HandBrake

Hi gang,

A newbie here, so be gentle. I've searched the forums and couldn't find an answer ...

I am converting some movies for an iPod Touch. Clearly, this device can only play stereo. Movies typically have multiple soundtracks to choose from, and Handbrake supports multiple audio formats for the output. What is the optimal combination to mix down a surround soundtrack to stereo? Should I always pick the AC3 5.1 and convert to stereo? The default output seems to be Dolby Pro Logic II. Should I use this output format, or set Handbrake to output a stereo track?

Thanks in advance.

Cheers!

"Optimal" depends on you.

We default to DPL2 because it a) sounds exactly like stereo if only two speakers/headphones are in use, and b) can be separated to something *approximating* 5.0 discrete with an appropriate tuner/surround sound speaker set (yes, even when sourced off an iPod).

If you want to downmix to pure stereo, feel free, but it won't improve quality or reduce bitrate.

Rodney

Thanks Rodney,

I didn't realize DPL2 sounds exactly like stereo in 2 speakers. Good to know.

What about the sources? For example, it seems that Handbrake will downmix PCM to stereo, and DTS to DPL2. Should I always use the Dolby Digital 5.1 source, or pick one of these instead?

Cheers!

I doubt it's downmixing PCM to stereo, since PCM by default _is_ stereo in the source.

Sourcing from AC3 or DTS should be fine for surround content - the former is advantageous because it allows for secondary audio track pass-thru (i.e. "real" unmodified AC3 on AppleTV, for instance), the latter is generally a higher quality source but can only be passed thru in a Matroska/MKV container (which isn't compatible with a terribly wide range of devices yet). I personally source from AC3 and have no complaints.

Rodney