5.1 Optical Audio Issues with PC

[vagabond86]

Hello all! Just hoping to get some help solving a problem I am having with the audio on my PC (not sure what to put this in, so hopefully Home Audio is the right one). I am trying to get Final Fantasy XIV to work in a 5.1 DTS setting, running through optical (or TOSLINK) cable, but can only get it to output stereo in this manner. I am looking to make this happen through the onboard audio on my Asus Z87 Pro motherboard, which uses an ALC1150 RealTek HD audio system. This setup includes a DTS Connect audio codec, which should encode the signal and allow for surround sound to work no problem. What's odd is that my receiver switches over to DTS mode when receiving audio input from the game, but sound only comes through the front speakers. I am able to make all other games that offer 5.1 support run using this set-up, but of course, the only one I really care about - FFXIV - is being stubborn. Any suggestions, input, or perhaps advice on where to go to find the answer to this problem? Any help would be appreciated! Thanks!

 

[Sarkarlos]

Pretty sure that to get surround out of games to your receiver, you have to run a bunch of analog cables from your mobo io to the receiver. I am not 100% about this. I just remember reading about that online a bunch of times. Basically surround over digital only works for movies et cetera.
Once more, I am not entirely sure whether or not I have any idea what I am talking about hehe

 

[festerovic]

If you DO NOT have DTS connect or Dolby digital live, then you need the analog cables, Sarkarlos. Otherwise, with DTS connect/DD live, the signal is encoded into 5.1/7.1 and decoded by your receiver in the same way DVDs would be.

I suspect either the Windows sound app is not Configured (look for the configure button on the bottom left of the Playback devices screen.) In the configure options, it asks how many speakers you have, if they are full sized, etc. The option you choose for the speaker count will directly impact the DTS connect stream and how many channels it plays. It defaults to 2 which is why you are getting stereo.