Surround Sound Headache
2 hours ago, kerncraftergold said:Before someone suggests spending money on new parts (another soundcard or receiver) I'd like to try to fix this first. I had the parts lying around and decided to try to set it up. It works GREAT when it works, and from some quick Google-ing, it sounds like a software problem over hardware, as it's been proven to function properly.
Unfortunately this requires money to fix. The difference between movies and games is that movies have encoded surround sound that your receiver can decode into different channels. Video games decode the information on the fly as you generate it during gameplay. So it provides the game developers another level of complexity and choice. Like you say, it's a software problem. Developers not only have to 1) provide a game with surround sound, but also 2) support surround sound through the protocol you are using. For example, most modern games only support surround sound through HDMI or separate outputs (the blue, green, and pink outputs on the back of motherboards). Most modern games do not support surround sound through TOSLINK or SPIDF at all.
I am not trying to tell you to throw money at it... but that's mostly because I don't think surround sound is worth it for gaming. It's beyond complicated to configure, expensive, and the general "plug and play" you expect from modern equipment and standards simply isn't there. Some games support 2 channels, some 8, while others only support 5 or 7 channels without a subwoofer signal... WHICH IS FRUSTRATING. This information is only available for select games and only after the game is released and folks have time to test it. To give you an example, The Witcher is 5.1, Witcher 2 and 3 are 7.1, but Cyberpunk is only 7.0.
Don't even get me started on Spatial Audio (Atmos, DTSX).
The reason why you need money to fix this is that HDMI generally fixes all compatibility issues. It just gives you the channels supported by the video game. However, it does create issues with video signals as only the newest receivers support HDMI 2.1 for VRR. And then you open another can of worms: finding wires that actually perform what they claim. I've been having a tough time finding a true HDMI 2.1 spec cable. I'm getting a lot of signal interruptions at 4k120Hz with HDR.
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