[Realtek] How to automatically switch from 7.1 to stereo upon plugging in headphones?

[N.tony]

Ever since I upgraded to the new PC and gave up on my beloved Creative X-fi, I cannot figure this one out, and can't even figure out how to formulate the google query correctly, since it keeps showing wrong results 

 

I have an Asrock Fatal1ty B450 Gaming-ITX MB with a Realtek ALC1220 Audio Codec, a 7.1 surround system and a pair of headphones.

 

The Realtek software has an automatic jack detection option

 

However, when I plug my headphones in, the speaker configuration stays at 7.1, which means, I can only hear the front R/L speakers in my headphones and all the central/surround channels are simply vanishing - super annoying in games, where I lose the sound from anything happening behind me 

 

I only use headphones when playing in coop, which happens rarely, but it's a pain in the butt to fiddle with the speaker configuration everytime I have to plug it in. The old creative drivers, as terrible as they were for Win10, were smart enough to switch to headphones profile once they detect the front panel jack connection, and even kept their separate volume and everything...

 

Have anyone encountered this/solved it somehow? I've tried like 5 different driver versions over the last half a year, currently on official Asrock drivers 

Quote

Realtek high definition audio driver ver:8750.1_UAD_WHQL_SBC5

 

[emosun]

11 minutes ago, N.tony said:

I can only hear the front R/L speakers in my headphones

the headphones are stereo

[N.tony]

1 minute ago, emosun said:

the headphones are stereo

Not to be rude, but that's kind of the whole point of my post - I *want* the system to switch to stereo once the headphones are plugged in, but even though the driver obviously detects and switches to the headphones, it still retains the 7.1 speaker configuration, thus all the games still separate the sound to their channels and I don't hear anything from the back

[emosun]

well what you're talking about is a hardware feature of your previous setup. you don't have it anymore because you gave up on that setup for an undisclosed reason.

Most people aren't running 7.1 and most people have stereo headphones so your current setup and software has to be toggled. is there a reason you can't use your previous setup?

[Bombastinator]

9 minutes ago, emosun said:

the headphones are stereo

I think he’s hoping to remove the splitting of 7.1.  I’m not so familiar with 7.1 and get the center, some base, and all the lefts in L  and all the rest in R.  
 

I’m pre 7.1.  It’s alien to me.  My theory (which is only that) is to somehow get the headphones to play the S/DIF stuff.  With 5.1 it would work. I dunno about 7.1 though

[N.tony]

It would be absolutely the same problem if I had a 5.1 or a quadraphonic setup...

 

It is obviously not a hardware limitation - the driver/software definitely recognizes when I plug in something in the front i/o, since it silences the speakers, so it is extremely puzzling to me why it doesn't switch to stereo configuration in this case...

 

I can't use my previous setup because

1. my motherboard doesn't have a PCI connector for the Creative X-fi (it was released in 2006)

2. my case doesn't have a 5.25 bay for the front i/o of the Creative X-fi

3. Creative X-fi was pre-HDaudio front i/o standard so it's not compatible with it

 

10 minutes ago, Bombastinator said:

My theory (which is only that) is to somehow get the headphones to play the S/DIF stuff

How would you do that?

 

[Bombastinator]

Just now, N.tony said:

It would be absolutely the same problem if I had a 5.1 or a quadraphonic setup...

 

It is obviously not a hardware limitation - the driver/software definitely recognizes when I plug in something in the front i/o, since it silences the speakers, so it is extremely puzzling to me why it doesn't switch to stereo configuration in this case...

 

I can't use my previous setup because

1. my motherboard doesn't have a PCI connector for the Creative X-fi (it was released in 2006)

2. my case doesn't have a 5.25 bay for the front i/o of the Creative X-fi

3. Creative X-fi was pre-HDaudio front i/o standard so it's not compatible with the 

 

How would you do that?

 

I had no idea the thing was that old.  You want to use 2006 era hardware in a modern rig?  
I’m impressed that it works at all.

 

Wow.  Quadrophonic.  There’s a blast from the past.  I thought that stuff died out in the 80’s.  Is it coming back?  Quadrophonic was actually recorded differently.  4 mics.  It can’t really even be turned into stereo at all.  If you’re saying that the 5.1 was recorded six channel in the first place, yeah he’s screwed.

 

my memory is that 5.1 and 7.1 work differently. 5.1 is regular old analog stereo that is split.  7.1 works differently.  I got no idea how though.  Also I may be wrong.  The idea with the S/DIF. is that it’s old tech.  There’s a chance that somewhere in there there’s something that will actually unpack the 7.1 magic, split it into R/L, and output it.

Might work, might not.

[ShearMe]

I found this for you, and tested out the setup. Sets up hotkeys via a background application which can switch between speaker counts. Let me know if you need assistance setting it up. http://blog.contriving.net/2009/05/04/a-hotkey-to-switch-between-headphones-and-speakers-soundswitch/

[N.tony]

Yes! I knew someone must have done something like this, probably out of similar frustration...

 

Thanks a lot!

 

Though it's not quite the same problem, since I am using a jack on the front i/o and not the usb headphones, so technically it is the same device, however, the utility is pretty advanced and after digging around the ini file I found that you can switch speaker configuration and you can even customize both options!

 

I am still amazed at how this is still an issue in 2020, but at least it has been reduced to pressing a keyboard shortcut