Stereo to 5.1:What Settings for Instrumental Rock Guitar Using Audition?

[nFury8]

I have been using SurroundBoy's Method (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=59949) using Adobe Audition for converting my audio cd's to 5.1. But I have a lot of instrumental rock guitar cd's I also want to convert using the same method. Are the same settings and filters used in that method (except Vocal Cut obviously) applicable for instrumental rock guitar music as well? What about instrumental acoustic guitars? Any recommendations from the audio experts? Thanks.

[ursamtl]

Since Surroundboy is using the vocal cut FFT for the surround channels only, this should be equally effective for instrumental guitar music. It's not just a matter of removing vocals from the surrounds but any sounds in the usualy frequency range and centered position of vocals. The idea is to make the surrounds sound like the reflected sound in a room, but to have the actual sound sources still sound like they're coming from the front. That is of course unless one wants instruments sounding like they come from the back.

The best thing is to try a couple and see how they sound. If you can't come up with a sound you like using one method, try another. You might also try some of the other methods listed in the guide list (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=83752 ).

Regards,
Steve.

[nFury8]

Originally posted by ursamtl
Since Surroundboy is using the vocal cut FFT for the surround channels only, this should be equally effective for instrumental guitar music. It's not just a matter of removing vocals from the surrounds but any sounds in the usualy frequency range and centered position of vocals. The idea is to make the surrounds sound like the reflected sound in a room, but to have the actual sound sources still sound like they're coming from the front. That is of course unless one wants instruments sounding like they come from the back.

The best thing is to try a couple and see how they sound. If you can't come up with a sound you like using one methods, try another one. You might also try some of the other methods listed in the guide list (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=83752 ).


Excellent, thanks for the info. I have already seen that guide list and there's a lot of stuff to take in. Although I remember there's another one that uses Adobe Audition but a different route. I just want to focus on using Audition at this point. Yep, experimentation seems to be the only way to nail down one's preference and taste.

[ursamtl]

Tell me, does Audition support multichannel VSTs?

[nFury8]

Yes, Adobe Audition does support vst plugins. But what specific multichannel plugin do you have in mind? I'm not very familiar with multichannel vst's. I have to admit that I'm not as well-versed at this audio conversion thingy as most of you guys are. Can you suggest/recommend something about the multichannel vst's?

[ursamtl]

Originally posted by nFury8
Yes, Adobe Audition does support vst plugins. But what specific multichannel plugin do you have in mind? I'm not very familiar with multichannel vst's. I have to admit that I'm not as well-versed at this audio conversion thingy as most of you guys are. Can you suggest/recommend something about the multichannel vst's?

For example, there are a couple of interesting multichannel VSTs at http://multiphonie.free.fr/acousmodules_en.htm including a surround reverb.

[nFury8]

Thanks for the link. I tried some of the plugins, unfortunately Audition doesn't recognize them especially the reverb. Anyway, I'll try to see if I can find some supported multichannel vst's somewhere.

[SurroundBoy]

Hey man how did it go? My old method is extremely outdated. I now primarily use the center channel extractor for my center channel and surrounds

This is the setting I use for The center Channel (http://members.aol.com/surroundfiles/images/c1.jpg)

After that I go to Effects>Amplitude>Pan/Expand... and I use the "Center on the Right Preset"
I then hit F11 to convert the sample type to 16-Bit Mono, using %0 of the left channel and %100 of the right. Then I have my finished center channel with any tweaking neccessary.

For the Surrounds I use this setting (http://members.aol.com/surroundfiles/images/c2.jpg)
This not only removes the center channel but it also gives me a stereo reproduction in the sound which wasn't possible earlier with Cool Edit's "Vocal Cut" Preset. This also makes it much easier to single out any certain sounds you may want to be portrayed. I can then adjust the levels using the amplitude function to decide how loud or low I want the surrounds in the mix. After this I simply use the same method used to produce the Front Left and Front Right Channels

[nFury8]

Extremely outdated? LOL. Looks like I need to do some re-conversion again. I believe you, its your original method anyway. Thanks for pointing it out. Although I have no idea what most of those settings in the dialog box mean, heheheh. And what about the LFE processing? Same old method applies?

