HDMI Cloner Box and AAC Audio Pass-Thru

[discless]

Please detail your question or problem in as much detail as possible:

I am experimenting with the HDMI Cloner Box to capture content from devices with HDMI only outputs.

My initial experiments are with the Box set to output 720p; I will experiment with 1080 later.

The raw output is MPEG-4, Baseline@L3,1; 1280x720, 60fps, with 2 channel AAC audio @ 192 Kbps; with very large file sizes. QuickTime plays the raw file's video and audio.

Since I want to view the ultimate content on my AppleTV I use the AppleTV 3 present for HD content.

I tried to use an Audio Pass-Thru setting, since I saw no reason to re-encode the audio. When I played the resulting file in QuickTime, there was no audio ouput.

I used MediaInfo Mac to compare both files' audio, and it appears exactly the same. However in Quicktime, using Movie Inspector it shows no audio present.

So I had to transcode with the AppleTV 3 setting and the default audio setting and of course that works.

Just wondering what went wrong and can I fix it so that I can pass through the audio?

Thank you.

Please include the scan or encode log:

Code: Select all

 HandBrake Activity Log for /Volumes/LaCie 2T/xxxx/iTunes.mp4: 2016-04-05 10:01:03 -0700
Handbrake Version: 0.10.5 x86_64 (2016021100)

