Hi,

I have 4 cds that I want to mix into a single cd/dvd that will enable me to pop it into a dvd player and enjoy a 5.1 mix of all 4 cds.

Is this possible?
What programs are needed?
What codecs are needed?

Thanks in advance for any help given.

This project wouldn't happen to be Zaireeka by the Flaming Lips, would it (that is, four discs that are supposed to play simultaneously, instead of sequentially)? Short answer: yes, it is possible... but you'll still have to make a few decisions about channel mapping, to effectively down-mix the existing eight channels.

- M.

Zaireeka itself isn't 5.1, is it?

why not do a stereo Mux and use multiple tracks?

Left Channel:
CD1 LC
CD2 LC
CD3 LC
CD4 LC

Right Channel:
CD1 RC
CD2 RC
CD3 RC
CD4 RC

...i guess we have to wait and find out what the actual source material is, M


later

Funny, I was thinking the same thing before I scrolled down and saw your post. =)

Yes!
The project is Zaireeka by the Flaming Lips.

I've seen something similar been done, but the source was mp3's of the cds.
I have the cds in my possession and want to do a proper encode if at all possible.

The stereo mix sounds interesting, although I'll admit I'm a huge newb when it comes to these things.

Could someone explain the difference in encoding to 5.1 over a stereo mix?

Thanks for the input guys!

well, you need

-a professional software that magically transforms your 8 channels (4xstereo from CD) into 5 plus the low frequency extra one. doing this right would be very hard I assume.. a nice hobby project for a recording engineer

-an encoder that transforms the downmixed 6 channels into DVDplayer readable format (AC3 or DTS). Those are not cheap, don't know about the quality of the free ones availible

-a software that creates a DVD with the encoded audio stream and a fake video stream to make it compliant (unless you want a DVD-Audio which calls for even more problems)

I read on Amazon that there exists a downmixed CD of this opus, maybe you should get that one instead

Horrendous.

well the real problem would be the downmixing anyway

do you want CD2 more on front right or rear left? CD4 as background stuff more mixed into center? see where this goes....

a very dirty hack would be
-downmixing the 4 CDs to mono
-put those 4 (awful sounding) tracks into a channel each (FL FR RL RR)
-find some tool that somehow extracts the center and lowfreq channels from that mish-mash with a pre-defined matrix
-use freeware or "demo" software to make a DVD from it. somehow.

Enjoy

if this is what you're talking about, Adobe Audition makes the process converting to 5.1 disgustingly easy if you have the 5 or 6 mono files...

just go into MultiChannel View, then View > Multichannel Encoder

well, now that i think about it, that will only help if you have a 5.1 setup on your computer. DVD authoring software that has a decent encoder (Scenarist, DVD Studio Pro are the ones i've actually tried and found to be quite simple) will let you select each channel you want to convert to a 5.1 AC-3 file (the audio on a DVD-Video disc) from mono WAVs (or other format) and output to whatever bitrate you want.

yeah, then author it to a fake video or a slide of a slideshow...