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

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: or as a zip file (3MB) 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.When Audition opens, choose File > Import to import your stereo source file. Double-click on the file list at left to open the file in Edit view. Choose Edit > Convert Sample Type. Select 32 bit from the list at the right of the dialog box and click OK. 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. Select entire wave file (Ctrl+A or right click and choose Select Entire Wave). Choose Effects > Amplitude > Amplify/Fade. 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. While still in Edit View, Press Ctrl+M three times to copy the file into the first three multitrack slots. Switch to Multitrack view by clicking on the tab or pressing the 9 key. Click the FX button for Track 1 in Multitrack view. 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. Add a limiter. This can be the Kjaerhus Audio Classic Master Limiter, or others such as Audition’s own Hard Limiter. 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. Click the FX button for Track 2 in Multitrack view. This time, add CLFE and a limiter to the effects rack. 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. 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) 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. 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.

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.

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 . Regards, Steve.

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.

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.

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? :thanks:

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.

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.

Many many thanks! Downloading it now. EDIT: Worked like a charm. Now I can hear what is doing what. Thanks again!

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?