You need to slect an output file, "WAV" encapsulation format, and "s16l" for you format. For example:



Where "C:\Temp\OUT.wav" if your output file.

You should then get a stereo WAV file which can be burnt onto a normal Audio-CD.

Cheers, Arite.

[stevezygote]

Have I said thank you? You're being really helpful! Thank you. <grin>

As it happens, I'm back at square one. I had loaded on foobar200 and when I got VideoLan to play the file I deleted the software. I suspect it MAY have included a codec that VideoLan was using. Not sure. So now I have to figure out how to get the damned file to play again. Once I do that I think I'm definitely going to convert the file into what you suggest. This DTS on my machine is too much of a hassle. And yes, I have two speakers. I do not have surround sound.

[stevezygote]

This is a curious occurence. I copied the original file creating a copy of file. Then I renamed the file to a DTS extension. That played wonderfully in VideoLan. But when I removed the "copy of" prefix and tried to play the file it wouldn't work. So I had to get the original file and copy it and rename the extension again. Odd. Not sure what happened there. I translated it to a two channel wave file. It's definitely not as "bright" as the DTS but it does play. Thanks again.

Oh yeah. I didn't have to reinstall foobar2000.

[Arite]

Yeh - foobar2000 uses the foo_dts.dll plugin (based on libdca ), and cannot play DTS-WAV files with the *.wav extension, so renaming to *.dts should work for foobar2k. However, that should not affect VLC in any way. I'm not sure why renaming the *.dts file stopped it from working though? The stereo WAV file should - in theory - sound pretty much the same as the 5.1 audio downmixed to stereo automatically by your system (both going to two speakers), but then that depends of how/what downmixed it.

Glad you got a stereo copy working .

Arite.

[stevezygote]

My issues have been entirely solved, thanks to your invaluable help!

[stevezygote]

Yeh - foobar2000 uses the foo_dts.dll plugin (based on libdca ), and cannot play DTS-WAV files with the *.wav extension, so renaming to *.dts should work for foobar2k. However, that should not affect VLC in any way. I'm not sure why renaming the *.dts file stopped it from working though? The stereo WAV file should - in theory - sound pretty much the same as the 5.1 audio downmixed to stereo automatically by your system (both going to two speakers), but then that depends of how/what downmixed it.

Glad you got a stereo copy working .

Arite.

I have another question further to this topic. I wonder if you can help me. While my CD burner in my computer is not (clearly) DTS capable (I CAN hear the DTS file with the strategy you outline above in VIdeoLAN) my CD attached to my stereo IS. Clearly has DTS sitting on the front of it. Here's the question: Can I record a CD with VideoLAN so I can play it back on my stereo's CD player? If not with VideoLAN, is there another application I could record it to CD using my computer's CD burner and then hear it on my stereo's CD?

[Arite]

So your CD player is capable of playing DTS? What does the logo say (exactly, as some say "DTS Digital Out", which means it can only output the raw encoded DTS stream to an external decoder), and what is the model/manufacture of it etc. You are probably right, but I'm just interested as well.

Right - so is you question about whether you can burn a multichannel DTS-CD (using the encoded DTS audio as "WAV" audio) for playback on you DTS(-WAV?)-capable CD player, or whether you can burn a normal LPCM stereo CD using the stereo WAV file created using VLC on you CD player, and thus any other CD player? Sorry - just not entirely sure of what you are asking.

Cheers, Arite.

[stevezygote]

It's a Sony (as the adverts say). It clearly has a DTS logo/insignia on the face of it.

I want to know, being a little more precise, whether I can burn a DTS wav file using my computer CD burner and then play it back on my Sony DTS DVD player. I ASSUME the computer CD (it isn't a DVD) burner (only a DVD ROM) can record a DTS wave file onto the CDs. Is that better? Hope so.

[Arite]

OK, thanks - I understand exactly what you mean now . you should have any problem burning an Audio CD with your CD-R/RW / DVD-Rom Combo drive (which is what you described).

