Can Nvidia Surround Accessory Display send hdmi audio?

didactandnarpet

Limp Gawd
Joined
Mar 11, 2012
Messages
133
Title basically explains my problem at the moment. I have two GTX 670's in sli powering a 3 monitor surround setup right now. I'm 2x displayport and 1x dvi-d. I have an hdmi cable routed to my denon receiver as an accessory display. I can't for the life of me figure out how to route audio through that hdmi cable. Everything is configured correctly in windows. Playback devices registers my Denon as receiving and playing sound. However all I get is silence. In the past I've always used 3 hdmi cables for 2d surround. Yesterday though I figure why not step up to 120hz surround and made the required connections.
Seeing as my rig is equal parts gaming and htpc this is a bit of deal breaker. I love the new refresh rate, but what's the point of having an "entertainment center" that can't send my blu-ray audio.
I'm starting to think this is something that Nvidia cards/drivers/software just can't do. Maybe someone has some advice for me.
 
Hey thanks for confirming for me. It's nice to know that I'm not just doing something wrong. At this point I had assumed that it was something that just wasn't possible. I wonder if it's something that Nvidia just doesn't care to make happen, or if there's an actual hardware limitation. I suspect the former.
If I could find an email address I'd direct Nvidia to the linked thread and let them know that this is a feature some people care about.
 
Sorry to resurrect this thread after 8 months but I'm having this issue and I don't have a good solution for it.

My DDL encoder has unacceptable latency:
http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1833779

And I also thought my receiver was just incompatible with my Nvidia cards:
http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1831716

So far it looks like my options are as follows:

1. Enjoy the lag from PC game surround (DDL encoder is sloooow)
2. Stop using NV Surround and have glorious HDMI surround sound
3. Buy different receiver and use discrete (semi-glorious) analog surround sound
4. Add an expensive, discontinued, fussy HDMI audio card (new case, mobo required)
5. Wait for NV to fix their drivers
6. Give up.

I don't expect it to be cheap or easy, but this is just ridiculous.
 
Well, I have 2 threads open on this topic (one on the AVR, one on the Sound Card) plus this one I just bumped so I apologize to the moderators but - I may have a break through!

I think most people that go for the accessory display do it to use a large TV and/or use their AVR for sound so it makes sense that in every case I've read about, the audio is HDMI based.

Well, DisplayPort is also capable of sending 8 channel audio just like HDMI - but I don't think many people who have had this HDMI audio issue have had a setup that allowed them to easily try it with DP instead.

Fortunately, my accessory display is an LG 25UM64-S which has dual HDMI, DP and DVI - it also has built in speakers.

So while I was using this monitor through my AVR, I realized that I could try DP and see if it passed the audio to the monitor.

It does.

Then I thought - well, it's probably still my receiver and I bet that if I do a direct HDMI connect from my PC to the LG screen, it will pass the audio to the screen speakers.

It does NOT.

This leads me to strongly suspect that it's an HDCP issue. I'd like to try a DP to HDMI cable but I'm afraid the Nvidia drivers will see it as HDMI and turn the content protection on - but I'm not sure.

Does anyone know about this? Would the type of DP to HDMI adapter make a difference?

Edit: ***** DP --> HDMI seems to work! *****

The only DP to DVI Adapter I had was a Zotac one that goes from 1 DP to Dual HDMI and creates a double wide 3840x1080p screen. It was a hassle to get it to work - it does not like to run with just one HDMI cable. I ran one HDMI into the receiver and then to the monitor HDMI 1, I ran the other HDMI cable to monitor HDMI 2 - I then put the screen in dual display (side by side) mode and got a scaled but very usable 3840x1080 accessory monitor. At first it would only send audio to the monitor - I was able to disable the monitor audio and only then did it see my receiver.

I tested Guild Wars 2 and BF4 and they both work extremely well. I might be crazy, but both games felt a little faster - like the CPU was freed from audio processing and encoding.

Next step is to get a DP to HDMI cable - the current config is kind of silly.
 
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If you get this working, don't feel bad about bumping! I hadn't thought of tracking down a dp to hdmi adapter. Instead, I settled on a USB sound card and ran analog to my receiver. Not ideal but it works for 7.1.

