Surround sound not working on computer

[drpootums]

Ok, i have a 4.1 Altec Lansing speaker system for my comp (pretty common, but no model # or anything). I have my front two speakers comming into the sub in one cable, and the 2 rear speakers are on separate wires connecting to the sub. I have surround sound turned up on the volume controller.

Sound comes out through the back, but it's not separate from everything else. I'm using integrated audio (8 channel) with the drivers off the mobo CD. I have both cables from the sub (the black rear one and the yellow front one) hooked up to their places on the back, but when i go to NVMixer to configure them, no sound comes though the back when testing the rear speakers...

Anyways, please help me out here, i'll try to find a model # in the mean time

Thanks!

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

What happens when you switch the front and rear cables on your soundcard? This could help you figure out if it's something wrong with the speaker setup or the soundcard.

I'm having a really hard time understanding how you have things set up.

Could you try to say this in a different way?
"I have my front two speakers comming into the sub in one cable, and the 2 rear speakers are on separate wires connecting to the sub."

this too?
"Sound comes out through the back, but it's not separate from everything else."


I don't have these speakers so I'm not understanding how you have them set up. Did you just get these speakers, or have you had them working in the past and it's something new that you changed and it's not working anymore?

 

[drpootums]

ok, sorry...

"I have my front two speakers comming into the sub in one cable, and the 2 rear speakers are on separate wires connecting to the sub."

Alright, my front two speakers (front left and front right) are connected to one cord that is hooked up into one jack on my sub (all my cables come into here). The rear two speakers, however, have separate wires that connect into the sub with separate jacks. Hope that helps.

"Sound comes out through the back, but it's not separate from everything else."

Well...sound comes out of the rear speakers, but it's not sound that should come out of the rear. It's sound, but it's not like what should come from the rear, it's kinda like the same as the sound in the front...


And i've never really had the rear speakers separate, i've always had them all on my desk (now i have wall shelves for them to sit on behind me).

Hope that helps...and thanks!

 

[drpootums]

Oh yeah, maybe this will help:

.......O(left front speaker).........O(right front speaker)
...........................me!.....................
......O(left rear speaker)............O(right rear speaker)

that's a crappy diagram, but i hope it helps!

 

[PurdueRy]

can you show us a picture of the back of your sub and the back of you computer? This would surely explain pretty much everything. Also, what are you listening to that has sound coming out front and rear?

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Ok... do you find out what kind they are yet? I think it would help me figure out if they're hooked up wrong if I could see a picture of the back of the sub.

I guess I don't understand why the front speakers hook up via 1 plug and each rear speaker has it's own... do the fronts hook up with a stereo 1/8" jack and the surrounds each get their own mono 1/8" jack?

Are you sure you have them plugged into the computer correctly? Usually 4.1 speakers have a green and a black plug (at least the ones i've used), not a yellow one and a black one. I think yellow is the standard for center/sub. Have you tried the yellow one in the green jack and the black one in the black jack?

So sound comes out of all the speakers, but it's like the front right is the same as the rear right and front left is the same as the rear left? If you're just playing music, this is pretty much what you want. Are you saying the surround demo is being strange?

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

I did a little searching for 4.1 altec lansing sets. I know a friend of mine had these AVS500 and I think they were popular a couple years ago... is that them, or is it something newer?

 

[drpootums]

I have the AVS500's i guess. I'm not sure, i thought i had 7 watt satellites, but either way, it seems like it's the same set.

Back of comp (sorry, no camera handy)

O----O----O
O----O----O

The top middle one is the green one matching the connecter on my speakers, and the bottom middle one is the black one that also matches the other connecter on my speakers.

My sub is like this

O---front speaker connection
o---left or right rear satellite
o---the other rear satellite connection
O---power cable

Hope that helps, and thanks so far!

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

"On the left side are the sub level control, the AC jack, satellite outs, and a sound mode switch. With this switch you decide between Gaming and Stereo. In Stereo mode, the normal stereo signal is sent to both the fronts and the rears. In Gaming mode, the speakers use the four-channel signal from your soundcard."

tried this?

 

[drpootums]

ahhh...thanks!!! It works now, and when i did the NVMixer speaker wizard, now i had 7.1 speakers! For instance, for the center speaker it was a cross between the front left and right speakers, and when the rear left center (or watever) one went on it was a majority of the rear left, but the rear right one came on a bit.

Anyways, thanks! Now i'm happy with my speakers!

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Cool

Have fun with them