4
2
I'm currently using the onboard sound on my Asus P6T6 WS Revolution motherboard (SoundMAX Integrated Digital Audio) and was wondering if there was any way to make either windows or the audio drivers upscale 2-channel audio to 5-channel audio (basic duplication would suffice)?
I was using a creative sound card but got fed up with the memory leaks and poor sound quality.
To clarify: I have a 5.1 sound system and the onboard card supports 5.1 output. I have 5.1 games and applications from which I want full 5.1 sound; However, I also have some applications (music) which is only stereo, which I would like to upscale to 5.1 without losing the 5.1 sound from other applications.
Headphones exist with stereo-to-5.1 converters; those converters usually come as a separate box between 3.5 plug and the headphones. Maybe those will work for you. For basic duplication, there are 3.5mm splitters with 1 male 3.5 plug and 2 female 3.5 sockets. That should give you 4 channels with 1 splitter, and 6 channels with 2 splitters :) – chronos – 2010-06-02T23:43:07.183
@chronos A stereo-to-5.1 defeats the purpose, as that would strip the extra channels from applications that provide it. – Darth Android – 2010-06-03T05:08:45.727
Sorry, that wasn't clear before the edit. Have you had a look at http://superuser.com/questions/96796/use-all-5-1-speakers-with-a-2-1-audio-source ?
– chronos – 2010-06-03T13:19:48.477That is winamp-specific or realtek-specific (not the chipset I have), and I was looking for something on the system level, because while that works for the example, I have other applications I would like to see affected (flash, youtube, java, and games which do not have surround sound) – Darth Android – 2010-06-03T13:43:36.497
I have seen an option in the SoundMax Application somewhere before where you can tell it how to handle MONO/STEREO to your 5.1 Output. Like Stereo - Use all channels. Stereo USe Front or Back/ disable WOOFER. post processing, pre processing. Are you using that Application provided with the MB? – Piotr Kula – 2011-10-06T12:15:12.193
@ppumkin My SoundMax may have been out of date, but I do not recall that option existing when I last checked (admittedly, more than a year ago). I've replaced most of the hardware in my desktop, and no longer have a soundmax audio chip. My new motherboard supports window's "Speaker Fill" enhancement, which does exactly what I need. – Darth Android – 2011-11-06T19:29:13.023