Realtek HD audio, Optical out. Games or anything in 5.1?

[drawdemahctek]

M3N72-D
internal S/PDIF
nvidia GTX 260
hdmi
yamaha rx-v667

The above is my set-up, but I am lost as to what I need to do. Can anyone tell me how to get 5.1 surround?
I found a post on here that's been the most help but I still don't understand completely.....

gamerk316 04-01-2009 at 01:59:40 PM
- 0 +

I'll explain it this way:

Optical output can only carry a few outputs:
Uncompressed 2.0 PCM (up to 192 KHz/Sec)
Dolby Digital 5.1
DTS 5.1

Both DD/DTS requires that your sound system is able to decode the incoming signal for the output to be sent to your speakers, hence why they are generally not used as output. Instead, 2.0 output is generally upscaled to 5.1 using other methods (DTS Neo PC, Dolby Pro Logic, etc).

To get 'true' 5.1, you either need a receiver/speakers than can decode an incoming DD/DTS signal, or connect using HDMI, which can carry 5.1/7.1 as uncompressed PCM, removing the need for a decoder. Alternativly, you can use the older analog connections to hook an individual speaker to an individual sound channel (still the best option for PC's, for the above reasons).

As for gaming, I know the Realtek chipet supports 7.1 audio on most newer boards. CoD will set your speaker setup to whatever setup Windows is set to use. Go to the sound settings tab on the control panel, and make sure the speaker setup is set to 5.1.

According to the post I need to be using hdmi, which I am. Or I need to have a receiver that can decode DD/DTS which I have.
Right click volume, playback devices, right click realtek digital output, properties, supported formats, DD/DTS both work sending a signal to all of my speakers. Sad that the only time i hear my speaker work are in a short little jingle...
So any help would be greatly appreciated basically I just mess with stuff and read stuff until I get it to work I don't really have any knowledge except for what I have learned on my own.

 

[drawdemahctek]

I think I should add that I get 2.1 but not 5.1

 

[gamerk316]

That makes sense. The internal SPDIF connection to the GTX260 is still limited by SPDIF spec. The fact the output from the GPU is HDMI is meaningless, as by the time the GPU gets the audio track, its already downmixed to 2.1.

Games do not [typically] have Dolby/DTS audio tracks, thus their 5.1 track is uncompressed PCM, which SPDIF can not carry.

The reason the speaker test works is because the Dolby/DTS tests use an actual Dolby/DTS audio 5.1 track, which CAN be sent over the internal SPDIF connection, unlike 5.1 PCM.

In short: there is no way to send 5.1 uncompressed PCM to your GPU. You can send it a Dolby or DTS audio track and get 5.1, but for anything not already in one of those two formats, you are limited to 2.1.

Newer cards [400 series and newer] have a audio chipset built right in, so you don't have to deal with that nonsense. For 200 [and 300?] series cards and older though, you are still limited by SPDIF specifications when connecting to the motherboard audio chipset: 2.1 uncompressed PCM, 5.1 Dolby Digital, or 5.1 DTS.

 

[drawdemahctek]

Best answer selected by drawdemahctek.

 

[drawdemahctek]

Okay I had a feeling I needed to upgrade my video card. What you said made complete sense because I put in a movie and was able to get 5.1 last night. Thanks for clearing that up for me gamerk316.