SurroundByUs.com

Hello there. I am in the process of converting my old LP's to digital format. I was wondering if there was a way (what program) to convert stereo to 5.1 or 7.1 surround sound. I might not have the terminology correct. I am new to this, but would really love to record CD's in 5.1 or 7.1 surround sound so that they can be played on systems that have 5.1 or 7.1 surround sound capabilities and not just simulated surround sound.

I am not a novice computer user, but am novice when it comes to sound files and conversions.

Welcome.

The stereo to 5.1 conversion tool is here: viewtopic.php?f=8&t=266

7.1 can be achieved with that tool by passing the surround channels (as if they were stereo) thought the tool a 2nd time to derive side and back channels. However a full 7.1 version is now in testing.

Since you mentioned CDs, that maximum ch. count on CDs (DTS Music Disc format) is 5.1. For 7.1 you need Blu-Ray or AVCHD (Basically Blu-Ray format on DVD media, still requires a Blu-Ray player).

Of course there are also software players and ways to stream your digital media to your Home Theater Receiver, but some thought as to how/where you will play your music may dictate the target format.

Cheers,
Z

where are your SPEC, ZPAN, and ZAG plugins? where is your peak compressor VST?

Where can I get these?

I am trying to convert my stereo files that I have made from LP's to Surround sound files. This appears to be what I need.

SPEC421_ ZAG17_ZMon.rar [20.57 KiB] I down loaded it but it seems to be missing several items.....

The spec 421 module
Zpan Module
Zag 1.7 Module
Limiters Module
ZMon Module
LI RI Sync
Recording Control and Delay

There is a ZMon module that appears to be missing something under it.

I have just started the project and am trying to find a program or programs that I can use to convert Stereo to 5.1 or 7.1 Surround Sound. Plogue and Bidules along with spec appears to be what I need, the only problem is that I can't seem to get all the pieces needed.

I will look at the link you posted, but the latest version of spec seems to be missing key modules needed.


>The stereo to 5.1 conversion tool is here: viewtopic.php?f=8&t=266

Read the topic and I seem to be missing something.

>Since you mentioned CDs, that maximum ch. count on CDs (DTS Music Disc format) is 5.1. For 7.1 you need Blu-Ray or AVCHD (Basically Blu-Ray format on DVD media, still >requires a Blu-Ray player).

Just interested in the 5.1 DTS (now I know that it's a format), since I am only interested in doing CD's at this point.

In the SPEC421_ ZAG17_ZMon package, several of the items seem to be missing from my package (see above). I looked at the videos and they all pretty much show the same diagram (which appears to be what I need).

Even if I had all the pieces, I am still not clear on how to get the music put into the Plogue to get it to process. I am just totally lost here. I have started reading the SPEC 4.85 pdf but haven't gotten through it yet.

Anyway, still confused and looking for help.

What programs do I need to be able to port stereo to DTS?
Does the new version of Spec have a different set of tools that it uses to do the conversions?

Somehow you are not following the link to the current package, which is SPEC 4.85 NOT 4.2.1

To put the music into the spec layout you need a single wave and cue file for the entire album. You load the wave file into the audio file player. You open the cue file in an editor, like notepad, hit control A then Control c, top copy the whole thing, then paste it (control V) into the cue file box in ZAG.

If you are working from a CD it is easy to create the single wave and cue file with Exact Audio copy. See here: viewtopic.php?f=7&t=10

I followed the link. It's just that the setup in SPEC 4.2.1 was what all the video examples were used for. So that was my basic reference. I have SPEC 4.85. It's components are different. Not sure what most of them do. I would like to know so that I can better understand what I am doing.

OK. I figured out the CUE file part. Except where to get it or how to create it. Does it come on a CD? What audio file player (need a name please) and I take it, you use one on your computer and don't drop it into on of the bidules. I even figured out where ZAG was.

Let me say that most of the stuff is very foreign to me, and I'm a bit slow on the uptake for this. I have converted a couple of Albums to digital format. Then used the software to chop it up into it's individual tracks, and made MP3's out of them so I could put them on a MP3 player. I will be working with 45's also. I have not done anything with CD's at this point. I had planned on copying the completed 5.1 surround sound files to CD. I will have to see if I can find one to take a look at it and see if I can find a CUE File on it.

I got a copy of Exact Audio Copy. Will have to see how it works (If I can find an audio cd.

I took a quick look at the ref you put down, and I see that I have a few more programs to acquire (if they are not all needed it would be really nice to know which ones I didn't need).

Ok. You get the single wav file (would it be the same as making a copy of the whole album) from using EAC.

What happens after this? I'll look more at the tutorials and see if I can figure that part out. I do appreciate the information and ask that you have patience with me.
Would working through Skype be easier to walk me through a project from start to finish, after I get all the programs and go through the tutorials some more. Let me know something.

