Is there some hidden volume attenuation in Windows when selecting 5.1/7.1 audio?

[Yviena]

Idk why but when selecting 5.1/7.1 audio in windows the volume sounds noticeably lower even when im playing back the same stereo source file, i don't have any speaker fill, or upmixing or anyting related to that enabled and i've noticed it across multiple equipment like AVR, and soundbars.

 

[Tio]

what sound card that you use? do you install the driver of the sound card as well?

 

[Yviena]

what sound card that you use? do you install the driver of the sound card as well?

Its connected directly to my GPU > TV > EARC > AVR i noticed the volume difference with a soundbar connected too so idk.

 

[Redacted]

Surely if you start with a stereo source, there needs to be some processing or algorithm going on to distribute the sound across the other channels? I can't see that sending left channel equally to all left speakers would work, and what goes to centre or sub channels?

 

[john61ct]

I would only select that if it matched the source content's actual format.

 

[Yviena]

Surely if you start with a stereo source, there needs to be some processing or algorithm going on to distribute the sound across the other channels? I can't see that sending left channel equally to all left speakers would work, and what goes to centre or sub channels?

But that's the thing I'm not actually using any speaker fill or upmixing option, but for some reason there's still a volume difference between selecting Stereo, and 5.1/7.1 in windows and playing back a stereo source, I kind of would expect windows to leave the volume untouched, the difference in volume also seems to be around -3dB

 

[Yviena]

I would only select that if it matched the source content's actual format.

Yeah but I kinda don't want to constantly change the selected audio configuration every time I'm switching between music and games.

 

[john61ct]

I dunno how to automate that

 

[10PSPMemSticksForMiku2007]

Most likely your TV is doing something. I have used multichannel audio on PC for a long time from analog sound card and from HDMI plugged directly into an AVR, but I never had this issue.

 

[Holmz]

Idk why but when selecting 5.1/7.1 audio in windows the volume sounds noticeably lower even when im playing back the same stereo source file, i don't have any speaker fill, or upmixing or anyting related to that enabled and i've noticed it across multiple equipment like AVR, and soundbars.

Everywhere in frequency?

I could picture some cancellation nulling things out, but that would have some bumpy behavior in the frequency domain if that was the case.

 

[Yviena]

Everywhere in frequency?

I could picture some cancellation nulling things out, but that would have some bumpy behavior in the frequency domain if that was the case.

Yeah it's like a blanket -3-4dB drop in volume and it happens just by selecting between stereo and 5.1/7.1 channels configuration, maybe there is something with what that other guy said about that's it the TV doing it but I never heard of any Samsung TV messing with volume with E-ARC and passthrough on.

 

[Ruediger]

Maybe it's to create headroom. In case you select upmix, filter lfe, do multi channel stereo.. I have these options in my mediaplayer. What software (driver, audio panel, apps) is involved at your PC I don't know of course.

If your content is up to 5.1 or 7.1 why not leave it at that setting?

 

[Yviena]

Maybe it's to create headroom. In case you select upmix, filter lfe, do multi channel stereo.. I have these options in my mediaplayer. What software (driver, audio panel, apps) is involved at your PC I don't know of course.

If your content is up to 5.1 or 7.1 why not leave it at that setting?

Yeah I'm just gonna leave it at 5.1 your probably right regarding the headroom idea.

 

[Chrispy]

What is your speaker setup?

 

[Yviena]

What is your speaker setup?

It's a 5.1 speaker setup using dynavoice DM6II bookshelf speakers and a Sony TA AN1000.

 

[Chrispy]

It's a 5.1 speaker setup using dynavoice DM6II bookshelf speakers and a Sony TA AN1000.

Curious, what audio format/codec does your avr see via your connection via eARC from your computer for each mode? You using some sort of pure mode on the avr?

 

[Holmz]

Yeah it's like a blanket -3-4dB drop in volume and it happens just by selecting between stereo and 5.1/7.1 channels configuration, maybe there is something with what that other guy said about that's it the TV doing it but I never heard of any Samsung TV messing with volume with E-ARC and passthrough on.

I think that there is something 3.4dB of headroom required for DS DACs. It might just be a coincidence… but it sticks out like a question mark in a cartoon caption.

 

[wwenze]

The usual hidden factor is how the OS/driver/equipment/TV handles upmixing/downmixing.

For example if you only have 2 channel output but you tell the OS/driver to present itself as 5.1, then the OS will present itself as 5.1 to the programs, and downmix to 2 channel, but because each speaker needs to do 3 channels the max volume of each constituent channel needs to be reduced.

 

[Yviena]

Curious, what audio format/codec does your avr see via your connection via eARC from your computer for each mode? You using some sort of pure mode on the avr?

I'm using the auto format decoding so most likely it just accepts whatever configuration is sent and does nothing more, etc windows most likely just mutes or sends silence to unused channels.

Update: yeah with AFD it just reports exactly the configuration you send it.

 

[Yviena]

The usual hidden factor is how the OS/driver/equipment/TV handles upmixing/downmixing.

For example if you only have 2 channel output but you tell the OS/driver to present itself as 5.1, then the OS will present itself as 5.1 to the programs, and downmix to 2 channel, but because each speaker needs to do 3 channels the max volume of each constituent channel needs to be reduced.

Interesting I do have a full 5.1 setup tho but yeah it's probably something the equipment AVR automatically does, as for windows I thought the OS just sends silence to unused channels.