I'm having a heck of a time getting 5.1 audio to work on my pc

[joe7dust]

I have a JVC TH G-31 that seems to only take 5.1 on the optical aux input. My 750Ti should be able to provide 5.1 audio no problem via HDMI. In order to get the optical audio out of the HDMI stream I bought an HDMI splitter/extractor. Trouble is, I am only getting 2.0 stereo sound. Is there a better way to test it besides clicking on the speakers in sound config page? When I do that I only hear sound after clicking the front L/R speakers. All of my drivers are up to date and report as working and the splitter switch is set to 5.1 (2.0 is the other setting, when I switch to that I have less format choices but still sounds about the same).

The reason I ask if there is a better way to test it is because on this blu-ray I'm watching the audio coming out of the rear speakers sounds different than the rest. It is more ambient and background noise, while the voices seem concentrated towards the front. I have tried all the surround settings on my receiver which are movie, music, bypass and matrix. I usually keep it on music as it sounds the best imo.

 

[DaveSimmons]

5.1 over optical digital needs to be encoded as Dolby or DTS. The 750ti is probably sending game audio as raw 5.1 PCM audio and the splitter can only get stereo from that. It costs money to license Dolby or DTS encoders.

You should try using the 3 2-channel analog outs from the PC if the receiver has analog 5.1 inputs.

 

[joe7dust]

I actually have not tried any games and I only did 1 Blu-ray. I thought that clicking on center/rear/sub in Windows audio settings with no audio out of the speakers was enough testing on that.

About the analog I don't think the receiver is set up for that. Special pc 5.1 systems use three separate 3.5mm cables for this I believe. It is a JVC TH G-31 if that helps.

In the device properties it says this: HDCP supported @ 8 channel max, 16/24-bit & 44.1-192kHz sample rates. Encoded formats: DTS Audio & Dolby Digital.

edit: Those are listed on the property page of my monitor btw which doesn't have speakers. I believe it is actually pulling the data from the HDMI extractor. I doubt it would actually be getting it from the receiver somehow. I'm using this https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01NBKTWT0

 

[DaveSimmons]

You're right, I don't see any analog inputs on your DVD-Receiver. More high-end receivers have 6 x RCA analog in, and the 3 PC analog out are stereo so you use need a miniplug - to - 2 x RCA cable for them.

For PC HDMI, like I said for games the 750ti will not encode audio to Dolby or DTS compression so you'll only get stereo.

If you bought a separate sound card, some of the $50+ ones do offer real-time dolby or DTS encoding, like this one - ASUS XONAR DSX 7.1 (DTS interactive)
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod...32053&cm_re=sound_card-_-29-132-053-_-Product

Just make sure that your receiver can decode DTS for that one, or get a different card that supports Dolby Digital Live.

http://www.avsforum.com/forum/91-au...etter-dolby-digital-live-dts-interactive.html

 

[joe7dust]

I doubt I will need to spend that much but I need to do more research. I was thinking the next step up is a fancier adapter or a cheap audigy clone with toslink out.

I'm pretty sure I saw a 5.1 pci sound card with optical out for $15 a few years back. I was originally going to go that route since the active adapter costs nearly that much, but everywhere I look they said these days the HDMI is just as good or better. Hell if my monitor had an optical passthru built in then I would not need anything extra, so I figured the days of pci sound card were behind me.

 

[DaveSimmons]

I doubt I will need to spend that much but I need to do more research. I was thinking the next step up is a fancier adapter or a cheap audigy clone with toslink out.

I'm pretty sure I saw a 5.1 pci sound card with optical out for $15 a few years back. I was originally going to go that route since the active adapter costs nearly that much, but everywhere I look they said these days the HDMI is just as good or better. Hell if my monitor had an optical passthru built in then I would not need anything extra, so I figured the days of pci sound card were behind me.

No. Toslink out by itself does not help you. That just gives you stereo. A better splitter just gets you stereo.

The only way to send 5.1 over toslink is to encode it to lossy compression, either Dolby or DTS. That means paying Dolby Labs / DTS to license real-time encoding software. $20 sound cards do not include the live encoding software to convert raw uncompresed 5.1 into Dolby or DTS.

And again the JVC must decode it. It should decode Dolby since that's standard for DVD, but it might not include DTS decoding. That's partly because JVC needs to pay Dolby and DTS too to license the decoding.

 

[fralexandr]

Movies are supposed to already be encoded right? And the front speakers are normally where all the primary dialogue comes from. If the speakers output similar audio/dialogue that would be indicative of a 2.0 source on a 5.1 setup. Have you tried a movie with noticeable surround effects like Master & Commander or The Matrix's lobby scene?

The need for an encoding source like one of the ~$50+ x-fi usb or one of the many pci-e sound cards with optical out supporting dolby digital live would be for games and other sources that don't encode for you.

Sadly you'll never get "hd" audio due to bandwidth limits over optical though. That would require a 5.1 hdmi receiver which starts at ~$150

 

[DaveSimmons]

Yes, movies are pre-encoded because they too paid Dolby Labs or DTS to license the encoder.

If joe7dust was playing a DVD on the PC then (if the player is set up properly) it should be able to send the pre-encoded Dolby over HDMI or toslink to the JVC player+receiver.

For games, no.

For ripped movies I'd guess that depends on how it was done, whether or not the audio was left as Dolby or DTS.

 

[joe7dust]

Movies are supposed to already be encoded right? And the front speakers are normally where all the primary dialogue comes from. If the speakers output similar audio/dialogue that would be indicative of a 2.0 source on a 5.1 setup. Have you tried a movie with noticeable surround effects like Master & Commander or The Matrix's lobby scene?

