Help with 5.1 surround sound

[Mark Kaine]

So someone explain this to me , if I do a DTS test in windows it actually does work, over optical toslink cable,  all speakers get sound separately,  and the decoder light on my Logitech Z906 actually is on.

 

But I can't select any surround sound options otherwise,  I tried pretty much any and all available drivers,  this behavior doesn't change ever,  i don't get any sort of surround sound in games therefore. 

Now since the test in sound settings actually works i believe this is maybe just a wrong setting somewhere but I obviously can't figure it out, hence I hope someone here has an idea how to fix this. 

Btw I tried with analog cables as well,  same thing no 3D sound in games whatsoever, and I'd actually prefer using the optical cable. 

 

Thing is, as said some settings or codecs must have changed , basically I think I need PCM sound, but how do I get it, i don't know. 

 

 

[dilpickle]

Optical will only support Dolby Digital or DTS. Very few games will output this. You need to use the analog cables.

[Mark Kaine]

17 minutes ago, dilpickle said:

Optical will only support Dolby Digital or DTS.

That's possible but the games I'm playing support it, MHW, basically all Resident Evil games...  used to work just fine but some windows update broke it. 

 

The oddest thing is if I start up those games the decoder lights up for a second and then goes out and surround sound doesn't work.

 

17 minutes ago, dilpickle said:

You need to use the analog cables.

I tried.

 

28 minutes ago, Mark Kaine said:

Btw I tried with analog cables as well,  same thing no 3D sound in games

Decoder doesn't light up, no surround sound  -  this could of course be because the games all use DTS or Dolby Digital, and that maybe doesn't work over *analog*, note the "digital" in digital surround. 

 

I need a way to force PCM signal [speculation]

 

 

[dilpickle]

Optical can only do 2.0 PCM.

 

Any game will work over analog. If not them something is definitely wrong and might be time for a re-install.

[Mark Kaine]

1 hour ago, dilpickle said:

Optical can only do 2.0 PCM.

Quote

TOSLINK (from Toshiba Link^[2]) is a standardized optical fiber connector system.^[3] Also known generically as optical audio, its most common use is in consumer audio equipment

...

such as CD and DVD players, DAT recorders, computers, and modern video game consoles, to an AV receiver that can decode two channels of uncompressed lossless PCM audio or compressed 5.1/7.1 surround sound such as Dolby Digital or DTS Surround System.

No, optical does not only support 2.0  PCM it also supports 5.1/7.1.

 

1 hour ago, dilpickle said:

Any game will work over analog.

I did not ever get surround sound to work with it though.  Don't get me wrong it wouldn't matter analog or digital,  I just want my *surround* sound back... but it's as i said not working over analog and unlike optical it also never did. 

 

Playing games like Resident Evil kind of defeats the purpose of playing once you're used to playing them with surround sound enabled. 

 

 

 

[dilpickle]

36 minutes ago, Mark Kaine said:

No, optical does not only support 2.0  PCM it also supports 5.1/7.1.

 

I did not ever get surround sound to work with it though.  Don't get me wrong it wouldn't matter analog or digital,  I just want my *surround* sound back... but it's as i said not working over analog and unlike optical it also never did. 

 

Playing games like Resident Evil kind of defeats the purpose of playing once you're used to playing them with surround sound enabled. 

 

 

 

Did you even read what you quoted:

"can decode two channels of uncompressed lossless PCM audio or compressed 5.1/7.1 surround sound"

And the very next sentence:

 

"Unlike HDMI, TOSLINK does not have the bandwidth to carry the lossless versions of Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD Master Audio, or more than two channels of PCM audio. "

 

Like I said if you can't even get analog output working then you've got a serious problem. Good luck.

[circeseye]

optical and windows 10 has been janky for a while. sometimes it works, sometimes it doesnt (more of doesnt). your better off if possible using hdmi for your audio. (its WAY better anyway) or going a converter to 3.5 jacks to optical. (this works better)

also on what dilpickle said also you are only going to get basic dolby and basic dts.

[Mark Kaine]

4 hours ago, circeseye said:

optical and windows 10 has been janky for a while. sometimes it works, sometimes it doesnt (more of doesnt). your better off if possible using hdmi for your audio. (its WAY better anyway) or going a converter to 3.5 jacks to optical. (this works better)

I mean, yeah... they broke it,  then fixed it then broke it again,  and that's about it. Happened around "creators" update. 

 

There are tons of people saying it never worked properly on win 10, but i can't say that at all, it worked just fine until it was broken by some updates. 

 

The thing is I have a 300 euros 5.1 system and that doesn't work over HDMI,  if anything I'd need some kind of adapter, yeah. 

 

4 hours ago, circeseye said:

you are only going to get basic dolby and basic dts.