[10:01:03] macgui: getNextPendingQueueIndex next pending encode index is:1
[10:01:03] macgui: scanning specifically for title: 1
[10:01:03] CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-2415M CPU @ 2.30GHz
[10:01:03]  - Intel microarchitecture Sandy Bridge
[10:01:03]  - logical processor count: 4
[10:01:03] hb_scan: path=/Users/discless/Desktop/HDMI Cloner/iTunes.mp4, title_index=1
libbluray/bdnav/index_parse.c:162: indx_parse(): error opening /Users/discless/Desktop/HDMI Cloner/iTunes.mp4/BDMV/index.bdmv
libbluray/bdnav/index_parse.c:162: indx_parse(): error opening /Users/discless/Desktop/HDMI Cloner/iTunes.mp4/BDMV/BACKUP/index.bdmv
libbluray/bluray.c:2182: nav_get_title_list(/Users/discless/Desktop/HDMI Cloner/iTunes.mp4) failed
[10:01:03] bd: not a bd - trying as a stream/file instead
libdvdnav: Using dvdnav version 5.0.1
libdvdread:DVDOpenFileUDF:UDFFindFile /VIDEO_TS/VIDEO_TS.IFO failed
libdvdread:DVDOpenFileUDF:UDFFindFile /VIDEO_TS/VIDEO_TS.BUP failed
libdvdread: Can't open file VIDEO_TS.IFO.
libdvdnav: vm: failed to read VIDEO_TS.IFO
[10:01:03] dvd: not a dvd - trying as a stream/file instead
Input #0, mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2, from '/Users/discless/Desktop/HDMI Cloner/iTunes.mp4':
  Metadata:
    major_brand     : isom
    minor_version   : 512
    compatible_brands: qt  
  Duration: 00:02:44.90, start: 0.000000, bitrate: 7472 kb/s
    Stream #0.0(eng): Audio: aac, 48000 Hz, stereo, fltp, 189 kb/s (default)
    Stream #0.1(eng): Video: h264 (Constrained Baseline), yuv420p, 1280x720, 7270 kb/s, 60 fps, 60 tbn, 120 tbc (default)
[10:01:03] scan: decoding previews for title 1
[aac @ 0x1030b9600] Error parsing ADTS frame header!
[10:01:03] scan: audio 0x0: aac, rate=48000Hz, bitrate=189383 English (AAC) (2.0 ch)
[10:01:04] scan: 10 previews, 1280x720, 60.000 fps, autocrop = 96/96/0/0, aspect 16:9, PAR 1:1
[10:01:04] libhb: scan thread found 1 valid title(s)
[10:01:04] macgui: ScanDone state received from fQueueEncodeLibhb
[10:01:04] macgui: Preset: AppleTV 3
[10:01:04] macgui: processNewQueueEncode number of passes expected is: 1
[10:01:04] macgui: Start / Stop set to chapters
[10:01:04] macgui: prepareJob exiting
[10:01:04] 1 job(s) to process
[10:01:04] starting job
[10:01:04] yadif thread started for segment 0
[10:01:04] yadif thread started for segment 1
[10:01:04] yadif thread started for segment 2
[10:01:04] yadif thread started for segment 3
[10:01:04] decomb filter thread started for segment 0
[10:01:04] decomb filter thread started for segment 1
[10:01:04] decomb filter thread started for segment 2
[10:01:04] decomb filter thread started for segment 3
[10:01:04] decomb check thread started for segment 0
[10:01:04] decomb check thread started for segment 1
[10:01:04] decomb check thread started for segment 2
[10:01:04] decomb check thread started for segment 3
[10:01:04] sync: expecting 9894 video frames
[10:01:04] job configuration:
[10:01:04]  * source
[10:01:04]    + /Users/discless/Desktop/HDMI Cloner/iTunes.mp4
[10:01:04]    + title 1, chapter(s) 1 to 1
[10:01:04]    + container: mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2
[10:01:04]    + data rate: 7472 kbps
[10:01:04]  * destination
[10:01:04]    + /Volumes/LaCie 2T/Azureus Downloads/iTunes.mp4
[10:01:04]    + container: MPEG-4 (libavformat)
[10:01:04]  * video track
[10:01:04]    + decoder: h264
[10:01:04]      + bitrate 7270 kbps
[10:01:04]    + filters
[10:01:04]      + Decomb (7:2:6:9:1:80)
[10:01:04]      + Framerate Shaper (2:27000000:900000)
[10:01:04]        + frame rate: 60.000 fps -> peak rate limited to 30.000 fps
[10:01:04]      + Crop and Scale (1280:528:96:96:0:0)
[10:01:04]        + source: 1280 * 720, crop (96/96/0/0): 1280 * 528, scale: 1280 * 528
[10:01:04]    + loose anamorphic
[10:01:04]      + storage dimensions: 1280 * 528, mod 2
[10:01:04]      + pixel aspect ratio: 1 / 1
[10:01:04]      + display dimensions: 1280 * 528
[10:01:04]    + encoder: H.264 (libx264)
[10:01:04]      + preset:  medium
[10:01:04]      + profile: high
[10:01:04]      + level:   4.0
[10:01:04]      + quality: 20.00 (RF)
[10:01:04]  * audio track 1
[10:01:04]    + decoder: English (AAC) (2.0 ch) (track 1, id 0x0)
[10:01:04]      + bitrate: 189 kbps, samplerate: 48000 Hz
[10:01:04]    + AAC Passthru
[10:01:04] reader: first SCR 0 id 0x1 DTS 0
[10:01:04] encx264: min-keyint: 30, keyint: 300
[10:01:04] encx264: encoding at constant RF 20.000000
[10:01:04] encx264: unparsed options: level=4.0:vbv-bufsize=31250:vbv-maxrate=25000
x264 [info]: using SAR=1/1
x264 [info]: using cpu capabilities: MMX2 SSE2Fast SSSE3 SSE4.2 AVX
x264 [info]: profile High, level 4.0
[10:05:14] reader: done. 1 scr changes
[10:05:19] work: average encoding speed for job is 39.353905 fps
[10:05:19] sync: got 9895 frames, 9894 expected
[10:05:19] decomb: deinterlaced 0 | blended 0 | unfiltered 9894 | total 9894
[10:05:19] render: 4947 frames output, 4947 dropped and 0 duped for CFR/PFR
[10:05:19] render: lost time: 0 (0 frames)
[10:05:19] render: gained time: 0 (0 frames) (0 not accounted for)
[10:05:19] h264-decoder done: 9895 frames, 0 decoder errors, 0 drops
x264 [info]: frame I:41    Avg QP:15.29  size: 35692
x264 [info]: frame P:2632  Avg QP:19.05  size:  8820
x264 [info]: frame B:2274  Avg QP:19.67  size:  2202
x264 [info]: consecutive B-frames: 30.1% 21.8% 11.8% 36.3%
x264 [info]: mb I  I16..4: 33.8% 34.1% 32.0%
x264 [info]: mb P  I16..4:  2.9%  5.1%  1.0%  P16..4: 40.7%  9.1%  6.0%  0.0%  0.0%    skip:35.2%
x264 [info]: mb B  I16..4:  0.4%  0.4%  0.0%  B16..8: 32.8%  1.3%  0.2%  direct: 2.4%  skip:62.6%  L0:43.1% L1:53.7% BI: 3.2%
x264 [info]: 8x8 transform intra:53.0% inter:78.7%
x264 [info]: coded y,uvDC,uvAC intra: 47.1% 65.8% 25.3% inter: 12.4% 21.4% 0.6%
x264 [info]: i16 v,h,dc,p: 40% 26% 16% 19%
x264 [info]: i8 v,h,dc,ddl,ddr,vr,hd,vl,hu: 27% 21% 31%  3%  3%  4%  4%  3%  4%
x264 [info]: i4 v,h,dc,ddl,ddr,vr,hd,vl,hu: 35% 24% 14%  4%  5%  5%  5%  4%  4%
x264 [info]: i8c dc,h,v,p: 52% 21% 24%  3%
x264 [info]: Weighted P-Frames: Y:1.0% UV:0.6%
x264 [info]: ref P L0: 73.0%  8.7% 12.7%  5.6%  0.0%
x264 [info]: ref B L0: 88.4% 10.6%  1.0%
x264 [info]: ref B L1: 94.8%  5.2%
x264 [info]: kb/s:1440.22
[10:05:19] aac-decoder done: 0 frames, 0 decoder errors, 0 drops
[10:05:19] mux: track 0, 4947 frames, 29685169 bytes, 1440.15 kbps, fifo 2048
[10:05:19] mux: track 1, 7727 frames, 3902304 bytes, 189.32 kbps, fifo 4096
[10:05:19] libhb: work result = 0

[mduell]

Try the nightly.

