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View Full Version : Can I convert 2 channels Dolby Pro Logic II wav files to 5.1 ac3?


bollemanneke
3rd April 2012, 15:25
Hello everyone.

I know that someone has posted this question already, but seeing as this happened eight years ago, I thought it best to post it again, because technoloy might have improved.

Six months ago, I bought the soundtrack CD for Deathly Hallows Part II, but seeing as I'm blind and didn't know anything about the bonus section, I only found out a few weeks ago that by putting the CD in my computer, I would be able to download the soundtrack in 5.1 surround, which I was thrilled to do because you can hear so much more details and instrumets in a 5.1 soundtrack, and because I had already bought the limited edition of the soundtrack for Part I, which included a 5.1 surround sound DVD.

However, after downloading the soundtrack, I ended up with a folder full of huge two channels WAV files, while the folder name clearly said surround. I wrote to Warner Bros and they told me that I had to burn the music files on a CD first - WHY? - and then had to play the files through a Dolby Pro Logic Receiver - no idea what that is - to get surround. In my opinion, that's a cock-and-bull story. I played the files through the dolby decoder of K-lite Codec Pack, but it didn't sound better at all, what's more: I could hear no difference whatsoever between my own ripped 128 kbps MP3 files and WB's WAV files.

So here's my question: can I convert these WAV files to real 5.1 ac3s or wavs? If not, what software do I use to hear real 5.1 surround sound, rather than the crackling result you get when K-lite Codec Pack tries to do it? K-lite sometimes give good results, but the fact remains that my 5.1 files of Part I keep sounding better than the two channel files of Part II.

profiler 2.0
3rd April 2012, 17:19
Hello, look if anyone serves.
greetings.

http://www.mundodivx.org/foro/index.php?topic=38503.msg159030#msg159030

http://www.mundodivx.org/foro/index.php?topic=38503.msg159031#msg159031

bollemanneke
3rd April 2012, 17:45
Even though I'm studying tranlsation and interpreting English-Spanish, does not mean that I can read such advanced messages IN Spanish. :D

2Bdecided
5th April 2012, 15:15
I can't speak Spanish at all (so that doesn't help me), but the pictures (which I realise probably won't help you) are showing someone using the converter tool in foobar2k (an audio player) with a "Free Surround" DSP plug-in enabled during the conversion to convert stereo to 5.1.

I googled for foobar2k "free surround", and it seems like some people have a hard time getting it to sound like they think it should. It's not a one-click-perfect-job thing. Unless you copy someone else's settings and find that you like them. It might not be any better than what you have now.

Cheers,
David.

bollemanneke
6th April 2012, 15:53
So does it mean that Warner Bros is just pulling my leg and that these files cannot be converted to real 5.1 at all in one click?

CWR03
6th April 2012, 17:08
So does it mean that Warner Bros is just pulling my leg and that these files cannot be converted to real 5.1 at all in one click?
I doubt they intended these files to be converted to any format other than what you described in your original post.

If the files are separate for each channel, they can be combined into a single 5.1 AC3, but even that wouldn't be done 1-click.

bollemanneke
6th April 2012, 18:18
Okay, but they keep telling me these are real 5.1 files, then why are they all two channel wav files?

smok3
6th April 2012, 22:28
because its an old matrixing system, check
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolby_Pro_Logic#Dolby_Pro_Logic

kieranrk
8th April 2012, 14:13
It may be that the files are AC3 in wav.

bollemanneke
9th April 2012, 16:05
How does that work, ac3 in wav? Oh, and I tried playing these files through a dolby prologic decoder, a built-in one in my speakers, and the result was absolutely horrible, no 5.1 effect as all, centre speaker wouldn't even work.

2Bdecided
17th April 2012, 13:44
How does that work, ac3 in wav?You pack the data into PCM samples. It sounds like stuttering white noise if you don't decode it. That's not what you have here.

What you have hear is (at best) normal Dolby Pro Logic encoded stereo audio. Whether it's fair to describe it as 5.1 is another question.

Normal stereo mixes will do something through a Pro Logic decoder - reverb will often go to the rear, out-of-phase sounds will always go to the rear, mono sounds will always go to the centre channel, etc.

Cheers,
David.

bollemanneke
18th May 2012, 12:11
Okay, but are these files really 5.1 files? I just don't get it. I've tried several decoders, but they keep sounding as stereo files, even with the extra channels. It doesn't sound like 5.1 music at all: the instruments aren't any clearer or more detailed. Is Watertower Music lying about 5.1 or not? Because the result sounds exactly the same when I rip the files to 128KBPS MP3 and use dolby prologic ii to play them. These WAV files don't have any surplus value.

CWR03
18th May 2012, 15:25
After reading all the detailed links others have provided, it appears that they've simply attached the 5.1 label to your files that are only 2 channel audio. No, they are in no manner "5.1 files." Those are six channel audio (Left, right, left rear, right rear, center and bass).

Even true 5.1 audio files won't necessarily have more detail or clarity than a stereo audio file.

bollemanneke
18th May 2012, 15:27
Well, I bought the 5.1 version of the soundtrack for Deathly Hallows Part I, and the surround version sounds much more detailed than the stereo cd mix.