I never see dolby or dts on my receiver, I only get stereo

[fred5]

Hi,
New here and in the receiver field.
When I watch a movie (mkv) I always have stereo sound (left rear and front play together, right rear and front play together, center always plays) and never one of the digital formats.
The same goes when I play test movies surround in Youtube.

It seems that whenever I google this issue I get tons of out dated guides.
My PC is connected to the receiver with an hdmi cable.
My board is H55m-d2h and Realtek audio manager installed.
My receiver is yamaha rx-v767

Questions:
1. Do I still need to install decoders in 2016 windows 10?
2. If so - what are the recommended decoders?
3. Can I use the youtube surround sound test videos?
4. If so - which one?
5. Does it matter if the pc-receiver is connected with the hdmi cable or with the optical?
6. Since it has to be connected with the hdmi (the reveiver transfers the image to the tv as well)
does it make sense to connect it with the optical as well?
7. Do I need to setup something in the receiver?
8. Can you link me to a guide?

 

[ssddx]

most "surround" tests on youtube are stereo despite the titles. your movie files might be as well.

so, how to test?
-in sound properties run the test to see if you hear tones in each speaker. if yes, it should be set up right. (do make sure its set to 5.1 as well)
-play a dvd movie known to have dolby surround sound. you should hear things correctly

1. its suggested you use the latest video card drivers, but other than this no, your system should be capable of communicating fine with the receiver.
3. no. most are fake junk. there are surround videos you can download from dolby for test purposes though.
5 hdmi is what you want. optical has more trouble as optical by default is stereo unless both sources support the same format (dolby compressed audio). hdmi is uncompressed.
6. no. pc->avr->tv is correct
7. other than making sure you are on auto surround or a sound mode other than ext stereo, mono or other non 5.1 option no.

 

[jsmithepa]

Never had a problem doing surround, so when you said can't do it, from youtube, I was curious..... Looked for a few Dolby Digital samples, and BAM, right below are disclaimers, YOUTUBE CAN ONLY DO STEREO. So you are wonder why they put it there... dunno, advertisement? teaser? whatever, youtube can't send you surround, you must test things by other means.

 

[americanaudiophile]

By your description you get all the speakers playing but not discrete channels?
Multichannel stereo mode will product that. Make sure that you have the receiver surround mode in Auto. Try Dolby or DTS too.
If your receiver is getting a Dolby Digital or DTS signal it usually is indicated on the front panel.