<p>It's not very clear what they mean. If you look further down on the same page it says it accepts 5.1 @ 512 kbps.</p>

<pre><code>Recommended audio bitrates for uploads

Mono    128 kbps
Stereo  384 kbps
5.1     512 kbps
</code></pre>

<p>YouTube doesn't currently support 5.1 playback. If you upload a 5.1 audio track it gets <a href="https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topicsearchin/youtube/5.1">converted to stereo</a>. </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-10-07T17:50:50.630Z
The threads are all 3 years old though.
mmlac
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-10-07T18:31:31.263Z
There are no news for the contrary either. Anyway I tried downloading a surround test YT movie in multiple formats (aac, vorbis - audio only and aac in mp4) with youtube-dl and they're all stereo. If you upload your own test file I can probe it for you. In any case stereo + 5.1 can only mean two separate audio tracks (someone even suggested binaural audio :)
aergistal
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-10-07T18:55:56.800Z
Ok, I will try that and see how that works out. I'll keep you posted.
mmlac
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-10-07T09:55:22.203Z
2015-10-07T09:55:22.203Z
aergistal
<p>The two major platforms that YouTube video players use are Adobe Flash, and Adobe Air. Flash 11 only supports 2 channel audio. Adobe air 3 supports multichannel audio. Also HTML5 supports multi channel audio. most multichannel streams will be PCM no bit stream, as you need licensing from Dolby or DTS to encode/decode. Furthermore multi channel audio is only supported for TV devices, on all other devices hasMultiChannelAudio() always returns false. This is probably due to HDCP / DRM requirements by publishers. Finally many smart TVs, especially Samsungs, will only send 2 channel audio from the optical output (again HDCP/DRM reasons). So you need to be sure what player / equipment you are using. A smart TV using ARC (audio return channel) to a receiver will have multichannel YouTube audio.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-11-23T17:38:09.287Z
2015-11-23T17:38:09.287Z
Frank
<p>if you upload in ac3 it gets converted to he-aac it wont play back from youtube in 5.1 but youtube-dl will give you back a 5.1 track</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-12-23T12:27:04.180Z
2021-12-23T12:27:04.180Z
Four Track
<p>Youtube states that it only supports <a href="https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/1722171?hl=en">Stereo or Stereo + 5.1</a>. </p>

<p>How does this work? Does it mean that there should be two audio streams included in the container or is this a special encoding?</p>

<p>( I am using Premiere Pro )</p>

<premiere><youtube>
How do I get Stereo + 5.1 for YouTube videos?
mmlac
# How do I get Stereo + 5.1 for YouTube videos?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2015-10-06)

Youtube states that it only supports [Stereo or Stereo + 5.1](https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/1722171?hl=en).

How does this work? Does it mean that there should be two audio streams included in the container or is this a special encoding?

( I am using Premiere Pro )

**Tags:** premiere, youtube


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## 3 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2015-10-07. Score: 7

It's not very clear what they mean. If you look further down on the same page it says it accepts 5.1 @ 512 kbps.
Recommended audio bitrates for uploads

Mono    128 kbps
Stereo  384 kbps
5.1     512 kbps

YouTube doesn't currently support 5.1 playback. If you upload a 5.1 audio track it gets converted to stereo.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: The threads are all 3 years old though.  
> **username_1**: There are no news for the contrary either. Anyway I tried downloading a surround test YT movie in multiple formats (aac, vorbis - audio only and aac in mp4) with youtube-dl and they're all stereo. If you upload your own test file I can probe it for you. In any case stereo + 5.1 can only mean two separate audio tracks (someone even suggested binaural audio :)  
> **username_0**: Ok, I will try that and see how that works out. I'll keep you posted.  

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### Answer by username_2 on 2015-11-23. Score: 1

The two major platforms that YouTube video players use are Adobe Flash, and Adobe Air. Flash 11 only supports 2 channel audio. Adobe air 3 supports multichannel audio. Also HTML5 supports multi channel audio. most multichannel streams will be PCM no bit stream, as you need licensing from Dolby or DTS to encode/decode. Furthermore multi channel audio is only supported for TV devices, on all other devices hasMultiChannelAudio() always returns false. This is probably due to HDCP / DRM requirements by publishers. Finally many smart TVs, especially Samsungs, will only send 2 channel audio from the optical output (again HDCP/DRM reasons). So you need to be sure what player / equipment you are using. A smart TV using ARC (audio return channel) to a receiver will have multichannel YouTube audio.


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### Answer by username_3 on 2021-12-23. Score: 0

if you upload in ac3 it gets converted to he-aac it wont play back from youtube in 5.1 but youtube-dl will give you back a 5.1 track


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