Matroska Splitter 1.9.1.30

An MKV file is a box with several tracks inside it, and something has to open the box before anything can play.

Matroska Splitter is that something - a small DirectShow filter that separates the video, audio, subtitle and chapter tracks so each one reaches the right decoder.

It is 912KB, it has no interface, and it does exactly one job.

First, Check Whether You Already Have One

Worth two minutes before installing anything. LAV Filters includes its own Matroska splitter, and so does every current codec pack.

MPC-HC and MPC-BE have one built in as well, so if either of those plays your file already, nothing here will change anything.

Play an MKV and open View, then Filters, in either player. If a splitter appears in the list, your Matroska handling already works and the problem is somewhere else in the chain.

Install this one when you want a single small filter rather than a pack, when you are assembling a DirectShow setup piece by piece, or when an older player such as BSPlayer needs a splitter of its own.

Where It Sits in the Chain

Playback runs through three layers, and it is worth knowing which one is failing before you install anything. If you are unclear on what a container format is, that guide is the shortest way in.

1. The splitter opens the container and separates every track inside it.
2. Decoders turn each track back into pictures and sound.
3. Renderers put the result on your screen and through your speakers.

Matroska Splitter owns the first layer only. No audio at all usually means the splitter worked and the audio decoder is missing, while a file that will not open at all points at the splitter.

What an MKV Actually Contains

The reason MKV files cause so much trouble is that the container accepts almost anything, so two files with the same extension can need completely different decoders.

The splitter is also what puts the track menu in your player. Multiple audio languages and subtitle tracks only become selectable once something has separated them.

For the video side, the HEVC Video Extension and the AV1 Codec add Windows-level support for the two formats most likely to be missing.

The VP9 Video Extension does the same for VP9, which is what most MKV files pulled from web sources carry.

On the audio side, the Opus Audio Codec and the FLAC reference tools are the reference implementations for the two formats that turn up most often in MKV audio tracks.

Which Files It Opens

Four extensions, and two of them are the reason people end up here without knowing what they are holding.

• .mkv - the standard Matroska video file, with any mix of tracks inside it.
• .mka - audio only, used for music and for alternate language tracks shipped separately.
• .mks - subtitles only, which is why nothing opens it and why it looks broken.
• .mk3d - stereoscopic 3D video, rare now but still in circulation.

WebM is a Matroska subset and such files frequently play through this filter, but the vendor does not list .webm among the registered extensions. For those, LAV Filters or the WebM DirectShow Filters are the reliable route.

Who This Is For

The clearest case is an older player that never learned Matroska. BSPlayer, older builds of Windows Media Player and various embedded players all work again once a splitter is registered system-wide.

It also suits minimal installs, where a codec pack would bring in twenty filters to solve one problem, and IT deployments that chain component installers together.

One thing worth correcting, because the review on this page still says otherwise: HEVC works. That review dates from 2015 and version 1.4.5.364, and modern HEVC tracks pass through the current build without trouble.

Completing the Chain

LAV Filters is the decoder to pair it with, covering hardware-accelerated video and every common audio format. FFDShow is the alternative if you want post-processing such as sharpening or noise reduction during playback.

For subtitles, DirectVobSub is the standard renderer and xy-VSFilter is the better choice when styling or sync is misbehaving.

Dolby Digital and DTS tracks heading to a receiver over SPDIF are the one case worth adding AC3 Filter for, since it handles passthrough and per-channel control that general decoders leave alone.

Older H.264 setups built around CoreAVC keep working, because splitter and decoder are independent filters and neither needs to know about the other.

If assembling components is not how you want to spend the evening, the codec packs bundle a splitter, decoders and a player in one installer.

How the Installer Behaves

One download covers both x86 and x64, registering the right filter for your Windows build automatically. There are no separate 32-bit and 64-bit packages to keep track of, and the files land in System32 and SysWOW64 with no folder to choose.

Silent install is supported for deployments: run the installer with the /S flag and it registers with no message boxes and no UI, which is what makes it usable as a step inside a larger automated install.

It also checks the registry for an existing version before doing anything. The same version prompts to reinstall, a newer one warns you before downgrading, and an older one upgrades without asking - so it is safe to drop into an update script without wrapping it in version logic of your own.

The two screenshots on this page are of the installer, since the filter itself has nothing to show. For the manual route, our guide to installing and uninstalling DLL and AX files covers registering filters by hand.

Still Not Playing

If the file still fails after installing, the next question is what is actually inside it. Our Codec Finder reports the tracks and codecs in a file, and the Codec Troubleshooter works through the usual causes in order.

Both run in the browser with nothing uploaded, which makes them a faster first step than installing another filter and hoping.

The Rest of the Family

The same project builds a splitter for most other containers, all at this version and all about this size. Ogg Splitter covers Ogg and OGM files, and MPC Raw Video Splitter handles raw streams with no container at all.

The full filter list, with versions and file names, is on the developer's own page for this filter.

Quick questions

Download Matroska Splitter 1.9.1.30 and see whether it clears your MKV problem, or tell us how you got on if you have used it before.