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How can spatial audio for speakers be enabled on Windows 11, to work in games?

Anonymous
2022-12-31T19:36:43+00:00

Hello.

I am running Windows 11 Pro 64-Bit.

I have a 5.1 capable audio receiver with a toslink input and a TV that can pass through surround sound.

My goal: Be able to play videogames with surround sound (5.1).

What is working: My Xbox 360 is connected via HDMI to my TV which forwards the surround audio to the audio receiver.

What is not working: When I connect my PC to the same TV via HDMI and select the TV as audio playback device, I may only select stereo. Therefore, I cannot output 5.1 surround sound via the audio receiver when using the TV as audio device. I read somewhere that this is because Windows usually only outputs uncompressed audio, which most TVs can not forward.

What is not working: My mobo has an optical output (S/PDIF a.k.a. Toslink). This port is capable of outputting 5.1 surround sound directly to the audio receiver. I confirmed this via the device setting menu:

control panel -> sound -> toslink audio output -> properties -> supported formats -> Dolby Digital -> Test.

But I could not get my audio receiver to output 5.1 surround sound from any other app, game or video I tried. It is always outputting stereo sound, which I can confirm via its display.

Settings I tried:

  • Windows -> Settings -> Sound -> Format: Here I can only select Stereo
  • Windows -> Settings -> Sound -> Spatial audio: Here I can only select "Windows Sonic for Headphones", which is for virtual surround for headphones. Even after installing Dolby Access, this drop-down menu only contains this one option.
  • Dolby Access App: Here I may not enable Dolby Atmos for my toslink output, because it is only capable of 5.1 and not 7.1; also, I may not enable my TV for Dolby Atmos, because I may not enable Dolby Atmos from the Windows settings (which the app requires to be set).
  • DTS Sound Unbound: Here I may not enable DTS:X whatsoever
  • Realtek Audio Console: Here I may change the speaker setup to be 5.1, but even the test audio plays only from the front stereo speakers.

I also found this thread (German), which did not really help. It mainly focuses on using Realted Audio Console to enable 5.1 surround sound: https://answers.microsoft.com/de-de/windows/forum/all/surround-einstellungen-in-windows-11/22e2d683-35ea-4294-8aa6-5788663d8548 

My hardware:

  • Mobo: msi b660m mortar wifi ddr4
  • Video Card: RTX 3060TI (by Asus) -> has the aforementioned HDMI connected to my TV
  • Intel Core i3-12100
  • TV: Sony Bravia 47W805a

Games tried:

  • Call of Duty - Modern Warfare 1
  • Evil Within 1 (via Xbox app)

I updated my mobo's audio drivers today. The video card drivers were updated earlier this week. Windows is up to date.

So it seems that I am missing the 6th location where I can set my audio. But which is the setting that will actually enable surround audio output beyond the Windows audio test?

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Settings

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  1. Anonymous
    2023-01-05T19:00:01+00:00

    Don't confuse people with "spatial sound". We DON'T call 5.1 speakers as "spatial sound".

    "Spatial sound" has a specific meaning --- it is a virtual surround for HEADPHONES. You only have 2 ears, therefore 5.1 has nothing to do with anything.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Head-related_transfer_function

    This is my opinion on Windows's "spatial audio" setting, as its naming was a major reason for my confusion with surround sound in Windows 11:

    If Windows's "spatial audio" or "spatial sound" only concerns headphones, it should be renamed to match that meaning. Wikipedia seems to agree with me that spatial audio is surround sound in general (be it virtual surround with headphones or using speakers), and I agree with that notion: Wikipedia redirects to a general article on surround sound when you search for "spatial audio": https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Spatial_audio&redirect=no 

    While on the topic of misleading Windows names: I am not 100% sure, but it seems that Left channel and Right channel are swapped. I would expect Left channel to represent the left speaker. The swapped channel would apply to Windows -> Settings -> System -> Sound -> your speaker output -> Output settings

    The test sound from here should play on the left speaker first, then on the right speaker, if I am not mistaken. However, increasing the "Left channel"'s balance value increases the right speaker's volume. Using Control Panel's Sound setting I could also use a built-in test sound that also features a visualisation for clearity. The test sound sounds the same here, with the same balance as set via the modern "Settings" from before.

