5.1 surround only playing through two speakers

[boweavil]

I have a Denon AVR-E400 receiver connecting my PC (windows 7) to a 5.1 surround set-up. In sound playback menu the Denon is the default device and in configuration it properly detects all speakers. But when playing any audio, it only uses the front left and right speakers. In addition there is Realtek HD audio which doesn't seem to detect the speakers.

 

[americanaudiophile]

If your receiver is in the "Auto" surround mode and you send it a 2 channel signal you will only get 2 channels. Try setting the surround mode to Dolby. This will give you Dolby ProLogic surround when you are playing a stereo source. You can also try the other modes.