People always associate stereo with mono when talking about audio channels. Stereo is one of the most familiar sound effects if you listen to basically any music over your computer or in headphones. To make it simple, stereo sound system has a right audio track and a left audio track. 5.1 channel is different. It is multi-channel, which creates surround sound effect. The sound can reach the audience from all directions. The most commonly used scenarios are in home theaters or digital broadcasts. Converting stereo to 5.1 can give listeners or viewers a better experience. Keep reading to know more especially if you want to get how to make it.

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Two Suggested Stereo to 5.1 converters to use

Video Converter Studio

Video Converter Studio is the perfect file transcoder tool for frequent users who need to do conversion between video and video, video and audio, audio and audio, audio and video, etc. With the software to convert stereo to 5.1, all you have to do is “add files”, change audio channel and then create the new file with 5.1 channel. It’s way easier and more convenience. You don’t need a decent amount of money to pay for some kinda digital devices. If you look further into it, you’ll find it has all kinds of features that you want. It can:

Convert any video audio file into all the most popular formats.

Download online videos from 10,000+ video sites.

Include a video editing tool.

Record all sorts of activities displayed on the computer screen.

Create MV with personal pictures and music in different transitional effects.

Play multimedia files without installing other codecs any more.

And the detailed steps of converting stereo to 5.1 are followed:

Download and install the software to the PC at the very beginning.

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Open the file(s) in it via the “Add files” button.

Drop down “Profile” to select a proper format for outputting the file from the listing.

Click “Settings”, choose “Channel” > “5.1” and hit “OK”.

Press “Convert” after you’re redirected to the main interface.

VLC Player

Wouldn’t it be nice if you just had VLC installed on your computer? It isn’t just a media player. It’s a Swiss Army Knife for digital videos and music to some extent. Having VLC to convert stereo to 5.1 is really as simple as you use it to play back movies, if you are patient and energetic to dig deeper into its hidden useful and fun features. They are:

Convert media files between formats it supports.

Extract audio from a video and save it as a separate file.

Stream media files over the Internet.

Work as a screen capture tool to record your desktop to a file.

Apply audio effects and video effects to make the tweaked files look attractive.

The procedure to change stereo to 5.1 surround sound is:

Run VLC, hold Ctrl and press P to open “Advanced Preferences”. Select “All” under the “Show settings” area at the bottom left corner. Expand Audio tree and choose Output “Modules” > “DirectX”. Drop down “Output device” bar to select the device you’ll use. Drop down “Speaker configuration” and choose “5.1” from the menu. Press “Save” and restart VLC.

Extended Reading of 5.1 Channel

5.1 surround sound systems use 6 channels (5 standard and 1 subwoofer) to create surround sound. They are: a center speaker, left and right front speaker, left and right rear speaker, subwoofer for low frequency effects. Dolby Labs invented it in 1976 and first use in 1992 for Batman Returns. 5.1 is commonly achieved with Dolby Digital and DTS systems. The differences are:

DTS is less compressed and also less common than Dolby Digital.

DTS offers a deeper and tighter low-frequency sound effect.

DTS seems to be more three dimensional than Dolby Digital.

Dolby Digital sounds like MP3’s encoded at 96kbps when it is at lower bitrate.

5.1 surround sound is suitable for small or medium-sized rooms. As it has a smaller number of speakers, it is the industry standard which can be found in most DVDs and Blu-ray disks as well as video games, HDTV and commercial cinemas.

Let us know in the comments below if you know any other good stereo to 5.1 converter apps I missed. Or if you think this post is useful not a waste of time, please do not hesitate to share it with other people it might help.