Solved Realtek onboard sound card with 5.1 surround speaker fill problem

[FaberTech]

I know this is an old thread, but I thought I should update that Realtek has new Pin numbers now for some reason. So if the old ones don't do anything for you, you should try these....

"Pin10" = Line-in (rear blue)
"Pin11" = Mic-in (rear pink)
"Pin14" = Front speakers (rear green)
"Pin15" = Rear speakers (rear black)
"Pin16" = Center / Sub-woofer (rear orange)
"Pin17" = Side speakers (rear gray)
"Pin19" = Front Mic-In (front pink)
"Pin1b" = Front Headphone (front green)

This came to my attention after a re-install i recently did.

Here is my source

How to remap / retasking Realtek onboard jacks / ports - Reaper-X

 

[Night Hawk]

That may be from going from 51. to 7.1 or 7.1 to 8 channels as to why the pin configuration was found to be different. If your old board saw 5.1 surround and the next new was 7.1 that would or might not be so noticable while some new model just out offering a little more in the onboard sound dept. such as seeing front and rear mic jacks over one single jack would explain the change seen.

 

[FaberTech]

Night Hawk,

That may be the case. I did not upgrade my board or go from 5.1 to 7.1, but the driver is a newer version than the one before. Thanks for the input.

 

[Night Hawk]

With the volume of hardware changes seen in the last few years they likely have a more universal driver that works with a few different audio chips. The block diagram of course would simply being reflecting any change as far as the number of jacks as well as what they are used for.

You see the same with onboard video or for separate cards like one AMD/ATI Catalyst version will be good for what has been out of a period of time but some latest model series as well. While the specs on each card will be different including the VPU itself the same universal main Cat. driver will be put to work even if the new card for example now see HDMI and digital audio out while another older model doesn't.

 

[thewildman]

Hi Night Hawk,

I am having a similar issue with my setup. The side and rear speakers sounds only seem to play mid tones (not bass and high - sounds like a voice removal filter). I think this is due to the Windows 7 "Speaker Fill" or "Virtual Surround" enhancement modifying the sounds since my driver test app (realtek) test on each individual speaker sounds fine. The problem occurs when I play stereo sounds (not 7.1) that this problem happens. I'll try your front speaker solution. I think windows just needs to duplicate the front channel to side and rear when playing a stereo source instead of it's funky virtualisation its doing.

Cheers,
Brendan

 

[Night Hawk]

Hello thewildman Welcome to the Seven Forums!

With the Creative notice Creative sound launcher's speaker settings here that would be the 4/4.1 setting for seeing the front and back duplicate the two channels. Likewise the thing you would want would be the 4 speaker setting if available there to get past the surround sound.

It depends mainly on your speaker set however for which setting will work out the best. The four speaker setting wouldn't be what you would use for a 5.1 surround sound set of four(left and right front and rear) when having a center mix speaker but with a four speaker set or two pairs of stereo speakers plugged into the jacks on the board or case depending on how those are set up.

Another setting to accommodate that is the head phone setting where you still end up with two channels for both pairs. Even with the 5.1 surround set here having a front center I often leave the mixer set to head phones for head phone use and when not listening to audio tracks but a live feed which will often be in stereo.

One thing to look at closely like I was mentioning before was the jacks used since many will see the front, rear, and then a third center mix jack if 3 are dedicated to audio. Often the board's own software/driver cd will have a sound app like SoundMax you can use to adjust the speaker settings with not being left with only the Windows sound mixer.

If you should get stuck with something a little more involved for some reason you may want to start a new thread of your own however since this one is getting on in age a bit.

 

[thewildman]

Thanks Night Hawk,

I ended up buying a cheap and nasty 7.1 sound card - same as this NEW Ritmo 7 1 PCI Sound Card Upgrade CCT871 | eBay but for 13AUD/USD delivered. I plugged the front independent amp+speakers into the front jack, and the side and rear into my 5.1 amp's front and back respectively (my 5.1 system only has front and rear plug, no center or sub jack but it still has these speakers which the signal must be emulated by the amp hardware). In windows I am able to use the software for the VIA Tremor 1723 chip to duplicate the front to side and rear channels when stereo sounds are played, but the 6 channels work independently for surround.

Thanks,
Brendan

 

[Night Hawk]

I guess that worked for you much better then simply relying on the onboard sound. Whatever works right?!

On the main system here I have always been staying with the separate expansion card trend while a second remote station simply uses the onboard there and speakers in monitor option not having much worry about stereo or surround but using the Team View program for remote projects. I can leave something running on the main and monitor the progress while at the remote pc as well as being able to try things out there without any changes on the main.

But that simply extends things with basic sound over to the remote pc there. For customizing sound then you often have to expand a bit to find out just will do the job for you. The only time the onboard would be used on the main would be in the event the card fails and that would be a temporary option until replaced.

 

[Rain08]

Don't go to laurson1's post, it's a link, not a picture to a website, maybe a spam.

 

[Night Hawk]

There isn't any link or image to click on!

 

[zach99zulu]

Here is the fix

Intro:
I spent several hours over the last couple days trying to figure out why there is no sound coming from the REAR speakers when playing 2.1 sources and such (streaming videos or music from online). 5.1 sound works in video games and DVD/Bluray, etc. There was no SPEAKER FILL option in the most recent REALTEK drivers.

Quick rundown of my problem:
5.1 audio only worked for 5.1 output sources, not for everything.

Interesting details:
CONTROL PANEL > HARDWARE AND SOUND > SOUND, click Speakers (typical output source.... where the sound comes from), then the Configure button.. By default, it's set to Stereo (I just built a new computer, so this is where I was sitting). Set it to 5.1 Surround and it WORKS.... for only one source (I would steam a channel on DI.fm and if I reopened that stream, it would revert back). If I reopen anything or change a sound setting, it'll completely stop or it'll revert back to stereo sound. VERY clear difference, as with stereo, the volume out the front and center speakers is way louder than on 5.1, even on the same volume setting (I was using 50%).

I would change it from 5.1, open a source, change it to Stereo, open a source. There was a clear difference, and as said before though, it only works for ONE source. Keep in mind, Windows has an audio driver that has the SPEAKER FILL option, but as you're all probably aware, it's garbage. VERY quiet!

SOLUTION:
CONTROL PANEL > HARDWARE AND SOUND > SOUND, click Speakers, then the Properties button, click the Enhancements tab (by default, Immediate mode is selected.... I left it checked, default position). Scroll down to the bottom of the list and check DTS Connect. Apply.

You can even use the Room Correction enhancement to further produce a more desired volume from your speakers based on your configuration!

Fixed the issue. I can now restart my computer, play multiple sources, etc, without having to change anything in the sound options ever again!

MOTHERBOARD: Asus Maximus VI Hero w/onboard Realtek HD audio.

 

[Night Hawk]

Hello zach99zulu Welcome to the Seven Forums!

Due to the age of this thread I would recommend starting a new one rather then expecting help here especially since you seem to be having a more involved problem. That will a bit more room without stepping the help offered to the OP here. You'll find you will get more help faster as well.