Issues with 5.1 Surround Sound with Windows 10

So I just got this working with youtube videos from using Chrome and Firefox browsers. It now plays sound to all 5 of my speakers and subwoofer. The sound is pretty quiet from my surround speakers in comparison to my front but it is playing sound to all speakers.

Not sure if this will work for everyone but it worked for me.

Steps

1. right click the sound icon and select Open sound settings

2. select Manage sound devices under output

3. scroll down to input devices and select Stereo Mix and enable it

4. now go back to sound and ensure that under input and choose your input device

it says Stereo Mix (Realtek High Definition Audio)

I thought enabling Stereo Mix fixed this for me, but I disabled it and I still get browser streamed audio output to all speakers so the previous steps don't look like they matter. I also don't have the audio enhancement speaker fill enabled either so... not sure why it works now. So, I am not sure how I got it to work now.

At this point I had to reset up the 5.1 surround sound on my computer, I did so in the following steps.

5. Now right click on the sound button again and select Sounds
6. Select playback tab, select Speakers, select Set Default and select Configure
7. Select 5.1 or 7.1 (whichever your speaker setup is) and click next.
8. Check that the speakers each play correctly when clicked(if not then you need to ensure speakers are plugged in correctly) then select next again.
9. For select full-range speakers I just left all speakers checked and clicked next, then click finish.
10. You should now be getting sound from all your speakers when streaming from your browser.

The sound may be pretty quiet from your surround speakers though. If anybody has thoughts on fixing that it could prove helpful.

There is a enhancement setting in speaker properties called speaker fill its function says that it "creates a virtual environment for playback of stereo audio on surround speaker systems" I enabled that but saw no increase in the surround speaker volume. But this could help getting sound to come out of all speakers for those that still get no sound after the steps I described here.

No stereo mix input.

Years ago, when I first started on the 5.1 saga, my first clue something was wrong was a very diminished signal coming from the surround speakers. This was back in Win8 or 8.1 days. I suspect you are experiencing what I experienced. My thought at the time was the channel amps were damaged. Accordingly I searched for a replacement amp for my Realistic 5.1 analog (RCA). During the voyage I discovered mmsys.cpl and then learned how to set 5.1/Stereo in Win10. I have no problem now with 5.1 in Win10 though limited experience with Apps and I suspect your problems are with the Apps,

Skype is an App and it does NOT handle 5.1. I can toggle Win10 back and forth between Stereo and 5.1, Skype malfunctions in 5.1 but works perfectly in Stereo.

My beef is with Skype, not Windows 10.

We are talking about multiple problems.

If Netflix only sends two channels, you're not going to be able to play it in 5.1. That has nothing to do with Microsoft. If you buy a Volkswagen, you can scream at VW all day long, but you're not going to be driving a Lamborghini anytime soon.

Your problem sounds way different.

Did you clean out the SB drivers between running totally different hardware?

If you pull the diesel engine out of your VW and put in a Peterbuilt diesel, you're not going to get any wheels to spin.

I've tried all of the hardware you have, except for the Xonar, and they all work fine with all 5.1 channels on Win 7 through Win10. But I'm careful how I install my drivers. Not saying you aren't, but something doesn't sound right.

Driver problems 'sort of' are a Windows problem in that they'll get with the HW manufacturer.

It's like Volkswagen sitting down with your gas station and explaining too them how Octane works.

But sure, blame MS. See if you get that Peterbuilt engine working anytime soon. Meanwhile, I'm driving an SLK 55 with the original 5.4L engine and it's working great.

Except for Netflix. They only send 2 channels.

Turns out enabling that wasn't what fixed the audio for me, not sure what did now.