# HTPC audio setup - trouble getting 5.1



## HTPCawaits (Dec 3, 2010)

I'm having trouble getting 5.1 audio with my new HTPC. I only seem to be getting stereo.

HTPC Setup:

GIGABYTE GA-MA785GMT-UD2H motherboard
Saphire HD4650 video card

I have an HDMI running from the video card to my Onkyo SR607 receiver. And another HDMI running from the receiver to the TV.

I watch mostly MKV files using VLC player within Windows 7. But I'm only getting stereo from my 5.1 speakers.

I'm fairly knowledgeable with PC's as I've built many in the past. I've perused the basic PC & audio settings, etc. But I am far from an HTPC audio expert so most likely I've done something wrong. Am I missing other config changes, preferences, etc? What are the most important things to check?

Any help would be appreciated, thanks.


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## CraigNZ (Apr 22, 2010)

Check audio setup under windows. Go to Control Panel|Sound and Audio|Devices and set the 5.1 sound card as the default playback device. Then select advanced under playback and check that it is configured for 5.1 playback. This got me a few times in the past and always seemed to fix it.

Craig


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## nova (Apr 30, 2006)

Have you downloaded and installed the ATI HDMI Audio Driver?


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## eugovector (Sep 4, 2006)

VLCs the problem, I think you can right click on the video and change your audio output, or follow this: http://www.michaelontech.com/2009/09/how-to-setup-dolby-digital-51-sound-in.html


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## zryder (Apr 13, 2009)

Try out MPC-HC with ffdshow for the bitstreaming and Reclock for the PCM stuff.
MPC-HC sends the bitstream to ffdshow, and out to your reciever, untouched. Since PCM normally goes through the windows mixer, you can use Reclock to send the audio via WASAPI to the HDMI port without changing it at all. Doing it this way, whatever the source is, the audio will hit your HDMI port exactly as it was in the file.


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