Swapping Audio Tracks

[DWreck1995]

I don't know how many of you use Plex, or how many of you know that Plex doesn't care about the "default" MKV flag for audio tracks. There's a decent chunk of MKV's that have the "default" audio track in the 2nd or 3rd slot on the list. Plex seems to always just pick the first one. So, I've been using MKVToolNix to swap the positions and remux them. But I'm scratching my head on something I haven't noticed with MKVToolNix before. The output file is a different size, usually larger for some reason. All I'm doing is swapping the audio tack positions. Does anyone have any ideas what could case the difference in file size?

[dcoke22]

What does MediaInfo (https://mediaarea.net/en/MediaInfo) say on your 'before' file vs your 'after' file?

As a side note, in the Plex web app I think you pick the audio track you want Plex to play and then it will remember your choice. Picking your preferred audio track in Plex might be less hassle than moving audio tracks around with MKVToolNix.

[DWreck1995]

What does MediaInfo (https://mediaarea.net/en/MediaInfo) say on your 'before' file vs your 'after' file?

As a side note, in the Plex web app I think you pick the audio track you want Plex to play and then it will remember your choice. Picking your preferred audio track in Plex might be less hassle than moving audio tracks around with MKVToolNix.

I attached before and after txt copies of MediaInfo if you'd like to have a look. But, all I noticed is the overall bitrate change from 61.2 Mbps to 61.3 Mbps.

I know that Plex remembers the audio track after you change it. But it gets to be a pain doing it for every episode of a TV series, for example.

[dcoke22]

MediaInfo suggests that the file sizes are the same, 26.4 GiB. How much different are the file sizes on the filesystem? If it is a small amount, it might just be from changes like this:

Before:

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Encoded date                             : UTC 2021-04-01 05:57:11
Writing application                      : MakeMKV v1.16.3 win(x64-release)
Writing library                          : libmakemkv v1.16.3 (1.3.10/1.5.2) win(x64-release)

After:

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Encoded date                             : UTC 2021-04-03 02:31:16
Writing application                      : mkvmerge v55.0.0 ('Waiting For Space') 64-bit
Writing library                          : libebml v1.4.2 + libmatroska v1.6.4

[DWreck1995]

MediaInfo suggests that the file sizes are the same, 26.4 GiB. How much different are the file sizes on the filesystem? If it is a small amount, it might just be from changes like this:

Before:

Code: Select all

Encoded date                             : UTC 2021-04-01 05:57:11
Writing application                      : MakeMKV v1.16.3 win(x64-release)
Writing library                          : libmakemkv v1.16.3 (1.3.10/1.5.2) win(x64-release)

After:

Code: Select all

Encoded date                             : UTC 2021-04-03 02:31:16
Writing application                      : mkvmerge v55.0.0 ('Waiting For Space') 64-bit
Writing library                          : libebml v1.4.2 + libmatroska v1.6.4

It is a minor change. I noticed it because Windows was reporting the old one as 26.3 GB and the new one as 26.4 GB. I attached a screenshot of it. I'm just curious as to what could generate more data, even if it's minor, when no new data is being added?