5.1 Speaker problems

[MIA]

Hi all

I'm having trouble with my 5.1 speaker setup. I have Windows 7 Ultimate. At first only my 2 front speakers worked, until I turned on "speaker fill". Now every speaker works fine in the sound "manager" in the control panel, but when i play music or watch movies, the sub doesn't work. I have no problems with the sub in my games though. Sound and motherboard driver updates didn't change anything and i did not have this problem in Windows XP.

I'd appreciate it if anyone could assist me.
Thanks

[Ron2K]

I'd guess that the issue lies with your media player of choice - which one are you using?

[MIA]

For MP3s I've tried Winamp and windows media player. For video i've tried KMPlayer, media player classic and windows media player.
I think I have tried others, but cant remember the names at the moment.

[MIA]

Oh, i forgot to mention this.

I'm using onboard sound, but after installing a PCI 5.1 sound card, i had the exact same problem. So i'm pretty sure its software related.
Unfortunately, i haven't been using Windows 7 for that long, so i am yet to get to know every detail of it.

[Sojourn]

You have a realtek soundcard right?
If so, this is a known issue in win7 with realtek as well as the generic win7 drivers.

[MIA]

I'm at work currently, so not sure what soundcard i have. But i'm pretty sure its Realtek.
Shouldn't the driver updates that i did, fix this then?

[Prime]

You have a realtek soundcard right?
If so, this is a known issue in win7 with realtek as well as the generic win7 drivers.

some maybe but not all. mine doesn't do this.

Have you not got centre and sub swapped? somewhere there is a checkbox to change the setting. or perhaps have it set to quadrophonic rather than 5.1

[Sojourn]

Nope, I had your exact issue. Last time I checked, realtek was mum on giving a solution or driver updates.
Highly irritating... I am living without it for now, but am this <---> close to get myself a decent sound card.

Setting it to quadrophonic will fix it, but that means you won't have true 5.1 or even 2.1 for that matter.

[MIA]

You have a realtek soundcard right?
If so, this is a known issue in win7 with realtek as well as the generic win7 drivers.

some maybe but not all. mine doesn't do this.

Have you not got centre and sub swapped? somewhere there is a checkbox to change the setting. or perhaps have it set to quadrophonic rather than 5.1

I did check for that yes, but its not the case unfortunately. My center speaker work as it should in all programs/games. Its just the sub that's giving me the problem.

[MIA]

Nope, I had your exact issue. Last time I checked, realtek was mum on giving a solution or driver updates.
Highly irritating... I am living without it for now, but am this <---> close to get myself a decent sound card.

Setting it to quadrophonic will fix it, but that means you won't have true 5.1 or even 2.1 for that matter.

I think i have seen a setting for quadrophonic, i'll try that when i get home.

[Sojourn]

Any luck ?

[MIA]

I did not have time yesterday to check on this. However, I will have time today.

[MIA]

After another driver update, it's still the same problem.
By the way, where is this quadrophonic option? I think i saw it once, but i might have been mistaken.

Also, i dont know if its related, but my front audio isn't working either (since installing Win 7), the cables is plugged in correctly though, since it worked in XP.

[Stuart]

Control Panel > Sound > select your speakers > Configure

[MIA]

Control Panel > Sound > select your speakers > Configure

I have been there. There is no option for "quadrophonic".

On a side note, a friend sent me a link with realtek drivers and everything is working fine now, except the front audio and mic. I still dont know what to do regarding that, since the cables cant be plugged in in an incorrect way and everything is turned up on the settings.

Regardless, here is the link for those that want http://www.realtek.com.tw/DOWNLOADS/

[Sojourn]

From http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/263 ... ts-windows

There are (at least) two different Realtek problems being referred to in this thread.

Problem #1) The Realtek HD drivers for Windows 7 -- at least the 64-bit version -- for some reason default to a 5.1 speaker setup having "side" speakers instead of "rear" speakers, but the driver defaults to the third speaker port being mapped to the "rear" speakers. This means that if you set it to 5.1 speakers and plug 5.1 analog outputs into the default ports on the MB, the rear speakers will not be getting any sound.

To fix that, just go into the "Realtek HD Audio Manager" (under Control Panel) and change the jack where the rear surrounds are plugged in from "Rear Speaker Out" to "Side Speaker Out". Changing the speaker setting to 7.1 will also enable them as rear speakers, but this may sound weird if applications like games or DVD/Blu-Ray movies attempt to play true 7.1 audio, since then the side speakers will be missing.

Problem #2) The Realtek HD drivers for Windows 7 do not currently appear to offer a stereo upmix feature, which is what allows 2-channel stereo to be played back on more than two speakers. So even if the rear speakers are recognized in the test utility, when you play normal stereo audio sources, sound will only come out of the "front left" and "front right" speakers (unless you use a program that has its own upmix functionality). This seems likely to be a bug: some of their earlier drivers offered this, and the drivers offer many *other* modes that upmix and modify stereo audio output, just not a simple surround upmix.

To fix this:

Ideally, Realtek should add back in the "surround fill" option that was there in some of their other (non-Win7) drivers. If that option is there, just check it and you should be set. You might want to try the latest drivers from the Realtek website to see if they have fixed this. As of 7/21/2010, the latest drivers (R2.50) do not have this option, at least in Windows 7 64-bit.

If that option is not there:

They *do* have another mode that will do this, but it may slightly affect the sound output. If you go under the "Sound Effects" tab in the audio manager, changing the "Environment" setting to "Room" will effectively cause a stereo surround upmix. (All of the modes will do a stereo upmix, but most of the other ones apply various effects that will make your music sound terrible. This one is close to neutral.)

Another option -- if your motherboard's chipset supports it -- is to use Dolby upmixing. This *also* may slightly affect the sound quality, although probably less than using their effects panel. To do this, go to Control Panel->Sound, select the "Speakers" output device, and hit the "Properties" button. This should open up a tabbed window with a bunch of settings. If you have a "Dolby" tab, go to it and check the "Dolby Prologic IIx" checkbox (or whatever option is there). This will remix stereo sound into 5.1 or 7.1. If there is no "Dolby" tab, then your motherboard does not support Dolby upmixing.

Another possible solution is to set all the jacks where your speakers are plugged in to "Front Speaker Output". This will cause the driver to send the same 2-channel output to all the speakers. However, this will break anything that tries to play real 5.1 or 7.1 audio, since the side and rear audio is then not going anywhere!

Realtek also offers a utility on their website called "3D Soundback". This may be helpful, although it has to be configured on a per-application basis. It is also designed for Windows Vista, so it may not work properly under Win7.

[MIA]

Thanks for the info Sojourn

[Sojourn]

Thanks for the info Sojourn

I know what a pain in the rear this is.
I am working my wife for permission to get a decent sound card now, no luck yet.

[jadeli89]

you have already visited control panel/ tested your speakers individually?? my oh my maybe you need to consult a repair shop^^,

[MIA]

There is nothing wrong with my hardware
On the last post of the 1st page i mentioned that new drivers fixed my problem