A DTS-CD is just a CD-Audio which has encoded DTS in the place of where LPCM audio would ordinarily be placed. I do not know of any other differences - they are meant to be fully Red Book (the CD-Audio specification) complient, so whether the DTS-CD capable CD player can just detect from the look of the data, or whether it reads a "dts" header in the first sector I do not know. Still, it certainly worth a try burning a CD.

VLC media player cannot burn CD-Audio discs, so I would recommend Exact Audio Copy (website here). It is considered the best and most accurate program for ripping CDs, and uses the cdrdao libraries for burning. However, if you have never used it before and just want to burn a CD (i.e. not bothered about "perfection"), then there are many easier-to-use CD burning applications. Still - if you choose EAC then to write a CD go to "Tools >> Write CD-R..." to open the CD-burning window. A cuesheet needs to be created with the appropriate tracks etc.

If you just want to use an ordinary CD burning application, then InfraRecorder (open source GNU GPL - website here) is a good option. To make an Adio CD, once opened, go to "File >> New Project >> Audio CD" and then the DTS-WAV files (they should have *.wav extensions) can be dragged and dropped into the track listing section. Then insert a blank disc, and go to "Actions >> Burn Compilation >> to a Compact Disc..." and select appropriate drive etc.

Then you should hopefully have a "DTS-CD". Whether it will playback as DTS on your player, I don't know. You might want to lower the speaker volume on you CD player system before playback just in case as loud static can damage speakers.

Cheers, Arite.

[stevezygote]

Well that was an interesting exercise...in creating a nice coaster. LOL

It appears that either (1) my computer CD burner is not capable of writing DTS and/or (2) my stereo CD/DVD playback unit isn't capable of playing (badly recorded?) DTS CDs. Not to worry. I've made many a coaster in my day.

I DO want to thank you for your help. It's been invaluable. And thank you also for turning me on to EAC. I have an OLD version of Nero (5.9?) as well as CDBurner XP 3.5 and 4 (I prefer 3.5). EAC has some features I particularly like!

Again, thanks guy! People like you is what makes using forums so nice. You're very willing to share your knowledge.

[Arite]

Well, sorry it didn't work out - if you still want an Audio CD then I would suggest the same method, but instead use LPCM stereo WAV files instead (converted from DTS in VLC).

Well that was an interesting exercise...in creating a nice coaster. LOL

My tea coaster is actually a failed DVD-R !!

Cheers, Arite.

[stevezygote]

I did make an audio CD. As per your instructions above...

[Arite]

OK, but I meant using ordinary stereo WAV versions of the DTS file instead the original DTS-WAV file. What exactly happened when you made the disc (what program did you use?), and what files did you use (DTS-WAV or stereo versions of the DTS-WAV)? For example, if you sucessfully made and Audio CD, but discovered that you CD player only played "white noise" then that just meant you CD player did not detect that it was a DTS-CD (assuming it can play them in additional to normal DTS on DVD-Videos).

On the other hand - if it just wouldn't play at all then perhaps the authoring of the disc was the issue, and not that DTS-WAV files were used.

Cheers, Arite.

[stevezygote]

I converted them into stereo waves in VideoLan prior to burning them to audio CD. As I recall I used CDBurnerPro 4 to burn them. That was the succesful burn. The result is slightly less crisp than the ordinary DTS-WAV files that I played in VideoLan per your instructions earlier. That just means that maybe they weren't "equalized" as brightly on my stereo and on the computer. When I used EAC to burn the DTS-WAV files all I got was white noise on both the computer's DVD-CD player and the stereo's CD player.

[Arite]

OK, that sounds like it was just the CD player not recognising a DTS-CD, or at least, that DTS-CD as it is not necessarily defined as a "DTS-CD". The same process could of course be applied using the stereo WAV files in EAC, however if your CDBurnerPro copy is good for a stereo version then that is fine.

Glad you got a sucessful burn.

Arite.