YouTube: video is stereo-only or stuck

Two things go wrong when publishing Eclipsa Audio (IAMF) to YouTube. Both have quick fixes. For the full workflow and background, see Eclipsa Audio on YouTube.

My YouTube video is stereo-only (no Eclipsa/immersive)

Cause: the uploaded file contains a second audio track — a stereo "compatibility" track — and YouTube's ingest currently uses that instead of your IAMF. The immersive mix sits unused inside the file, with no error and nothing in Studio to explain why. You can confirm what's inside a file with ffprobe — see Check a file for IAMF in the terminal.

Fix: for YouTube, re-export IAMF-only — with no second audio track — and re-upload. On YouTube there's no downside: it builds the stereo and surround fallbacks from your IAMF automatically. The trade-off is per-file, though — a stereo "compatibility" track is what makes the same file play in a plain player like QuickTime, but a file carrying both won't get an Eclipsa rendition on YouTube. If you need both, keep two exports: IAMF-only for YouTube, and a stereo-carrying version for QuickTime and sharing elsewhere.

The 24-hour check is silent

If a video is still stereo-only 24 hours after upload, don't wait — check the file for a second audio track. That's the failure mode, and YouTube gives you no warning.

My YouTube upload gets stuck / stalls in processing

Fix: export from Orbit Pro 1.5.3 Beta, which is the known-good export path — it produces IAMF exports that YouTube accepts and processes cleanly. If an upload from an earlier build stalls, re-export from 1.5.3 Beta and upload the new file.

TIP

Once you've re-exported IAMF-only from Orbit Pro 1.5.3 Beta, expect the standard renditions (stereo, then surround and Eclipsa) to appear over the first few hours.

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See the full guide: Eclipsa Audio on YouTube.