Issues with 5.1 Surround Sound with Windows 10

Anonymous
2019-06-25T18:59:15+00:00

I can not get 5.1 Surround Sound to play for my computer with any audio player; i.e. DVD/CD optical drive, Pandora, etc. but when I run an audio test using the device manager it tests perfectly.  I have heard that there might be a compatibility issue with 5.1/7.1 Surround Sound and Windows 10.

Please let me know if anybody has had this problem and what the solution is.

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Devices and drivers

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  1. Anonymous
    2020-03-16T15:59:05+00:00

    Thank you.  If I still had my speakers I'd give this a try.

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  2. Anonymous
    2020-04-03T02:31:43+00:00

    You answered a question he didn't ask. Please try again

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  3. Anonymous
    2020-04-15T20:42:27+00:00

    I faced the same issue here.  I think the problem is MS new default sound scheme for 5.1 includes side speakers as the last 2 channels for a 5.1 setup, rather then rear speakers which is the correct setup for 5.1.  When you select 7.1, then the rear speakers are available.  If they would simply reverse the side channels for the rear channels for 5.1 scheme, then this wouldn't be a problem for anyone.  Having said that, the fact this has been an issue for this long, I highly doubt it will get fixed, and it's simply something you'll have to live with as most bugs with Windows 10 are.

    This is actually not true, the standard setup for 5.1 is to have a pair of side surround speakers, 7.1 adds the rear surrounds.

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  4. Anonymous
    2020-04-16T01:27:51+00:00

    Very odd that all motherboards and home receivers, since the invention of 5.1, have mislabeled channel 5 and 6 as rear output. 7.1 splits the surround and rear channel information into 4 outputs instead of 2 for traditional 5.1, thus adding channel 7 and 8 as the side speakers for the extra outputs.  The default sound scheme for Windows 10 for 5.1 is sending the surround output 5 and 6 to channel 7 and 8.  Which would explain why 5.1 only works when 7.1 is selected.  There's nothing convoluted about this and proper speaker position isn't going to fix the incorrect output channels.

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  5. Anonymous
    2020-04-16T03:10:28+00:00

    This is not actually addressing the issue I am having. All speakers work when tested in 5.1 and 7.1   I get 5.1 sound when I watch a movie. But when I play music or watch a video online I get only the front 2 speakers. I realize it may be playing what the internet is giving but long ago I could select fill in to emulate 5.1 when music was only stereo. That went away and I have not seen it since.  Why not?

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