How to get 5.1 audio out?

[Hayato]

I don't really know where to start...

The plan: pc to play 5.1 channel movie through my receiver connect to the tv.

The setup: Acer pc -hdmi- Sony receiver -hdmi+optical- LG TV

The problem: it does work. My receiver keeps saying stereo only.

Dear community, what should i do?
If you need more information feel free to ask me.

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[ssddx]

how are you connected?

pc --(hdmi)--> receiver --(hdmi)--> tv ? this would be correct.

if you run pc->tv->receiver and rely on hdmi-arc from tv to receiver for audio you will get only stereo from the pc as it sees the tv as a stereo only device and not the receiver on the end of the chain.

is it a true receiver (avr) not a cheap home theater in a box ?

model of home theater, tv, graphics card or motherboard you connect to?

are you playing surround sound movies or audio? not all are surround
be aware that youtube 5.1 test videos are mostly NOT surround.
do you have your pc set to 5.1?
if you run speaker test in windows, do you get audio correctly?

 

[Hayato]

Like i said earlier it's connected like,
Acer pc -(hdmi)- Sony receiver -(hdmi+optical)- LG TV.

I'm using a
Acer pc xc-705 with a gt705 connected by hdmi,
Sony receiver str-dn1060,
LG tv 65ub930t-ta

All video format i play is .Mkv with flac 5.1 as the audio codec.

Thanks for replying, i did the speaker test and change it to 5.1surround.
But why does the jack info still say LR hdmi audio jack. Isn't supposed to be FL, Center, FR, RR, RL?

 

[Hayato]

Back again, after a few testing it's seems to work already. My receiver now says it's 5.1 channel (that's a good sign).

Thanks ssddx for your help, the problem was the speaker test.

The jack is still says LR only.
Anywhere to test true 5.1 surround sound? To confirm.

 

[ssddx]

you keep saying hdmi + optical to tv. why is it both?

if you are using optical to get audio out from the tv to go to the receiver when using the internal tuner that can be considered a seperate connection so isnt part of the chain.

okay good its a true receiver.

i dont have long to really look at product specs or manuals on the receiver or tv at this moment..

to check 5.1 in sound properties do a speaker test. if tones come out the correct speakers you have things set up correctly.

i would suggest running the receiver on "auto surround" mode.

if the test above works but you dont get 5.1 out your speakers on other files or programs then the reason is generally either A) the file you are playing is not 5.1 or B) the file format is not supported by the receiver

 

[Hayato]

Sorry ssddx, i shouldn't have talk about the optical cable its use for other the purpose. It's there for arc to the receiver from other component like my IPTV which is connected directly to the tv. I don't always on my receiver that's why...

The speaker test turn's out to be positive, all the tones came out thorough the correct speaker. And i have change to auto surround on my receiver ( A.F.D is what Sony calls).

Once again, thank you ssddx

 

[ssddx]

if all test tones come out correctly that is a start. at least you can be sure your connections and setup is correct.

if you do not get 5.1 from this point forward it is generally a limitation of whatever program you are using on windows (drivers, format support, etc), a non-5.1 file or a file format not supported by your drivers/receiver. pretty much all standard format dolby digital or similar files should play fine nnnthough.

also, for the record "arc" is not optical. hdmi arc or (audio return channel) basically uses an hdmi "input" on the tv as an "audio output". likewise, the arc port on the receiver i believe will function both ways. optical input is different to this, not that it does not also work as a connection type i'm just clarifying in case of future need.

 

[madmatt30]

If A.F.D shows 5+1 channels on the LCD then that's what you're getting.

Have a similar Sony receiver myself (slightly older
model)

I'd push you to use kodi as your video player with audio set to wasapi - its audio compatibility is far far better than anything else out there.

 

[Hayato]

Yup got it, for my receiver it say 3/2.1(192khz), It's definitely 5.1 channel.

I tried using kodi, but just couldn't​ get the hang of it. Using plain old VLC works best for me.

 

[ssddx]

note: i've heard vlc has had issues with surround sound and receivers. i'm not sure if its fixed now or not but at one point in time it was a problem

 

[madmatt30]

I use kodi solely because its incredibly easy to set up libraries for audio/video/photo & I like to use a media remote from the couch.

My one big grouch at the move from win 7/8/8.1 to win 10 was the complete loss of media centre - I used that for absolutely everything before I upgraded & don't understand whybthey didn't carry it over - kodi is a good free alternative though.

 

[Hayato]

I think its fix already for vlc, everything is playing correctly.