2 PC to 7.1 receiver audio issues

there can be quite a few posts on here and some do get lost in the cracks. at least you seem to understand that and react civily. bravo.

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i will assume that your speakers are hooked up correctly? since you say you have zero issues with your ps3 sound this sounds to be the case.

have you tried using a different hdmi cable for the pc? perhaps swap the hdmi cables for pc and ps3 and see if the problem also switches devices. perhaps some wires are crossed.

when you start up windows go to your audio devices manager. your default sound device should be your receiver. you may have to change this to swap between headphones connected to your and your speaker system. ideally to eliminate this you would plug directly in to the headphone jack on your receiver if it is nearby (this is what i do) eliminating the switching.

do you have a pair of old pc speakers laying around or some pc speakers you can borrow for a test? try plugging them in to the pc and setting your output to hdmi instead. run the windows test sounds. do they play on the connected speakers instead of via your hdmi connected receiver and speakers?

i would want to say that i think windows is trying to use your soundcard for windows sounds and hdmi for programs but this sounds odd. my first guess would be some sort of conflicting settings in your audio properties, sound card drivers, etcetera.

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my motherboard has onboard sound but honestly i do not even have the driver installed. i use nothing but sound out via dvi with a dvi to hdmi cable to the receiver (before hdmi was a standard output). if i want headphones i connect up to my receiver directly.

i do get windows sounds via my speakers but am not sure if the test speakers function works. i use the receiver to test that. the hdmi cable should be sending raw data over to the receiver which then processes the audio. perhaps the windows sound test tries to process the data on your sound card. not sure.

i have noticed that my receiver may switch modes depending on what i have connected. remember that generic windows sounds are not surround sound. only movies and games typically are.

yes i am sure the speakers are hooked up correctly because the ps3 has absolutely no problem

HDMI is actually one thing i thought was the problem for a while now but i cant test it by switching as it is `15ft long and just makes the rest of the cables i have are only 6' at the most. i was thinking maybe i need like a 1.4v hdmi cable or something so i don't know ill see what i can do here.

i do go to the audio device manager to switch to my hdmi output or else it wont work at all. i normally use my headphones the most so i keep my sound card selected as the default till i want to change to the receiver.

this part i figured out something. when i play any windows sound by itself i will get nothing receiver or speakers, but if i have a program open or movie which does play sound then play the test sound or anything out i will hear it normally so its like it the receiver does not click on till it get a program or something to kick-start it.

the driver i use for the hdmi is the catalyst control center without it i wont get anything but 2.0 sound out so i need that and for my sound card i need it as well to access the headphone amp.

the windows sounds are not a big deal to me as much as the second problem which is now when i play games recently being SKyrim and boarderlands 2, my side speakers wont work at all but the rears do. with movies if its 7.1 its fine but if its 5.1 the sides change to the rears which is a bit weird and I don't know where to start to look for the problem.

and thanks for answering  

OK update with some new info.

forget everything i previously said ,and this may be long .  


ok so this is my main problem i have my setup listed above and when i configure windows speakers to be set to 5.1 or lower everything works flawlessly but when i set it to 7.1 i get a ton of trouble and here is the list.

1. when playing 7.1 audio out of VLC the front speakers (FL, FR, C) are fine but then when we get to the sides it ends up coming out the rear speakers and when the rear speaker audio is played nothing comes out anywhere.

2. when i play the same track out of XBMC i get the sides audio coming out of the rear and the rear coming out of the sides so some improvement there i guess except this only happens there.

3. when a window sound is played on its own i have noticed on my receiver that the "all CH speaker" on the front disappears and in the top right a tiny "HDMI" starts flashing until the windows sound stops, but if i play something else while i play the windows sound "all CH speaker" changes to "Multi CH input" and i hear it just fine.

4. i switched to my sound card and plugged it in with a digital coaxial cable and everything is fine but only runs in 5.1. i hear windows sounds and all.

