A method for performing inter-channel encoding of a multi-channel audio signal comprising channel signals for N channels, with N being an integer, with N>1, is described. The method comprises determining a basic graph comprising the N channels as nodes and comprising directed edges between at least some of the N channels. Furthermore, the method comprises determining an inter-channel coding graph from the basic graph, such that the inter-channel coding graph is a directed acyclic graph, and such that a cumulated a cumulated cost of the signals of the nodes of the inter-channel coding graph is reduced.