Exported 16 channel wav not working

Audacity 3 Help Forum Windows
1

-Alright, ill try to get to the meat and bones as best as i can:


*Im using this (V.2.3.3) version of Audacity.

*All the tracks are the same audio file.

*When i export as a 8 channel wav, it plays fine, so no issues with 8 or bellow.

*Advanced mixing options on of course.

*Yes i’ve tried spital sound, a 7.1 surround soundcard, and other audio devices in my house, on-head and speakers, still the same result, no payback.

*it’s not an issue with my soundcard, i have played games with 16 channel audio implemented.

*Im using Windows 10, all my drivers are up to date.

*When exporting, I leave the stock settings as they are, all the lines connecting to eachother in a straight, no channel is reaching to the bottom or top or elsewere blue audio boxes, just all connected in couples like a ladder

*For extra messures, i did try exporting in all the 3 bitrates .wav’s have to offer.

*Im not any mixing master-mind god, as you can tell from my name, so there might be a obvious issue here im missing out on.


-My questions: (in general)

1 (most wanted to know). How can i export anything more than 8 channels and have it be a playable file?

  1. Will downloading V.2.4.2 help?

  2. Is there any specific method of exporting in 16.ch wav apart from the one i use?

  3. Any questions you have for me? Happy to answer as well!

2

So, in Audacity 2.4.2, I create 16 tracks. Then Edit > Preferences > Import/Export > Use Advanced Mixing Options > OK.
File > Export As Wave > Save > (1:1 chart appears) > OK > OK.
File > Close > No
File > Import > Audio… > [name] OK --or-- File > Open > [name] OK

Audacity loads my 16 tracks OK. :smiley:

Is there any reason you are not running 2.4.2 ? :smiley:

3

I’ve never seen a 16-channel playback system and I’ll bet you don’t have one… :wink: I have a 5.1 channel system but I’ve only played DVDs & Blu-Rays. I’ve never tried a 6-chanel WAV file.

Dolby Atmos can handle a large number of channels and they will be dowmixed by the playback system (i.e. a Home Theater Receiver) to match the number channels you actually have. But as far as I know there is no “home software” for making Atmos files. I’m not sure if there is software for playing Atmos files on a computer… It’s normally done by hardware (actually firmware in the receiver).

Audacity can downmix to 5.1 and it can make a Dolby (AC3) file. If you have DVD (or Blu-ray) authoring software you can “format” or “package” the audio and burn a DVD with surround sound that will play on any DVD player. And as long as the playback system is set-up properly it will be dowmixed again if you have a stereo playback system or when listening on headphones. The “shinny disc” formats are well-standardized.


P.S.
There is another potential issue with WAV files - WAV files are limited to 4GB and if you have a “movie length” 16-channel file you’ll probably exceed that limit (depending on the sample rate and bit-depth) and you’ll get unpredictable/undefined results.

P.P.S.
When you play a multi-track/mulit-channel file in Audacity it gets mixed-down to stereo so you’ll have to export and play with another application if you want to hear surround sound.

4

Is there any reason you are > not > running 2.4.2 ? > :smiley:

to be honest i just thought audacity would update by itself lmao, but when i looked at the newest version i was dazzled
by how far it came :smiley:

so in honour i’ll download V.2.4.2 and hope my problem is fixed, this might aswell just be a problem
with my old version all along who knows

5

It’s possible that future versions of Audacity may do that, but none of the Audacity development / support team are keen on apps that “phone home”. Linux has a very secure and efficient way to handle automatic updates, but on Windows / Mac it has to be done extremely carefully to avoid opening up security holes, and far too often auto-update is abused to gather usage data without the user’s consent. For now we just provide a link to the website in:
“Help menu > Check for Updates”.