HDR-CX410VE audio

[thomas_nielsen_]

The HDR-CX410VE records either dolby digital 5.1ch or 2ch. I only use 2ch for TV and music at home. By recording 5.1ch, I will have the opportunity to play back 5.1ch in the future, but if there is a sound advance in recording 2ch, I prefer that. Can anyone answer the following questions:

For 2ch sound, is it optimal to record in 2ch, or will the sound be equally good by downmixing recorded 5.1ch?

Is there less compression on the individual channels when recording 2ch?

Is the build-in microphone optimized for 5.1ch?

Are all microphone channels in use when recording 2ch?

[hunter99]

Those are deep questions . . it will be interesting to see what comes back.

FWIW, I always use 2-ch - I'm not convinced that any "processing" is a good thing, so I prefer straight audio.

However, if you are serious about Audio, then it may be worth using a dedicated audio-recorder and upgrade the microphone. i.e. get the mic off the camera. 

[cmosse]

On both modes (5.1ch Surround and 2ch stereo) the sound is recorded in AC3 (A52) format with a sampling rate of 48 KHz. The data rate on the 5.1ch Dolby mode is 448 Kbps, compared to 256kps in 2ch mode. In 5.1ch mode it is called 3F2R/LFE =3 Front, 2 Rear + Bass (LFE), in stereo mode only left and right. Therefore when the movie which was recorded in 5.1 audio mode is played back in 2ch mode the available data rate for each channel is nearly equal in both modes and no quality loss will occur. Recording in 5.1ch mode, which is not available in MP4 mode however, has the advantage that you might benefit from the surround sound later on when playing it back on a compatible device.

Best Regards

Michael