Problem with Optical out

[dalfiuss]

I recently got a Shuttle SN25P, with onboard Via Envy audio. I want to connect my computer to my Onkyo reciever via an optical or coaxial digital connection, but when I do so I can't figure out a way to get all of the channels. In the Via control panel it allows you to test the speakers and I can only seem to get the front left and right channels to work. When I run the Counter Strike: Source sound test I can hear the left, right, center, and LFE channels, but the rear channels are simply played through the front speakers.

I am able to get sound on all of the speakers if I set the computer to output stereo sound and have my reciever replicate that onto all channels, but I can't find out anyway to get the full 5.1 sound.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, and if there is anything else you need to know I will try to answer to the best of my ability.

 

[Mister X]

There is nothing wrong with what you are experiencing.
Your onboard audio solution cannot encode a Dolby Digital stream on the fly and as such all you get via the S/PDIF interface(s) is two channels of uncompressed PCM data. The only time you will get "5.1" audio is when the media is previously encoded in a multichannel format (Dolby pass through).

 

[dalfiuss]

There is nothing wrong with what you are experiencing.
Your onboard audio solution cannot encode a Dolby Digital stream on the fly and as such all you get via the S/PDIF interface(s) is two channels of uncompressed PCM data. The only time you will get "5.1" audio is when the media is previously encoded in a multichannel format (Dolby pass through).

Thanks for the reply, however I am a little confused with your response. What exactly do you mean by "the media is previously encoded in a multichannel format"?

Is there some way to get things like games that support 5.1 audio to output 5.1 audio over the digital connection? Or will it require switching to the onboard analog connections?

 

[Mister X]

What exactly do you mean by "the media is previously encoded in a multichannel format"?

DVD audio

Is there some way to get things like games that support 5.1 audio to output 5.1 audio over the digital connection?

Not with the onboard solution.

Or will it require switching to the onboard analog connections?

Either that or use one of the matrixing schemes your receiver has (prologic, prologic2, NEO and so on)

 

[halicore]

mister x is right. pretty shitty isn't it? I went through the same thing awhile back with an Audigy2 zs on my notebook trying to use it with my receiver.