Windows 8.1 5.1 audio

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May 26, 2007
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I think that I'm having an issue getting 5.1 to work from my pc to my receiver Sony STR-DH810. I have an Amd 7870 connected to my receiver with HDMI and then my receiver connected to my tv with HDMI. I'm getting audio and video playback but when I configure Windows for 5.1 audio I only have a stereo option. I have tired to disable/enable HDMI audio pass thru but that didn't seem to help. Any thoughts on a fix?
 
From my experience it only puts out 5.1 if the source audio has 5.1. Plus I'm pretty sure your receiver only switches the HDMI and doesn't pick up the audio. You need audio return channel (ARC) for it to pick up the audio.

If your TV has and SPDIF out, connect that back to your receiver input.
 
I'm not familiar with the Radeon line; about how old is that 7870? If it's made within the past 2-3 years, I think it should be fully capable of working with HDMI uncompressed audio but I'm not 100% sure. The shortcoming of early HDMI on PC video cards was that they weren't capable of doing uncompressed audio output, so in the Windows speaker config you would see a stereo audio device that you could really only send stereo PCM and compressed Dolby Digital or DTS streams over. On GeForce cards, to get audio over HDMI you could run a 2-pin cable from the SPDIF connection on your motherboard and soundcard and use that to pass audio do the video card's HDMI output. Of course, that's no longer a problem now days. I want to say that AMD was ahead of NVIDIA when it came to implementing audio over HDMI on their video cards.

If your video card and receiver are communicating properly, then you should be seeing more than a stereo option in the Windows speaker configuraiton.

What is the exact description of the HDMI device in the Windows speaker configuration?
 
I would try multiple versions of the AMD HD-Audio driver, but to me this comes across as a receiver setting. Does your receiver have a PCM or pure direct setting? My Pioneer picks up a 7.1 PCM signal at all times, despite the source or output mode. This was how it worked on my old 7970, and current GTX 970s.

Pass-through should not be used here unless you're using the TV speakers in lieu of the 5.1 setup. This receiver should have no problem distributing and amplifying PCM sound to line-outs.
 
Definitely should have full-functionality with that 7870.

As qkslver mentioned, it might be worth digging around in the amp settings but unless you changed something in the amp then Windows should show all modes that your receiver supports in the "choose your configuration" portion of the Windows speaker configuration process. It might be worth doing a master reset on your AV receiver.

Put the amp in standby. While in standby, hold down the standby button on the front panel. After “CLEARING” appears on the display for a while, “CLEARED” appears. You can now release the standby button and power the amp back up.

All the settings you have changed or adjusted are reset to the initial factory default settings.

This should be fairly straight-forward: 7870 HDMI -> Sony receiver HDMI out -> display device (TV/PC monitor).

A display device MUST be attached to the receiver and powered on for the HDCP BS to properly activate everything. There are ways around that but that requires buying more [inexpensive] equipment. Also, maybe you should try another HDMI cable; they can crap out.
 
Have you try to configure the speakers in windows. Are you needing 5.1 audio for gaming or movies? For movies i use xbmc and use pass through audio. Not sure about games though.
 
I just went through this process myself with a 7950. This is what I did.

1. Disable on board sound in bios and remove drivers.
2. If you are on windows 8/8.1 then just install latest version of Catalyst. Earlier OS versions may need Realtek driver for ATI HDMI audio
3. Verify that HDCP handshake is working ok, should look like screenshot below. #channels and encoded formats should match your receiver.
4. Install this - http://mpc-hc.org/ (Make sure you get correct version for your OS 32-bit or 64-bit
5. Grab demo file for encoding that you want to test - http://www.demo-world.eu/2d-demo-trailers-hd/

Note: Display does need to be on to work. Either through receiver or directly from video card.

Capture.png
 
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