Can't get 5.1 to work in most applications

H

Hyper_Psycho

2[H]4U
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Mar 26, 2002
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I was messing around and noticed that nearly every program (Firefox, Winamp, Media Player Classic) only plays audio in the L C R speakers and the sub. VLC on the other hand uses the RR and RL speakers. For the life of me, I cannot figure out why the back speakers do not work in the other applications. I have up to date drivers and both CP->Sound and RealTek sound panels can sound off all of the speakers.

Anyone have a clue why 75% of my apps cannot play in 5.1? Thanks!
 
you usually need to enable the stereo to stereo x2 or some sort of 5.1 emulator. there should be a checkbox somewhere in the sound control panel to enable the sound on the rear speakers. it basically copies whatever is playing the front, makes a couple of changes and sends it to the rear speakers.

also, double check your speaker connections in the back of the computer.
 
gotkilled said:
you usually need to enable the stereo to stereo x2 or some sort of 5.1 emulator. there should be a checkbox somewhere in the sound control panel to enable the sound on the rear speakers. it basically copies whatever is playing the front, makes a couple of changes and sends it to the rear speakers.

also, double check your speaker connections in the back of the computer.
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I have the speakers unplugged as I'm moving, but as I said in the control panel and VLC player all speakers work. Elsewhere, only the front three + sub work.
 
jhalf said:
What's your setup?
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I have an older Cambridge Soundworks 5.1 system. The receiver is in the sub where five cables go to the speakers. Then there is the G,O,B cable that goes to the back of the pc. I think its routed to G = LCR, B = RR RL, and O = sub. The sub has been replaced about a year ago.

I use the soundcard on my motherboard (Abit IP35 Pro) which is a 7.1 channel HD audio w/ Realtek ALC888.

I have the right drivers. 5.1 works in VLC. But its beyond my understanding why it does not work in all programs. I believe all of the speakers worked when I had used Vista prior to upgrading to 7U.

Let me know if you need any more setup info.


EDIT: Ok, since I moved, nothing is playing in 5.1. I can go to the control panel and all of the speakers can sound off. However, nothing (mp3,xvid, hulu, youtube) uses the RR and RL speakers. WTF is going on ?
 
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Have you tried any games with 5.1?

Seeing as how all the sources you listed are only 2.0, it makes sense that it won't play on all 5 speakers. There's probably a setting somewhere to tell your soundcard to spread the sound around to all of them, but keep in mind, only certain things will play in 5.1, such as DVDs, and certain video files (.mkv). The rest, with 2.0 sources will just be spread around the speakers and you will lose a lot of the intended fidelity and directionality.
 
None of your sources are 5.1, they are all 2.0 as the previous poster said, so I don't see there being a problem.

Now if you have DVDs, DVD-As, DTS audio discs not working, I would recommend AC3filter in conjunction with a media player like Media Player Classic Home Cinema.
 
CKMorpheus said:
Have you tried any games with 5.1?

Seeing as how all the sources you listed are only 2.0, it makes sense that it won't play on all 5 speakers. There's probably a setting somewhere to tell your soundcard to spread the sound around to all of them, but keep in mind, only certain things will play in 5.1, such as DVDs, and certain video files (.mkv). The rest, with 2.0 sources will just be spread around the speakers and you will lose a lot of the intended fidelity and directionality.
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I understand that. I'm not trying to make my mp3s sound like they are designed for a 5.1 setup. Back when I had vista, mp3s would play in 5.1. How do I tell my soundcard to spread the sound around to all of the speakers when my source is a 2.0?
 
I'm not sure Realtek can do what you're trying. I have the same situation. I was using a sound card (Auzen Forte) and could configure it to default everything to 5.1. When the card died and I switched to my onboard audio (ALC888), the only time I get 5.1 is when the source is 5.1. Nothing I've been able to do will make the onboard audio play 5.1 from a 2.0 source. Even if I select 5.1 while in a game I still only get 2.1 playback.
 