5. forgot to mention my desktop is running windows 8 with catalyst 12.10. i tested it out also with my laptop running windows 7 with its hdmi output and i get all the same problems as the desktop.

so the last point leads me to believe it is my receivers fault in causing this but i am not sure as the audio section in windows 8/7 is the same so it could have something to do with that.

i have also reset my receiver to factory settings and it did not fix anything. i know for a fact that the receiver is hooked up properly as i even went back and played Toy story 3 on blu ray with the PS3 and did the thx audio setup. so it is something with the receiver messing up the audio signal it is getting or the way the computer is sending the data but i do not know which. i am leaning towards the receiver but even if it was i don't know how i would fix it.

so any advice is welcome i am desperate at this point as my pc is now the main source of audio to this thing as i don't use my PS3 as much anymore and my audio messing up is getting a bit annoying, and sorry for such a long post. I needed to get the info out there as well as write it down for myself so i can think it through a bit better.  

hopefully someone will see it and reply.
thank you again

yes i did manage to switch HDMI cables i also used my laptop i forgot had HDMI output and is running windows 7. so i tried it with windows 7 and 8 with multiple hdmi cables.

yes i have tried swapping the hdmi inputs. i tried all of them so that didn't fix it.

i cant find the setting to switch that i was thinking of this but cant find how to do this. i can only add THX mode to it but it always chooses the output mode for itself. (multichannel - which lets the pc decode) but i want the receiver itself to do it but cant find how.

the hdmi output i use is on my video card my sound card is only a stereo output card for headphones/ stereo speakers. i use CCC because without it the hdmi will only output stereo as well.

this is my sound card: ( http://ncix.com/products/?sku=46390&vpn=Xonar%20Essence... )
graphics card with the hdmi output: ( http://ncix.com/products/?sku=61903 )

i have actually wrote to ONKYO tech support a day ago about the problem as i think it has something to do with the receiver but have not got a response yet so hopefully they can help, but i haven't had luck with tech support in the past. they will probably tell me it is someone else's issue and i should call them. anyways thanks for the response and i hope i can get this figured out soon.

Like ssddx said most games or movies for example are only 5.1 anyways so the sounds come out of the rear speakers like they should. They won't come out of the mid side speakers unless the sound are simulated or there is a directed channel output from the game or movie.

In short, if the game or music or what ever source is only encoded for 5.1. you will only get 5.1. 7.1 is pretty useless because very few games/movies use it and has been this way for many years but the speaker makers like 7.1 because they can charge more for a 7.1 system instead of a 5.1.

Happy surrounds, the Prisoner.

i know 7.1 is somewhat useless i just got it because i got a really good price on it, but the audio i am testing it on is 7.1, i made sure of it. for what i am using to test is: toy story 3, dolby 7.1 audio check, boarder lands 2, and skyrim which i checked and do have 7.1 as well. i have also tested some odd games that i have that are on this list ( http://community.us.playstation.com/t5/PlayStation-Loun... )
so 5.1 only audio is not what is causing the problem but thanks for the response anyways i need all the help i can get.

also i still have got nothing back from ONKYO tech support does anyone know how long it usually takes???

Have you playd around with the various listening modes?

well i got in contact with onkyo tech support and they fixed both my problems (mostly) the green screen flickering was cause by a (secret setting) on the reciver. it was a deep colour setting you turn off by holding CBL/SAT on the reciver and press the power button twice   I think it is dumb that it is hidden like that.

the surround issue they somewhat fixed buy having me change some settings which make sure the receiver straight decodes DTS and dolby codecs which fixed it but now there is a good delay for when the audio clicks on. its a little over a minute   then turns off if there is no audio going on for 10 sec then i have to wait a min again   . the games still are only in 5.1 but i was pretty sure skyrim was 7.1 as well as oblivion but i guess not.

anyways thank you for all your help it was appreciated.

Best answer selected by diablo9987.