If you do get a dp to hdmi adapter working, could you please post a link to the adapter so I can get the same thing? I might try and pick one up locally tonight to test myself, if I can find one.
 
I absolutely got this working the other day using this: http://www.engadget.com/2011/08/03/zotac-adapter-turns-your-displayport-into-two-hdmi-jacks/

I then ordered a regular DP to HDMI cable and 8 hours after that, my Power Supply died. New PS is here and so is the cable.

The Zotac device works perfectly but it's just fussy and wants to have 2 screens hooked up and it tries to use the monitor speakers first until I disable them - but I had perfect HDMI surround sound working while running Guild Wars 2 and BF4 in NV Surround.

Problem is I had made a thread on my AVR a while back, then another recent thread on my Xonar U7 and I didn't want to cross post too much.

Edit: New PS is not installed yet so I'm still in IPad purgatory. I'll update in a day or two once I get my rig back up and try the regular cable.
 
Thanks for the update! Looks like no-one in town has anything in stock, so I'll wait for your results before I order anything.
 
I gave up on mine. Bought Asus hdav 1.3 Hdmi sound card. Just drive the dummy Hdmi port with a composite to Hdmi converter. Made my life much easier.
 
I gave up on mine. Bought Asus hdav 1.3 Hdmi sound card. Just drive the dummy Hdmi port with a composite to Hdmi converter. Made my life much easier.

Unfortunately, I don't have any spare expansion slots in my rig for that to be an option. Otherwise, I would have just bought a cheap Nvidia card just for the hdmi out, lol.
 
Thanks for the update! Looks like no-one in town has anything in stock, so I'll wait for your results before I order anything.

This is the cable I ordered:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004C9P9TM/

It did not work :(

There are some interesting differences in how this cable shows up in my system compared to the Dual HDMI Zotac adapter.

Mainly, in the audio section, the HDMI audio device is clearly labled "NR1501-8" where as with the Zotac adapter, I can't remember what it said, but it was more generic.

I really think this cable just does exactly what a regular HDMI cable does and experiences the same bug/limitation.

I suspect two things - it could be either, neither or both:

1. The Dual HDMI adapter somehow has one HDMI connection get shut down while the other is unexpected and manages to skirt some limitation or command.

2. There is something going on with the EIDE that I don't understand - something that makes the Zotac adapter different and some how not subject to the limitation of a normal HDMI cable.

I wish I knew more about poking around in the EIDE profiles and settings and I'm open to try some ideas - perhaps a different cable would give different results but I don't want to randomly waste money without a better understanding of what is happening.

Something is just quirky or hacked with the Zotac part that makes it work where I'm going to guess that most others will not.
 
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Pick your poison. I'm sure one of them will do the trick.

First, all the monoprice adapters are for mini-DP unless you want a giant dongle - which I don't - it wouldn't work well on a Silverstone FT03 in any case.

Second, until the problem is better understood, I'll leave it to someone else to start randomly buying adapters to test.
 
That's disappointing :(

I would guess the Zotac adapter presents itself to the gpu as one big dp display, prompting the video card to do whatever it does for dp audio, which apparently does not have the glitch that hdmi audio does.

This does lend to the concept of hacking EDID's as you've mentioned. If you can convince the card that it's actually a display port device instead of hdmi, it might be doable. I'm definitely gonna have to dig into this as well, maybe we'll get lucky...

This is the cable I ordered:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004C9P9TM/

It did not work :(

There are some interesting differences in how this cable shows up in my system compared to the Dual HDMI Zotac adapter.

Mainly, in the audio section, the HDMI audio device is clearly labled "NR1501-8" where as with the Zotac adapter, I can't remember what it said, but it was more generic.

I really think this cable just does exactly what a regular HDMI cable does and experiences the same bug/limitation.

I suspect two things - it could be either, neither or both:

1. The Dual HDMI adapter somehow has one HDMI connection get shut down while the other is unexpected and manages to skirt some limitation or command.

2. There is something going on with the EIDE that I don't understand - something that makes the Zotac adapter different and some how not subject to the limitation of a normal HDMI cable.

I wish I knew more about poking around in the EIDE profiles and settings and I'm open to try some ideas - perhaps a different cable would give different results but I don't want to randomly waste money without a better understanding of what is happening.

