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On Blu's, why is the HD audio track de-selected by default?

Surely it should be selected by default. Is there any backwards compatibility if I select just the HD audio track; does it downgrade gracefully when playing back on 2.0 stereo (laptop for example), or playing back on a 5.1 non-HD sound system?

Not all players can handle the HD tracks, so the default selection rules take that into account.

You can change the default, though. The profile I use selects ALL audio tracks, because I will go through them later with Handbrake to get the ones I need. Some of MakeMKV's default choices (like taking 5.1 audio over 2.0 in the same language) do not always work (5.1 Dolby commentary track should not be selected over the movie's mono or stereo audio).

There may also be some restrictions on how lossless is handled - If I recall correctly, MKV files cannot have a lossless track that also contains lossy audio as a sub-track.

Thanks. How do I change the default so only the HD audio track is selected (and not 'sub-tracks'), and no subtitles are selected, for both Blu and DVD?

Obviously if a disc only has DD 2.0 stereo that should still be selected as default. So

If a Blu and has HD audio, only select the HD audio track
If a Blu and only has DD/DTS 5.1, select that track
If a DVD and has DD/DTS 5.1, select that track
If a DVD but only has 2.0, select that track

I would have to defer to others on a default string that fits your criteria.

You can SET the default in two places - in the Advanced tab of preferences (if you have "expert mode" enabled), and in a customized profile.

More information on this would be found in the Advanced usage section of the forum.