3 audio streams in 2 channels in Premiere

[Filippo]

Hello,
in adobe premier I put this video file which has 3 audio: Stereo Italian, 5.1 Italian Stero Japanese.
However, when I put it in Premiere, I see only 2 audio tracks, and if I solo each track, one is italian and the plays italian and japanese together at the same time. This happens even if I create a sequence by dragging the video on the new sequence button. I think it's a premiere error of interpretation because in MKVToolNix and ffmpeg the streams are 3, not 2. How can I fix this?

Thanks

Stream #0:1(ita): Audio: ac3, 48000 Hz, 5.1(side), fltp, 448 kb/s (default)
    Metadata:
      title           : Surround 5.1
      BPS-eng         : 448000
      DURATION-eng    : 01:28:36.512000000
      NUMBER_OF_FRAMES-eng: 166141
      NUMBER_OF_BYTES-eng: 297724672
      SOURCE_ID-eng   : 0180BD
      _STATISTICS_WRITING_APP-eng: [url=https://www.videohelp.com/software/MakeMKV]MakeMKV[/url] v1.18.1 win(x64-release)
      _STATISTICS_WRITING_DATE_UTC-eng: 2025-10-09 16:41:52
      _STATISTICS_TAGS-eng: BPS DURATION NUMBER_OF_FRAMES NUMBER_OF_BYTES SOURCE_ID
  Stream #0:2(ita): Audio: ac3, 48000 Hz, stereo, fltp, 192 kb/s
    Metadata:
      title           : Stereo
      BPS-eng         : 192000
      DURATION-eng    : 01:28:36.512000000
      NUMBER_OF_FRAMES-eng: 166141
      NUMBER_OF_BYTES-eng: 127596288
      SOURCE_ID-eng   : 0181BD
      _STATISTICS_WRITING_APP-eng: MakeMKV v1.18.1 win(x64-release)
      _STATISTICS_WRITING_DATE_UTC-eng: 2025-10-09 16:41:52
      _STATISTICS_TAGS-eng: BPS DURATION NUMBER_OF_FRAMES NUMBER_OF_BYTES SOURCE_ID
  Stream #0:3(jpn): Audio: ac3, 48000 Hz, stereo, fltp, 192 kb/s
    Metadata:
      title           : Stereo
      BPS-eng         : 192000
      DURATION-eng    : 01:28:36.512000000
      NUMBER_OF_FRAMES-eng: 166141
      NUMBER_OF_BYTES-eng: 127596288
      SOURCE_ID-eng   : 0182BD
      _STATISTICS_WRITING_APP-eng: MakeMKV v1.18.1 win(x64-release)
      _STATISTICS_WRITING_DATE_UTC-eng: 2025-10-09 16:41:52
      _STATISTICS_TAGS-eng: BPS DURATION NUMBER_OF_FRAMES NUMBER_OF_BYTES SOURCE_ID

[videoAI]

Please post a sample so we can help you faster.

[Filippo]

Please post a sample so we can help you faster.

Here is a 10 sec sample: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zRXf1fpa2SlumPt_xqKru5M55gmQwKGc/view?usp=drive_link

this is how it looks in Premiere
[Attachment 90194 - Click to enlarge]

[videoAI]

Your share link says access denied and asks me to login

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zRXf1fpa2SlumPt_xqKru5M55gmQwKGc/view?usp=drive_link

[Filippo]

Your share link says access denied and asks me to login

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zRXf1fpa2SlumPt_xqKru5M55gmQwKGc/view?usp=drive_link

Should be fixed now

[videoAI]

Since I don't have Premier, I'm gonna take a guess that it either:
1- doesn't like the 6 Channels [possible channel mapping issue?], or
2- doesn't support ac3 @448 kb/s [possible bit rate limit?]

try:
1- reducing stream 1 to ac3, 6 ch, 192 kb/s first, and try it again in Premier
2- if that doesn't work, try re-mapping the 6-channels layout

you can do both in clever FFmpeg-GUI

Stream 0:0, Video, mpeg2video, 6536 kb/s, 720 x 576, 1.78, 25 fps, eng
Stream 0:1, Audio, ac3, 6 Channels, 448 kb/s, ita
Stream 0:2, Audio, ac3, 2 Channels, 192 kb/s, ita
Stream 0:3, Audio, ac3, 2 Channels, 192 kb/s, jpn
Stream 0:4, Subtitle, dvd_subtitle, ita
Stream 0:5, Subtitle, dvd_subtitle, ita
---> Chapters

[Attachment 90199 - Click to enlarge]

[ProWo]

Could be a muxing issue.
Retry with both remuxed samples.

[videoAI]

I noticed that Premier displays all your audio streams as 5.1.
That's odd !!, Isn't 2 of them stereo [2 ch]?
so, it doesn't recognize the included 5.1 stream, but it flags all audio stereo streams as 5.1 !!

[Attachment 90194 - Click to enlarge]

[Filippo]

I noticed that Premier displays all your audio streams as 5.1.
That's odd !!, Isn't 2 of them stereo [2 ch]?
so, it doesn't recognize the included 5.1 stream, but it flags all audio stereo streams as 5.1 !!

[Attachment 90194 - Click to enlarge]

If I play the A2 track as solo, i heard japanese and italian together.

I have to point out, I know that .mkv support is wonky in Premier, might it be it?

Could be a muxing issue.
Retry with both remuxed samples.

These files only show one italian audio track marked as 5.1

[ProWo]

Could be a muxing issue.
Retry with both remuxed samples.

These files only show one italian audio track marked as 5.1

Try to repair your Premiere installation.
Clear the temp files and restart your computer.

[videoAI]

@Filippo

#1- Try mux-ing the file but only select video stream and the 5.1 audio stream.
Q: does premier display the 5.1 audio? if not ->#2

#2- Extract Audio 5.1 stream only into raw stream or m4a [or mka] container.
Q: does premier display the 5.1 audio? if not reinstall Premier

[Filippo]

I tried uninstalling/reinstalling/empty cache Premiere but without results. I'm using Autokroma plugin to import mkv, It is compatible with the 2025 version, I tried disabling it but Premiere would not import .mkv. I tried using both override and not override Adobe file import without success. Anyway I have this issue even with the supported .mp4 sample.

[videoAI]

Your issue is not in the files, other tools open them fine, the issue is in your premier environment,
which unfortunately we don't have access to.

Repair, or reinstall your prog.

I tried uninstalling/reinstalling/empty cache Premiere but without results. I'm using Autokroma plugin to import mkv, It is compatible with the 2025 version, I tried disabling it but Premiere would not import .mkv. I tried using both override and not override Adobe file import without success. Anyway I have this issue even with the supported .mp4 sample.

[cholla]

Your issue is not in the files, other tools open them fine, the issue is in your premier environment,
which unfortunately we don't have access to.

Repair, or reinstall your prog.

I agree with videoAI.

You might try opening the 5.1 file in Audacity.
Then exporting it as the same statistics for the file.
Then add this file to Premiere as the 5.1 channel file.
See if Premiere detects it & show audio on it.

This is one I did with Audacity.
Give it a try.