The Recipe

for 5.1 surround

@ home

How to take a 5.1 mix, encode it as a Dolby Digital AC-3 file with
  1. Do a 5.1 surround mix recording each of the 6 tracks as .wav files of identical length (include silence on mute channels), in 16 bit 44.1kHZ *.
  2. Open the application of your choice and assign each of the .wav files to the proper channel (left, center, right, left sur, right sur, LFE)
  3. Set the encode parameters for 3/2 mode and enable the LFE channel. Set the Data Rate to 448 kbps** and the sample rate to match the files (44.1kHZ).
  4. make sure the application is set to save the file as a *.wav file with the data rate just discussed, then process or record the file.
  5. Use a CD-Audio recorder program such as CD-Architect or EZ-CD Creator to record this 16 bit wav file as a Red Book audio file on a CD-R.
  6. Place this hybrid CD-AC3 disk in you DVD player that is hooked up to a 5.1 receiver with Dolby digital decoding. Turn the volume all the way down, press play and play the file.


If all has gone well, your mix will be playing pack on your home theater system.

WARNING If the receiver decides to play the data straight off the disk without decoding it to 5.1 surround, it will be peak to peak digital information that could hurt your ears and your loudspeakers if turned up without caution.
 

*An option is 24 bit 48kHZ
** Higher data rates will work (640 kbps) but it depends on the DVD player
 

Some potential problems are that certain DVD players do not support CD-R playback, that would nullify this process, other DVD's have trouble decoding the AC-3 and will playback peak-peak digital in two channels or it may just mute and not play anything, and finally some DVD players give a single digital click and the first time as they acquire the properties of the track and then perform fine over several different tracks.
 
 
 

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