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  2. JosephT71 9,210 Reputation points
    2022-12-31T20:18:37+00:00

    (1) You don't have 5.1 on HDMI because your TV or av receiver doesn't support ARC/eARC. Nothing to do with Microsoft. In your case, since your xbox 360 works in the HDMI setup, it probably meant that you ran out of ARC/eARC slots in your TV. Unplug your xbox from your tv and av receiver and then plug in your pc to the same HDMI slots and see if you get 5.1.

    (2) Spdif only has enough bandwidth for uncompressed stereo digital PCM signal. For 5.1, it requires proprietary Dolby Digital compression which your computer maker has to pay Dolby money. Go to a random realtek audio chipset and you will see that Dolby is an optional item.

    https://www.realtek.com/en/products/computer-peripheral-ics/item/alc898

    (3) Dolby Digital is for pre-mastered dvd movies, not sound that is generated live by a game when you pressed a button to fire a gun and the gun sound is generated and play.

    (4) So sound card makers 10 years ago sold sound cards with Dolby Digital Live so that when you fire a gun in a game, the sound is generated by the game in 5.1 analog form and then the sound card uses Dolby Digital Live to re-encode the 5.1 analog sound to Dolby Digital to be sent via spdif.

    (5) the so-called "test" does not test whether your computer has dolby digital 5.1. Read carefully, the test is testing whether your av receiver has dolby digital 5.1.

    (6) The paid version of Dolby Access/Dolby Atmos/DTS X/DTS Unbound are for 3d spatial on headphones. In the Dolby/DTS world, if you buy a Dolby Atmos av receiver or a DTS X av receiver, then the free app will work since your av receiver maker paid for Dolby Atmos or DTS X already.

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  3. JosephT71 9,210 Reputation points
    2023-01-05T17:02:27+00:00

    Don't confuse people with "spatial sound". We DON'T call 5.1 speakers as "spatial sound".

    "Spatial sound" has a specific meaning --- it is a virtual surround for HEADPHONES. You only have 2 ears, therefore 5.1 has nothing to do with anything.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Head-related_transfer_function

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  4. Anonymous
    2023-01-05T14:58:06+00:00

    Since nobody seems to know a better solution, I opted for going back to the roots with a fallback option: staying analog. At least the analog outputs for each surround speaker pair provide working spatial sound.

    My advice for anyone who wants spatial sound using analog output: Ignore Windows's sound settings. Use your audio chipset software (e.g., Realtek Audio Console) to set up your speakers. Windows will still show nothing noteworthy in the "spatial sound" dropdown menu, even with all speakers connected, and still only offers sliders for left and right speakers.

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  5. Anonymous
    2022-12-31T22:30:40+00:00

    Thank you for your insightful reply.

    Unfortunately, plugging my PC into the ARC HDMI port on my TV did not change anything. Probably because my TV forwards the audio via Toslink. I forgot to mention that part of my setup.

    So I guess MS has always been paying license fees to get Dolby Digital on all their Xbox generations.

    What a bummer. I paid extra for having a Toslink port on my mainboard, but can only use that for stereo?!

    I just connected my PC's rear speaker output to my audio receiver. The speaker tests in both Windows and Realtek Audio Console output sound from the rear speakers correctly. But games still are stereo. I changed the audio settings in Call of Duty 4 from Windows Standard to "4 speakers", but still no sound from the rear speakers. Windows on the other hand still only provides control for the "left" and "right" channel, with no mentioning of the rear speakers. Spatial audio still only provides "Windows Sonic for Headphones". I would expect an option to appear in that menu, like "On".

    So what are my options? How do I get surround sound from my games out of my PC into my speakers?

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