Why Can't I Get 5.1 Sound On My Win 7 System! HELP!

[Lee Dizzle]

Hi people

I posted a thread before but got no replies, I didn't know how to remove it so posted this one with more information.

Hope this helps,

My System is:

i7 Processor
6GB DDR3 Ram
ATI Radeon HD 5800 series
DFI LanParty JR X58 T3H6 Motherboard

I've recently installed windows 7 64bit on it and I'm trying to setup up my surround sound via optical cable to my amplifier which all was working fine when I had XP running (no problems at all and sound was perfect)

Since installing Win 7 I've only had headache trying to get the sound working how it was before, and I'm now at the point where I honestly dont know what to do.
I've installed the latest Realtek Audio driver R2.46 but to no avail I dont even get the option to select 5.1 in the audio settings or Realtek HD audio Manager! Which I did before when I was running Win 7 on my old system just after upgrading from XP, but even though I could select it on my old system (running Win 7) I still didnt get true surround as i had to force it through the settings ie: ticking the room option etc.

Which resulted in really poor sound quality, hence why I pretty much bought a whole new system (spec above) thinking this would sort it out. WRONG!

I'm now worse off as I'm not seeing any option for 5.1 at all even though it says the HD driver is installed, I tried letting Windows install the driver automatically but no joy there either! Which makes me think this problem stems from windows 7 itself?
I searched some other forums also the web and have seen countless people with the same problem so surely it is?

More to the point has anybody out there solved this problem? If so how?
And PLEASE if anybody can help me I will be truely grateful as right about now my head feels like it's going to explode!!

Thanks

 

[zigzag3143]

Hi people

I posted a thread before but got no replies, I didn't know how to remove it so posted this one with more information.

Hope this helps,

My System is:

i7 Processor
6GB DDR3 Ram
ATI Radeon HD 5800 series
DFI LanParty JR X58 T3H6 Motherboard

I've recently installed windows 7 64bit on it and I'm trying to setup up my surround sound via optical cable to my amplifier which all was working fine when I had XP running (no problems at all and sound was perfect)

Since installing Win 7 I've only had headache trying to get the sound working how it was before, and I'm now at the point where I honestly dont know what to do.
I've installed the latest Realtek Audio driver R2.46 but to no avail I dont even get the option to select 5.1 in the audio settings or Realtek HD audio Manager! Which I did before when I was running Win 7 on my old system just after upgrading from XP, but even though I could select it on my old system (running Win 7) I still didnt get true surround as i had to force it through the settings ie: ticking the room option etc.

Which resulted in really poor sound quality, hence why I pretty much bought a whole new system (spec above) thinking this would sort it out. WRONG!

I'm now worse off as I'm not seeing any option for 5.1 at all even though it says the HD driver is installed, I tried letting Windows install the driver automatically but no joy there either! Which makes me think this problem stems from windows 7 itself?
I searched some other forums also the web and have seen countless people with the same problem so surely it is?

More to the point has anybody out there solved this problem? If so how?
And PLEASE if anybody can help me I will be truely grateful as right about now my head feels like it's going to explode!!

Thanks

LD

If you had an XP driver that worked, it might work in win 7 if you install it in compatibility mode. to do that right click the installer>properties>compatibility mode>check XP

If you can find a newer driver (ie vista) you can do the same.

Let us know if that doesnt help

Ken

 

[Alexa]

You can not get more surround sound such as Windows XP, because hardware acceleration it was expelled from Vista 7.Hardware acceleration (Direct Sound 3D) facilitated cloning stereo output signals to other sound cards, ie. 5.1 or 7.1.

This is an option in Windows Xp,and it not supported on Windows 7 and Vista...

 

[Lee Dizzle]

Thanks Ken just wondering will I be able to do this with my win 7 home premium? (sorry I never said what version I had before) also im not too technical so will maybe show my friend who is tomorrow, who may be better equipt to do it (just dont wana mess anything up)

 

[Lee Dizzle]

Hi people

I posted a thread before but got no replies, I didn't know how to remove it so posted this one with more information.

Hope this helps,

My System is:

i7 Processor
6GB DDR3 Ram
ATI Radeon HD 5800 series
DFI LanParty JR X58 T3H6 Motherboard

I've recently installed windows 7 64bit on it and I'm trying to setup up my surround sound via optical cable to my amplifier which all was working fine when I had XP running (no problems at all and sound was perfect)

Since installing Win 7 I've only had headache trying to get the sound working how it was before, and I'm now at the point where I honestly dont know what to do.
I've installed the latest Realtek Audio driver R2.46 but to no avail I dont even get the option to select 5.1 in the audio settings or Realtek HD audio Manager! Which I did before when I was running Win 7 on my old system just after upgrading from XP, but even though I could select it on my old system (running Win 7) I still didnt get true surround as i had to force it through the settings ie: ticking the room option etc.

