Originally published at: How to Configure and Test 5.1 Surround Sound on Windows 10
Even with all the new advancements in sound technologies, some applications are still outputting stereo only. This can make it harder for you to determine if your 5.1 surround setup is working properly. While this technology delivers multichannel and mega-bit audio streams, the initial setup and some incompatibilities with Windows 10 can make 5.1 feel…
i do this and in test it play all 6 speakers but when i play youtube or disney + for example avatar which is 5.1 it use only front speakers so it play like 2.0
i am using genius sw-hf5.1 5000 speakers
and sound card asus xonar se
can someone help please?
I had the same problem, your cables are plugged in incorrectly. Sometimes the color coordination doesn’t match the color of your input/output of your sound card. In my case I had my sub plugged into the wrong output.
What do you mean? All the speakers should be manually configured and they should be available in the sound control panel.
It seems like either the card isn’t connected properly or the model number you gave to me doesn’t match the card that you have installed on your computer.
Switch the centre/sub cables around. Put the red cable where the white one is, if you use RCA.
Thanks for the reminder on how to fix this. Much appreciated!!!
Great article. One tiny question:
What of you only see “Stereo” in para.3 “choose your configuration” ?
It USED to have all those options, but today it only says “Stereo”
I have done nothing differently, not even windows updates.
Changed device drivers, updated this that & the other, even tried Intel Control Panel (what a joke piece of software!).
Any suggestions welcome.
When i do speaker set up I get sound from my subwoofer instead of the center and vice versa. I had to switch cables between them so I got correct.
I works when testing, but when running programs, it stops working …
Seems like a driver issue with you, go into device manager by typing “devmgmt.msc” in Run and pressing Enter. Expand the sound drivers panel and right-click on realtek drivers. Select “Uninstall” and check if it fixes the issue with your speakers. If it doesn’t reinstall the realtek drivers and check again.
Try switching cables between your speakers and make sure that each one is set in the correct order.
I had the same problem…solved it by selecting 7:1 Surround and turning OFF the Side Speakers. My 5:1 rears now are “selectable” and work.
Try this:
“go into device manager by typing “devmgmt.msc” in Run and pressing Enter. Expand the sound drivers panel and right-click on realtek drivers. Select “Uninstall” and check if it fixes the issue with your speakers. If it doesn’t reinstall the realtek drivers and check again.”
We know all that… Of COURSE we all do! Now tell me WHY even though I have WORKING speakers that actually output sound from all speakers independently when I test them. But NO program can output sound, not just in “5.1” but any sound at all from rear! Since I have Winfuck 10, no 5.1… Well, games that have spatial sounds seem to work normally, I think it’s WINDOWS itself that is limiting everything! I even have a feeling that Microsoft expect us to PAY just to "activate the functionality (even though I already have a pro version of their shit).
It’s a limitation they actually went out of their way to implement because it didn’t exist before! They should be punished severely!!!
The SPDIF device doesn’t have enabled Configure button so that I could set the speakers. What’s wrong?
(Answer: optical/coax connections deliver the uncompressed data to the amplifier, therefore speaker configuration is the task of the amplifier.)
Not gone, just right click the speaker icon then “Sounds”
lol
Great article. After Windows 10 1804 update the Speaker configuration panel is gone. Thanks to you I know I can still access it using mmsys.cpl
Thanks!
thanks man
Worked, thanks!