Problem with Adobe Audition 5.1 session output

[humprof]

Looking for some help from the Adobe Audition experts. I'm new to Audition--using the latest perpetual-rental version, 24.2, which I get for free through my school--on a Windows 11 PC, and I can't seem to get a Multitrack Session to output a 5.1 file as 5.1. (The problem: it keeps giving me a stereo file in a 5.1 container.)

If I open my 5.1 FLAC file (actually 4.0 with silent C & LFE) as a file and then save it as a file, it's fine. But if I open it in a Multitrack Session (in order to apply some effects or plugins, say) and then try to output the Mix Track (what Audition used to call the Master, I gather) as a 5.1 file, what I get instead is stereo in the FL & FR of a 5.1 container. I've scoured the web, Adobe's online Audition user manual, and the Adobe Community forums trying to figure out where I've gone wrong and I'm still scratching my head. Anyone have any ideas of where I might be going wrong?

Here's what I've been doing:

• File > New Multitrack Session [no Template; set Sample Rate and Bit Depth to match the source file(s) I plan to import into the session, choose "5.1" Mix]
• File > Import > [my 5.1 file]
  • (That file, now a "track," is routed to the Mix Track by default, but I always check to make sure)
• Set the Mix Track output to "5.1 > Default" (it then displays as "Default Surround Output (5.1)")
• Apply any desired effects and/or plugins to the Mix Track
• File > Export > Multitrack Mixdown > Entire Session
  • In the popup window that opens, specify a file name, location, and format (FLAC); edit/change Format Settings and Mixdown Options if necessary

The resulting mixdown file comes out as a stereo file (FL & FR channels) in a 5.1 container.

I have a feeling that some combination of Hardware Channel Mapping and audio input & output configuration settings may be the culprit here, but I could be wrong--and at any rate, I'm also a bit mystified by those settings.

 

[Sonik Wiz]

Looking for some help from the Adobe Audition experts. I'm new to Audition--using the latest perpetual-rental version, 24.2, which I get for free through my school--on a Windows 11 PC, and I can't seem to get a Multitrack Session to output a 5.1 file as 5.1. (The problem: it keeps giving me a stereo file in a 5.1 container.)

If I open my 5.1 FLAC file (actually 4.0 with silent C & LFE) as a file and then save it as a file, it's fine. But if I open it in a Multitrack Session (in order to apply some effects or plugins, say) and then try to output the Mix Track (what Audition used to call the Master, I gather) as a 5.1 file, what I get instead is a stereo in the FL & FR of a 5.1 container. I've scoured the web, the Adobe's online Audition user manual, and the Adobe Community forums trying to figure out where I've gone wrong and I'm still scratching my head. Anyone have any ideas of where I might be going wrong?

Here's what I've been doing:

• File > New Multitrack Session [no Template; set Sample Rate and Bit Depth to match the source file(s) I plan to import into the session, choose "5.1" Mix]
• File > Import > [my 5.1 file]
  • (That file, now a "track," is routed to the Mix Track by default, but I always check to make sure)
• Set the Mix Track output to "5.1 > Default" (it then displays as "Default Surround Output (5.1)")
• Apply any desired effects and/or plugins to the Mix Track
• File > Export > Multitrack Mixdown > Entire Session
  • In the popup window that opens, specify a file name, location, and format (FLAC); edit/change Format Settings and Mixdown Options if necessary

The resulting mixdown file comes out as a stereo file (FL & FR channels) in a 5.1 container.

I have a feeling that some combination of Hardware Channel Mapping and audio input & output configuration settings may be the culprit here, but I could be wrong--and at any rate, I'm also a bit mystified by those settings.

I use an ancient version of AA. But the first thing that comes to mind is if you click view do you see a surround encoder in the drop down? That's where you assign the locations of the tracks from multi-view. Then you can export individual WAV files or a combined continuous 5.1 FLAC file.

Could be different in the new version but I thought I would mention it.

 

[Mr. Afternoon]

Looking for some help from the Adobe Audition experts. I'm new to Audition--using the latest perpetual-rental version, 24.2, which I get for free through my school--on a Windows 11 PC, and I can't seem to get a Multitrack Session to output a 5.1 file as 5.1. (The problem: it keeps giving me a stereo file in a 5.1 container.)

If I open my 5.1 FLAC file (actually 4.0 with silent C & LFE) as a file and then save it as a file, it's fine. But if I open it in a Multitrack Session (in order to apply some effects or plugins, say) and then try to output the Mix Track (what Audition used to call the Master, I gather) as a 5.1 file, what I get instead is stereo in the FL & FR of a 5.1 container. I've scoured the web, Adobe's online Audition user manual, and the Adobe Community forums trying to figure out where I've gone wrong and I'm still scratching my head. Anyone have any ideas of where I might be going wrong?

Here's what I've been doing:

• File > New Multitrack Session [no Template; set Sample Rate and Bit Depth to match the source file(s) I plan to import into the session, choose "5.1" Mix]
• File > Import > [my 5.1 file]
  • (That file, now a "track," is routed to the Mix Track by default, but I always check to make sure)
• Set the Mix Track output to "5.1 > Default" (it then displays as "Default Surround Output (5.1)")
• Apply any desired effects and/or plugins to the Mix Track
• File > Export > Multitrack Mixdown > Entire Session
  • In the popup window that opens, specify a file name, location, and format (FLAC); edit/change Format Settings and Mixdown Options if necessary

The resulting mixdown file comes out as a stereo file (FL & FR channels) in a 5.1 container.

