Use all 5.1 speakers with a 2.1 audio source

Question

I just bought a 5.1 surround sound speaker set for my computer in my bedroom. The rear speakers are next to me in bed while the front speakers are at the other end of the bed at my feet. While I enjoy the surround sound during movies that support 5.1 sound, I would like to have my rear speakers working when listening to podcasts, or other 2.1 channel sound. How can I do this? When I enable "Speaker Fill" in the Realtek Hd Audio manager the sound only comes out of the front and center speakers with a few background noises that come out the rear ones. But since my ears are closer to the rear speakers, I'd rather have the sound come out of them.

Let me know of any ideas!

Hmm seems like the only option is to set the rear speakers to "Front Speakers" and change it to stereo in the Realtek HD audio. But still that take alot of steps and it doesnt not use the center speaker Thanks

Answer 1

This might not be exactly what you're after, but there is a Winamp plugin for Windows Vista/7 that provides various options for upmixing stereo signals to 5.1 (and higher), you might just be able to make out the configuration options from this blurry screenshot:

Answer 2

Usually with a 5.1 speaker system on the Realtek HD,
you should get an upmix of your stereo and 2.1 audio.
Check this AVSForum discussion on Disable stereo upmix on Realtek HD Audio?

The Reaktek control app has options to select the Audio I/O for various number of channels. Maybe you need to change this to 5.1?

If you are using Windows Vista, i came across this weird discussion on
Vista and Realtek HD audio cannot provide surround sound

Answer 3

It's completely non-software, but what about getting an audio source switch from a place like Radio Shack and have the front and rear speakers go through it between the computer and you, so that when you're doing a non-5.1 sound activity, you can manually just switch the speakers to put the "front" near you?

Answer 4

The freeware audio player foobar2000 has an add-in that allows you to upmix to up to 18 channels called MatrixMixer.

MatrixMixer also has a more general package, but it appears to not have been updated in quite some time, so your mileage may vary.

Answer 5

If you use the realtek, download the realtek Driver http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads/downloadsCheck.aspx?Langid=1&PNid=14&PFid=24&Level=4&Conn=3&DownTypeID=3&GetDown=false

From the Audio Manager/Control Select the speaker tab. On the right hand side, there are six icons of connector Right click on pink connect icon. Select connection configuration. Select Rear Speaker Right click on black connect icon. Select connection configuration. Select Front Speaker Front Rear Sound will be switched

Answer 6

In my case, I was having the same problem, my music and most videos were on 2.1 and I only heard 2 of the 5 speakers. Videogames and some videos had 5.1 so no problem.

If you're running Win7 and you have no other than the default sound driver, there is an option "Speaker Fill" that solves all problems!

First, right click on the sound icon in the task bar (right lower corner), choose "Playback Devices".

If you have only one sound output, it'll be the only one on the list. If you have more than one then, while playing some music, you'll notice one of the device's volume bar moving, that's the one you should select.

Select your audio input and click on "Properties". Then go to "Enhacements" tab. There should be a checkbox with the "Speaker Fill" in the middle. Select it and press apply.

Worked for me perfectly, 5.1 sound on 2.1 music =D

Answer 7

If you are using a Creative sound card you can turn on the CMSS Technology. http://www.creative.com/soundblaster/technology/cmss-3d/

It claims to upmix stereo into 5.1 sound, and can be enabled in their creative audio control panel. Once I enabled it, I got output from all speakers for all my MP3s.

It disables itself automatically, if the input itself is 5.1.

Answer 8

THE cheapest solution (albeit most probably not the best one):

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.741~r.54077798