I use MakeMKV to rip blu-rays without compression. I play them back with
VLC.
I'm not clear as to whether MakeMKV can actually rip the lossless audio
tracks (Dolby TrueHD or DTS Master Audio HD). Moreover, I'm not sure if
VLC can play them back by streaming the lossless tracks over the HDMI to
let the receiver handle them. I see no indication on my AV receiver
that it is decoding either TrueHD or DTS Master Audio. In short, if the
track is there, will VLC not downmix it?
Several of my rips let me select a lossless track when played with VLC.
VLC also will output to an audio device that it calls "A/52 over
S/PDIF". I'm not really sure what outputting to that device means since
all sound goes out over the HDMI cable to the receiver. However, I do
seem to get the best (louder) sound when I pair "lossless" and "A/52
over S/PDIF".
What's the dealio here? Is there another MKV player that will handle
lossless audio?