And I never wanted anything else,  I doubt my decoder can do anything else either... i just want 5.1 sound (and not some fake surround thing because that simply doesn't work for games where exact positioning is important)

 

What kind of adapter would I have to look for and what do they cost? 

 

I mean if that's a solution it's better than nothing,  ie stereo which is all windows outputs currently...

 

I'm just not sure it'd even would work because I also never got surround working over analog,  even though the receiver/ decoder has all the inputs, but it would be worth trying,  just not sure what kind of adapter I'd need. 

 

 

 

 

[circeseye]

9 hours ago, Mark Kaine said:

I mean, yeah... they broke it,  then fixed it then broke it again,  and that's about it. Happened around "creators" update. 

 

There are tons of people saying it never worked properly on win 10, but i can't say that at all, it worked just fine until it was broken by some updates. 

 

The thing is I have a 300 euros 5.1 system and that doesn't work over HDMI,  if anything I'd need some kind of adapter, yeah. 

 

And I never wanted anything else,  I doubt my decoder can do anything else either... i just want 5.1 sound (and not some fake surround thing because that simply doesn't work for games where exact positioning is important)

 

What kind of adapter would I have to look for and what do they cost? 

 

I mean if that's a solution it's better than nothing,  ie stereo which is all windows outputs currently...

 

I'm just not sure it'd even would work because I also never got surround working over analog,  even though the receiver/ decoder has all the inputs, but it would be worth trying,  just not sure what kind of adapter I'd need. 

 

 

 

 

something like this
https://www.amazon.com/SOUTHSKY-Digital-Decoder-Converter-Optical/dp/B08KD9NVXY/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=3.5mm+5.1+to+optical&qid=1617202022&sr=8-3

this ones a rca to optical thou (you need 3.5mm to rca for this) i couldnt find the one thats actual 3.5mm to optical.

 

 

you say your unit has analog inputs? then for that again 3.5mm to rca cables. does your mobo not have enough 3.5 jacks? or should i say doesnt support 5.1?

[Mark Kaine]

On 3/31/2021 at 4:55 PM, circeseye said:

you say your unit has analog inputs? then for that again 3.5mm to rca cables. does your mobo not have enough 3.5 jacks? or should i say doesnt support 5.1?

Of course it supports 5.1 , it's the reason I bought it,  and I think I already said it worked just perfectly fine up until windows 10 "creators" update,  and yeah,  this is totally a common issue,  I'm aware of that,  but then you always get people saying it works, so i guess there is ways to make it work  - i frankly don't think mobo manufacturers like msi just remove an advertised function just like that  -- although it does kind of look like it -- but,  on the other hand it could just be Windows being Windows, which i find more likely. 

 

https://appuals.com/channel-surround-sound-not-working-in-windows-10/

 

Plenty of "solutions" for this known issue out there,  just so far none worked for me, and tbh until now any kind of surround sound didn't ever work for me over the analog cables, only over optical (as said, up until creators update at least)

 

But. Anyway,  I bought an external surround sound card,  and not unsurprisingly it doesn't work like i hoped... i do ,actually,  for the first time,  get sound over the analog cables

(these)

 

Which are according to logitech for 5.1 surround sound,  but now I'm kinda wondering if the decode light on my z906 is supposed to light up as it used to over optical or if it's normal that it doesn't light up but is still 5.1 surround sound, which I kinda doubt,  but I'm not sure... so far I've been trying with one game,  but it's kinda difficult to tell (which kinda hints to it *not* actually working...)

 

But yeah, I'm not sure,  shouldn't the decode light up, or is it already decoded by the external sound card? 

 

Btw in game i get the following options 

Stereo 

Surround 7.1(5.1)

Dolby Atmos 

 

So in theory it should work,  the decode light of my Logitech Z906 not lighting up seriously confuses me however,  and i don't have the feeling it actually works... though I'm just not sure (yet) 

 

PS: it's this card, and yes,  I installed the drivers,  and windows seems to actually think it's working... i have 5.1 7.1 options, which  i do not have with the standard windows drivers (or any official Realtek drivers) but,  decode light on my Logitech isn't lighting up as said... haven't tried over optical yet,  as I'm still trying to figure it out over "analog" since it's the first time there's actually coming sound to all speakers over these cables. 

 

https://www.amazon.com/LEAGY-External-Sound-Card-8-Channel/dp/B07VSHCGWD/ref=mp_s_a_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=Csl-Usb+7.1+Sound+Card+External&qid=1618015978&sr=8-5

 

 

This is how I set it up 

 

[circeseye]

im going to say yes the decode isnt on because its receiving direct (uncompressed) signal because the sound card is decoding it, sending out each channels signal. optical yes the light will come on because its a compressed signal thats needs decoded