Patent ID: 7620554

Claim:
Method comprising: generating from a multichannel audio signal an encoded mono audio signal in a first processing chain; and generating from said multichannel audio signal encoded parametric multichannel extension information in a second processing chain distinct from said first processing chain, said generating of encoded parametric multichannel extension information comprising: transforming each channel of said multichannel audio signal into the frequency domain; dividing a bandwidth of said frequency domain channel signals into a first region of lower frequencies and at least one further region of higher frequencies; and encoding said frequency domain channel signals in each of said frequency regions with another type of coding to obtain a parametric multichannel extension information for the respective frequency region, wherein encoding said frequency domain signals in said first region comprises combining corresponding samples of all channels in said first region, quantizing said combined samples and encoding said quantized samples, and wherein encoding said quantized samples comprises dividing said quantized samples into subblocks and encoding each subblock separately.