5.1 Surround Help

[RabidSmurf]

Hi Guys,

So I've connected my realtek onboard soundcard to my A/V receiver via the Optical Out on my motherboard.

So far in my testing I've found that 5.1 works just fine in:
Movies
Left 4 Dead

5.1 does not work in:
ARMA II
Far Cry 2

I've searched all of their forums for answers but turned up essentially nothing, other then the generic "Make sure your speaker configuration is set to 5.1" bit which I've already done.

I notice when I start up Far Cry 2 or ARMA II that my receiver shows "DTS 3/2.1" and I get awesome clear 2.1, now if only I get these games to use 5.1, I know they both support it after viewing their forums and asking around.

Please help, I am sort of a n00b at this and would appreciate any advice.

Using Windows 7
My HD Audio Manager has DTS 5.1 enabled on the Optical out.

If you need more information let me know.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Shabby610]

Unless the audio chipset on your motherboard is capable of re-encoding the audio into a 5.1 stream through the optical out with Dolby Digital Live! or DTS-Connect, you won't be able to get true 5.1 surround in games with your optical connection unless you use the discrete 5.1 analog outputs. Your movies work because the audio information is already an AC3/DTS audio stream, which is being transported to your receiver for decoding.

Very few games actually support in-game Dolby Digital, I'm even surprised that Left 4 Dead works like that.

 

[RabidSmurf]

My HD Audio Manager has a DTS Connect Tab but there isn't much in the way of configuration

 

[RabidSmurf]

Hmmm, can anyone recommend a soundcard that supports dolby live or whatever it is I need to get this working (keep in mind I am using vista/win7)

 

[RabidSmurf]

What if I had a receiver that had HDMI inputs...

I am using an ATI 4870 would I be able to get true 5.1 through HDMI?