USB from Sigma to Exasound mutichannel DAC
Exasound DAC, use 6 Analogue channels into Bryson SP3 Preamp 6 analogue input channels.
Number of Tracks in Library
17, 280 tracks
6,000 mutichannel tracks (Quad, 5.0, 5.1, 7.1)
7.1 channels about 150, but increasing as I rip new ATMOS Blue Ray albums.
Description of Issue
I rip a Blue Ray Audio ATMOS track to a flac file using DVD AUDIO EXTRACTOR or DVD Fab.
This will result mostly in the creation of a 7.1 “Bed” multichannel file. (Sometimes 5.1).
This 7.1 Multichannel file includes all the original information.
When I view all the 8 tracks, I see the differences in all the tracks, so tracks 7 and 8 contain original unique information which is integral to the multichannel mix itself.
My Question:
2 Alternative options that I use render apparently the same / similar result (I think!)
Will ROON downmix the channels 7 & 8 into the 5.1 mix if the setting indicates “7.1 to 5.1”
OR
Must I use software to integrate track 8 to say track 6, and track 7 to 5.
I can do the integration by using Audacity, but I cannot hear any real difference between the 2 methods. The Audio sounds the Same/Similar.
The integration method using Audacity is sooo tedious.
Therefore I wanted confirmation if possible, that the information in the 7th and 8th track is utised by ROON when setup to downmix 7.1 to 5.1.
( Ihave read that each ATMOS track is originally mixed in 5.1 or 7.1 (DD or Dolby True HD), then musical information is “copied” from these available channels of data as objects to the other ATMOS height or side channels, while cancelling out that same data from the channel/s it is being copied from. Therefore I believe the 7.1 channel “Bed/Basic” mix has all the audio data included)
I also have a 5.1 setup and use my streamer, a Salkstream III that runs Roon Server, connected to my Oppo BDP 103 via HDMI to play my multichannel files.
In Roon Device Settings (Advanced) for the HDMI output on the Salkstream, I have Channel layout set to 5.1, and Multichannel mixing set to Downmix as needed.
I have a similar setup like Saturn’s utilizing the HDMI output of my NAS and can confirm: Yes, the rear channels are plainly downmixed to the surround channels when playing a 7.1 stream having activated the ´down mix to 5.1´ option. Nothing is lost except the directional information.
Ihave read that each ATMOS track is originally mixed in 5.1 or 7.1 (DD or Dolby True HD), then musical information is “copied” from these available channels of data as objects to the other ATMOS height or side channels, while cancelling out that same data from the channel/s it is being copied from. Therefore I believe the 7.1 channel “Bed/Basic” mix has all the audio data included)
The given information on how the ´Basic 7.1 Mix´ is containing the content of all channels is absolutely accurate for blu-ray content.
The Atmos process itself works a bit differently. This ´basic layer´ 7.1 in blu-rays is actually a downmix as the original Atmos mix is containing a lot of different audio-tracks-turned-objects, each one carrying its own 3D information, i.e. vectorized angles. If you listen to the basic layer completely ditching the vector information, it is ensured you do not loose any musical content routed to any direction but at times the reverb/ambience might sound strange in case a lot of indirect sound is routed to the elevated channels.
I rip a Blue Ray Audio ATMOS track to a flac file using DVD AUDIO EXTRACTOR or DVD Fab.
I did experience some glitches between tracks when doing the same with DVD Audio Extractor (especially continuous music like classical operas or live concerts). Did you notice any difference to DVD Fab? I did not try this one yet.
I haven’t noticed that issue using DVDAE, though I haven’t checked my latest rip (Peter Gabriel i/o) for issues. Before this one, it’s been quite some time since I used MKV and DVDAE to rip a BD and generate a multichannel FLAC file.
BTW, this time I did have to update both MKV and DVDAE; I got an error message on both saying the version I had was too old. Hopefully the current versions didn’t introduce issues I didn’t have before.