Something is just quirky or hacked with the Zotac part that makes it work where I'm going to guess that most others will not.
 
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First, all the monoprice adapters are for mini-DP unless you want a giant dongle - which I don't - it wouldn't work well on a Silverstone FT03 in any case.

Second, until the problem is better understood, I'll leave it to someone else to start randomly buying adapters to test.

hehe, you said dongle.
 
hehe, you said dongle.

I also said EIDE instead of EDID.

One of the hazards of this age - my mind is slower than my megabaud connection.

This looks promising:
http://www.gefen.com/kvm/ext-hdmi-edidp.jsp?prod_id=8005
HDMI Detective Plus
"HDTVs use EDID - Extended Display Identification Data - to ensure that a connected HDMI source sends compatible audio and video signals. In certain situations this data can be lost resulting in an incorrect signal, or even a complete loss of audio and/or video. The HDMI Detective Plus solves this problem by ensuring that the HDMI source receives a correct EDID signal at all times. "

It's $77 on Amazon, but I also found this:

http://www.gefen.com/kvm/ext-dp-edidp.jsp?prod_id=10909
DisplayPort Detective Plus
"...External DIP switches allow pass-through or blocking of HDCP and DPCP based on your application, and provide instant access to other pre-programmed EDID banks. Using the Gefen Syner-G PC software or terminal emulation via USB, the installer can also manipulate/modify the EDID data to meet installation-specific requirements and resolve system-specific compatibility issues."

This thing is $300 on Amazon - that's too much to spend on a whim, but if that was a solid solution, I would consider it. - I wonder if this audio problem is as simple as enabling or disabling HDCP?

If anyone has some software suggestions - maybe something that can look at the EDID of my Zotac device that works so we could compare it with the DP to HDMI cable that does not work, that might be a good place to start.


This is a huge thread on AVS forum about EDID hacking for not quite the same issue, but I'm sure some of this could be helpful if anyone feels like delving in.

http://www.avsforum.com/forum/26-home-theater-computers/1091403-edid-override-thread.html
 
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I used Moninfo: http://www.entechtaiwan.com/util/moninfo.shtm to pull the INF data from my system both with the DP to HDMI cable (no audio) and with the DP to Dual HDMI cable (Audio)

I could post them, but they are really really long - is there a good formatting way to do that?

The first thing that jumps out at me is that the non working cable INF actually has a section for audio:

CE audio data (formats supported)
LPCM 2-channel, 16/20/24 bit depths at 32/44/48/88/96/176/192 kHz
LPCM 8-channel, 16/20/24 bit depths at 32/44/48/88/96/176/192 kHz
AC-3 6-channel, 640k max. bit rate at 32/44/48 kHz
DTS 7-channel, 1536k max. bit rate at 44/48/88/96 kHz
DD+ 8-channel at 44/48 kHz
DTS-HD 8-channel, 16-bit at 44/48/88/96/176/192 kHz
DVD-A 8-channel at 44/48/88/96/176/192 kHz

CE speaker allocation data
Channel configuration.... 7.1
Front left/right......... Yes
Front LFE................ Yes
Front center............. Yes
Rear left/right.......... Yes
Rear center.............. No
Front left/right center.. No
Rear left/right center... Yes
Rear LFE................. No

Probably because my receiver is being detected as the actual monitor - the Dual HDMI adapter has no audio info in the INF file as far as I can see - there are blocks of hex at the end so who knows what that data holds.

I wonder if the Dual HDMI file could be used as a model - I would start by just stripping out the audio info and seeing if that helps. Not sure how to do that and inject the info.
 
This guy talks about some of his EDID/Audio challenges - this was a few years ago and he didn't seem to be able to fix his issue, but he did create a spreadsheet that might help inject altered audio info into an EDID profile.

