Add audio codec and channel-count preferences to quality profiles

[adamwarzecha]

Describe your suggested feature

Describe your suggested feature

CloudStream quality profiles currently allow users to prioritize video resolution and video sources, but they do not allow prioritization based on audio characteristics.

I suggest adding audio preferences to quality profiles.

Possible options could include:

Preferred minimum channel count

• Any
• Stereo
• 5.1
• 7.1

Preferred audio codecs

• E-AC-3
• AC-3
• DTS
• DTS-HD
• TrueHD
• AAC
• Opus
• Other

Additional options

• Prefer multichannel audio over stereo
• Hide stereo sources when multichannel sources are available
• Prefer passthrough-compatible codecs
• Prefer sources with known audio metadata
• Show audio codec and channel count in the source-selection list

Suggested behavior

Audio properties could be included in link priority calculation together with:

• video resolution priority
• source priority
• audio channel-count priority
• audio codec priority

For example:

• 1080p E-AC-3 5.1 could be ranked above 1080p AAC stereo
• 4K stereo could optionally be ranked below 1080p 5.1
• sources with unknown audio properties could remain available but receive neutral priority

Technical limitation

I understand that some extensions may not provide audio metadata when returning an ExtractorLink.

Possible implementation approaches:

1. Use audio metadata supplied by the extension when available.
2. Parse audio information from HLS or DASH manifests when possible.
3. Inspect media tracks before automatic source selection.
4. Treat unknown audio metadata as neutral rather than rejecting the source.
5. Allow extensions to provide optional structured fields such as:
   • codec
   • channel count
   • bitrate
   • Atmos flag

Why this would be useful

Many users connect Android TV devices to AV receivers, soundbars, or multichannel home-cinema systems.

Two sources with the same video resolution can provide very different audio:

• AAC stereo
• AC-3 5.1
• E-AC-3 5.1
• DTS
• Dolby Atmos

At present, the user must manually test individual sources to determine which one offers multichannel audio.

Adding audio-aware profiles would make automatic source selection much more useful for home-theater users.

Other details

This feature should preferably be part of Quality Profiles rather than a single global setting, because users may want different behavior for:

• Wi-Fi playback
• mobile data
• downloads
• different devices

Acknowledgements

• I am sure this feature concerns the CloudStream application and not a specific extension.
• I have searched the existing issues.
• I understand that audio metadata may not always be available before the stream is opened.

Other details

No response

Acknowledgements

• My suggestion is NOT about adding a new provider
• I have searched the existing issues and this is a new ticket, NOT a duplicate or related to another open issue.