handbrake dvd ripping audio ac3/aac compatibility question

the default behavior in handbrake is to put 2 audio tracks in my mp4 dvd rip



track 1 is a stereo mixdown of the DVD audio (often a mixdown from 5.1 to stereo) in AAC format



track 2 is a passthrough of the audio (no transcode) in ac3 format



my question is:



why bother with both of these tracks? which devices potentially lack the capability to play 5.1 ac3 audio? Is it just iOS devices? If I play back in iTunes or other media software, will it play the lossless track by default? I'm considering dropping the stereo mixdown (track 1) to save some time and space while doing the encode.

Reply 1 : handbrake dvd ripping audio ac3/aac compatibility question

I think this explains the reasoning.



https://trac.handbrake.fr/wiki/SurroundSoundGuide

Reply 2 : handbrake dvd ripping audio ac3/aac compatibility question

perfect. +rep.

Reply 3 : handbrake dvd ripping audio ac3/aac compatibility question

Also, you can actually check which soundtrack you want to play in a video file (so long as you are using the m4v extension and container, it is a little different from the standard mpeg-4 container and mp4 file name) right within iTunes. I believe it will play the surround sound option by default but you can always select which one you want. I also think that the iPad and iPad 2 can output 5.1 surround sound through the new HDMI adapter (Apple is calling it the Digital AV Accessory) that was released alongside the iPad 2. The 4G iPod touch and iPhone 4 may also have the same abilities as they too work with the HDMI adapter and are running the same hardware as the iPad (though the A4 is debatably running at a slower speed). I am not sure about those two devices though as I have only heard success stories with the iPad and iPad 2.



So, unless you have an iPod or iPhone, there really is no reason to keep using the downmixed transcoded AAC audio option alongside the passthrough 5.1 AC3 soundtrack.