Code:
DP to HDMI Cable from GTX780 to Marantz NR1501 Receiver and then to LG monitor - no HDMI Audio
------------------
Monitor
  Model name............... NR1501
  Manufacturer............. Marantz
  Plug and Play ID......... MJI0018
  Serial number............ n/a
  Manufacture date......... 2009, ISO week 0
  Filter driver............ None
  -------------------------
  EDID revision............ 1.3
  Input signal type........ Digital
  Color bit depth.......... Undefined
  Display type............. RGB color
  Screen size.............. 580 x 240 mm (24.7 in)
  Power management......... Standby, Suspend, Active off/sleep
  Extension blocs.......... 1 (CEA-EXT)
  -------------------------
  DDC/CI................... Supported
  MCCS revison............. 2.1
  Display technology....... TFT
  Controller............... Mstar 0x8556
  Firmware revision........ 1.1
  Firmware flags........... 0x000045CC
  Active power on time..... Not supported
  Power consumption........ Not supported
  Current frequency........ 157.30kHz, 143.30Hz

Color characteristics
  Default color space...... Non-sRGB
  Display gamma............ 2.20
  Red chromaticity......... Rx 0.651 - Ry 0.332
  Green chromaticity....... Gx 0.307 - Gy 0.631
  Blue chromaticity........ Bx 0.150 - By 0.060
  White point (default).... Wx 0.313 - Wy 0.329
  Additional descriptors... None

Timing characteristics
  Horizontal scan range.... 30-90kHz
  Vertical scan range...... 56-75Hz
  Video bandwidth.......... 240MHz
  CVT standard............. Not supported
  GTF standard............. Not supported
  Additional descriptors... None
  Preferred timing......... Yes
  Native/preferred timing.. 2560x1080p at 60Hz 
    Modeline............... "2560x1080" 185.580 2560 2624 2688 2784 1080 1083 1093 1111 -hsync -vsync
  Detailed timing #1....... 1920x1080p at 60Hz 
    Modeline............... "1920x1080" 148.500 1920 2008 2052 2200 1080 1084 1089 1125 +hsync +vsync

Standard timings supported
     720 x  400p at  70Hz - IBM VGA
     640 x  480p at  60Hz - IBM VGA
     640 x  480p at  75Hz - VESA
     800 x  600p at  60Hz - VESA
     800 x  600p at  75Hz - VESA
    1024 x  768p at  60Hz - VESA
    1024 x  768p at  75Hz - VESA
    1280 x 1024p at  75Hz - VESA
    1152 x  870p at  75Hz - Apple Mac II
    1152 x  864p at  75Hz - VESA STD
    1280 x 1024p at  60Hz - VESA STD
    1280 x  720p at  60Hz - VESA STD
    1600 x  900p at  60Hz - VESA STD
    1680 x 1050p at  60Hz - VESA STD

EIA/CEA-861 Information
  Revision number.......... 3
  IT underscan............. Supported
  Basic audio.............. Supported
  YCbCr 4:4:4.............. Supported
  YCbCr 4:2:2.............. Supported
  Native formats........... 1
  Detailed timing #1....... 1920x1080p at 60Hz 
    Modeline............... "1920x1080" 148.500 1920 2008 2052 2200 1080 1084 1089 1125 +hsync +vsync
  Detailed timing #2....... 1920x1080i at 60Hz 
    Modeline............... "1920x1080" 74.250 1920 2008 2052 2200 1080 1084 1094 1124 interlace +hsync +vsync
  Detailed timing #3....... 1280x720p at 60Hz 
    Modeline............... "1280x720" 74.250 1280 1390 1430 1650 720 725 730 750 +hsync +vsync
  Detailed timing #4....... 720x480p at 60Hz 
    Modeline............... "720x480" 27.000 720 736 798 858 480 489 495 525 -hsync -vsync

CE video identifiers (VICs) - timing/formats supported
    1920 x 1080p at  60Hz - HDTV (16:9, 1:1) [Native]
    1280 x  720p at  60Hz - HDTV (16:9, 1:1)
     720 x  480p at  60Hz - EDTV (16:9, 32:27)
    1920 x 1080p at  30Hz - HDTV (16:9, 1:1)
    1920 x 1080i at  50Hz - HDTV (16:9, 1:1)
     720 x  576p at  50Hz - EDTV (16:9, 64:45)
    1920 x 1080i at  60Hz - HDTV (16:9, 1:1)
    1920 x 1080p at  50Hz - HDTV (16:9, 1:1)
     640 x  480p at  60Hz - Default (4:3, 1:1)
    1280 x  720p at  50Hz - HDTV (16:9, 1:1)
    NB: NTSC refresh rate = (Hz*1000)/1001

