Bugzilla – Bug 15867
Support for surround sound formats
Last modified: 2010-03-09 23:50:45 UTC
Please consider adding support for surround sound encoded files, for example, .ac3 and .dts. At the moment, to play these through a surround sound amp, it is only possible by wrapping the files in a stereo PCM container file (wav/flac). This is awkward - there's not much support for creating these files; the files become larger for streaming, and are only useful for Squeezebox streaming. These files play as static through a stereo amp, which is not pleasant if accidentally played through analogue outputs. Why is this wrapping is needed, as other media player software/hardware directly support .ac3 or .dts files. These file types could be detected by the scanner, and passed through the SB player digital outputs only (i.e. also prevent the audio going out to the stereo outputs).
Andyg said in the forums: "There's no reason we couldn't support .ac3 and .dts files with the scanner and firmware. The only reason FLAC is used is because it is a simple workaround and works without any server or firmware changes. Supporting ac3/dts in the firmware would require adding a 'raw' mode that just passes everything directly to spdif while probably also disabling the analog outputs. It should also disable volume control in this mode." He also says it should be easy to add to the firmware for older player types.