Getting 5.1 on Windows 7?

T

Timm

Limp Gawd
Joined
May 11, 2008
Messages
156
Hey guys,

Okay so I just got this HTIB and I'm trying to get it going on my computer via a Digital Optical cable. I was only getting sound out of the Front Right and Front Left speakers and was afraid that there was something wrong with the unit. But when I played a CD it worked beautifully and after some trial and error I got things working with HD Movies in MPC by changing some settings in ffdshow. So now I just need to get sound out of all five speakers with everything else on my computer. I downloaded and installed the newest drivers for my motherboard (I am using the on board audio), but that didn't help. I also couldn't change the channel setup in Realtek or the Windows audio setup.

I am running Windows 7 Ultimate x64. Sorry if I forgot anything and thanks in advance

Motherboard: Gigabyte EP45-UD3R

Timm
 
you either need an audio solution that handles DDL or DTS:C to encode things to 5.1 via S/PDIF in real time; an analog connection to your receiver; or to enable AC-3/DTS passthrough if all you care about are pre-encoded movies
 
Sorry newb here. What would be an example for the first solution? Thanks for the reply btw :)
 
Timm said:
Sorry newb here. What would be an example for the first solution? Thanks for the reply btw :)
Click to expand...

as a discrete card
Creative's X-Fi Titanium has Dolby Digital Live and DTS Connect (Depending on OS) features, which means if you connect via S/PDIF, you can get 5.1 sound output to a compatible receiver (something that can decode Dolby Digital or DTS)

as an onboard
Intel's DX48BT2 motherboard has Dolby Digital Live included, which means the same as the above

if you don't have this feature, and you're trying to pass a 5.1 signal that isn't pre-encoded (say, a video game's 5.1 audio) via S/PDIF, you won't get very far, however if you've got a movie (say a DVD) with a 5.1 audio track, its going to be encoded with AC-3 or DTS, which you can simply passthrough (hence the name) via S/PDIF, just configure that as appropriate to make it work
 
Timm said:
So getting a new sound card would be the most foolproof plan?

Would this work?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829118006
Click to expand...

yes that would work

I'd probably go ahead and spend a few more bucks for either the HT Omega Striker or Auzentech X-Plosion, but any of the three should be fine, Xonar DX should be good as well (I'm wary to suggest the DS as recent user posts lead me to believe its feature gimped in software)
 
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