CE audio data (formats supported)
  LPCM    2-channel, 16/20/24 bit depths at 32/44/48/88/96/176/192 kHz
  LPCM    8-channel, 16/20/24 bit depths at 32/44/48/88/96/176/192 kHz
  AC-3    6-channel,  640k max. bit rate at 32/44/48 kHz
  DTS     7-channel, 1536k max. bit rate at 44/48/88/96 kHz
  DD+     8-channel                      at 44/48 kHz
  DTS-HD  8-channel, 16-bit              at 44/48/88/96/176/192 kHz
  DVD-A   8-channel                      at 44/48/88/96/176/192 kHz

CE speaker allocation data
  Channel configuration.... 7.1
  Front left/right......... Yes
  Front LFE................ Yes
  Front center............. Yes
  Rear left/right.......... Yes
  Rear center.............. No
  Front left/right center.. No
  Rear left/right center... Yes
  Rear LFE................. No

CE vendor specific data (VSDB)
  IEEE registration number. 0x000C03
  CEC physical address..... 1.3.0.0
  Supports AI (ACP, ISRC).. Yes
  Supports 48bpp........... No
  Supports 36bpp........... No
  Supports 30bpp........... No
  Supports YCbCr 4:4:4..... No
  Supports dual-link DVI... No
  Maximum TMDS clock....... 165MHz

Report information
  Date generated........... 9/19/2014
  Software revision........ 2.90.0.1000
  Data source.............. Real-time 0x0081
  Operating system......... 6.1.7601.2.Service Pack 1

Raw data
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Code:
Dual HDMI Adapter - HDMI Audio works with NV Surround.
------------------
Monitor
  Model name............... Dual HDMI
  Manufacturer............. VPY
  Plug and Play ID......... VPY0185
  Serial number............ n/a
  Manufacture date......... 2010, ISO week 1
  Filter driver............ None
  -------------------------
  EDID revision............ 1.4
  Input signal type........ Digital (DisplayPort)
  Color bit depth.......... 8 bits per primary color
  Color encoding formats... RGB 4:4:4
  Screen size.............. Undefined or variable
  Power management......... Active off/sleep
  Extension blocs.......... 1 (Data unavailable)
  -------------------------
  DDC/CI................... Supported
  MCCS revison............. 2.1
  Display technology....... TFT
  Controller............... Mstar 0x8556
  Firmware revision........ 1.1
  Firmware flags........... 0x00FF45CC
  Active power on time..... 65535 hours
  Power consumption........ 6.55 kWh
  Current frequency........ 67.50kHz, 60.00Hz

Color characteristics
  Default color space...... Non-sRGB
  Display gamma............ 2.20
  Red chromaticity......... Rx 0.674 - Ry 0.319
  Green chromaticity....... Gx 0.188 - Gy 0.706
  Blue chromaticity........ Bx 0.148 - By 0.064
  White point (default).... Wx 0.313 - Wy 0.329
  Additional descriptors... None

Timing characteristics
  Range limits............. Not available
  GTF standard............. Not supported
  Additional descriptors... None
  Preferred timing......... Yes
  Native/preferred timing.. 3840x1080p at 60Hz (1:1)
    Modeline............... "3840x1080" 277.540 3840 3928 3972 4120 1080 1084 1089 1125 +hsync +vsync
  Detailed timing #1....... 2560x1024p at 60Hz (1:1)
    Modeline............... "2560x1024" 189.450 2560 2608 2720 2968 1024 1025 1028 1066 +hsync +vsync
  Detailed timing #2....... 1600x600p at 60Hz (1:1)
    Modeline............... "1600x600" 69.790 1600 1640 1768 1856 600 601 605 628 +hsync +vsync

Standard timings supported
     720 x  400p at  70Hz - IBM VGA
     640 x  480p at  60Hz - IBM VGA
     640 x  480p at  75Hz - VESA
     800 x  600p at  60Hz - VESA
     800 x  600p at  75Hz - VESA
    1024 x  768p at  60Hz - VESA
    1024 x  768p at  75Hz - VESA
    1280 x 1024p at  75Hz - VESA
    1152 x  870p at  75Hz - Apple Mac II
    1152 x  864p at  75Hz - VESA STD
    1280 x 1024p at  60Hz - VESA STD
    1280 x  720p at  60Hz - VESA STD
    1600 x  900p at  60Hz - VESA STD
    1680 x 1050p at  60Hz - VESA STD
    1920 x 1080p at  60Hz - VESA STD

