Realtek 5.1/7.1 surround speaker issue in Windows 11.

As I said it earlier, if your app can bitstream dolby digital via spdif, then you have 5.1.

So if you have a dvd burner and windvd, it will send 5.1 via spdif.

If you have netflix app, it will send 5.1 via spdif.

If you have vlc (or whatever open source video player), you can force it to bitstream 5.1.

You are right sorry, i misstipped it is a 8rf not 9rf. So buyin an external surround soundcard would be futile is what you are saying? In that case what are my options here? What can i do in order to be able to use my surround system as i did 4 years ago as 5.1 and not only Stereo, which is the only option i have right now. Thank you for your reply and i hope someone can give me an answer to my problem cause it is really annoying being able to use the surround system inly as stereo 😢

Best Regards

1. there is no such model as msi ge73 9rf
2. there is such a model as msi ge73 8rf --- it has an 8th gen intel cpu (which means that it is made in 2018)
3. which means that it came with windows 10 and 2018 8th gen intel cpu is eligible for windows 11 upgrade. There is no such computer made for windows 7 back in 2010 that is eligible to upgrade to windows 11.
4. there is no such thing as MSI "stop" paying dolby. It's either they paid for it in 2018 or that they didn't because your existing dch

driver would have worked in both windows 10 or windows 11.

5. spdif is old technology. Dolby Digital is old codec. Useless to spend money of sound blaster x3 as it has dolby digital live ac3+ encoder. It means that when you watch a youtube video (which has a much newer opus audio codec), your computer has to decode it into pcm audio and send it to the x3, the x3 has to re-encode it into dolby digital to send it back out to spdif.

Hmmm…okay i take you up on that although i did buy this Notebook with windows 7 and upgraded gradualy to Win8-10-11 without skipping any versions. However, the point is you are saying that MSI as manufacturer stopped paying for Dolby , ok i get it, but what would my options be in this case so that my sound card works as it did on windows 7. Note that i am using same Notebook(no modifications) and same Home Theater System from Sony bdv-e6100. Can i pay/buy myself that option for which Microstar stopped paying or what other options do i have? Note that i tried using HDMI and Jack to RCA cable for connecting the Laptop to the Home Theater. I ordered from Amazon a Mini Tosslink to Tosslink cable as a last resort. I was also thinking of buying an external sound card like the Creative Sound Blaster x3 or sinilar products if tossling doesn’t do the job(i read on the MSI website that in the 3.5 mm jack i also have mini tosslink. Thanks for your fast reply and clarifications 😀

I am sorry but i have to disagre. I have the same issue regarding Realtek ONBOARD Soundcard ,i have a MSI GE73 9RF Raider Notebook and it worked perfectly up until windows 7, on windows 10 started glitching now and then only Stereo option available in Audio Channels menu selection. I have tried everything from uninstalling,reinstalling,updating nothing works,watched a handfull of videos and read a LOT about this issue and it is a driver issue or Microsoft Windows issue and thats that.

1. laptops usually have realtek alc2xx (stereo audio channel chipset) not alc6yy (5.1) or alc8zz (7.1).
2. Your MSI GE73 9RF has spdif, but spdif only has enough bandwidth for uncompressed stereo audio.

The only way to get 5.1 out of spdif is by using proprietary audio compression formats like Dolby Digital or DTS.

For 17 out of the last 20 years, Microsoft has charged extra money for windows media edition so that you can have 5.1 dvd playback (and thus 5.1 dolby). Windows 7 (3 out of the last 20 years) is the exception in that Microsoft included a software dvd player for free without you paying extra money for 5.1 dvd playback. People get confused because 15 years ago, they bought a desktop pc with a dvd burner --- which comes with oem versions of windvd --- thus you paid for it indirectly. Or that you bought a soundblaster sound card --- which has dolby digital live or dts connect --- thus you paid for it indirectly.

So you end up with a lot of confused people because they had windows xp (with a dvd burner and windvd). Then they skipped Windows Vista (because everybody skipped vista). Then they have windows 7 --- which Microsoft gave away a software dvd player for free. Then people skipped windows 8 because everybody skipped windows 8. Then they have windows 10, which goes back to the norm when you have to pay extra money for 5.1.

If you have netflix windows app, your laptop will output 5.1 dolby digital plus (which is backward compatible to your av receiver) via spdif because netflix paid for dolby digital plus for their netflix windows app. Netflix specifically tells you that you can NOT get 5.1 by using your web browser because Microsoft didn't pay for it, your browser didn't pay for it and 99% of the time, your computer manufactuer didn't pay for it.

Take any realtek chipset such as alc898 and you will see that dolby is an optional item, which MSI has to pay for (MSI buys the realtek audio chipset and put it into their laptop, so naturally it's MSI that has to pay for it).

If MSI didn't pay for Dolby Digital for your laptop, then you will have stereo on spdif.