The need for an encoding source like one of the ~$50+ x-fi usb or one of the many pci-e sound cards with optical out supporting dolby digital live would be for games and other sources that don't encode for you.

Sadly you'll never get "hd" audio due to bandwidth limits over optical though. That would require a 5.1 hdmi receiver which starts at ~$150

I used 12 Monkeys and yes the dialogue was mostly in the front speakers. The rears seemed like ambience and background noises. I'll test again with the Matrix lobby scene as you suggested. I guess maybe the setup I have right now is working for movies only, it just doesn't work when I use the windows audio properties testing page? (no sounds play when I click center/sub/rear.)

What is weird is that when I click those speakers I can see the green bars go up on my volume mixer its just nothing actually plays at the receiver level.

The seller of the HDMI Extractor is telling me it is just a setting I need to change on my computer somewhere, is there any truth in that?

Yes, movies are pre-encoded because they too paid Dolby Labs or DTS to license the encoder.

If joe7dust was playing a DVD on the PC then (if the player is set up properly) it should be able to send the pre-encoded Dolby over HDMI or toslink to the JVC player+receiver.

For games, no.

For ripped movies I'd guess that depends on how it was done, whether or not the audio was left as Dolby or DTS.

Is this a limitation of my receiver? I used to have an Audigy 2 and surround sound in games was working fine on that system, although it was with 5.1 speakers designed for PC and not a dvd player type receiver. I am pretty sure that a used Audigy would not even be $20 ... -.-

 

[DaveSimmons]

>> although it was with 5.1 speakers designed for PC

... that plugged into the 3 analog out jacks, right?

Your PC can do 5.1 game audio, but as "raw" audio, not encoded into Dolby or DTS. You need Dolby Digital Live or DTS Interactive software to encode the raw audio into Dolby or DTS.

An HDMI cable connected to HDMI in on a receiver can send raw 5.1 audio.

Toslink does NOT support raw 5.1 audio, only raw stereo. For 5.1 you need encoded and compressed audio.

 

[joe7dust]

And the need for this dolby/dts is because of a limitation in my receiver? Or a limitation of the toslink standard? Man if it is the latter I am surprised, I had always thought optical was superior like comparing coax to fiber.

 

[fralexandr]

It's a bandwidth limitation for optical/toslink.

The Audigy 2 supported dolby digital live, though it's probably hard to find the creative dolby live encoding software since they don't sell it anymore.

 

[joe7dust]

I did some more testing and surround sound is definitely working for movies. I have to set the speaker config to quadraphonic instead of 5.1 though or the voices are all muffled. I guess this means my center channel might not be working.

edit: Tested again and center speaker is working fine. Kind of odd considering the quadraphonic setup screen doesn't even show a center speaker.

It's a bandwidth limitation for optical/toslink

The Audigy 2 supported dolby digital live

I'm probably just going to grab a used Audigy then, sounds like the cheapest solution.

 

[fralexandr]

You might be unable to find creative's software for encoding dolby live on the Audigy, since they discontinued selling it in their store.

 

[joe7dust]

You might be unable to find creative's software for encoding dolby live on the Audigy, since they discontinued selling it in their store.

I'm pretty good at finding that sort of thing online.

 

[DaveSimmons]

And the need for this dolby/dts is because of a limitation in my receiver? Or a limitation of the toslink standard? Man if it is the latter I am surprised, I had always thought optical was superior like comparing coax to fiber.

Toslink. It is far superior to analog stereo but it was designed for stereo and does not have the bandwidth for uncompressed 5.1 audio. HDMI was developed much later (1983 vs. 2002) and can send much more audio data.

 

[joe7dust]

Toslink. It is far superior to analog stereo but it was designed for stereo and does not have the bandwidth for uncompressed 5.1 audio. HDMI was developed much later (1983 vs. 2002) and can send much more audio data.

5.1 audio works at least in some games (which is odd considering nothing happens when I click a rear speaker in windows sound properties) such as Titanfall 2.

Since a used Audigy 2 or similar will run me about $20 or more, I'm probably just going to grab a budget motherboard that has SPDIF output. (having another random issue with this crap hp board)

 

[DaveSimmons]

5.1 audio works at least in some games (which is odd considering nothing happens when I click a rear speaker in windows sound properties) such as Titanfall 2.

Since a used Audigy 2 or similar will run me about $20 or more, I'm probably just going to grab a budget motherboard that has SPDIF output. (having another random issue with this crap hp board)

There are a few games that paid Dolby or DTS to use 5.1 encoding libraries.

FYI, the motherboard probably won't work either. Again, the motherboard manufacturer has to pay Dolby or DTS to license encoding drivers to make the sound chip send 5.1 over the SPDIF instead of just stereo.

Are you seeing the pattern here? SPDIF / Toslink is just stereo, unless either the game studio or the sound card / motherboard maker pays Dolby or DTS.

 

[joe7dust]

Il

There are a few games that paid Dolby or DTS to use 5.1 encoding libraries.

FYI, the motherboard probably won't work either. Again, the motherboard manufacturer has to pay Dolby or DTS to license encoding drivers to make the sound chip send 5.1 over the SPDIF instead of just stereo.

Are you seeing the pattern here? SPDIF / Toslink is just stereo, unless either the game studio or the sound card / motherboard maker pays Dolby or DTS.

I'll be sure and look for the feature if I get a new motherboard.

Btw Witchery 3 has working surround sound for me also so I'm 2/2 on games I play that were released in the past few years.