5.1 in Movies but Not Games via HDMI

edo101 · 27 Jan 2022

Hi I have a 2080 Ti on an Asrock Z490 Taichi Motherboard and its hooked up to my LG C6 TV at 4K. The TV uses ARC to my Vizio M51A soundbar so I get audio.

I have noticed I get solid 5.1 in movies and even some surround effects in my music. BUT...

When it comes to games like Halo MCC, Infinite and others, I get "fake" surround sound.

What I mean is that the dialogue and sound effects only come from the front but not from the rear. The only thing the rear speakers output is background music which I suspect is just the virtualization effect of the subwoofer workign it's magic.

The actual sound is not directional. If an enemy is coming from the rear or shooting at me, those sounds are coming from the L C R speakers in the soundbar but nothing from the rear except if there's ambient music.

This is opposite to the movies I play which have actual directional sound.

My Windows sound settings for my display via HDMI only shows 2 channels. but shows DTS and Dolby Digital as encoded formats. How can I get actual 5.1 sound via my HDMI connection. And yes my HDMI cable is working properly. Able to display 4K60 and clearly 5.1 sound via movies at 4K

I used to have a discreet but cumbersome sound system that manually took 3.5mm inputs for L,C, R, LR, RR ports and I got 5.1 that way but I'd think in 2022 I'd be able to get 5.1 via HDMI on my graphics card

Screen from device properties:

5.1 in Movies but Not Games via HDMI-hdmiwindowssoundprop.jpg

Paul Black · 08 Feb 2022

Hello @edo101,

I have noticed that you have NOT had ANY replies, so I thought that I would try and help.

If nothing else, this might create further responses for you.

I found this which might, or might NOT be useful => Force HDMI to carry 5.1 Dolby or Whatever

I hope this helps.

Pluginz · 08 Feb 2022

Hello

Sometimes in the gaming industry its the console version of the game which has been produced first, and then ported over to the PC without the full support from the sound card suppliers. Maybe im wrong.

Like it used to be, back in the day, you had Creative Sound Blaster sound cards having and taking full advantage of the EAX and Dolby Digital support, programmed in from the game developers at the beginning.
It could simply be lack of support in the games engine for a PC

I dont think games are made as well as what they used to be.

Sorry i cant be more help and good luck in finding a solution