Cant Get 5.1 Channels

[MahtXL]

msi motherboard with built in pretty decently high end sound, using an optical cable to a 5.1 box. windows is only showing me 2.1 as selectable yes i have all the drivers for the boards sound card which supports up to 7.1 btw so 5.1 shouldnt be a problem here

[Stagea]

msi motherboard with built in pretty decently high end sound, using an optical cable to a 5.1 box. windows is only showing me 2.1 as selectable yes i have all the drivers for the boards sound card which supports up to 7.1 btw so 5.1 shouldnt be a problem here

 

 

You need drivers with Dolby Digital Live (or DTS Connect) to support real-time encoding to Dolby Digital or DTS (if your motherboard supports it). Without that, your optical connection will only output discrete surround sound from sources with pre-encoded tracks (say from DVDs and BDs).

 

If everything checks out, select the default format as Dolby Digital Live or DTS Connect. It should be similar to this:

[johnt]

Unfortunately, optical is no longer well supported for surround sound. Windows does not provide any means to specify the number of channels to output when using optical. Typically, the number of channels depends on the capacity of the decoder. For example, a simple DAC only processes two channels, whereas a receiver will be able to process six channels.

 

While your motherboard might support up to eight channels, it doesn't appear to support surround sound through an optical connection from the photos you've provided... especially if your drivers are up-to-date.

 

It's a hard pill to swallow.

[MahtXL]

So pretty much get a dedicated sound card then?

[MahtXL]

You need drivers with Dolby Digital Live (or DTS Connect) to support real-time encoding to Dolby Digital or DTS (if your motherboard supports it). Without that, your optical connection will only output discrete surround sound from sources with pre-encoded tracks (say from DVDs and BDs).

 

If everything checks out, select the default format as Dolby Digital Live or DTS Connect. It should be similar to this:

this is all i seem to have sadly. Strange i thought getting an optical cable would allow for surround. i was running just rca before and was told to get optical for real surround..........

[MahtXL]

Unfortunately, optical is no longer well supported for surround sound. Windows does not provide any means to specify the number of channels to output when using optical. Typically, the number of channels depends on the capacity of the decoder. For example, a simple DAC only processes two channels, whereas a receiver will be able to process six channels.

 

While your motherboard might support up to eight channels, it doesn't appear to support surround sound through an optical connection from the photos you've provided... especially if your drivers are up-to-date.

 

It's a hard pill to swallow.

So im atleast getting discrete surround thanks to my receiver box decoding what windows sound is set to send? (dts and dolby digital) it sounds like surround when playing a source blu ray for sure.

[Stagea]

So pretty much get a dedicated sound card then?

 

There are unlocked Realtek drivers circulating. Some had been lucky with them (depending on the board). I have not tried any of them.

 

MSI cut costs by not paying for the DDL / DTS Connect license (costs around $5 per device, I believe).

 

If you're looking for a dedicated sound card, something like the Asus Xonar DX or the Sound Blaster Z should support DDL.

[Stagea]

So im atleast getting discrete surround thanks to my receiver box decoding what windows sound is set to send? (dts and dolby digital) it sounds like surround when playing a source blu ray for sure.

 

Yes, you should get discrete surround sound from encoded sources like Bluray discs.

[MahtXL]

Yes, you should get discrete surround sound from encoded sources like Bluray discs.

windows sound says its enabled both dts and dolby, vlc is playing a source blu ray via a 5.1 audio track, and my receiver is set to dolby digital pro logic all coming in via digital toslink. If that sounds like im getting 5.1 from the blu ray then thats good enough for me for now, sounds a heck of a lot better than the via crap with rca via 3mm i was using before.