See thamnaul for some help but it's not exactly clear. I've never used 5.1 myself.
To configure Final Cut Pro for 5.1-channel surround sound monitoring using the Match Audio Outputs command
- Import a multichannel surround sound QuickTime audio file into Final Cut Pro.Note: Final Cut Pro supports only surround sound audio files that contain the MPEG_5_1_A QuickTime audio track tag and whose channels are ordered in the following sequence: left and right, center, LFE, and left surround and right surround.
- Edit the multichannel clip into the Timeline.In most cases, you should place the audio clip starting on track A1 in the sequence.
- A clip with six linked clip items appears in the Timeline.
- Choose Edit > Linked Selection, and make sure that a checkmark appears next to the Linked Selection menu item.
- Select the clip in the Timeline.
- Choose Sequence > Match Audio Outputs.
- If Final Cut Pro alerts you that your sequence’s audio outputs will change, click OK.Final Cut Pro alerts you that your sequence’s audio outputs have changed to match the stereo and mono groupings of the selected clip items.
- Verify the audio output assignment of each track by Control-clicking the Lock Track control or Auto Select control of each track and checking the audio output assignment in the Audio Outputs submenu of the shortcut menu.For more information, see Assigning Tracks in the Timeline to Audio Outputs.
- Connect your 5.1-channel surround sound speaker system to the appropriate channels of your audio interface.
Final Cut Pro automatically configures audio output busses according to the selected linked clip items in your sequence. This feature is often used with 5.1-channel surround sound clips, but keep in mind that Final Cut Pro supports only the following 5.1-channel surround sound format:
- Tracks 1 and 2: Left and right
- Track 3: Center
- Track 4: Low-frequency effects (LFE)
- Tracks 5 and 6: Left surround and right surround
Based on the clip items above, the Match Audio Outputs command would create the following audio output bus groups: stereo 1 and 2 (left and right), mono 3 (center), mono 4 (LFE), and stereo 5 and 6 (left surround and right surround).Here is how the sequence tracks would be assigned to the audio outputs:
- Tracks 1 and 2 (left and right): Stereo output 1 and 2
- Track 3 (center): Mono output 3
- Track 4 (LFE): Mono output 4
- Tracks 5 and 6 (left surround and right surround): Stereo output 5 and 6
You can assign more outputs than your current audio hardware supports, allowing you to open sequences with multichannel output settings on computers that don’t have professional audio interfaces connected.
If you select an audio output that exceeds the number of output channels of your audio interface, Final Cut Pro warns you that you will not hear tracks assigned to unavailable outputs. However, you are still allowed to use this preset. You may want to choose or create such a preset when:
You want to keep your project compatible with another editing system that does support all of the audio channels in the preset. For example, you might normally work on a system with eight audio output channels but need to edit part of your project on a portable computer that only has a built-in stereo output.
- You want to export multiple individual AIFF files for use in another application. For example, you can export up to 24 individual audio files from your sequence by choosing an audio output preset with 24 output channels.
Final Cut Pro does not support multichannel surround sound mixing capabilities or editing of speaker assignments, but you can configure your system to monitor certain kinds of 5.1-channel surround sound audio files. If you have 5.1-channel surround sound files that have been mixed in another audio application such as Soundtrack Pro, you can import these files and then configure your audio outputs and hardware to monitor in surround sound.
Important: A multichannel audio interface and speaker system with at least six channels is required to monitor surround sound.
There are two ways of configuring your sequence audio outputs for 5.1-channel surround sound monitoring:
- Use the 5.1 Monitoring audio preset: If you know in advance that you are going to edit a 5.1-channel surround sound file into your sequence, you can assign the 5.1 Monitoring audio preset to your sequence.
- Use the Match Audio Outputs command: This command automatically configures your sequence audio outputs and track output assignments based on the currently selected audio clip in your sequence. You can select a 5.1-channel surround sound clip in your sequence and use the Match Audio Outputs command to automatically configure your sequence outputs.
