What audio settings for Blu Ray1080P movies?

[MrElussive]

Hello,
I am brand new to Handbrake. I am ripping my Blu Rays using MKV and then I open the source file in Handbrake. I basically just use 'SuperHQ 1080P30 Surround' preset, but I modify the Video Codec to be H.264 (nVidia NVEnc) as I have a Quadro P400 and that does the job much faster than CPU encoding.
As far as Audio Quality, I see this preset has two audio tracks. The first one is English (DTS-HD MA) (5.1 ch) for most movies (7.1 channels for some movies).. That uses AAC avcodec at Bitrate 160 Mixdown Stereo. I am assuming that is for playability with iPad or iPhone, headphones, etc.?
The other audio track is same source, but codec says AC3, Bitrate 640 Mixdown 5.1 channels. Is this what I want for watching on a home theater? What about the Mixdown option for Dolby Surround or Pro Logic II instead? Also, if the movie does have 7.1 channels available as source, I noticed that it still does a mixdown to 5.1 channels. What should I selecting here? Our basement home theater has 7.1 speakers so why would I want to go to 5.1 channels? And why wouldn't the best mix-down be Dolby Surround or Pro Logic II?? I am all ears.
Thanks, Mr.E

[mduell]

What does your playback device support?

[MrElussive]

Yamaha Receiver supports Dolby Atmos, DTS-X, Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD Master Audio.
I would use Plex app via Vizio 4K TV Smartcast app.

[MrElussive]

But more than one setup. For example, in my bedroom I have a Samsung 55" LED 1080P TV and a Roku Ultra connected to a older Bose Lifestyle 235 2.1 channel system. I am guessing that would use the 2.0 channel stereo track and the Bose system would just add bass to the sub-woofer as it sees fit.

[Woodstock]

For a "theater-grade" receiver, using "pass through" for the highest-spec audio it supports would give you the best sound. But, for some devices that do not support that codec, you may end up with NO sound, unless you add some lower-spec audio.

My sound systems aren't that new. I do AC3 (pass through if possible), AAC (pass through if possible), and pass through on whatever the "best" spec is, "for the future". But I'm not you.

Hint: It doesn't cost much to do short experimental files with different settings, and view/listen to them on your equipment to see/hear what you've got.

[MrElussive]

Thanks for the info. Is there any guide or walk-through so I can learn what all the different options are and how they will have an effect? I have just been using Super HQ 1080P30 Surround which seems to work fine for any on any device I am using but I don't know wtf "downmix 5.1" means and what is the best selection for me.
I need to be edumacated and I'm only able to pull articles and videos here and there to try to piece everything together.

[Woodstock]

Down mixing is when you take a multi-channel audio source and reduce the number of channels. Sometimes it works really well; other times... "not so much".

How the multi-channel sources work, I have a general idea, but recommend "independent study", and an hour of rabbit-holing on Wikipedia can suffice for most people.

[Shibblet]

I have a Denon AVR-X3600H receiver, and I personally cannot hear a discernible difference between DTS and DTS-HDMA. Same goes with AC-3 and Dolby True HD. So I just stick with the basic audio tracks DTS or AC-3 in my encodes.

I sat there with Pirate of the Caribbean - Curse of the Black Pearl. One of the few Blu-Rays that I own that has all of the different audio tracks available. I switched between the DTS and DTS-HDMA track, the Dolby TrueHD and AC-3, and LPCM Lossless Audio.

I can hear the difference between the Dolby, the DTS, and the LPCM tracks. The DTS audio playback has significantly better clarity than the Dolby tracks do. Every time I have a Dolby track, I have to turn up the receiver to a higher volume, and it still sounds softer. The LPCM track sounds good. That's it. Good.

So, I switched to the DTS vs DTS-HDMA, and AC-3 vs TrueHD... they sound the same to me. DTS sounds just like DTS-HDMA, and AC-3 sounds just like Dolby TrueHD.

I feel the same way about 1080p and 4K. A 4K TV makes a big difference for picture quality/color reproduction, for sure. But on that TV, a 1080p video looks just as good as a 4K Video, to me.

So, my favorite encode is h.264 1080p video and basic digital audio (DTS or AC-3). My movies come out anywhere from 2gb to 4gb, on average depending on the length of the movie.