5.1 speakers not being used as 5.1

cheXzie

I recently purchased a new computer with the following motherboard:
ASUS P5N32-E SLI Plus Which comes with a SoundMax sound card.

Everything seems to be fine, all the cables are connected properly.
I know this because when I run the SoundMax test all 5 speakers play the test sound. Once it comes to playing anything else it plays in 2.1

I've checked all sound settings, I've checked audio settings in my programs and they're all set correctly.
I don't know who's to blame, Windows or SoundMax.

SoundMax's website basically tells you "It's asus' problem". Asus' website has no support topic on this. I tried googling for help but I can't seem to find relevant results.


side note: SoundMax's software interface and it's features suck donkey dick. Just putting it out there for potential buyers.

saint2e

What applications/games are you using to "play anything"?

Perhaps the application/game doesn't support 5.1?

cheXzie

Winamp, windows media player, etc.
Applications that I know support 5.1 because they worked on my old PC.

stigweard

Have you checked your speaker config in the control panel under sound and audio?

cheXzie

Yes. It was the first thing I checked (and checked again).

I upgraded my drivers and all that jazz in case anyone asks.

stigweard

Are you running Vista or XP. I have a p5b-e with the soundmax using the ad1988 chip, but I don't use it anymore. I don't really remember any problem getting surround sound out of games and such, but I don't have any 5.1 audio so I never really noticed with music.

Weretaco

Are you using the analog (RCA) connectors or the digital (optical or coax)?

cheXzie

I'm using XP.
The speakers are Logitech X-530, basically standard headphone plug size.

cheXzie

I installed slightly older drivers and now there's sound coming out of my rear two speakers but it's very faint and very bad quality (crackling).
I set the rear channel volume as high as it can go and offset it by lowering the other channels but it's just not cutting it. I've done further research and it turns out it's quite common.
Seems to be more prominent on Windows Vista and isn't limited to SoundMax sound cards.

Possible causes:
nvidia nforce
windows upmixing
soundcards just refusing to play stereo audio

Deusfaux

by default, no you WOULDNT be getting sound out of all speakers

and winamp and other applications only support more speakers when you're using 5.1 source material, like a SACD or DVD audio.


if you want 2 channel stuff UPMIXED to your 5.1 speaker set, you have to turn on upmixing somewhere, handled by the audio driver/program/card

pray you can find it in the soundmax thing. Creative calls it "CMSS-3DSurround" for example and it is something you have to enable and adjust.

if NOT, your speakers have a crappy upmixing ability, by pressing the matrix button.

cheXzie

poop... using new keywords I found a thread detailing this problem (in a different forum). Looks like i'm getting a new sound card

le sigh

cheXzie

Ok this just got stupid.
Audio from youtube plays only on the center channel.
I think it's because it's mono audio.

Deusfaux

are you saying soundmax does not have any upmixing whatsoever?

romanqwerty

Umm this sounds like a driver problem. Did u uninstall your old drivers before updating? If not uninstall all of them and installl just the newest.

FreddyD

Do video games still play on all speakers? I haven't played a game that didn't support surround sound in a long time. Deusfaux is correct when he said that Windows Media Player and Winamp do not upmix to 5.1 by default. If you don't own any current games, the Rightmark benchmark comes with a 3D sound test that allows you to see if you are getting proper surround sound.