Setting up 5.1 in vista

[Mike2007x86]

How to setup 5.1 properly in vista 64-bit?
My 5.1 worked fine under xp, but I have never been able to get it to work on vista.

If I use the default speaker setup is plays everything all wrong

XFI Entertainment Mode: (Default)
CMSS-3D (Surround Button) - Stereo Xpand which sets my speakers all the way to the fronts and makes various sounds come out the wrong channels when gaming.
Maybe I don't have this setup right, so please tell me how to make 5.1 work properly in vista and playback correctly thru my reciever.

XFI Entertainment Mode:
CMSS-3D (Surround Button) - Change to Stereo Surround
Set the Stereo Envelopment to approximately 50%
I get a type of surround sound, but its not really that effective.

I also use DDL & DTS Connect for XFI which sets my reciever on constant dolby digital for when I stream movies from the internet onto my wide screen tv. Without DDL and DTS connect dolby digital only would turn on when I played a dolby digital enhanced dvd on the computer.

Streaming media vs regular media:
Is DDL & DTS Connect dolby digital truly outputting 5.1 properly?
You see I have all of my movies stored thru amazon unbox, but I have been considering changing to itunes, since they now offer hd content. If I knew my DDL & DTS connect was properly converting the Amazon unbox 2.1 48Khz audio stream to 5.1 I wouldn't even be considering switching.

Here is my exact settings as of right now
Speakers 5.1 - Speaker Volume at 100%
EAX @ 12db (None)
CMSS-3D (Stereo Surround at 50% for fronts and surround sound)
XFI Crystalizer at 50%, SvM is turned off, EQ Flat,
Dolby Digital (On for External Decoder, Full Dynamic Range, Dolby Pro Logic is On, Dolby Digital Ex is On), DTS is On to External Decoder ( DTS EX Matrix 6.1 is set to On), and Encoder is set to (Dolby Digital Live - SPDIF Out), DTS Connect - (DTS NeoC and DTS Interactive is another encoder option, but I have never even used it)

Is 50% on stereo surround the proper way to setup surround sound when using a digital coax to playback movies on a widescreen tv? I no longer use any analog cables.

 

[criccio]

I don't have that hardware so I cannot help you with you're specific problem but... Some things just need to be made clear.

Under no circumstances can DDL/DTC-C take a stereo souce and convert it into a TRUE surround sound signal. Its obvious why. YES, it does take the two channels and split it into 6 channels and encodes it in to a DD format, but there is still only 2 channels of sound information.

If I knew my DDL & DTS connect was properly converting the Amazon unbox 2.1 48Khz audio stream to 5.1 I wouldn't even be considering switching.

I was just hoping you weren't under the impression you where getting real surround sound with that card. You will find here that that most people like to keep "true to the source". If your source is stereo, you should play it back in stereo to get the full experience.

 

[Mike2007x86]

I still am curious if an even setting of 50% is best for stereo envelopment when gaming and watching streaming media. I have my HTS setup this way, my speakers are at 6+ boosted and my eq is front and rear balanced. Is this the right way to setup surround sound, because I assume the same holds true for a pc setup.