Converting WAV to MP3/WMA

[waheed]

I have a WAV file 6 channel that I need converting to either MP3 or WMA. Ive done a serach in this forum and googled from the answer, but all the tools ive come across with convert to stereo.

I need to convert to MP3/WMA but also retain the 6 channels, not downmix to 2 channels.

Im not sure if this is possible with MP3, but I do know its possible with WMA.

Is there any tool that allows me to convert WAV 6 channel to MP3 or WMA 6 channel.

Thanks.

[yoda313]

Hi,

http://fileforum.betanews.com/detail/MP3_Surround_Evaluation_Software/1102032674/1

I did a yahoo search for "6 channel mp3" and found this link.

Should help.

Kevin

[waheed]

Thanks Kevin for the info.

But that software is only capable of playing surround MP3, not converting them to surround. I tried to convert to MP3, but it downmixes to 2 channels (stereo).

[waheed]

Anyone?

[mats.hogberg]

Sounds cool - what player capable of playing sorround MP3/WMA do you have?

/Mats

[waheed]

Well, im just doing some experimenting with car systems that are capable of playing mp3/wma.

[corrax]

That Fraunhofer software also includes an encoder. Here is a direct link to their site if you need more information:

http://www.iis.fraunhofer.de/amm/download/mp3surround/index.html

[corrax]

Just to clarify, I tested this with a sample 6-channel WAV available on their site.

1. Converted it to MP3 using their encoder. Windows thought it was 2-channel stereo.
2. Played the file in their surround player. The software told me the file was 5.1 surround.
3. Played an MP3 that I know to be 2-channel in their software. It told me that the file was stereo, not surround.

[Cornucopia]

Yes, it should be using MPEG2.5 Layer 3 (Backward Compatible) spec, which means it encodes MPEG1 Layer3 in stereo like normal, and then appends the surround chunks. Non-surround players just ignore the surround channels and plays the "fallback" chunks. Since it doesn't know any better, it assumes it is stereo.

Incidentally, it duplicates the front L, R channels in the surrounds for compatibility sake, but this comes at a cost of compression bloat, and there is some discrepancy between a correctly downmixed 2 channel file and an automatically downmixed version of a surround file--that's why the MPEG people came up with the idea of the "Non-Backward Compatible" (aka AAC). This applies to Layer 2 as well as Layer 3.

Also, there is no "Surround" flag in 2-channel MPEG audio (unlike Dolby Digital), so if it sees just 2 channels, it should read stereo and not surround.

Scott

[waheed]

Its works only with Fraunhofer software, all the other software players like media player classic, powerdvd, wmp etc.. recognises the mp3 as stereo.

Thanks for all your help guys.

[Cornucopia]

Think of it like Color and Black&White broadcasting.
Black&White receivers/monitors will show B/W even with color signal, as the signal is formatted such that it gives a backward-compatible B/W signal + the supplemental color subcarrier info, the color part being ignored by B/W monitor.

Color monitors & receivers will show Color programs as color, but they will also show B/W programs as plain B/W. It can't "automatically create" color where there is none. There is no Color supplement.

99.999% of mp3 players out there (incl. WMP, etc) are 2ChannelMp3-aware only. It's possible that the Maven softwares read it as fully surround, but I've had difficulty getting it to work.

Scott