AVI audio extraction

[guitar_george_skank]

How can i tell what kind of audio is within an .avi file? The reason being is i normally extract the audio as an uncompressed .wav file using virtualdub. If avi's can contain AC3 audio then I would like to extract the AC3 audio and decode it using headac3he. I suppose i really need to know the following:

1 - Can .avi files contain ac3 audio?
2 - Will I be better off extracting that ac3 audio and using headac3he to create a .wav or .mp2? (a subjective question i know).
3 - Will the audio quality be any better this way?

Your opinions are greatly appreciated, thanks.

[guitar_george_skank]

I've just read another post about ac3 audio. Ac3 can be present in divx avi files but how do I know if a divx has AC3 or not?

[pijetro]

1) Yes, .AVI files are known to contain AC3 files

2) Separate AC3 with Virtualdub (guides available on the left), use heada3che for conversion into .wav, then toolame to make it an .mp2,Or take the .wav straight into your encoder.

3) As for quality, I'm guessing 95% that you won't tell a difference. I personally don't loose any sleep over audio issues.

4) You should know if you have AC3 in your .AVI if you open up the movie in Vdub, and under the file>file information, you don't have any information on audio specs.