Log & Transfer Question - "Audio Mixed Down to Stereo"

Hi all -

Specs: Intel MacBook Pro, 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo, 2 GB RAM, Mac OS 10.5.6, FCP 6.0.5, QT 7.6. AVCHD footage shot 720/24P via class 4 SDHC cards on Panasonic HMC150.

Log and Transfer window. Transcoding AVCHD files to ProRes 422. I can import video or audio & video - check box next to audio says "Audio Mixed Down to Stereo."

What does this mean? I recorded two separate (mono) audio inputs and want - nay, need - them to be separable in FCP. Does 'mix down to stereo' actually MIX the two mono tracks - or does it just link them together as a stereo pair that can be unlinked in editing?

Thanks!

I have a similar setup; Panasonic HMC-152 and I always shoot 720p25 or 50 too. The default "Audio Mixed Down to Stereo" is a misnomer, in my view: if separate tracks are recorded, separate tracks are brought in in the transcode process.

The tracks do come in as linked pairs. hth, kl

Thank you!!

It's a mixdown of 5.1 surround that most AVCHD cameras support.

Thanks Tom; that adds to the knowledge base.

A Q., if I may: when you say "5.1 surround" do you mean the AAC compression that this codec uses, rather than the multiple inputs that 5.1 uses? I ask this because the 150, like most of the rest of them AFAIK, only record a maximum of two tracks into the camera.

My recollection is that this camera records its sound at the highest compression that AAC compression supports (is this 320kbits/sec.?) I just tried to find a reference for this, but could not. Cheers, kl