# Setup 5.1 logitech speakers?



## CH@NO (Feb 7, 2009)

Hi.

Today I purchased my new spéakers, are a X-530 model from Logitech, need to say It's my first 5.1ch setup.

The problem is I'm using Vista and the speakers doesn't work properly, when trying to play a music file it only sounds on STEREO (subwoofer+2 speakers), but setting the setup to 5.1ch using control panel ALL the speakers sounds fine, VERY ODD.

I readed various post about this issue, and they say that Vista SUCKS rendering 5.1/7.1ch, but the posts was kinda outdated (more than a year ago).

Is it possible that I'm doing something wrong????, I NEED TO CONFIRM that the speakers works fine, It had 1 month of warranty and I'll return to my home tomorrow and I'll not be able to go back here after 4-5 weeks.


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## Kursah (Feb 7, 2009)

Well load up a movie or game that actually uses 5.1 audio to verify, I have the 2.1 X230 set, have for years, great speakers. I save 5.1 duty for my Turtle Beach HPA2's which kick ass, I love em!

But, if the output isn't set to spatialize/expand the sound from stereo to multi-channel, then don't expect surround. There's a simple setting in Creative's X-Fi panel for this, and my onboard Realtek too iirc, but it sounds odd in surround, I prefer stereo channels for stereo output tbh. If there's a setting for channel expand or something similar you should be ok. It might add 3d affects, might not, depends on what you're using for a sound device and what it's software supports.


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## CH@NO (Feb 7, 2009)

Kursah said:


> Well load up a movie or game that actually uses 5.1 audio to verify, I have the 2.1 X230 set, have for years, great speakers. I save 5.1 duty for my Turtle Beach HPA2's which kick ass, I love em!
> 
> But, if the output isn't set to spatialize/expand the sound from stereo to multi-channel, then don't expect surround. There's a simple setting in Creative's X-Fi panel for this, and my onboard Realtek too iirc, but it sounds odd in surround, I prefer stereo channels for stereo output tbh. If there's a setting for channel expand or something similar you should be ok. It might add 3d affects, might not, depends on what you're using for a sound device and what it's software supports.



Ok, I'm testing the speakers on my sister's in law house, using a P4 3.2Ghz, 768MB RAM, and a Realtek 7.1 HDA. My new mobo is a Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS3 that uses Realtek HDA too.

So knowing this is there a way to play music files/normal videos, and all other kind of music files that don't use 5.1ch USING ALL THE SPEAKERS???

It's kinda a waste having 5 speakers and only use 2, also, is there a way to make it work in Vista or I must use a 5.1 DVD capable???

Thanx again...


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## zithe (Feb 7, 2009)

CH@NO said:


> Ok, I'm testing the speakers on my sister's in law house, using a P4 3.2Ghz, 768MB RAM, and a Realtek 7.1 HDA. My new mobo is a Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS3 that uses Realtek HDA too.
> 
> So knowing this is there a way to play music files/normal videos, and all other kind of music files that don't use 5.1ch USING ALL THE SPEAKERS???
> 
> ...



You've tried going to the control panel and clicking on the realtek icon and changing it to 5.1speakers?


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## Solaris17 (Feb 7, 2009)

CH@NO said:


> Ok, I'm testing the speakers on my sister's in law house, using a P4 3.2Ghz, 768MB RAM, and a Realtek 7.1 HDA. My new mobo is a Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS3 that uses Realtek HDA too.
> 
> So knowing this is there a way to play music files/normal videos, and all other kind of music files that don't use 5.1ch USING ALL THE SPEAKERS???
> 
> ...



I have the X-540's and mine do the same thir is nothing wonrg with them. 5:1 only works if you are listening to something that uses :51 like crysis or a movie...what i do go into the audio CP and set up 5:1 as your supposed to. then in like media player. im unsure if your setup has this but i have a seperate volume/sub controller with my setup. what you have to do is press the "matrix" button this forces 2:1 channel audio to be utilized through all of the speakers. the speakers are functioning properly its just that your problem is something that is technically supposed to happen most song tracks are only 2:1 channel thus anything more and the extra speakers will not work. if you do not have a matrix button than you might need to find a media player that can force 5:1 channel via the options as far as i know WMP cannot do this.


