Realtek Audio Manager and Sound Blaster Cinema 2 Troubleshooting (Solved)

[Unduefarce]

Hey, guys. I have an Audio-Technica AD700x, and I am wondering how I can my motherboard's (MSI Z97 Gaming 5) virtual 7.1 surround sound with my headphones.

At first, I have accessed Sound Blaster Cinema 2. In the advanced settings, I changed my configuration to 7.1 Surround and tested the setup, and only the front left and right speakers responded, while none of the speakers responded.

In Realtek Audio Manager, I can configure my headphones to use 7.1 Speaker for surround sound. At first, all the speakers and subwoofer produced an audible response, but this configuration is actually unstable. At times, the left and right surround sound speakers, center speaker and subwoofer will work, while other times, every speaker but the subwoofer works. This is incredibly frustrating because I don't know why each speaker will work sometimes and not work other times.

tl: dr How can I get my Audio-Technica AD700x to utilize 7.1 Speaker configuration completely and indefinitely on both Sound Blaster Cinema 2 and Realtek Audio Manager?

 

[Unduefarce]

I don't understand the exact circumstances, but this seems to be isolated to MSI motherboards that have Realtek Drivers and Sound Blaster Cinema 2. There is an odd interaction between Sound Blaster Cinema 2 and Realtek Audio Manager where even if Sound Blaster Cinema 2 is disabled or uninstalled, it still asserts priority in audio device configuration. So, when I uninstalled Sound Blaster Cinema 2 with "7.1 Speakers", Realtek Audio Manager still wouldn't allow me to use the subwoofer that Sound Blaster Cinema 2 disabled under its settings.

To bypass this, I reinstalled Sound Blaster Cinema 2 and switched to "Headphones" in advanced settings. Afterwards, I tested the sound. Meanwhile, in Realtek HD Audio Sound Manager, I switched the setup to "Stereo". Then, I uninstalled both and reinstalled only Realtek HD Audio Manager with drivers. This worked after a few tries, lasting over 2 hours.

I understand that my issue is a niche problem, but if ever anyone has this problem, this is what worked for me.