780 ti + Onkyo TX-NR636: Always Multichannel or Always Stereo

[tjs4ever]

Hi All,

I bought an Onkyo TX-NR636 as I plan to slowly upgrade the speakers in my 5.1 setup. Currently my PC is HDMI from my 780ti to receiver and then HDMI from receiver to television. I use the PC 50/50 HTPC and gaming PC. My issue is as follows:

If I set my 780ti as default audio device and select 5.1 as speaker setup, windows always outputs in 5.1 mode. Even when I play a 2 channel mp3. If I set Windows to 2.0 any surround sources seem to be virtualized surround and not true dolby/dts. This is troublesome because I was under the impression that my receiver would be aware of the source and handle the audio accordingly.

For example Neo6 DTS mode (emulated surround) is only available if windows is set to 2.0. I would like to have the ability to leave the PC in 5.1 mode, but enable Neo6/Prologic while stereo sources are playing. I haven't been able to figure this out.

Any thoughts?

 

[dingo07]

does your receiver have Dolby Pro Logic II?

 

[SkyBill40]

My question is why you're using sound from the video card rather than the onboard audio or a sound card? I don't get the whole premise behind audio from a vid card, but I guess that's just me.

That said, the signal path coming from the computer to your receiver can only be set as one or the other as I would understand it. I would, like you, assume that the receiver would be able to decode/translate the source audio and then convert it accordingly in whatever sound format you're looking for and especially going from 5.1 to 2.0.

 

[dingo07]

My question is why you're using sound from the video card rather than the onboard audio or a sound card? I don't get the whole premise behind audio from a vid card, but I guess that's just me.

the HMDI cable is only acting as a conduit - don't forget it's all digital

 

[SkyBill40]

Yeah, I realize that. As I said, I'm just used to using either onboard sound or an actual card. Having the video card process or pass it through just seems... odd.

Still, what I said for the rest of the signal issue holds weight. I know the receiver is capable of converting the signal into whichever audio channel setup he wishes, so it seems more like a Windows thing than anything else. Until he gets his full 5.1 setup, he may have to contend with changing it back and forth.

 

[americanaudiophile]

If you leave the receiver in Dolby it will switch between Dolby Digital and Dolby ProLogic but otherwise the receiver can't know how you want to process a 2.0 signal.
A possible solution is to try to assign the input you have the PC connected to to 2 inputs (some receivers allow this). This way you can leave a different surround mode as default for each input and just switch between them.