Hey everyone, I know a lot about working with 5.1, but not so much with 7.1. I use ffmpeg, audacity, and Premiere - I basically want to edit this audio in Premiere in a 5.1 24 bit wav set up, but the problem is the source audio is 7.1.

My question is how do I go about dealing with the rear channels so I can go from 7.1 -> 5.1?

For example, when I load the 7.1 audio into audacity only 6 channels show up, not 8. I’ve heard that it’s because the 4 rear channels are matrix encoded into just 2. Can I just export the respective mono rear left/rear right and they’ll act as the rear left/right in 5.1, with correct volumes and all the audio data? All I care about is maintaining the accurate sound but presenting it in a 5.1 format, as this film makes heavy use of surround sound. Any help would be appreciated.