[Deleted User 11865]

This is indeed strange. Can you provide a short sample (like, 10 seconds) or your source (i.e. the output of your box) so we can take a look?

Also, which version of QuickTime Player and of Mac OS X are you using?

[discless]

I now have a 21Mb sample file from the output of the HD Cloner Box. How do I send this to you?

OS X 10.8.5

QT v10.2

QT 7 will not open the handbraked AAC pass-thru file: "An invalid sample description was found in the movie."

The result is the same (no audio) whether I choose AAC Pass-Thru or Auto Pass-Thru.

[Deleted User 11865]

Dropbox or anything similar would work.

[discless]

I do not use those services for security reasons. Where can I upload it for you?

[discless]

If you give me an email address, I can YouSendIt (Hightail) it to you.

[discless]

I am still interested in your reviewing the raw file to see why the Audio pass-thru is not working correctly. How can I get it to you?

[mduell]

Dropbox

[Deleted User 11865]

Feel free to send the link over a Private Message, no need for email.

[discless]

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/uyb3oasdde3o ... EOGLa?dl=0

The raw file and then the Handbrake'd file with AAC-passthru; which has no audio in QuickTime.

[Deleted User 11865]

Got the files; MediaInfo thinks HandBrake's output has AAC-LTP instead of AAC-LC, intriguing.

[discless]

Can you explain for me the difference and how this effects the AppleTV and Quicktime?

Can it be fixed?

Thank you for looking into this problem.

[s55]

There isn't anything to fix. AAC LTP ( Long Term Prediction ) doesn't appear to be supported by apple devices or software.

So your only option is to re-encode it to AAC LC (Low Complexity)

LTP is an extension to AAC that dates back well over decade. I've rarely seen it in action (along with a few of it's other profiles). LC / HE are the main ones you see regularly.

[discless]

Thank you for your reply.

However, the raw file plays correctly in Quicktime and on the AppleTV (both audio and video).

Handbrake's pass-thru setting is supposed to copy the AAC file unaltered to the new file, yet according to Rodeo, the resulting file is the offending version, AAC-LTP, which will not play in Quicktime or the AppleTV.

As noted earlier, this problem occurs whether I select "AAC Pass-Thru" or "Auto Pass-Thru."

Hence Handbrake has done "something" to the audio file to take it from playable to non-playable. By definition, that hardly seems to be a "pass-thru." There must be something that Handbrake has done to the audio portion of the file to convert it from playable to non-playable.

Yes, a workaround exists that will work: transcode the audio portion of the audio as well. But shouldn't the problem in Handbrake be fixed so that a true pass-thru option exists?

[discless]

Put in fewer words:

Handbrake's pass-thru feature for AAC appears to be changing/corrupting the AAC portion of the file.

Will Handbrake be fixed to allow a pure pass-thru?

[mduell]

Is the stream actually changed or just some header in the container?

[discless]

Is the stream actually changed or just some header in the container?

Either way it would be Handbrake causing this change so as to not allow Quicktime or AppleTV to play back the AAC sound.

So a modification must be made to Handbrake to fix the problem so as to render "pass-thru" functional again in this situation.

[BradleyS]

In the meantime, take a look at Subler for removing the offending track and muxing in the original audio.

[discless]

Thank you for a workaround suggestion "in the meantime:"

In Subler 1.0.9, I see how to remove the offending track, but I see no way to copy and paste the original audio track.

[BradleyS]

After you've removed the offending track, drag the file containing the desired track onto the window.

[discless]

The "Subler" workaround suggested is causing a "big" problem, rendering it unusable.

One of the reasons to use Handbrake is to transcode it to 30fps instead of the raw 60fps, which results in a major file size savings (I use the AppleTV or AppleTV3 pre-sets).

My original "sample" file is 21.7 Mb. After transcoding both the video and audio with Handbrake, the resulting file is 5.1Mb.

MediaInfo indicates that the original video portion of the sample file is 20.3Mb and the original audio portion of the sample file is 391Kb.

After using the Subler method you propose, the resulting file is now 26.4 Mb (with video at 25.2Mb and audio at 391Kb), even though the video is clearly transcoded to 30fps in the post-Subler created file.

[BradleyS]

File > Optimize should recover the space.

If you have any further questions regarding Subler, join #subler on Freenode IRC or visit https://bitbucket.org/galad87/subler/issues.