GUIDE: Using Adobe Audition 1.5 or 2.0 to create 5.1 files

[ursamtl]

This is a basic guide for creating 5.1 files in Adobe Audition 1.5-2.0. It uses the V.I Suite plugins but the basic method would be the same if you used non-V.I plugins.

The guide is just text for now. I'll add some graphics or a PDF version once I have more time. This will not teach you how to use Adobe Audition. It assumes you already know that. If not, learn at least the basics first!

To start with, download and install the following:

V.I Suite 1.1 Installer or as a zip file V.I Suite 1.1 Zip file (3MB)

Classic Master Limiter

Adobe Audition does not support the 2-in/6-out V.I plugin, but it does support the 2-in/2-out fLfR, CLFE, and sLsR plugins. Using Adobe Audition's Multitrack , it's possible to create 6 channels that you can then encode to surround sound using AC3, DTS or other 5.1 encoders.

Important: Before starting this guide, be sure to point Audition to your VST Plugins folder. To do so, choose Add/Remove VST Directory from the Effects menu when in Audition's Edit view.

1. When Audition opens, choose File > Import to import your stereo source file.
2. Double-click on the file list at left to open the file in Edit view.
3. Choose Edit > Convert Sample Type.
4. Select 32 bit from the list at the right of the dialog box and click OK.
5. If your final destination for the conversion is to be DVD, select 48000 from the sample rate list and move the slider towards "High Quality." (leave it at 44100 for a surround CD). Leave the Channels and Dither settings as is. Click OK.
6. Select entire wave file (Ctrl+A or right click and choose Select Entire Wave).
7. Choose Effects > Amplitude > Amplify/Fade.
8. When Amplify/Fade opens, select the Center Wave preset from the list at the right. Uncheck the box to the left of Lock Left/Right. Check the box next to DC Bias, select Differential and then click the Find Zero Now button. The program scans the file and updates the DC Bias values if it finds an offset. Click OK to remove this offset.
9. While still in Edit View, Press Ctrl+M three times to copy the file into the first three multitrack slots.
10. Switch to Multitrack view by clicking on the tab or pressing the 9 key.
11. Click the FX button for Track 1 in Multitrack view.
12. Find fLfR in the Installed Real-Time Effects tree on the left under VST and click the Add button to add fLfR to the Current Effects Rack list on the right.
13. Add a limiter. This can be the Kjaerhus Audio Classic Master Limiter, or others such as Audition’s own Hard Limiter.
14. Click the Properties buttons to display the plugin interfaces. Make adjustments to each as required. Be sure to leave the Mixer tab settings in Series mode.
15. Click the FX button for Track 2 in Multitrack view. This time, add CLFE and a limiter to the effects rack.
16. Click the FX button for Track 3 in Multitrack view. This time, add sLsR and a limiter to the effects rack. Some might want to add a reverb plugin or impulse response convolution plugin in this track as well.
17. For each of the three tracks listed in the Track List, select each track and then set the Panning Assignment list on the right as follows:

    Track 1: FL+FR, stereo (Audition 1.5) or L + R, stereo (Audition 2.0)
    Track 2: Center+LFE, stereo (1.5 & 2.0)
    Track 3: Ls+Rs, stereo (1.5 & 2.0)

18. Click the Play All button to preview your output. If you have a multichannel soundcard that is properly configured in Audition, you'll be able to hear the 5.1 channel mix correctly. Check your output levels with the meter across the bottom to make sure there is no sound going past 0dB.
19. When ready, click the Export button and choose to export 6 mono wave files, one interleaved 6-channel wave file or even a Windows Media Audio Pro 6-channel file. Note: If you choose one interleaved 6-channel wave file, avoid the top choice ("type 3") in the Format options dropdown list. There can be problems with this setting. The "32-bit, 4-byte integer (type 1)", the 24-bit or 16 bit settings should be fine (Just be sure to use dithering if you go for 16-bit output).

This guide is just a basic starting point. If you're familiar with Audition or are an expert, I'm sure you'll come up with variations that work for you. For example, you may want to split one or more of the stereo tracks to six mono tracks and then apply effects as required. Certainly some compression on the LFE track can add some extra bottom end where required. You could add reverb to the rear channels by adding additional effects to that channel's effects rack with a reverb plugin. Always remember to use a limiter plugin AFTER all the others. Experiment. Try feeding sLsR with a reverb plugin. Reverse their order and see what the result sounds like. You could also use other plugins instead of the V.I Suite or in combination with them. For example, Audition has a very powerful Center Channel Extractor plugin that some find effective. This or similar 3rd-party plugins can producing warbling artifacts, so you have to play with their settings to get good results. Anyway, the only limit is your imagination.