[SurroundBoy]

Yes same method, I haven't really found anything better for the LFE, I've analyzed most LFE's from DVD Audio's and Movie's and they all appear to have the same quality that this produces so I think that part is definitely still good to go!

[ursamtl]

Originally posted by SurroundBoy
Yes same method, I haven't really found anything better for the LFE, I've analyzed most LFE's from DVD Audio's and Movie's and they all appear to have the same quality that this produces so I think that part is definitely still good to go!

Did you actually check the LFE channel on the DVD-Audio discs for a signal? I've been planning to do this but never got around to it. The presence of a signal in the LFE channel should pretty much dispel the myth that pros never use the LFE channel!

[SurroundBoy]

Yes all my DVD Audio's appear to have LFE!

[tlavell]

Hey surroundboy,

I'm fairly new to the forum and have tried most of the bidule based methods but yesterday tried audition on a 30 day free trial.
amazing!! the centre extractor is the real deal for centre and surrounds. I am getting great results. Well pleasing to my ears anyway. Also I am using surcode DTS as my playing format and I believe using audition I can upsample to 32 bit prior to processing and after processing I down sample my 6 wavs using a program called R8Brain back to 24 bit so I get full resolution into Surcode.
keep up the good work on Audition. Looks like I will be buying it after the 30 day trial !

terry

[nFury8]

I also downsample my 6 source mono waves from 32bits to 24bits, but I do it within Audition when I save the individual mono wavs. Its there in the 'Save As' dialog box, there's an Options button below where you'll be able to choose the bit depth of your mono wav file.

[ursamtl]

You don't really need to downsample from 32 to 24 bits unless the software encoder you plan to use does not accept 32-bit files. from what I've read everywhere, a 32-bit file format is basically a 24-bit one with a mantissa. The difference is basically inperceptible to human hearing. The same cannot be said for going from 24- to 16-bit files, where it's always better to dither at the end of the process.

[jorel]

Originally posted by SurroundBoy

This is the setting I use for The center Channel (http://members.aol.com/surroundfiles/images/c1.jpg)

For the Surrounds I use this setting (http://members.aol.com/surroundfiles/images/c2.jpg)


Hi Surroundboy!
:)

the links are not working..can you host the pictures in http://www.imageshack.com/ please?
thanks in advance!

[ursamtl]

Originally posted by jorel
Hi Surroundboy!
:)

the links are not working..can you host the pictures in http://www.imageshack.com/ please?
thanks in advance!

I think you meant http://www.imageshack.us.

[jorel]

exact ursamtl.thanks.
...i always change the link to the wrong place. :rolleyes:

do you have the pictures or anyone here can send it for me by mail?
thanks again! :)

[verabgd]

Hey man how did it go? My old method is extremely outdated. I now primarily use the center channel extractor for my center channel and surrounds

This is the setting I use for The center Channel (http://members.aol.com/surroundfiles/images/c1.jpg)

After that I go to Effects>Amplitude>Pan/Expand... and I use the "Center on the Right Preset"
I then hit F11 to convert the sample type to 16-Bit Mono, using %0 of the left channel and %100 of the right. Then I have my finished center channel with any tweaking neccessary.

For the Surrounds I use this setting (http://members.aol.com/surroundfiles/images/c2.jpg)
This not only removes the center channel but it also gives me a stereo reproduction in the sound which wasn't possible earlier with Cool Edit's "Vocal Cut" Preset. This also makes it much easier to single out any certain sounds you may want to be portrayed. I can then adjust the levels using the amplitude function to decide how loud or low I want the surrounds in the mix. After this I simply use the same method used to produce the Front Left and Front Right Channels

@SurroundBoy

Can you, please, put your settings again or email them? These links don't work.

Thanks in advance.