Mr. Wolf said:
I'm not sure Realtek can do what you're trying. I have the same situation. I was using a sound card (Auzen Forte) and could configure it to default everything to 5.1. When the card died and I switched to my onboard audio (ALC888), the only time I get 5.1 is when the source is 5.1. Nothing I've been able to do will make the onboard audio play 5.1 from a 2.0 source. Even if I select 5.1 while in a game I still only get 2.1 playback.
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Well this totally sucks ... :(
 
If you use a media player like Foobar there is a plug in that will upmix your sound to 5.1. Windows Media Player for example can do it, but you have to buy the plugin. Foobar can do it for free and the plugins are available in a lot of places. It does take time to find the right ones for your system and personal tastes but they are there. There are custom EQ settings you can download, the list is endless. Again, its all free and there are lots of people in their forums with your exact card. There are also new drivers available on the REALTEK home page, as I was updating my mom's Dell system, and there are 5.1 upmix settings in the new REALTEK tray icon.

Cheers,
Earl
 
I'm going to begin by mirroring some of what has already been said here. All of the source files you are talking about are 2.0 (stereo) sources. By default this means most of the time you will only hear audio from the front left and front right speakers. There is a setting in the Realtek drivers which changes this and has been there for probably a couple of years at least. The following screenshot will show you exactly where you need to be and what box to check if you are running Vista or Win7. After doing this, you will get sound from the front, center and rear speakers from a 2.0 (stereo) source as well as a 4.0 (quadraphonic) source but of course, it is not real 5.1 since it's just simulated. I will say that it usually does a pretty decent job of simulating it, though.

What you need to do is go to the Speakers tab of the Realtek HD Audio Manager and check the box next to Speaker Fill. Once you do this, the simulated 5.1 audio will work in everything. As long as you have the latest Realtek drivers (or in my case the latest audio drivers for my motherboards from Gigabyte) the Realtek HD Audio Manager should look exactly like my screenshot in Vista or 7. It's identical for my Gigabyte 965P-DS3 and P35-DS3R boards. It should also be the same for the Abit IP35. I'm not 100% sure because my IP35-e has been running Linux since I got the board 2 years ago.

realtekhdaudiomanager.jpg


As for Windows XP, I'm afraid I can't help you. I just checked the fourth system as it's running XP and has the onboard Realtek but I didn't find the option there. I didn't go through the panel completely but it isn't setup anything like the Vista and Win7 drivers and doesn't have as many options or controls. I haven't used XP personally on a system with a 5.1 setup in a long time so I don't remember how it acts. For all I know, it may do the speaker fill automatically but I don't think it does. I might have tested it out on that system but my roommate is asleep and I didn't feel like waking him up with a sound test. Plus, the 5.1 setup on that computer is completely useless with where the speakers are sitting. For XP, you may have to find something which will do the simulated surround on a program by program basis.

As for anyone who has a 5.1 source and isn't getting 5.1 sound, all I can suggest is to make sure all cables are plugged in properly, the drivers are set to 5.1 sound and to use the built in tester in the drivers (if there is one) to make sure all the speakers are working properly.

 
Hyper_Psycho said:
Well this totally sucks ... :(
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I'm going to have to add my aggreement to the others. Your sound card is not malfunctioning.

When you are playing a stereo source it should play as stereo. When you are playing as 5.1 source it should play as 5.1. That's how it's supposed to work.

When someone records somthing in stereo, it's usually intended to be played back in stereo.

Many folk's, that is, people who are somewhat of audio enthusiasts, opinion is that when somthing is recorded as 2.0 stereo, Ithey want it to be played back that way. It sounds better. (IMO :rolleyes:)

Often times when someone is in your situation, it turns out they are running some under powered or small speakers. They want to clone or "use all 5" of their speakers to make it sound "fuller" You may want to look into upgrading your speakers, specifically your front 2.0 speakers.

If your perogative is to convert these 2.0 sources for 5.1 playback or playback on all channels (for a party or somthing where your speakers are located throughout the room) There are many options for you.

