PC to AVR no sound from HDMI/optical

gorillawar

Commendable
Dec 2, 2016
6
0
1,510
I recently got a Pioneer VSX-530-K so I can play sound from my PC with surround sound. I browsed all over and no other solutions worked for me. I tried using the optical input from my motherboard and HDMI from my GPU with no sound coming out for either. mobo and GPU listed below

MSI AMD Radeon R7 260X

ASUS M5A97

I would prefer the optical option so I can plug my only HDMI port into my TV. I know you can forward the video from the AVR, but i'm not sure if the quality will remain the same.
 
Solution
if sound comes out of all speakers during a speaker test.. your receiver and software are working fine.

what surround test are you running? do not believe youtube surround sound tests as most are stereo audio and fake. use a game or better yet a dvd with 5.1 audio to test.

most windows sounds, youtube, internet streaming and even some older games are stereo. most dvd movies, games after the later 90's and rarely some streaming movies are surround.

not sure what you mean swapping from L surround and center to front l and right inputs. you always wire FL to FL, CEN to CEN, etc. the only option i could see you playing with is the 5.1 with surrounds or the 5.1 with rears in windows audio properties.
have you changed your default audio device to hdmi or optical? it may not automatically swap over.

i would just use hdmi out of the gpu -> receiver -> tv. there is no effect on quality. unless you are running 120hz monitors or nonstandard monitor resolutions there is nothing to worry about. since you're using a tv you dont need to worry about that.
 

gorillawar

Commendable
Dec 2, 2016
6
0
1,510
After fiddling with it some more, I realized it was that speaker port that was the issue. I swapped from the "L surround" and "center" to the "front R and L inputs" and the audio came out. So I guess the next question is, why is audio not coming out from the center/surround L and R? I tried setting it from 5.1 to 7.1 in case that was the issue in the sound options, but it didn't work.
 

gorillawar

Commendable
Dec 2, 2016
6
0
1,510
Just did a test in the control panel and sound actually came through the speakers so they work. When I try to use them for a surround sound test, they dont output any audio. So something is stopping them from working normally.
 
if sound comes out of all speakers during a speaker test.. your receiver and software are working fine.

what surround test are you running? do not believe youtube surround sound tests as most are stereo audio and fake. use a game or better yet a dvd with 5.1 audio to test.

most windows sounds, youtube, internet streaming and even some older games are stereo. most dvd movies, games after the later 90's and rarely some streaming movies are surround.

not sure what you mean swapping from L surround and center to front l and right inputs. you always wire FL to FL, CEN to CEN, etc. the only option i could see you playing with is the 5.1 with surrounds or the 5.1 with rears in windows audio properties.
 
Solution

gorillawar

Commendable
Dec 2, 2016
6
0
1,510


I opened a game and....it worked! guess im an idiot for trusting those testing videos from youtube. All 4 speakers are playing sound now when surround sound is active. I do wish during my tv shows or youtube vids, the speakers would switch to stereo or something so the rears would play sound. duplicated like the fronts and not be purely for surround purposes. But even so thank you for the help and I can finally set up my system!
 

gorillawar

Commendable
Dec 2, 2016
6
0
1,510


Thank you again! and one last thing (hopefully). I can't use the speakers unless I make my display duplicate or at least have my TV showing my PC. when im playing games I would like to use the speakers but still use only my monitor. I guess I could just turn the tvs power off while having my PC still duplicating to the TV, but still there has to be a better way.
 
depends on how you are connected and a few other factors. to help clarify, a few questions

are you using both a tv and monitor for dual screening or are you using either one or the other at a single time?
are they the same resolution?
is the monitor 60hz or is it one of the faster 120/144hz tn panels?
how many and what type of outputs does your graphics card have?
how do you currently have things wired?
 

gorillawar

Commendable
Dec 2, 2016
6
0
1,510
I am currently using the monitor when playing games with keyboard and mouse. Then I use TV when watching shows and games with a controller.
my monitor is a 24 inch 60hz 1920x1080. the TV is a 55" 1080p
I have 2 DVIs, 1 HDMI, and 1 Display Port.
I have the HDMI going from the card to the AVR then to the TV(like you mentioned). The monitor uses one of the DVI ports.
 
if you only ever need to have one display on at a time you could try an A/B switch after the receiver. i'm not sure if it will play nice but you could try. otherwise you could always connect via 3 cables (dvi to monitor, dvi/hdmi adapter to tv and hdmi to receiver).