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Help me uncover a saboteur (need help enabling 5.1 sound)
Agehn
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Okay, this thread may not be as interesting as it sounds. It's just a computer tech question. But my problem is that my 5.1 surround system recently became, effectively, a 2.1 surround sound system. It took me a while to realize that people kept sneaking up on me in TF2 and Bioshock not because I was becoming senile, but because I was used to having the 5.1 system and sound is now coming just from my two front speakers.
After extensive troubleshooting, I have come to the conclusion that for some reason, all sound is being played in stereo. All applications, all effects. I have a Creative Soundblaster X-Fi, I have the latest drivers. I've set speaker configuration to 5.1 in the Creative audio console and in the Windows audio properties dialog, as well as in every application I've tried to run. There's something else defaulting my audio output to 2.1 (I've been throwing around the term stereo, but subwoofer still works fine).
I'm no audiophile, so don't pick on my for misusing fancy technical terms (like speaker), but I like my surround sound so that Ravenholm can scare the bajeezus out me. The only thing I can think might be causing this is some app channeling my audio to stereo. This is like when you want to play a song in iTunes and it's all quiet, so you have to turn up the iTunes volume but that doesn't work so you turn up system volume but it's still quiet so you turn up your speakers but maxed out they're only kinda loud and then you find out RealPlayer has taken over your audio and its sound is turned down. Except I don't have RealPlayer, so I don't know what's doing this. Anyone here have an idea?
Man when I get talking this late at night I tend to run off at the mouth. This is a kind of simple question I don't know why it took three paragraphs to ask.
After extensive troubleshooting, I have come to the conclusion that for some reason, all sound is being played in stereo. All applications, all effects. I have a Creative Soundblaster X-Fi, I have the latest drivers. I've set speaker configuration to 5.1 in the Creative audio console and in the Windows audio properties dialog, as well as in every application I've tried to run. There's something else defaulting my audio output to 2.1 (I've been throwing around the term stereo, but subwoofer still works fine).
I'm no audiophile, so don't pick on my for misusing fancy technical terms (like speaker), but I like my surround sound so that Ravenholm can scare the bajeezus out me. The only thing I can think might be causing this is some app channeling my audio to stereo. This is like when you want to play a song in iTunes and it's all quiet, so you have to turn up the iTunes volume but that doesn't work so you turn up system volume but it's still quiet so you turn up your speakers but maxed out they're only kinda loud and then you find out RealPlayer has taken over your audio and its sound is turned down. Except I don't have RealPlayer, so I don't know what's doing this. Anyone here have an idea?
Man when I get talking this late at night I tend to run off at the mouth. This is a kind of simple question I don't know why it took three paragraphs to ask.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
Agehn on
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Have you tried rolling back your sound card drivers? I used to have an onboard soundcard that would function perfectly using the default drivers from microsoft, but as soon as you installed the latest drivers from the manufacturer 3/6 speaker outputs stopped working.
Myocks chew on power cables. Gundarks get their ears ripped off.
Good point. I know the subwoofer for my 4.1 speakers has a switch on the side that alternates between Stereo and Gaming.
Could be a possibility. I should track down my previous drivers.
I fiddled with the headphone detection for a long time. It's not that. And I tried game audio settings. Happens in every program.
Double-checked that.
Just on or off on these speakers.
No cats, all cables intact.
I have played around with this setting; I know that my rear speakers work fine in part because I used it to have all stereo come out of my rear speakers and front speakers equally. I'm pretty sure that it's not turning 5.1 into stereo.
I wouldn't think that Creative's own drivers would somehow eliminate surround sound, but as that's the only suggestion I haven't tried, I'll try using my previous version of the drivers and see how that goes. Feel free to give me any other thoughts you may have