Report information
  Date generated........... 9/19/2014
  Software revision........ 2.90.0.1000
  Data source.............. Real-time 0x5700
  Operating system......... 6.1.7601.2.Service Pack 1

Raw data
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I have yet to take the time to dig into any of the EDID stuff, but I briefly got my hopes up when I saw new audio drivers in the latest nvidia drivers (344.11), along with a new surround configuration utility. However, the problem persists :(
 
I might have a potential solution to your issue. YMMV.

I have a GTX 670 SLI setup with 3 x Dell U2311H and an "accessory" monitor for HDMI audio output. My connections are as follows:

1st card: Top DVI to left monitor
Displayport to middle monitor
HDMI to AVR, which outputs to the DVI of my middle monitor using a HDMI - DVI converter (the "accessory" display)

2nd card: Top DVI to right monitor

1) After enabling surround, ensure that your accessory monitor is enabled (right click on desktop -> Screen Resolution, or through nVidia Control Panel) and your AVR is set to the default playback device (through Control Panel -> Sound).
2) Change your surround resolution to single monitor resolution (e.g from 5760 x 1080 to 1920 x 1080).
3) Check if your AVR is still the default playback device. If not, set it. Right Click -> Configure -> Do what you have to do.
4) Right click -> Test. There should be sound at this stage.
5) Set your resolution back to surround resolution.

This is with nVidia drivers 344.11.
 
I might have a potential solution to your issue. YMMV.

I have a GTX 670 SLI setup with 3 x Dell U2311H and an "accessory" monitor for HDMI audio output. My connections are as follows:

1st card: Top DVI to left monitor
Displayport to middle monitor
HDMI to AVR, which outputs to the DVI of my middle monitor using a HDMI - DVI converter (the "accessory" display)

2nd card: Top DVI to right monitor

1) After enabling surround, ensure that your accessory monitor is enabled (right click on desktop -> Screen Resolution, or through nVidia Control Panel) and your AVR is set to the default playback device (through Control Panel -> Sound).
2) Change your surround resolution to single monitor resolution (e.g from 5760 x 1080 to 1920 x 1080).
3) Check if your AVR is still the default playback device. If not, set it. Right Click -> Configure -> Do what you have to do.
4) Right click -> Test. There should be sound at this stage.
5) Set your resolution back to surround resolution.

This is with nVidia drivers 344.11.

HOLY CRAP! This seems to work! However, every time I reboot, i have to switch down to 1080p and back to get audio, but otherwise it seems to work just fine!

I'm still have to test games and bit streaming and 3d vision and such, but it looks like a work around until Nvidia gets their act together.

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!
 
As a followup, HD bit-streaming does not appear to work, but 7.1 pcm seems to work just fine. The only time this should really matter, is if you were trying to play DTS Neo:x (11.1) or Dolby Atmos (7.1.4) encoded content, neither of which I have any intention of doing at my gaming computer.
 
For HD bit-streaming, try this:

1) nVidia Control Panel -> Set up digital audio -> Turn off audio (under HDMI from dropdown list) -> Apply
2) Select your AVR from the dropdown list -> Apply
3) You should see the supported formats under Sound properties

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You may have to try it a few times. Insanely buggy drivers, either that or they are neglecting surround users. Glad it worked out for you!
 
I might have a potential solution to your issue. YMMV.

I have a GTX 670 SLI setup with 3 x Dell U2311H and an "accessory" monitor for HDMI audio output. My connections are as follows:

1st card: Top DVI to left monitor
Displayport to middle monitor
HDMI to AVR, which outputs to the DVI of my middle monitor using a HDMI - DVI converter (the "accessory" display)

2nd card: Top DVI to right monitor

1) After enabling surround, ensure that your accessory monitor is enabled (right click on desktop -> Screen Resolution, or through nVidia Control Panel) and your AVR is set to the default playback device (through Control Panel -> Sound).
2) Change your surround resolution to single monitor resolution (e.g from 5760 x 1080 to 1920 x 1080).
3) Check if your AVR is still the default playback device. If not, set it. Right Click -> Configure -> Do what you have to do.
4) Right click -> Test. There should be sound at this stage.
5) Set your resolution back to surround resolution.

