Multi-channel Options

[Sashoir]

Hullo all!
I have just "discovered" multi-channel music (a long and boring story), which is nice. Unfortunately I have also discovered that gapless multichannel upnp/dnla streaming rarely works.
Is there a way (preferably via commercial software) to burn audio-only blu rays from multi-channel .flac which can be read by any player? I like physical media anyway, and it looks like I should be able to fit ~ 8 hours (50×1024^3×8 bits)/ (24×6×96000 bits/s) onto a single disc.
To clarify, I don't mean copying flac files onto a blu ray data disc, I mean burning the uncompressed pcm with whatever metadata and header stuff that blu ray standard needs to be playable.
Alternatively, does anyone know whether someone maintains a list of renderers with 100% gapless support for multi-channel flac?

 

[Kal Rubinson]

I avoid DLNA.

 

[Devnull]

Not going to be a simple straight forward process. You'll need to "author" every disc and convert the flac to a valid Blu ray audio format.

Try over at videohelp.com

 

[DVDdoug]

Of course, Blu-Rays (and DVDs) don't have gaps between chapters. The chapters are embedded "markers" not separate files. From what I understand MKV/MKA also supports chapters (and virtually any audio/video format).

I've authored DVDs but never a Blu-Ray. You can try Blu-Ray authoring software. Corel Video Studio and Cyberlink Power Director are popular, but I don't know what Blu-Ray audio formats they support. I assume LPCM isn't a problem. But I'd be surprised if they support the lossless Dolby & DTS formats.

A lot of DVD & Blu-Ray players can play FLAC but it's not required and I don't know about gapless playback.

Wikipedia has a list of Blu-Ray audio formats.

But one potential issue is that WAV files are limited 4GB. With long, multi-channel, high-resolution files, you can exceed the limit. You need to be able to import the original format into the authoring software.

For 5.1 channel AC3 (Dolby Digital) I used wavtoAC3encoder along with an obscure-obsolete DVD authoring application. You feed-in 6 separate WAV files so you're unlikely to run-into WAV file size limits.


BTW - Some of the best sounding music I have is on concert DVDs with (lossy) Dolby digital. Many DVDs have a choice of lossless 2-channel LPCM or 5.1 Dolby digital. I'll take the surround every time!!! I'm not "afraid" of lossy audio and I don't hear any dramatic difference with the 1 or 2 Blu-Rays I have. But if you want more than 5.1 channels, DVD won't cut it.

 

[Dogen]

I use Plex to stream multichannel FLAC and DSF files from my server, through an Apple TV 4K, to my receiver. It’s very reliable and gapless.

 

[Sashoir]

Not going to be a simple straight forward process. You'll need to "author" every disc and convert the flac to a valid Blu ray audio format.

Try over at videohelp.com

Thank you!

 

[Sashoir]

Of course, Blu-Rays (and DVDs) don't have gaps between chapters. The chapters are embedded "markers" not separate files. From what I understand MKV/MKA also supports chapters (and virtually any audio/video format).

I've authored DVDs but never a Blu-Ray. You can try Blu-Ray authoring software. Corel Video Studio and Cyberlink Power Director are popular, but I don't know what Blu-Ray audio formats they support. I assume LPCM isn't a problem. But I'd be surprised if they support the lossless Dolby & DTS formats.

A lot of DVD & Blu-Ray players can play FLAC but it's not required and I don't know about gapless playback.

Wikipedia has a list of Blu-Ray audio formats.

But one potential issue is that WAV files are limited 4GB. With long, multi-channel, high-resolution files, you can exceed the limit. You need to be able to import the original format into the authoring software.

For 5.1 channel AC3 (Dolby Digital) I used wavtoAC3encoder along with an obscure-obsolete DVD authoring application. You feed-in 6 separate WAV files so you're unlikely to run-into WAV file size limits.


BTW - Some of the best sounding music I have is on concert DVDs with (lossy) Dolby digital. Many DVDs have a choice of lossless 2-channel LPCM or 5.1 Dolby digital. I'll take the surround every time!!! I'm not "afraid" of lossy audio and I don't hear any dramatic difference with the 1 or 2 Blu-Rays I have. But if you want more than 5.1 channels, DVD won't cut it.

Thank you!
I only want 5 or 5.1: the chances of me getting a more elaborate set up are basically nil.
My preference for LPCM isn't based on sound quality, just universal compatibility/not having to license additional things. the 4 Gbyte limit does seem to put an onion in the ointment: hopefully the software publishers you mention can help with that.

 

[Sashoir]

I avoid DLNA.

Doubtless wise

I use Plex to stream multichannel FLAC and DSF files from my server, through an Apple TV 4K, to my receiver. It’s very reliable and gapless.

Thank you!
I do have Plex for watching our films if we go to the countryside, but hadn't considered it because it did a roon-esque hatchet job on my music metadata (I really like it for films, though), which is why I like Minimserver so much. I should look at plex again, though: perhaps there's a way to force it to keep its metadata opinions to itself.

 

[Sashoir]

For anyone interested, it seems like the best solution (for blu-rays) is blu disc studio. I might try @Dogen's solution first, though, as it might be a bit kinder on the wallet.