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[Zhillsguy]

Putting together a budget build for my lanai, trying to get the onboard audio working correctly. Nothing fancy here. My setup:

MSI A55M-P33 Mobo, AMD A6-3650, 8 Gig Ram, Windows 8.1 Enterprise x64 Updated

I downloaded the latest Realtek sound driver from MSI dated this year.

1. I don't have a center channel at this time. All three setup utilities (Control Panel Sound, Realtek utility, and JRiver Output Format) allow re-directing the center channel to left & right front. How should these different setup areas be handled?

2. The Realtek utility and Control Panel test sounds work flawlessly in Windows for all 5 outputs (including merging the center channel to front). I set up MC 21.0.90 and 22.0.9/12 for all possible configurations using 5/5.1 output. I cannot get anything out of the surround out jacks unless MC is set up for 7.1 output. When set up for 5.1, during playback of native 5.1 sources everything looks normal with MC indicating all 6 channels being output. With MC set up for 7.1 output it sounds great to me, and indicates that 8 channels is being down-converted to 6, but I am not sure what's coming out of the surround jacks is "proper".

I also noticed that when MC is set up for 5.1 output I am missing (what I think is) center channel sound. This is very noticeable when playing concert videos I am familiar with.

Have others experienced similar issues with onboard sound? I have my doubts but......what simple step(s) am I missing?

Thanks.

[RoderickGI]

So I take it you actually have a 4.1 system? That is, you do have a sub-woofer?

Your Audio Device should be the "Realtek High Definition Audio [WASAPI]" option, and you should have it in Exclusive Mode under Device Settings (Open device for exclusive access). When in exclusive mode the settings in the Control Panel and the Realtek Utility should be making no difference, as MC is controlling the device directly. Also, when using the Control Panel audio tests you are using Direct Sound, I believe, and not WASAPI. I think the Realtek Utility would be the same, using Direct Sound. When you use Direct Sound, Windows is going to interfere with the sound, and you don't want that.

So, if you are using WASAPI Exclusive mode, with the Output Format under DSP settings set to 5.1, and the checkbox "Move center to front L/R" is ticked, and still you aren't getting surround sound, then you have a channel mapping issue.

I'm no expert on which channels are mapped to where for the different formats, but there have been some discussions about that in the forum. See if you can find them with search.

The solution is to use the Parametric Equaliser in DSP settings.

Not only can you move channels around with that, but you can add a "Mix Channels" effect to "Add Centre to Right" and another to "Add Centre to Left", which means you won't need the checkbox "Move center to front L/R ticked. That should give you more control, including the ability to adjust the volume of the resulting mixed left and right channels, by dB adjustments. Usually you will need to add a negative dB adjustment when mixing channels. That way you won't muck up any Room Correction you are using. But you could leave the Mix volume alone and just use Room Correction to adjust the front speakers for their increased mix volume.

Then add an "Order Channels" effect to move the surround channels where you need them to be.

As you can see in the attached image, the surround channels are in positions seven and eight by default, after the Rear Left and Rear Right of a 7.1 channel setup. I suspect that your surround channels are in positions five and six on the motherboard audio outputs.

BTW, to test each channel, see if you can find a test 5.1 channel video on the internet, or search for links to them on the forum. You should be able to find videos that will play one channel at a time, so you can check the audio is coming from the correct speaker.

[Zhillsguy]

So I take it you actually have a 4.1 system? That is, you do have a sub-woofer?

Your Audio Device should be the "Realtek High Definition Audio [WASAPI]" option, and you should have it in Exclusive Mode under Device Settings (Open device for exclusive access). When in exclusive mode the settings in the Control Panel and the Realtek Utility should be making no difference, as MC is controlling the device directly. Also, when using the Control Panel audio tests you are using Direct Sound, I believe, and not WASAPI. I think the Realtek Utility would be the same, using Direct Sound. When you use Direct Sound, Windows is going to interfere with the sound, and you don't want that.

So, if you are using WASAPI Exclusive mode, with the Output Format under DSP settings set to 5.1, and the checkbox "Move center to front L/R" is ticked, and still you aren't getting surround sound, then you have a channel mapping issue.

I'm no expert on which channels are mapped to where for the different formats, but there have been some discussions about that in the forum. See if you can find them with search.

The solution is to use the Parametric Equaliser in DSP settings.

Not only can you move channels around with that, but you can add a "Mix Channels" effect to "Add Centre to Right" and another to "Add Centre to Left", which means you won't need the checkbox "Move center to front L/R ticked. That should give you more control, including the ability to adjust the volume of the resulting mixed left and right channels, by dB adjustments. Usually you will need to add a negative dB adjustment when mixing channels. That way you won't muck up any Room Correction you are using. But you could leave the Mix volume alone and just use Room Correction to adjust the front speakers for their increased mix volume.

Then add an "Order Channels" effect to move the surround channels where you need them to be.

As you can see in the attached image, the surround channels are in positions seven and eight by default, after the Rear Left and Rear Right of a 7.1 channel setup. I suspect that your surround channels are in positions five and six on the motherboard audio outputs.

BTW, to test each channel, see if you can find a test 5.1 channel video on the internet, or search for links to them on the forum. You should be able to find videos that will play one channel at a time, so you can check the audio is coming from the correct speaker.

Thanks for the very detailed reply Roderick.... one of the many reasons MC is great. Remapping the channels sounds pretty straightforward, and I remember reading about it some time back. A test video or audio file is definitely in order.

[Zhillsguy]

As an update..... I re-ordered the channels and tried different options using 5.1 but it did not help. I am happy with having it set up as 7.1 with the side channels cloned to the surround, plenty good enough for a budget system on the lanai. I downloaded an audio test file and it works fine.

[RoderickGI]

That's strange isn't it. Someone did mention that Realtek outputs were a bit strange some time back. Maybe a search of the Realtek forums will find some info about the channel layout.

Doesn't matter though if you have it working and are happy with it.