5.1 Sound over S/PDIF

Communities Audio Hardware & Music
1

5.1 Sound, but over S/PDIF.

First of all my setup here.

  • I use an old SONY STR-SL5 receiver. It only supports cinch, and optical. so HDMI is not an option.
  • Soundcard wise I use an Asus Xobar DGX. It supports 5.1 sound, and has an Optical out.

Now. In my research I found out, that S/PDIF doesn’t support uncompressed 5.1 sound, but my PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 3 manage to push out an 5.1 signal over S/PDIF. My Guess is, that they use DTS Surround Sound.
I’d really like to be able to watch movies in 5.1 though, but when I connect my computer with it, I only get an 2.1 sound, with the SL, and SR speakers just playing the L and R channels.
How can I get this to work with my receiver? Does anyone know? Can I just force Windows to use DTS, or Dolby Digital Live? I am at the end of my expertise.

Thank You
Edit: I use VLC, and it doesn’t work even if the mediafile supports 5.1.

2

depends on the media, and the player you're using. if both support 5.1

3

No, that's not the issue.

4

DTS, DOLBY, and proprietary formats are conveyed by the medium. Essentially the recordings are recorded using those formats. They are either present in the recording or not. They aren't a 'setting' to chose from in Windows.

Is the movie you are watching on a DVD or Blu Ray? If it is just a streaming movie, odds are the stream only has 2 channels. I have yet to see any downloadable or streaming video to have surround sound. Even Google Play rentals are 2 channel even when advertised as 5.1.

You may have to configure your speakers:

-right click on the speaker icon in the right side of the system tray and select "playback devices"
-select the "optical out' which is hooked up to your speakers, and then hit the 'configure' button in the bottom left corner of the window.
-select 5.1 and go through the setup process and test to see if sound plays through each speaker.

5

How I see it, if you want 5.1 out of your PC through optical S/PDIF, you're gonna need to use DTS Connect or Dolby Digital Live. If your sound card supports those formats, use them.

For movies, as you mentioned you use VLC, there should be a passthrough option in the preferences. You'll find it under the advanced preferences under Audio. A setting labeled "Use S/PDIF when available". Enable that, Dolby or DTS should play in your movies regardless of your settings in your sound card or Windows.

If you want 5.1 even for other things like games, that is where DTS Connect or Dolby Digital Live comes in. There should be settings for those formats in your sound card's control panel, if they exist, enable them.