1. Most A/V receivers have a multitude of modes for playback of 2.0-->5.1

2. ffdshow filters to create 5.1 output from 2.0 inout

3. foobar 2000 filters

4. windows drivers filters / effects

5. sound card specific filters / effects, X-Fi cards for example can support pro logic, etc.

Good luck.
 
SmokeRngs said:
I'm going to begin by mirroring some of what has already been said here. All of the source files you are talking about are 2.0 (stereo) sources. By default this means most of the time you will only hear audio from the front left and front right speakers. There is a setting in the Realtek drivers which changes this and has been there for probably a couple of years at least. The following screenshot will show you exactly where you need to be and what box to check if you are running Vista or Win7. After doing this, you will get sound from the front, center and rear speakers from a 2.0 (stereo) source as well as a 4.0 (quadraphonic) source but of course, it is not real 5.1 since it's just simulated. I will say that it usually does a pretty decent job of simulating it, though.

What you need to do is go to the Speakers tab of the Realtek HD Audio Manager and check the box next to Speaker Fill. Once you do this, the simulated 5.1 audio will work in everything. As long as you have the latest Realtek drivers (or in my case the latest audio drivers for my motherboards from Gigabyte) the Realtek HD Audio Manager should look exactly like my screenshot in Vista or 7. It's identical for my Gigabyte 965P-DS3 and P35-DS3R boards. It should also be the same for the Abit IP35. I'm not 100% sure because my IP35-e has been running Linux since I got the board 2 years ago.

realtekhdaudiomanager.jpg


As for Windows XP, I'm afraid I can't help you. I just checked the fourth system as it's running XP and has the onboard Realtek but I didn't find the option there. I didn't go through the panel completely but it isn't setup anything like the Vista and Win7 drivers and doesn't have as many options or controls. I haven't used XP personally on a system with a 5.1 setup in a long time so I don't remember how it acts. For all I know, it may do the speaker fill automatically but I don't think it does. I might have tested it out on that system but my roommate is asleep and I didn't feel like waking him up with a sound test. Plus, the 5.1 setup on that computer is completely useless with where the speakers are sitting. For XP, you may have to find something which will do the simulated surround on a program by program basis.

As for anyone who has a 5.1 source and isn't getting 5.1 sound, all I can suggest is to make sure all cables are plugged in properly, the drivers are set to 5.1 sound and to use the built in tester in the drivers (if there is one) to make sure all the speakers are working properly.

Click to expand...


Thanks a bunch on the info. The thing is that I have "speaker fill" turned on yet the only time the 5.1 speakers come on is when I play something in 5.1

n6DH5.png
 
Hyper_Psycho said:
Thanks a bunch on the info. The thing is that I have "speaker fill" turned on yet the only time the 5.1 speakers come on is when I play something in 5.1

http://i.imgur.com/n6DH5.png
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In that case, I don't know what to tell you. It works the way it's supposed to on mine for Vista and 7. I only use Media Player Classic Home Cinema for video playback and Foobar for audio playback and it works for both of them.

When I first ran the Win7 beta I believe I had to use the drivers from Realtek to get my audio working properly and I didn't have any problems with it then. Since you have had this working previously, the problem would not be in a faulty implementation by Abit on your board. I would suggest looking to see if there are any known problems with the current drivers you are running for the soundcard. If you're running the newest drivers you may need to revert to an older set of the drivers.

The only other thing I can think of is that the output from the rear speakers is very limited depending on the stereo source you're using. There are times when using a stereo source that I have little to nothing coming from the rear speakers. More than once I've thought something was wrong as I was hearing little to nothing from the rear speakers. I checked it out by getting closer to the speakers and just realized that it was really quiet and not much sound was coming from them but something was coming through. The simulated surround sound is really nothing more than a filter analyzing the stereo source and outputting certain sounds based on rules to the different speakers. Because of this, you normally won't get a lot of sound out of the rear speakers from video sources using stereo, at least this has been my experience. I notice the surround mostly when playing music as music seems to output more from the rear speakers in my experience.

At the moment I don't have any other suggestions or ideas.
 
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