So as things start I purchased a Google Chromecast, got home and set it all up, tested YouTube casting from my phone and everything was working fine, then tried cast in a movie with Plex and discovered that the audio was very quiet, and parts in movies where characters were talking were particularly quiet compared to the music and sound effects in the movie.
I spent about an hour searching online and tweaking different settings to resolve the issue and then I discovered on a Plex forum that Plex has some built-in configuration files for different devices in XML format and one of those files is the configuration for Chromecast devices.
Upon searching through what felt like 10 different threads on the Plex forums, I finally found a post that was quite helpful, it mentions that Google had removed 5.1 AAC support from the Chromecast, and upon a slight change to my Chromecast.xml config file removing the aac codec, the issue appears to be resolved and audio is noticeably louder.
I have uploaded a copy of my Chromecast.xml configuration to Github which you can download or reference when making changes to your own configuration, there are some additional modifications that are different from the default Chromecast.xml file you will have in your setup.
You can find my configuration at github here.
The main changes to the code were in the video profile in Line 5, the attribute "audioCodec" used to contain aac and MP3 but with our modifications now only contains MP3.
We have also made some slight changes to the "VideoAudioCodec" tag to allow any audio format and setting the audio channels to 6.
I hope that these steps help resolve your audio issues with the Google Chromecast and Plex Media Server.
I spent about an hour searching online and tweaking different settings to resolve the issue and then I discovered on a Plex forum that Plex has some built-in configuration files for different devices in XML format and one of those files is the configuration for Chromecast devices.
Upon searching through what felt like 10 different threads on the Plex forums, I finally found a post that was quite helpful, it mentions that Google had removed 5.1 AAC support from the Chromecast, and upon a slight change to my Chromecast.xml config file removing the aac codec, the issue appears to be resolved and audio is noticeably louder.
How to fix Plex audio for Google Chromecast
I have uploaded a copy of my Chromecast.xml configuration to Github which you can download or reference when making changes to your own configuration, there are some additional modifications that are different from the default Chromecast.xml file you will have in your setup.
You can find my configuration at github here.
- First navigate to C:\Program Files (x86)\Plex\Plex Media Server\Resources\Profiles and make a copy of your current Chromecast.xml file as a backup
- Next navigate to https://github.com/lukegackle/Plex-Media-Server-Chromecast-XML-profile and download a copy of my Chromecast.xml file
- Once downloaded move the file into the directory mentioned in step one.
What changes were made to the configuration?
The main changes to the code were in the video profile in Line 5, the attribute "audioCodec" used to contain aac and MP3 but with our modifications now only contains MP3.
We have also made some slight changes to the "VideoAudioCodec" tag to allow any audio format and setting the audio channels to 6.
I hope that these steps help resolve your audio issues with the Google Chromecast and Plex Media Server.
Was this helpful?
Will this work for any device’s xml?
ReplyDeleteIt might work for other devices, I've only tried it as a solution for Chromecast but you can always try it, just be sure to save a copy of the original XML incase it doesn't work.
DeleteHey now, SUPER! This actually does work a charm for me. Perhaps interestingly: I only have the low audio problem when using the optical digital output of my TV - with the analog out things seem fine. At any rate, the changes to the Chromecast.xml you have here - specifically the elimination of the aac codec - do resolve the issue in my situation. THANK YOU. I actually bought a new DAC in a futile attempt to fix this, which I can now return, so you have effectively saved me a pocket full of real cash, as well.
ReplyDeleteThat is excellent! Glad to hear it's helped you and saved you some money! 😁
DeleteSorry. but the xml file is more than 1000 rows, while the original is just 29. Something is not right, I believe.
ReplyDeleteWhich XML file are you referring to? Is this the Chromecast.xml in your program files? If so I'd recommend renaming it to chromecast.xml.old and trying to copy in my working version from GitHub. Those files shouldn't have anywhere near that many lines.
DeleteI'll grant you this is an old post, but the file is 1000 BYTES not 1000 lines. So ignore this guy for anyone looking for a fix. AND this actually worked for me, 09/16/2020. Thank you!
DeleteGlad to hear it helped you JaguariusRex! 😁
Delete9/21/20 - Worked perfectly. Thank you.
DeleteThanks for the comment Jay, glad to hear it helped you!
DeleteDaxrob's issue is how he saved the file. I ran into the same thing. If you right-click on the file and pick "Save Link As" (in Chrome at least) it saves the linked HTML file (not the right thing). You can either copy and paste the file's text, or click on the green Download Code button in he upper right to get a zip of the file.
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ReplyDeletePerfect! I just validated that this also works great on the Chromecast with Google TV product. You're a saint and a hero. One difference is `<VideoAudioCodec name="aac,mp3">` is not the same as `<VideoAudioCodec name="*">` but that's a matching mechanism so you can leave that as it is. Just change channels to 6 and remove that aac codec on line 5.
DeleteGlad to hear it! Unfortunately I don't one of the new Google TV Chromecasts to test but glad to hear it works!
DeleteJust attempted this with a brand new chromecast ultra and casting generates a error that it cannot play. Reverted file and it restored playback. Was really hoping for a silver bullet for this issue.
ReplyDeleteNever mind, it was easily fixed by adjusting the device volume inside google home app. No need to adjust the file. Might be worth trying.
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