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## Kursah (Feb 7, 2009)

CH@NO said:


> Ok, I'm testing the speakers on my sister's in law house, using a P4 3.2Ghz, 768MB RAM, and a Realtek 7.1 HDA. My new mobo is a Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS3 that uses Realtek HDA too.
> 
> So knowing this is there a way to play music files/normal videos, and all other kind of music files that don't use 5.1ch USING ALL THE SPEAKERS???
> 
> ...



I suppose it depends on how you look at it, but really 2.1 even on your setup will still sound good, and with music you will have overpowering hi's that may require turning up the bass on the sub (mine is at min volume and still shakes stuff on my desk).

I don't have the realtek stuff loaded atm because I'm using my X-Fi, but one make sure you set the sound to 5.1 in realtek, and make sure that windows' main sound speaker config is also set to 5.1. Then you gotta find a setting that will expand 2 channel to 6 channel. I believe it's more of a multispeaker 3D setting in realtek than actual expansion, but I can't quite recall, though depending on what you use to listen to music/watch movies, there might be options for upsampling to 5.1 audio for sound output from a 2 channel source.


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## CH@NO (Feb 7, 2009)

Kursah said:


> I suppose it depends on how you look at it, but really 2.1 even on your setup will still sound good, and with music you will have overpowering hi's that may require turning up the bass on the sub (mine is at min volume and still shakes stuff on my desk).
> 
> I don't have the realtek stuff loaded atm because I'm using my X-Fi, but one make sure you set the sound to 5.1 in realtek, and make sure that windows' main sound speaker config is also set to 5.1. Then you gotta find a setting that will expand 2 channel to 6 channel. I believe it's more of a multispeaker 3D setting in realtek than actual expansion, but I can't quite recall, though depending on what you use to listen to music/watch movies, there might be options for upsampling to 5.1 audio for sound output from a 2 channel source.



and WHERE I can find the Realtek CP, I download and installed the lastest driver a month ago, and I cannot find any Realtek CP, just the Vista Sound CP, and I already set the speakers at 5.1ch.

Help please!!


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## Kursah (Feb 7, 2009)

Did you download and install the driver from the MB MFG? If not you won't get the driver that includes the control panel w/eq and sound output settings. Let MS Update take care of newer drivers after you installed the base MB sound driver package.


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## Solaris17 (Feb 7, 2009)

Solaris17 said:


> I have the X-540's and mine do the same *their is nothing wrong with them*. 5:1 only works if you are listening to something that uses 5:1 like crysis or a movie...what i do go into the audio CP and set up 5:1 as your supposed to. then in like media player. *im unsure if your setup has this but i have a seperate volume/sub controller with my setup. what you have to do is press the "matrix" button *this forces 2:1 channel audio to be utilized through all of the speakers. the speakers are functioning properly its just that *your problem is something that is technically supposed to happen most song tracks are only 2:1 channel thus anything more and the extra speakers will not work*. *if you do not have a matrix button than you might need to find a media player that can force 5:1 channel via the options as far as i know WMP cannot do this*.





CH@NO said:


> and WHERE I can find the Realtek CP, I download and installed the lastest driver a month ago, and I cannot find any Realtek CP, just the Vista Sound CP, and I already set the speakers at 5.1ch.
> 
> Help please!!



DUDE


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## CH@NO (Feb 7, 2009)

Solaris17 said:


> I have the X-540's and mine do the same thir is nothing wonrg with them. 5:1 only works if you are listening to something that uses :51 like crysis or a movie...what i do go into the audio CP and set up 5:1 as your supposed to. then in like media player. im unsure if your setup has this but i have a seperate volume/sub controller with my setup. what you have to do is press the "matrix" button this forces 2:1 channel audio to be utilized through all of the speakers. the speakers are functioning properly its just that your problem is something that is technically supposed to happen most song tracks are only 2:1 channel thus anything more and the extra speakers will not work. if you do not have a matrix button than you might need to find a media player that can force 5:1 channel via the options as far as i know WMP cannot do this.



Some says PowerDVD had the feature that you're talking about, I'll trying to installing right now and see what happens....also, do you know if winamp had the featrure??

by any chance do you know if Realtek HDA has the MATRIX button???, I'll be using a EP35-DS3 mobo in my main rig.

the last...so I'm OK if I use Vista???, some says that using XP improves the 5.1ch performance.

thanx.


