Help with surround sound on Windows PC

[UltraPro]

Hi! I have the following setup:

- Windows 11 desktop PC: Motherboard Asus TUF GAMING B660M-PLUS D4 and soundcard Creative Sound Blaster Z SE. Also an optical Blu-ray drive and 1080p DLP projector.
- Yamaha receiver HTR-6130, connected to five speakers and a subwoofer. Creative sound card is connected to the receiver via Toslink.
- On the PC, for viewing movies, currently programs VLC and Leawo Blu-ray Player are installed. Additionally, the soundcard has it's own software, of which a picture is attached.

Now, is it possible to gain 5.1 surround audio with this setup, or am I in a situation where sound via HDMI would be much better, easier, or perhaps the only possible solution? I know that the sound card supports Dolby and DTS, and when you change the settings in the picture, the receiver reacts to that accordingly, displaying either a logo of Dolby or DTS, but alas, I have not ever been able to get 5.1 sound out, not even in the Windows' audio test. The receiver does not support sound via HDMI, even though it has three ports, since it's very old, so I'm prepared to buy a modern one if necessary. Yet to add, for the Creative sound card, Windows does not offer in it's settings an option for 5.1, only stereo, though the Creative software itself does seem to have enabled 5.1 sound.

Before making a hasty decision, I would just like to know, what is possible with this current setup, if anything, and if there any limitations needed to be known before purchasing an expensive new amp, likely related to the Windows enviroment. Do I need different applications, certain kind of HDMI cords or possibly anything else? The quality of sound is not the top priority, but to get some sort of acceptable surround sound out for movie watching either using a disc or watching via streaming service, so, compression is not an issue.

Thanks for your time!

 

[DVDdoug]

Usually with Toslink or HDMI the receiver takes care of the decoding so surround should be no problem. You may have to configure the soundcard to "passthrough" the raw data.

VLC can decode Dolby & DTS if you are using the soundcard's analog outputs.

The sound card may be downmixing. VLC or the Leawo software should be able to decode the surround if you are using the soundcard. You shouldn't need the soundcard driver/utility. With VLC I can play DTS on my laptop speakers (downmixed to stereo) or if I plug the HDMI into my AVR I get surround.

Toslink doesn't support the "HD" Blu-Ray formats so you might get a PCM stereo downmix.

The receiver does not support sound via HDMI, even though it has three ports,

That's odd. But I upgraded my 1st AVR because it didn't have HDMI at all

 

[Chrispy]

In the case of the HDMI not having audio, I'd have to think either your sound output settings on the pc side or an input assignment on the avr.

 

[AnalogSteph]

In the case of the HDMI not having audio, I'd have to think either your sound output settings on the pc side or an input assignment on the avr.

It appears this receiver is 15 years old and quite a basic model. It only does HDMI passthrough and that's it.

 

[Chrispy]

It appears this receiver is 15 years old and quite a basic model. It only does HDMI passthrough and that's it.

That would explain ...what is it?

 

[Gringoaudio1]

My Arcam Diva350 in the bedroom doesn’t support audio on the HDMI signal path either.

 

[UltraPro]

Hi again! I'm yet pondering on the described setup - still a year later, yes - that would using analog cables (RCA) be an option? We have decided to get a Bluray player (with my dad, it's his setup), since playback from a PC seems to be troublesome, so audio from the coming player can travel via Toslink or Coax to the receiver, but what about the PC, if once in a while something would be played on Windows? Does analog surround sound work at all in this case and if yes, is there any limitations to it or is it a hassle to deal with? We would like to avoid buying a new receiver if possible, but of course if that's the only reasonable choice then a new one will be bought and HDMI used for both sources (the player and the PC). Additionally, I guess with such an old receiver as the Yamaha HTR-6130, you cannot have any newer surround audio formats than Dolby Digital and DTS, which albeit are fine even today I assume?

 

[10PSPMemSticksForMiku2007]

I would recommend using analog connections. Your sound card and receiver both support it. You just need three 3.5mm to rca cables. This way there will be better sound quality and a lot less trouble than with toslink. For a pc-based surround setup, toslink is the worst connection. It has only two channels of PCM output. HDMI has good audio quality but can have problems and inconveniences sometimes. Analog will just work, and all applications including games will have 6 PCM channels available, you won't have to worry about bitstreaming or DRM.