5.1 Surround Sound speaker system not working in Windows 7 Professional 64bit edition

Anonymous
2010-03-21T05:06:14+00:00

My problem is pretty much the same as other users who can't get their surround sound speaker system to function properly in Windows 7.

I have a subwoofer and 5 speakers (2 for front, 2 for rear, 1 for center).  Connection to the on-board RealTek HD Audio is simple, orange for the subwoofer, green for front and black for rear.

Testing the sound in the RealTek HD Audio Manager and Control Panel->Sound windows produces a sound on all channels at the same time, which is the desired setup.

However different applications use different channels.  IE and Firefox uses the front channels, VLC/MediaPlayer uses the rear.  3D games (ie WoW) uses all channels.  In each case the subwoofer doesn't work.

I have already tried downloading the latest drivers from the motherboard manufacturers website (Gigabyte).  I even tried the RealTek provided drivers (even though on RealTek's website that is NOT recommended).  I have tried connecting the subwoofer connectors to different jacks (reversed black and green).

I have experimented with the settings in the RealTek HD Audio Manager and Control Panel->Sound windows.  Nothing works.

These exact same subwoofer and speakers worked perfectly fine in Windows XP.

I have 2 questions:

a) Has anyone resolved their 5.1 & Windows 7 problem doing something I haven't tried yet?

b) When is Microsoft going to take this problem seriously?  All of the Microsoft provided answers just repeats what everyone else

has already tried.

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Devices and drivers

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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Anonymous
2013-04-13T14:42:48+00:00

First unplug 3 cable (orange, green and black)  then Go to control panel - Hardware and sound - Real tek HD audio manager - tick center, subwoofer and rear pair,  front left and right  and speaker fill

Then click  Device advance settings.

select  "make front and rear output devices playback two different audio streams simultaneously" and give ok

The plug all the three pin one by one and  select proper option in the popup windows. 

thats all.

 

You didn't give me enough information to get this working.   My system runs Win 7 X64 Home Premium.   When I select 5.1 sound as the capability the side speakers of my Logitech x550's are not recognized.  If I select 7.1, which is the chipset capacity of my Realtek chip, I can get the two outside speakers enabled as "rear" speakers. and can push test tones to each of the four surrounding speakers and to the center/bass combination via the Realtek driver.   

As far as the "make front and rear output devices playback two different audio streams simultaneously" is concerned... I can't find this option.  There are at least two providers of "control interfaces" active on my system.  One is provided by RealTek, the other by Microsoft.  The paths to these interfaces is circuitous and confusing, to say the least. 

IMHO some compromises are in order.  I've got my Pandora One stream playing acceptably in my small study.  Many of the source sounds streamed for me are recorded in stereo, or even mono, so I find myself hitting the "matrix" button on my Logitech X550 control fairly frequently.  Occasionally a newer piece is delivered which actually sounds Ok without the "matrix" decoder. 

What I would really like to be able to do is to "reconfigure on the fly" between the built in USB speaker bar on my Acer Z3731 "All in One" system and my external Logitech X550's with the capacity for 5.1 "surround sound" presentation via three wires.  When I try your procedure, I don't get separate recognition of each wire as it is plugged in and often end up with 2.1 sound being pushed out to my 5.1 external speakers because somehow Microsoft has re-recognized the built in USB based sound bar instead of the three rear wires plugged into the jacks provided by the system manufacturer.

If there ever were separate "Speakers" and "Realtek" icons displayed in the user interfaces on my system, the speakers are long gone and I can't get them back.  All I see is the Realtek driver.  I would like to see two different "Speakers" Icons I could label "Built-in 2.1" and "External 5.1" in addition to the Realtek driver.  How do I get these to reappear?

Can anyone suggest a way to have two different sets of "speakers" recognized and identified within the Microsoft UI in addition to the Realtec driver?  If I could get this done, I believe the driver would let me "set as default" one or the other speaker set, and I'd have "software switching" capable of letting me choose whether the external speakers or the built in sound bar delivers the sound.

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  1. Anonymous
    2012-02-27T00:47:05+00:00

    "rparsi"

    Whom ever took the time to  write that ridiculous message is a troglodyte. Your saying that since you have never experienced the problem first or second hand it can't exist? What kind of ignorant BS is that? Have respect.

    Enhancments in your adio will get your 5.1 working without the BS.

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  2. Anonymous
    2012-01-04T04:41:03+00:00

    "rparsi"

    Whom ever took the time to  write that ridiculous message is a troglodyte. Your saying that since you have never experienced the problem first or second hand it can't exist? What kind of ignorant BS is that? Have respect.

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  3. Anonymous
    2011-03-11T00:04:02+00:00

    You my friend, are an idiot. If he says his board has real tek audio, and when he goes into the real tek audio application (which is installed with the driver, retard) all his speakers work. THEN CLEARLY THE DRIVER IS MANAGING HIS SPEAKERS PROPERLY. I am also having this problem. Gigabyte board too. I hope to solve it below. [text removed]

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  4. Anonymous
    2011-03-07T04:56:04+00:00

    Your answer wasn't very friendly or correct. I'm having the same issue and have tried the troubleshooting response you gave as it is the most elementary of solutions. Your talking degrading to someone who obviously having troubles doesn't help anyone and only ruins my hope in humanity. Try being nicer and less of an a hole.  There have been many reports of the 5.1 not responding with specific receivers. I'm finding that some are related to the optical onboard.  That's very nice that your computer worked great after installing your outdated software from the package your purchased your motherboard from, but that doesn't help someone who's didn't work now did it. I've tried downloading drivers directly from my motherboard manufacturer as well as realtek. Hope they find a solution soon, sucks having the hardware and not being able to use it. I think I'm going to try a basic sound card with optical and see if it makes a difference not using the onboard.

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