Which resulted in really poor sound quality, hence why I pretty much bought a whole new system (spec above) thinking this would sort it out. WRONG!

I'm now worse off as I'm not seeing any option for 5.1 at all even though it says the HD driver is installed, I tried letting Windows install the driver automatically but no joy there either! Which makes me think this problem stems from windows 7 itself?
I searched some other forums also the web and have seen countless people with the same problem so surely it is?

More to the point has anybody out there solved this problem? If so how?
And PLEASE if anybody can help me I will be truely grateful as right about now my head feels like it's going to explode!!

Thanks

LD

If you had an XP driver that worked, it might work in win 7 if you install it in compatibility mode. to do that right click the installer>properties>compatibility mode>check XP

If you can find a newer driver (ie vista) you can do the same.

Let us know if that doesnt help

Ken

[Thanks Ken just wondering will I be able to do this with my win 7 home premium? (sorry I never said what version I had before) also im not too technical so will maybe show my friend who is tomorrow, who may be better equipt to do it (just dont wana mess anything up)]

 

[Aleksandar87]

Same problem here...

I have xp and recently instaled windows 7 on my pc...

I have problem with my speakers i only get 2.1 sound from my 5.1 speakers
even thought in my setting all of 5.1 speakers are working fine...

I used several driver default, realtek and msi all of them give same thing...
When i setup mu speakers they work fine...
But when i play it with winamp or gom playe or wmp or eny other i only get 2.1 speakers...

Cao some one explain why!?!


This is my mainboard...

MSI Global ? Computer, Laptop, Notebook, Desktop, Mainboard, Graphics and more

an here is pic of my pc

http://i43.tinypic.com/2novbq.jpg

 

[Lee Dizzle]

I'm not sure if anyone out there has solved this problem?? But I really need help sorting it out though!

Please let me know if you somehow solve it

 

[Lee Dizzle]

OK so now I've somehow managed to get the Realtek HD Audio Manager back but there's still NO option to select 5.1 sound anywhere!! Whats going on?!?

 

[Lee Dizzle]

Anyone please help! lol

 

[simonfilth]

ok I have to tell you that i have been on this forum since summer 2009 when first betas of windows 7 came out and i have had this problem ever since then. i have manged to solve this by installing the soundback 3d from the realtek website and putting every single application into it and then it worked. but i had to reinstall windows some time ago and since i did that, even the soundback 3d doesn't help me anymore and trust me, i've tried everything, tried to install the xp drivers (it somewhat worked, i was able to get the sound out of all of the speakers but it was the same exact sound, it wasn't real 5.1), i tried to do the registry editor re-arrangement (no success), tried running and installing everything in administrator mode and still nothing. the funniest thing is that when i test the speakers in both HD realtek audio manager AND the system playback, ALL of the 5.1 speakers work perfectly. i'm sure you have the same problem. it's really funny that they haven't been able to fix the problem ever since windows 7 came out. i'm pretty sure that microsoft has been informed about his issue, i guess they haven't done anything to resolve it. i will never buy a realtek audio card again that's for sure. even when you go on their website and try to download something, it takes forever and a day, their servers are extremely slow. they very rarely update their stuff. i'm hoping to get a new computer soon and i'm definitely going to get creative sound card. i think i have seen a solution for 5.1 in windows 7 for creative soundcards but i haven't been able to test it since i didn't have it. as of now i'm just using the speaker fill garbage (better than nothing i guess).

 

[Lee Dizzle]

Yup it seems we have the exact same problem Simon and it's probably one of the most annoying problems I've ever encountered with my comp! Like you I've near enough tried everything and every time had no luck. I even went to the lengths of contacting Microsoft (by email) and explaining my problem in great detail, In which I got a generic pass the buck style answer which (to me anyway) pretty much came across like this "it's not our problem, we can't help, contact your hardware manufacturer" which I found rude considering how much I've spent on Micrsoft software/products over the years. I've now even sent a few emails to Realtek and I'm waiting to hear if they reply (will let you and everyone know what they say if they do)

My friend also tried his soundcard on my system (running Win 7) just before I upgraded the spec to the spec I have now (which I done because of the problem!) And we got the same headache, I cant remember which soundcard it was to be honest with you but I do remember it never solved the problem, although that was a while ago and like you I think I've seen people (recently) who have had success when buying new sound cards to put in their system.

So I think I will try this option shortly and let you know how it goes asap.

Thanks Simon

 

[pebbly]

down load the vista or xp drivers from here DFI LANParty:The Best OC Platform! Overclock, Motherboard, Intel, AMD and install them in compatibility mode http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/316-compatibility-mode.html let us know if this worked for you

 

[Lee Dizzle]

thanks pebbly I've downloaded and installed the DFI drivers for my motherboard but will try them in xp compatibilty mode too

 

[CommonTater]

thanks pebbly I've downloaded and installed the DFI drivers for my motherboard but will try them in xp compatibilty mode too

Guys... I don't know how much help this might be, but...