I have a feeling that some combination of Hardware Channel Mapping and audio input & output configuration settings may be the culprit here, but I could be wrong--and at any rate, I'm also a bit mystified by those settings.

Could you post some screenshots?

 

[humprof]

I use an ancient version of AA. But the first thing that comes to mind is if you click view do you see a surround encoder in the drop down? That's where you assign the locations of the tracks from multi-view. Then you can export individual WAV files or a combined continuous 5.1 FLAC file.

Could be different in the new version but I thought I would mention it.

Could you post some screenshots?

Thanks for the replies, gents.

Nothing even remotely similar to "Surround Encoder" in the "View" dropdown menu of this version of Audition, @Sonik Wiz--although you do remind me that I have old copies of Audition CS2 and CS3 lying around; maybe I should try one of those....

@Mr. Afternoon: are you well-versed in the latest iterations of Audition? If so, are there specific things that it would help you to see--certain settings or menu trees or stages in my process--that aren't clear from my descriptions?

 

[Mr. Afternoon]

Thanks for the replies, gents.

Nothing even remotely similar to "Surround Encoder" in the "View" dropdown menu of this version of Audition, @Sonik Wiz--although you do remind me that I have old copies of Audition CS2 and CS3 lying around; maybe I should try one of those....

@Mr. Afternoon: are you well-versed in the latest iterations of Audition? If so, are there specific things that it would help you to see--certain settings or menu trees or stages in my process--that aren't clear from my descriptions?

I'm versed in the latest iterations of Audition, I just have trouble visualizing LOL.

 

[Mr. Afternoon]

Wait @humprof on the master track you HAVE to set the default output as 5.1 IIRC...try that.

 

[humprof]

I'm versed in the latest iterations of Audition, I just have trouble visualizing LOL.

I get you. Really, though, I'm just trying to figure out what I need to do in order to get my sessions to output 5.1 as 5.1! I'm loading a 5.1 FLAC file into a session in order to apply a plug-in to it, but for some reason Audition outputs it as stereo in a 5.1 container. (I thought I had all the proper settings ticked, but clearly something is amiss somewhere....)

Wait @humprof on the master track you HAVE to set the default output as 5.1 IIRC...try that.

Yep--as per the 3d bullet in my OP, the master track (which Adobe has renamed the "Mix Track" in the latest edition) is set to output as 5.1.

 

[Mr. Afternoon]

Is the stereo audio a downmix or just the front two channels? If it's just the front two channels, one of the effects You're using doesn't support surround...

 

[humprof]

Is the stereo audio a downmix or just the front two channels? If it's just the front two channels, one of the effects You're using doesn't support surround...

It's just the front two channels. But no, I've checked and triple-checked--it's definitely not the plug-in. Even if I simply import a 5.1 track into the session and then output it again from the Mix Track without doing anything to it, it comes out as stereo--FL & FR--in a 5.1 container.

 

[mandrix]

I don't use the multitrack sessions, I import a mch file into Audition and use the edit view. You can selectively apply effects by "turning off" different tracks by clicking the track number(s) on the right side of the screen.
Don't know if this will help you...

 

[mandrix]

Also you can "select" an area to apply effects to, whether it's one track or all.

 

[humprof]

I don't use the multitrack sessions, I import a mch file into Audition and use the edit view. You can selectively apply effects by "turning off" different tracks by clicking the track number(s) on the right side of the screen.
Don't know if this will help you...

That's a great tip for a temporary workaround, actually; working with the file alone does let me apply my plug-in and then save a new/renamed (5.1) copy. So thanks! It add more steps to my workflow, though, so I'd still love to learn how to fix the Mix Track output.

 

[par4ken]

As Sonik Wiz said, use the surround encoder to output 5.1. I don't know if your version has it but version 3.0 does. There was discussion recently about the free version of this and it can still be found through the Wayback Machine. The link can be found in that other post.

 

[Sonik Wiz]

Yeah... sometimes older is better than newer. You can quote me on that.

 

[humprof]

As Sonik Wiz said, use the surround encoder to output 5.1. I don't know if your version has it but version 3.0 does. There was discussion recently about the free version of this and it can still be found through the Wayback Machine. The link can be found in that other post.

Yep--I do actually have a free copy of 3.0, as well. But following @mandrix's advice, it turns out I can output 5.1 with the current version, too--even without having to activate any specific surround encoder setting--as long as I open and edit a standalone file on its own, rather than importing that file into a session. One day, I'll figure out how to successfully export in surround from a session Mix Track....

 

[mandrix]

Prof there's a "convert to 5.1" option in the menu but I have no clue what it does, or if it works in the multitrack section.

 

[humprof]

Prof there's a "convert to 5.1" option in the menu but I have no clue what it does, or if it works in the multitrack section.

Pretty sure that's a 5.1 upmixer. Your earlier tip will let me get on with my project, though!

 

[zcftr29]

Are you sure you are adding the 5.1 flac file to a 5.1 track?

If you add a 5.1 file to a stereo track, it will be downimxed

 

[humprof]

Are you sure you are adding the 5.1 flac file to a 5.1 track?

View attachment 103057

If you add a 5.1 file to a stereo track, it will be downimxed

Thanks. Yep--importing a 5.1 track into a 5.1 session.

 

[zcftr29]

The default tracks when you start a 5.1 session are stereo. To add a 5.1 file to a 5.1 multi track session, you have to first add a 5.1 track