AC3->stereo WAV->MP2(dual ch) == AC3->MP2(dual ch) ?

[Boulder]

Does the AC3 to WAV conversion alter the surround information etc. ? I've had to convert some AC3 files to WAV so that I've been able to trim the length of the audio track along with the video, converting to MP2 after the trimming.

[DSPguru]

the surround won't be affected.
general speaking, quality should be better when doing direct ac3->mp2 conversion (floating-point process).

btw,
take a look at the Partial Encoding feature in BesweetGUI. you might find it useful.

[Boulder]

Thank you Sir:)

I'll have to experiment with the partial encoding, hopefully keeping the a/v sync. It would save a good amount of HD space and time, of course.