This is with nVidia drivers 344.11.

Thanks for posting this - it looks like it is helping some people.

I have to use dual link DVI (144hz) so I can't use any HDMI connections with my surround screens, but the idea of going HDMI to DVI when going from the AVR to the 4th monitor is very interesting - I think some people have an issue with their PC seeing the 2 speaker (or no speaker) monitor instead of the AVR so this might help them.

My system works very well at the moment- as long as I Ieave the AVR on the PC. The problem is that when I want to watch Tivo and then go back to the PC, I usually have to power cycle the AVR.

Also, I've so far only been able to get it to work by using my DP to Dual HDMI device and connecting one output to the monitor and the other to the AVR - this consumes both HDMI on the monitor even though the direct connection from the PC does not get used at all.

I just ordered the HDMI Detective Plus from Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Gefen-EXT-HDMI-EDIDP-HDmi-Detective-Plus/dp/B001RIMZUW

It's an EDID emulator and the nice thing is you only have to power it when you capture an EDID - after that, your PC will always think it's connected so if I do switch to another AVR input, all my screens won't blank out and back in - it should be very smooth.

I'll post more on this device once I get a chance to play with it - I'm hoping it will let me switch over to the DP-HDMI cable for simplicity.
 
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(Link to the HDMI Detective manual - it also shows the built in EDID profile which I mention below: http://www.gefen.com/pdf/ext-hdmi-edidp.pdf)

(Link to the Zotac adapter - possibly the cheapest way to get HDMI Audio working in NV Surround - YMMV: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005Q9ZNS4/ )

I played around with the HDMI Detective for about an hour and this is what I discovered:

The DP to HDMI cable and a standard HDMI cable showed the same results - I could get HDMI audio working as long as I did not enter NV Surround. Once in NV Surround, my computer thinks it is still sending HDMI audio, but there is no sound - ever.

I used the EDID from the receiver as well as 2 of the built in EDID profiles from the HDMI Detective. Each profile had it's own quirks - the Geffen Profile 5 looked like it should work the best since the default resolution was 1920x1080p but I could never get that profile to work except on lower resolutions like 1280x768. At no time did I get either of these cables to produce sound in Surround mode.

What does work (still) is my Zotac to Dual HDMI Adapter. I still don't understand why, but it works. I set the HDMI Detective to the Geffen EDID #3 and that seems to have helped the Zotac adaptor cope with only having one monitor connected (it otherwise can get quirky when you don't run dual HDMI but I have not sussed out this behavior entirely)

Here is what is still confusing to me:

I thought that the problem was most likely EDID related - that something was happening in Surround mode that changed the EDID of the 4th monitor and broke the audio. Because the HDMI Detective essentially locks down the EDID, we can be sure the audio failure isn't due to Surround mode changing the EDID on the fly.

I have 2 theories on what is happening:

1. Surround mode issues some kind of command or state change to the HDMI sound device which makes it stop working.

2. (Wild guess here) What if the reason the Zotac adapter works is because it has 2 HDMI channels - maybe one of them gets turned off or otherwise disabled, but because a 5th HDMI device is never expected, it ends up working?

2a. I have heard that other people managed to get HDMI audio working by using a 3rd video card that was not part of the NV Surround configuration (like a Physx card, etc) So maybe the state change that kills the audio is only applied to the cards used in Surround and perhaps the Zotac adapter presents it's self to the system in such a way that for this purpose, it appears to the system to not be part of the NV Surround system?

I was thinking that if this HDMI Detective did not solve this problem I would return it, but I'm going to keep it because it allows me to switch AVR inputs (from PC to Tivo mostly) without making the screens all blank/reset and before I used this, I usually had to power cycle the receiver when I went back to the accessory monitor - now all of those glitches are gone and I have very reliable 8 channel audio while in NV Surround.

TLDR:

Could not get HDMI Audio with plain DP/HDMI cables
Zotac dual HDMI adapter still works well
Keeping the HDMI Detective as it makes life much nicer
 
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