Finally, share your results with us here on the forum. Tell us what worked for you. Others will benefit from this community exchanging information.

Enjoy!
Steve.

[shon3i]

Nice but i making some movie and finished. I make 30min move with stereo sound. But i using Premiere Pro 1.5 now 2.0 and there is no surround option like vegas 6. I now use vegas 6 to make surround sound and mix with film. How i that make with premiere with preview. I needed to put samples in all chanels like vegas. Help. Gudie is cool. were i can download more vst plugins.

[ursamtl]

Does Vegas support VST plugins? If so, you might try V.I or it's 2-channel companion plugins. You can download these from the links mentioned above. As for downloading more VST plugins, one of the best resources for this kind of information is www.kvraudio.com.

Regards,
Steve.

[shon3i]

You dont understand me i asking how to mux video with 5.1 audio like vegas 6 in premier 1.5/2.0 or audition.

[ursamtl]

Sorry but this is a guide on using Adobe Audition to create 5.1 audio. Perhaps you should post the question as a new thread. You will probably get a faster answer that way. As I understand it, Audition allows you to work with video but not in 5.1 surround. The only way to get Audition 5.1 sound out of the program is as 6 mono wave files, one six-channel wave file, or one six-channel Windows Media Pro file.

[raquete]

Thank you and congratulations ursamtl!
i have now one music with 6 separated channels(fl,fr,c,lfe,sl&sr) and one interleavd 6-channel wave file with very cool results in pc.
a newby doubt: how i burn(as?) in dvd-rw to test in my standalone?

[ursamtl]

First you have to encode your file either as an AC3 (Dolby Digital) file or a DTs file. If you don't have an AC3 or DTS decoding software package, there are a couple of free AC3 encoding programs around. Do a search on this forum for tips. There are lots of discussions about this.

If your file is at a sample rate of 48kHz, then you have to make it the soundtrack in a DVD-Video and then add either video footage or still pictures for the video part of it. You can use a variety of programs to do this. Guides are available on Doom9, videohelp.com or other spots on the internet.

If your file is at a sample rate of 44.1kHz, then you can burn a surround sound CD using a regular CDR. You have to encode your AC3 or DTS file as a AC3wave or DTSwave. This tricks CD burning programs such as Nero into thinking the file is a regular audio wave file. Then you burn this "wave" file (or files) to a regular CDR as if it were a regular audio CD. Once you play it back on a DVD player through the digital connection to your receiver (this is very important), it tricks your receiver into thinking the audio coming through the digital connection is from a 5.1 DVD and the 5.1 audio plays back correctly. It's actually very cool!

I would recommend practicing a bit. I found that rewritable CDs and DVDs helped me a lot as it took a few tries before I got the process right. It was worth it!

One other thing, if you're doing DTS surround CD's of music, it's usually good to have one long file with a cue sheet instead of a
series of individual files. This is because there are problems with some DTS decoders in home theatre receivers. When they encounter breaks in the data stream, the decoders switch off and then back on after a new stream has started. It cuts off the beginning of songs and can be quite annoying!

Do some reading on here because almost every question you will have has already been answered somewhere in these threads. This forum is a gold mine!

Good luck!
Steve.

[fat0n3s]

Very nice guide!

I have one problem though. When I am in the surround encoder screen, and I click on Audio Driver button, I only have two channels showing up. Under output channel mapping, I can only select two out of my six channels for playback.

I have checked the adobe help file, and it tells me I might need a directSound interleaved driver. I have done some searching on doom9, along with google without luck.

BTW, I have a Realtek sound card that is 5.1 compatable. If I encode the file in windows media audio pro 6 channel file, it plays correctly on my 5.1 computer system with media player. I just can't play it in 6 channels with adobe audition.

Any help or ideas would be great. Thanks.

[ursamtl]

I would recommend installing ASIO4ALL. This is a tremendous free driver that sit on top of your Windows driver and provides whatever maximum IO capability your hardware has. Audition works with it.

[fat0n3s]

Many many thanks!

Downloading it now.


EDIT: Worked like a charm. Now I can hear what is doing what.

Thanks again!

[raquete]

Originally Posted by ursamtl

If your file is at a sample rate of 44.1kHz, then you can burn a surround sound CD using a regular CDR. You have to encode your AC3 or DTS file as a AC3wave or DTSwave. This tricks CD burning programs such as Nero into thinking the file is a regular audio wave file. Then you burn this "wave" file (or files) to a regular CDR as if it were a regular audio CD. Once you play it back on a DVD player through the digital connection to your receiver (this is very important), it tricks your receiver into thinking the audio coming through the digital connection is from a 5.1 DVD and the 5.1 audio plays back correctly. It's actually very cool!

