I am interested in ripping my DVD library to an external drive, but I want to retain the 5.1 surround sound. What are my software options for this process and which would you recommend?
One of the best DVD-ripping tools around is HandBrake (handbrake.fr). It’s also free. Ripping discs in HandBrake requires you to install the free VLC, but you’ll be able to rip most discs and keep the 5.1 soundtrack intact.
The audio section of HandBrake provides many different audio tweaks.
After inserting a DVD into your Mac, open HandBrake and click on the Source button. Locate your DVD, and then click Open. You can click the Toggle Presets button in the toolbar to select from the most common encoding types, or you can click the Video tab to choose your video presets. We usually pick the Apple TV 2 preset for great viewing on our TV. To ensure that you get the full 5.1 surround sound experience with your ripped DVD, click on the Audio tab, then click the Mixdown box beside the track that you want to rip, and choose Dolby Surround. You can optionally tweak the bit rate or codec used. Click the Start button in the toolbar to begin ripping the disc to the Destination location.
HandBrake has a lot of great features, and you can learn more about the tool by visiting the HandBrake User Guide here.
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Matthew Black
February 29, 2012 at 2:52pm
I have installed both handbreak and the vlc and moved both to my applications folder, but when i try to open a dvd in handbreak, it says that i need to install the vlc, what could i be doing wrong?
DannyTWhatItBe
January 17, 2012 at 8:47am
The instructions above will only produce a stereo downmix (also referred to as Dolby Surround) from the 5.1-ch source. 160 kbps data rate is way too low for 5.1-ch audio.
To properly maintain the original 5.1-ch audio in the example from the article, you need to instead select "AC3 Passthru" (short hand for Dolby Digital) under "Codec".
Alternatively, you can instead select "AC3" under "Codec" and "6-channel discrete" under "Mixdown" to re-encode the 5.1-ch audio at a lower data rate. I don't advise going any lower than 384 kbps. In almost all cases, I recommend just going with "AC3 Passthru".
