having issues setting up 5.1 surround sound windows 10

I need a little help here as Im about to start pulling hair out I dont have. Just recently I had come into contact with a set of Logitech z906 surround sound speakers that are known to work, yet I cant get them to work for me for the life of me. A few things Ive read online, and a few things about my computer. I have an Asus Maximus X Formula motherboard who's onboard sound card is known to make 3rd party sound cards a bit unnecessary. I am connected to these speakers using a digital audio cable that is brand new and known to work (red light shines). I get speakers popping when I plug the speaker wires into the back of the speaker box, so I know the speakers are working.

I cannot get any sound from them; Ive never set up surround sound speakers before on a computer, and Ive always had 2.1 speakers connected, and I need some serious help before I start chunking computer parts through the wall. The next thing I do is reformat my hard drive if I cant figure this out because Ive read a few things online that Ive already tried (and possibly that Windows 10 doesnt support 5.1). Please PLEASE PLEAAASE help me to NOT have me reformat my computer. At this time, I assume that I am trying to get Realtek Digital Output to function, but in no way can I configure these speakers from the sound/playback device tab.

I might be wrong but from what I "think" to remember is that the fiber-optical cable does not support 5.1 due to bandwidth restrictions.

Make sure that it CAN work per definition. In case it does not you'd be forced to use a bunch of old cables and try that.

It's been a LONG time since I messed with 5.1.... I hated those cables going everywhere..LoL

So you're suggesting the digital optical cable isnt supported anymore? Im getting a lot of conflicting information on this but something to do with Dolby DTS and microsoft licensing issues too....and Id really hate to move to Windows 7 because of something stupid as hardware limitations for digital audio.

I dont think Win7 would fix it if the optical fibre cable is the limit.

Chip.de has a little thread I just flew over. In order to get it to work ( due to bandwidth limits ) it needs to get compressed into DTS and then ( at the other end of the fibre ) decompressed into 6-channel audio again.

In short, use a few Coax cables if you can or take the hassle with DTS and the hassle around it.

** for gaming, which is PCM based and generated "on the fly" while you game, it will work to but comes with a latency penalty as even the real-time encoders need some cycles to convert the sound.

I suggest you look up the correct english based website(s) and read yourself which way is best for you. SPDIF is actually not suited for any 5.1 per se, it always comes with trouble.

Your board should have DTS-Connect, which is what you need for gaming ( real time encoding ).

Yeah, iot's a pain to get it to work after all those 10 upgrades and Realtek Sounddrivers issued by Asus, I am in the same boat. Asus, and I guess, all others, cannot issue the drivers as fast as win10 moves foreward, a big downside of this 10 "moving into the future" Zeitgeist.

I got the speakers working, but only in 2.1. What do you mean by coax cables? I just ordered a set of these today to see if they would work.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01M63MW5P/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I got the speakers working, but only in 2.1. What do you mean by coax cables? I just ordered a set of these today to see if they would work.

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01M63MW5P/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Yeah, those work too, basically you need to match the jacks on either end. Coax/Coaxial cable is the native cable used on your HiFi equipment, 1 cable per channel.

Often Stereo cables ( L+R in 1 Plug ) have 2 coax heads ( L + R ) on one end and a Stereo head on the other end, as shown here https://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-3-5mm-2-Male-Adapter-Stereo/dp/B01D5H8KO2/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=stereo+to+coax+cable&qid=1592418759&s=electronics&sr=1-2

Some of my buddies are prof. music teachers and have Studios etc.. They do not like the Stereo head that combines L+R in 1 plug due to dampening/clarity etc. at a high level. For us Prosumers there is no difference unless you have a natural "music" ear and can hear things most others don't. I am the true Anti-Musician when it comes to that..LoL.

But basically, yes, for the Motherboard side you need those Stereo jacks with L+R in 1 plug ( like for your Headset speakers / mobile phone etc. ) and you need whatever needs to be on the other end to connect it. Make sure what you order fits both ends.

..and yes..2.1 is all SPDIF can without tricks applied, it ain't got more bandwidth and was never designed to carry 4.1, 5.1 or bigger signals.

Well, after all was said and done, no 5.1 surround sound working. My back two speakers barely get a signal. They work if I remove a couple of other speakers, but only in 2.1. Guess the next thing to shop for now is a sound card....even reformatted and no bueno.

Open the sound settings

　 ↓

Open the Sound Control Panel with related settings

　　　　　↓

Checked, choose a speaker configuration

　　　　　↓

Now you can choose a 5,1 channel configuration

　　　　↓

If the sound is low, open the properties and if the enhancement tab is there, open the Check for Loudness Equalization

It wasnt that easy dude. First off, I didnt even have those options. Second, I had to troubleshoot the cables. Third, had to tune Realtek audio controls to make sure they function correctly. Fourth, reinstalled windows just in case something else got fried, still nothing. Now I just run on 2 speakers because STILL have no 5.1 surround as there isnt enough power going to the rear speakers for some odd reason. Everything Ive seen online tells me that even if I did all that and put my speakers at 196khz they still wont be true 5.1 because Microsoft quit supporting it in Windows 7.

I think the rest is a matter of the codec used, there seems to be a limit to the standard Windows codec.

Yes there is. Not many applications support DTS except theater quality movies or games. AFAIK, DCS isnt one of them but Ive been wrong many times before.

You can use surround via optical cables (I did for years, and still do now) but it'a not ''true'' it's like an emulation, virtual surround sort of thing, like what some headsets do. I haven't had the actual speakers for sometime now, but I'll try to outline how I did it as best as I remember.

1st the best way, if supported, is HDMI as I understand it. Optical bandwidth is inferior and doesn't truly support it. Digital cables are affected by length and need something running between to convert signals back and forth as I understand. HDMI is just raw data, uncompressed, and effectively lossless as a result.

Regardless, in my case I had a Soundblaster-Z and optical cable. Tldr, you don't select the optical port as your sound. Hook everything up, make sure your receiver, soundcard etc all on the same format whether Dolby, DTS, whatever. When you're finished, in Windows sound options I had a '''Soundblaster Speakers'' or something, as well as SPDIF and other options. Despite using the SPDIF, I had to use the ''speakers'' option to get it to work. I could push the audio to multiple sound devices via ''What U Hear'', so speakers and headphones all received audio and I could turn on/off whichever one I wanted.

It's been a while, so forgive me if that doesn't work or help or is otherwise inapplicable to your situation. And to be clear, surround in Windows was always an ass pain, and was actually what prompted me to disable forced updates and avoid updates in general : 9 out of 10 updates would screw up my audio and game controllers.

I have got rid of the problem by changing the default audio format to 24/96.

Resurrecting this thread because Im still trying to fix this thing...but in Win11 now.

Bought me a new set of speakers (SteelSeries Arena 9) and still having issues trying to get these to run in 5.1.  Ive tried optical cables (remembered the bandwidth support) and didnt get any functionality from them. Tried the AUX cables and that gave me the best set of options in mmsys.cpl, but still runs in 2.1...the major difference between previous and now is that ALL of the speakers are playing in 2.1. They are currently plugged in via USB 2.0 on the motherboard, but may try USB-C to thunderbolt later and see if that help which I doubt it. Currently says that it is in 5.1 in the speaker configuration, but testing them out in the windows sound test, every single speaker plays when I choose a speaker to play. They aint in 5.1.

My motherboard is 7.1 compatible, so are these speakers. Do I need external software to get these things to work properly?

On 5/12/2023 at 2:07 AM, Asmith23 said:

I have got rid of the problem by changing the default audio format to 24/96.

cant.