Have you tried installing the AC3 filter?

AC3Filter | AC3Filter

I'm using this on my HTPC (XP based) and it's a real blessing... The optical cable works, I get both fake and real 5.1 and can even limit dynamic range to prevent movies from blasting my neighbors....

No promises... but, if it tests out in the demo applet, it might be worth a try....

 

[The Cube]

For myself, to get 5.1 or 7.1 surround sound I just hook up to the external system through my HDMI port and the system automatically changes settings, just like when you put a cable in the headphone jack on a Notebook and it mutes the built in speakers. sometime it does not however work when I am viewing a movie or video that I KNOW has surround sound: so I am guessing the problem branches from 7. I also occasionally have the problem with not recognizing the connection of sub-woofers. But when running applications that externally monitor devices and include advanced audio options it works fine, supporting the judgment of failed Win 7 audio. Just the same, I have never encountered a problem that appears as catastrophic as yours.

 

[Lee Dizzle]

Hi CommonTater I've tried the AC3 filter and no joy either but is was worth trying though, thanks.

Hi The Cube I've tried with HDMI also and the same problem occurs too, so I think I may just have to buy a sound card and try and see if I have any luck that way that way?

 

[CommonTater]

Hi CommonTater I've tried the AC3 filter and no joy either but is was worth trying though, thanks.

Hmmm... too bad. That's a real handy piece of software. The only after-comment on that is that straight out of the box, it does absolutely nothing. The presets are for "passthrough" mode, used to decode AC3 from AVI files. You do have to manually configure it before it does it's thing...

Anyway, I hope you get this fixed.

 

[philhu]

I never got my realtek embedded sound to do ANY reliable sound.

I ended up disabling it and using a usb creative Audigy NX box. It worked fine.

I just completely switched to a new system, and the onboard 7.1 sound is fine (Not realtek!)

 

[X796]

Problem:
HI I have the same problem but in XP when I was watching movie or listening to music, it was playing thru all the speakers (5.1)not true 5.1 . But in Win 7 only the front 2 speakers (Stereo 2.1).

It is Right that in Win 7 it plays thru the front speakers (Stereo 2.1) WHY Because mp3`s are only Stereo 2.1 and about all 700MB movies.

True 5.1 is for 5 channels Front 2 ,Rear 2 and Front Center . The Movie or Music HAS to HAVE IT

and to enable the matrix is BS it sounds like CRAP (ticking the room option)


Solution:

On Win7 I Listen to music and watch movies on Media player Classic. WHY because it Can enable the channels I need, this is the only player that I could fine that can do this.

Here is what to do in it to Get sound thru all 5 speakers NOT TRUE 5.1 Sound also works with more speakers All the same sound thru all the speakers and doesn`t sound like Crap



a 5.1 Movie that has 5.1 will win 7 automatically get it This is The only player that Plays SPDIF (Optical) The right way. But you have to Check the SPDIF in your Sound Manager and in the player (This is not for music)





Because Win 7 don`t do it Self when trying to play a Dolby Surround 5.1 DTS .....

This is the only way that I can get all my speakers to play if I am listening to music or watching a 2.1 stereo movie

All this is working on my Z-5450 speakers and SupremeFX II sound card but is will work with all. I be leave that buying a sound card is not going to fix this the right way.

Hope this helps you guys ....

 

[Lee Dizzle]

Thanks for the information Philhu and X796, was trying different stuff with the setup yesterday, seems to me like Realtek has no chance of working and those who made Win 7 didn't focus at all on sound capabilities or just didn't think people was really into sound or something because its just terrible.

I got 7.1 to play (remember my sound goes straight to my amp from the comp) with HDMI BUT only when I played a blue ray movie, also got sound to play with music BUT with no subwoofer at all, I can only guess windows 7 is not friendly to programs or drivers which try to make it play with 5.1 or more (well like X796 said sound through all 5 speakers NOT TRUE 5.1 but All the same sound through all the speakers and doesn`t sound like crap, like XP did and sounded great wether true 5.1 or otherwise)

I'm seriousley considering going back to XP and asking for some sort of compensation for windows 7 because for a globally dominant company it just shouldn't be this much trouble for them to get right in the first place or at least not make you have to fork out more money on buying stuff to fix problems (sound cards etc) it shouldn't have in the first place, surely I'm not on my own with these views here?? And then to top it off you get next to no help from microsoft themselves when you contact them.

Well sorry for the rant guys!! LOL

But I'm sure you can understand I'm slightly upset with this long headache I've had for the duration of this saga.

Thanks again for everybody's input and im going to try what you done X796, I'll let you know how it goes

peace