I would recommend practicing a bit. I found that rewritable CDs and DVDs helped me a lot as it took a few tries before I got the process right. It was worth it!

Good luck!
Steve.

thanks for your cool hints Steve!
i don't knew that tricks to burn in normal cdrs,see what i did and correct me please if something is wrong:
in step 19 was choosed export as one interleaved,6 channel wave file and in format options as windows pcm waveform audio - 16-bit,2-byte packed integer.
i burn this wave in nero as regular audio cd (cdr-w for test).
for my surprise in normal cd players works as stereo and in
a DVD player through the digital connection to receiver give me 5.1 ! wow!!!
well....is working but it is correct?!?

[ursamtl]

Hmm, this is interesting. I've known for a couple of years about the surround CD in a DVD player trick, but I wasn't aware that it could play back in stereo on a CD player. Has anyone else tried this?

[daphy]

Dpl2?

[ursamtl]

Originally Posted by daphy

Dpl2?

The CD player must have some built-in digital decoding, possibly DPLII. Normally, a CD player reads the digital data and thinks it's simply PCM data needs to be converted to analog. The result is noise.

[raquete]

ursamtl,
as you wrote in the guide

Always remember to use a limiter plugin AFTER all the others.

i have doubt about the ideal LFE channel volume.
i'm using classic master limiter for C channel and round -15/-14dB for LFE.
how much i have to adjust for LFE?

very much!

[ursamtl]

About -15dB seems about right. This is always a tricky subject. You might adjust the LFE until it seems right on one system but then if you listen to the results on another, there will be way too much bass!

Put it this way, you are better off with too little than too much. If you're using the CLFE plugin as described in the Audition guide, then you don't need any LFE because the full range is going through the 5.0 channels and then the bass management system on any playback device will redirect the appropriate low frequencies to the subwoofer. Therefore, you don't actually need to put anything in the LFE channel unless your source stereo recording is deficient in really deep punchy bass.

I added the LFE channel to the V.I and CLFE plugins as a way of reinforcing bass a bit for older recordings that were missing this deep bass. It does not redirect bass frequencies from the other channels but instead takes a small amount of bass frequencies below 60Hz and adds it to what's already there. With just the right level adjustment, it can really add some bottom to your 5.1 mix.

The Classic Master Limiter actually has two functions when used with CLFE or V.I. It limits peaks to prevent them from overloading and when the threshold is turned down, it compresses the LFE and/or center to bring their apparent loudness up without overloading. Of course if you push it too much, the level will overload the plugin, which results in distortion too.

So, a little goes a long way. Try some settings and burn them to a CDRW or DVDRW (depending on your intended target). If possible, see what the results sound like on different systems. You might even bring your disc along to a stereo shop and pretend you're in the market for a new 5.1 system and tell them you want to try your own disc (Try it first in your own system to make sure it doesn't sound really bad!!!)

Come back and tell us what worked for you! The more knowledge we share here, the better all our results will be.

Regards,
Steve.

[raquete]

thanks for clear explanations.

The more knowledge we share here, the better all our results will be.

right.
in multichannel export options choosing 32-bit,normalize float (type3) give some strange noises(fast scratches/distortions).try to open one single file(l,r,c..etc) from audition in winamp to hear it.
the same happen using the receiver(prologic)after encode the waves as AC3.
then,reading the audition help:
32-bit Normalized Float (type 3) - Default is the internal format for Adobe Audition and the standard floating point format for type 3 .wav files. Values are normalized to the range of +/-1.0, and although values beyond this range are saved, clipping may occur in some programs that read them back in. (Adobe Audition won't clip audio but will instead read the same value back if it's beyond this range.)

my alternative was change to 32-bit, 4 byte integer (type1) or other option(24 or 16 bit) and the "noises" gone form the 6 waves saved and in AC3.

[ursamtl]

@raquete:

Thanks for the tip. I've added it to the guide.

Happying surrounding!
Steve.

[shon3i]

I finally try this gudie,and everything is fine and i can't export 6ch wav or wma or ogg, how to export, i use file->export, why to do, i using Audition 2.0.

[ursamtl]

Are you trying to export using the button in the Surround Encoder window or from the File menu? If from the File menu, it won't work, you need to use the Export button in the bottom right corner of the Surround Encoder window. This displays a dialog box called Multichannel Export Options, which allows you to save as 6 individual waves, one 6-channel interleaved wave file or one 6-channel Windows Media Audio Pro (compressed or lossless). This Encoder window is accesible when in Multitrack mode.