I just finished updating the spec video guides page: viewtopic.php?f=8&t=171 to cover the changes in ZAG.

Suggest you watch the "10 min quick start quide" video to see a complete conversion process (except ignore the old method of getting a cue file into ZAG). Then watch the other videos on that page. The Chapter 2 video has now been updated to show the current method of getting cue files into ZAG.

Yes cue files are associated with CDs. I'll let some other other folks here that have worked with Vinyl rips to tell you how they generate cue files but you can certainly get cue files from cuesheet heaven: http://www.regeert.nl/cuesheet/. The timing just needs to match up with your rip. You could check this using foobar (see below) by editing your cue file in a text editor, to point to your album long vinyl rip wave file. Then load the cue file in foobar and it will show the individual songs and let you play them. If the songs start and end in the right place then your timing is right.

As far as an audio file player I use foobar2000, for general stuff. I have my surround music collection in iTunes, but may be the only one on the planet doing that so don't let that distract you for now (there are guides on that posted in the General Methods section of the Wiki). Foobar is a great swiss army knife of a player/converter. Definitely should be in your toolbox.

cue files are not "on" the CD, but can be created from it with EAC or Foobar.

Z

He there. I am making progress. I was able to create a cue file. Probably did it wrong, but this is what it gave me.

REM DISCID BE0CAA0E
REM COMMENT "ExactAudioCopy v1.0b3"
PERFORMER "Unknown Artist"
TITLE "Unknown Title"
FILE "Range.wav" WAVE
TRACK 01 AUDIO
TITLE "Track01"
PERFORMER "Unknown Artist"
INDEX 01 00:00:00

I will watch all the videos again, and see if I can get less confused. I watched the 10 minute quick start guide and was able to follow a lot of it (had Plogue open and trying to match the steps). I watch the videos and see what I can pick up.

The updates are for ZAG 3.0 I take it.

Thanks again for the help.
I did notice that one of the programs that was use was called Track-Time6 (that was all I could see of the name). I searched on the net for it, but could not find the program. Got an address for it. I will pick up a copy of Foobar 2000. Like the other guy that was complaining about how complicated the conversions are, I would prefer an elegant and simple program to do that, but I don't want to spend the 500.00 on the one I saw.

Will take at the cue sheet url and see what that is about.

The itunes option is very intreiging. I would like to do that also, but first things first. Is all your music in itunes albums? Or did you seperate them into single tracks?

Wow. that Quesheet place is awesome (can't remember the correct name). I looked up the CD and it had the info and it came up. Neat.

Tracktime 6 is the program that isn't needed anymore because of Zag 3.0 taking cue sheets directly.

All my surround music (that is in 44.1KHz format) is in iTunes. They all show as individual songs. Assuming you are on windows, you would need an apple airport express to connect to your Home Theater Receiver with an optical cable. iTunes can't decode DTS so you have to stream it via an airport express. Your receiver then decodes it.

Better focus on conversions for now. As you said, first things first.

I got a copy of Exact Auto Copy and Foobar2000. Where do you get Surcode CD Pro? Where do you get the burn program? What does LFE stand for? I think it is for the subwoofer, but I am not sure....

In the Spec 4.85 Control Pre Gain, do you need for music to be playing to be able to operate it? I assume it does, but the guide does not say so.

Where do you find the Launch1.0_1?

What is R8Brain Pro and how do you use it?

Have you got a check list of things you do and the order you do them? One written out that I could follow? I work better than way.

In an earlier message I put a snippet of a cue sheet I was able to make (can't remember now how I did it....that is where a checklist would come in handy). Did I do something wrong since it did not have any information in it. What about the timing thing. How do you make those? I have no short term memory and forget things. It's why I need a checklist...

A little farther along the path.

Thanks again for all the help.

Looks like CD only version surcode is no longer available. There is one inexpensive DTS encoder out there: http://www.vortexzoom.com/

You want the "surround encoder", not the "zoom encoder". They never mention DTS on the site but if you load up your 6 channels of mono in the surround encoder and press export, one of the formats in the dropdown codec menu is DTS.

imgburn is here: http://www.imgburn.com/

For pregain, yeah, it's a volume control, so it only makes sense to change it while audio is playing.

Launch is part of layout control

R8Brain is an audio resampler. If your conversions have a "swooshing" sound on cymbals or snare you can get better quality results by resampling your stereo to a higher sample rate, such as 88.1Khz, and running through spec at that sample rate (plogue --> preferences --> dsp settings) and then resampling the mono files back to 44.1KHz before encoding. Suggest you not worry about that now.

In fact, why don't you start with the "Simple" layout, and get comfortable with that before worrying about cue files and ZAG and some of these more advanced features.