WAV to 5.1 AC3

[chronicking]

hello. i'm trying to convert some of my movies to Divx with the best possible audio possible. instead of making mp3's for my avi files, i'd like to make ac3 audio for them. some of them are in 5.1 surround sound. some might ask " why don't u just use the ac3 files that came on the original movie?". well the original ac3 files are very big and i'd like to maintain the 5.1 surround sound with smaller ac3 files. [like 256kbps maybe].
i've been using Headac3he to convert the original ac3 file to a WAV file. this seems to work but, i'm not sure i created the wav file from the original ac3 file correctly. in the option section on Headac3he, i chose 6 channels. this made a much bigger wav file then just selecting surround 2 [which i guess i'd use for converting over to mp3 or ac3 2/0]. i've read that selecting surround 2 stores the surround sounds [frequencies] to the left and right channels for later use. i'm not real sure on that.
i've also used besweet and its gui to create ac3 files [2/0 and 5.1] but they sound very low compared to the original. ffmpegui does the same thing [low volume] and only has an option for 2/0 ac3. are the ac3 encoders in ffmegui and besweet any good? should i use them to make ac3 files?
i read in a besweet faq that the ac3enc.dll included in the package is no good and should b used for testing only. is this true?
i also loaded the wav file that was created from the film's original ac3 file into virtual dub, then chose full processing mode, and chose the ac3 acm codec inthe list. it seemed to work and the volume was pretty much close to the original. but i wonder in the back of me mind if it actually re encoded the wav to a proper 5.1 surround sound ac3 file.
am i using the correct software for what i need to do?
am i heading in the correct direction for creating correct 5.1 ac3 files?
is it possible to make a wav file [one not 6 mono wav files] with 6 channels of sound stored in it, so it can later be recompressed correctly to 5.1 ac3 files?

thanx for taking the time to read this thread and i'd appreciate any helpful advice..........thanx!:confused:

[tebasuna51]

- Bad idea re-encode a AC3 file to low the bitrate/size. If you need mp3 or ac3 for compatibility preserve the original ac3 audio, or downmix to DolbyProLogic II (surround 2) and make a mp3 at 160 Kb/s at least.

- Warning. The multichannel wav obtained decoding the ac3 with Headac3he don't have the standard channel order. To decode ac3 you can use Azid.exe, Tranzcode, Foobar or NicAudio (AviSynth-BeHappy/Wavi/SoundOut)

- The ac3enc.dll is deprecated. To free encode ac3 use Aften, there are a AftenGUI if you have the multichannel wav.

- For the complete process you can use Foobar2000 (also with Aften encoder) or AviSynth method (BeHappy/Wavi/SoundOut)

[chronicking]

so let me get this right...........it's not good to use headac3he to make 6 channel WAV files[ one file not 6 individual]. i should use azid for that? i can access the azid.dll with besweet correct? then after creating the proper WAV file with azid, use aften or wav to ac3 enc to recreate the new lower bitrate 5.1 ac3 file?

ok i made a wave file from the original 5.1 ac3 file using azid via besweet and it's the exact same size of the one headac3che created. i guess the internal information of the two is different. i hope i got all the settings on besweet gui correct. i chose a pcm wav with 16bit 5.1 box checked. i am now in the process of using the aften gui and playing around with wav to ac3 enc. let me know if all this sounds right.

[tebasuna51]

so let me get this right...........it's not good to use headac3he to make 6 channel WAV files[ one file not 6 individual].
The output order from headac3he is FL-FC-FR-BL-BR-LF but the standard order is FL-FR-FC-LF-BL-BR then when you play this wav you listen improper channels in your speakers: FR<->FC, LFE->BR, BL->LFE, BR->BL.
Aften have a parameter to correct the problem but most players/encoders not.

i should use azid for that? i can access the azid.dll with besweet correct?
I don't speak about BeSweet in my post because have a internal limit to create wav files greater than 2 GB. Then for a 6 channels wav and 48000 samplerate the limit is: 1:02:08.270
For movies greater than 62 min. we can't use BeSweet.

You can use Azid.exe (or Foobar, or NicAudio) whit this command line:
Azid.exe -d3/2 -L0 -l1 -ol,r,c,lfe,sl,sr YOUR_AC3.ac3

then after creating the proper WAV file with azid, use aften or wav to ac3 enc to recreate the new lower bitrate 5.1 ac3 file?
I can't recommend less than 384 Kb/s for ac3 5.1 encode.

ok i made a wave file from the original 5.1 ac3 file using azid via besweet and it's the exact same size of the one headac3che created. i guess the internal information of the two is different. i hope i got all the settings on besweet gui correct. i chose a pcm wav with 16bit 5.1 box checked.
If your movie is less than 62 min. and you use the last BeSweet and bsn.dll versions (post the log file) you are right.

To use BeSweet I recommend use the last BeLight-0.22_RC1 (http://kurtnoise.free.fr/index.php?dir=BeLight/&file=BeLight-0.22_RC1.exe), and bsn_20070513 (http://kurtnoise.free.fr/index.php?dir=BeLight/&file=bsn_20070513.zip) , and encode directly to Aften.

[chronicking]

cool man thanx !!!!