Getting 5.1 to work w\ subwoofer.

Okay I will try to explain first the facts before I explain the actual problem. I HATE troubleshooting audio. Video/Software/Hardware is a breeze but wow do I hate audio. Anyways

-My mobo is listed in the specs, and has ALL of the updated drivers/BIOS/etc
-It uses the realtek HD audio manager for the audio driver.
-My goal is to use both of my sound outputs efficiently WITH the sub
-1st speakers are just simple, 2 average speakers with a 3.5mm jack
-second is a creative inspire 2.1 2400 which is basically a subwoofer and 2 side speakers that plug into the woofer itself. It's audio input is also a 3.5mm jack.

Okay. Now that I think I have most of the facts down let me try to explain the problem. I just recently got both the speakers, and most of my computer component. When I first hooked them up I was using an older version of the drivers. It was simple and easy. I simply plugged the 2 speakers into the green "Speaker" jack, the Audio manager recognized them instantly, and i plugged the creative sub/speakers into the subwoofer/center jack. It wasn't working at first but I ticked the "enable bass management" and voila! it worked perfectly. Since then I updated the driver to the latest version and the subwoofer has stopped outputting any bass. I've tinkered with the audio manager for hours and have not figured it out. I uninstalled/reinstalled the drivers twice and that didn't help either. However I noticed that if I plug the subwoofer into the "speakers" jack, it works beautifully, but then my other speakers won't work in any of the other jacks because they're specifically for surround sound/rear speakers/side/speakers/sub/etc. I know it's hard to understand and it looks like a giant wall of text, but I'd much appreciate anybody's help/input. Thanks

This is what the software looks like:


and this is what the setup looks like. The bottom black one is the creative inspire and the top are the regular speakers.

The strangest part of the entire thing, is that when I use the HD audio manager to "test" the speakers the Sub comes in fine! But when playing videos/listening to music it doesn't work. ANOTHER weird thing to note is when I play games that include 5.1 surround sound like Dead Island for example, what I was playing earlier, it's like it takes over the bass and it allows it to work. GAH, WHY DOES AUDIO HAVE TO BE SO ANNOYING

you said
"Since then I updated the driver to the latest version and the subwoofer has stopped outputting any bass. I've tinkered with the audio manager for hours and have not figured it out."

simplest solution--roll back the driver to the previous version!

PooMan UK said:

You have a 7.1 sound card and you are trying to split 2 sets of speakers into 1. You have the 2.1 connected to the sub-woofer port (orange) and the simple speakers into the speaker out (green)
1st disregard your spare set of "simple" speakers and plug the 2.1 creative directly as you would normally (green). Test this setup and configure it accordingly so that the sub and speakers work the way they should.
Then if this works you could add the "simple" speakers by using a cable like this



(unplug the creative and stick them in the 1 hole then plug the "simple" speakers in the other and plug the single jack back into the green)

I actually had one of these laying around, and I've done what you said. All of the speakers now work, the only issue is that now the subwoofer is CRAZY LOUD, and the "simple" speakers are really quiet. In other words it's really hard to hear words/treble when all you hear is bass. Any way to fix this? Thanks for your help btw! They're also making a very slight..i don't want to say white noise because that's more harsh but this really high pitched ringing sound.

Disreguard my last post. In the room correction tab I signification lowered the decibels of the subwoofer, and my "simple" speakers were ringing because they were turned all the way up in trying to correct the sub being so loud.

Thank you guys ^^

PooMan UK said:

Glad you got it sorted

The voices still sound a bit muffled, almost like people are speaking to me through a closet full of coats or something. But it's bearable. I'll tinker around with it a bit more and see if I can better it.

What I did with the subwwofer being too loud I added a inline bass knob. On my current setup I have a rca bass knob connector it work wonders