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## CH@NO (Feb 7, 2009)

Solaris17 said:


> DUDE



sorry for that, I'll try to pay more atention, It's that I'm not speak english, so some times I tend to misread or don't get the full idea.


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## Kursah (Feb 7, 2009)

I don't think there's a big issue with sound between XP and Vista, I have yet to notice an issue with 5.1 sound on my onboard and X-Fi in the last year I've been on Vista. I didn't use 5.1 back in 07 during my first run with Vista because I had no speakers/headset's capable at the time. Personally I think 5.1 "performance" is a minimal issue, not really sure what you mean by that...if the sound output is 5.1 from the source, and it's set for 5.1 output, you will have 5.1 sound, you may need to tweak the EQ, maybe speaker placement adjust in the realtek CP, etc, but beyond that and the small amount of CPU utilization onboard uses there should be no issues there in XP, Vista, 7 and beyond.


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## Solaris17 (Feb 7, 2009)

CH@NO said:


> Some says PowerDVD had the feature that you're talking about, I'll trying to installing right now and see what happens....also, do you know if winamp had the featrure??
> 
> by any chance do you know if Realtek HDA has the MATRIX button???, I'll be using a EP35-DS3 mobo in my main rig.
> 
> ...



your fine i think winamp does have this option your fin with vista it works amazing with mine., as for the matrix button im talking about this.







i have this with my speaker setup. do you have a similar controller? when i press teh matrix button it forces 2:1 -> 5:1 its not a button in the media player...if your setup doesnt have this than i think winamp can do it.


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## CH@NO (Feb 7, 2009)

Kursah said:


> Did you download and install the driver from the MB MFG? If not you won't get the driver that includes the control panel w/eq and sound output settings. Let MS Update take care of newer drivers after you installed the base MB sound driver package.



This PC is a Compaq one, and I'm clueless where the heck my sister in law have the drivers, and I'm almost sure the CD only have for the XP OS.

When I finish my rig, hope will be finished on monday, I'll search for the matrix button on the Gigabyte HDA CP, but I asked that if it will be the same if I install XP or Vista, some users say that his 5.1ch speakers worked fine under Windows and they had a lot of troubles using Vista.


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## CH@NO (Feb 7, 2009)

Solaris17 said:


> your fine i think winamp does have this option your fin with vista it works amazing with mine., as for the matrix button im talking about this.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Understood 

a shame that my setup doesn't have one, It's a X-530 model from Logitech, It's pretty much a entry 5.1ch model, but I readed good reviews of It.


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## Solaris17 (Feb 7, 2009)

CH@NO said:


> Understood
> 
> a shame that my setup doesn't have one, It's a X-530 model from Logitech, It's pretty much a entry 5.1ch model, but I readed good reviews of It.



hmmm ok man then i guess you'll need to try various media players and see if one of them gives you a force output option.


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## sneekypeet (Feb 7, 2009)

its the CP option that you need. I run a X530 on my current rig. no matter what I have to go into my realtek CP and set for 5.1 and thats it. 

find out what chip is on the board and go to that manufacturer for drivers. if you already have the lates driver, find the folder in C:>> program files X86 and look for that manufacturer, then in that folder should be the startup bit for your audio drive CP.


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## CH@NO (Feb 7, 2009)

I install PowerDVD with no luck, I haven't try a 5.1ch DVD that's will be my next target. Also find a program called SRS Sandbox that some users said that emulates correcty the 5.1ch.

Also I wanna ask if an old HDA device can cause poor performance, I dunno what version is this, but this PC is kinda old, like 2 years when buyed, I think It has at least 3yo, could it be that using a more up to date audio chipset can bring more performance, I'm sure that my new mobo has an updated one.

I say this 'cause the sound performance even in 2.1ch is VERY POOR, sounds distortioned and the subwoofer barely sounds, I think It's due a some lack of power, I must raise the volume knob to a half to listen the sound, I think this onboard card is too old....or the speakers came damaged/faulty??


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## CH@NO (Feb 7, 2009)

I finally make the sound go through all the speakers, but sounds VERY distorsioned, the equ. are the default one, the subwoofer seems to sound ok with no distorsion, also the center and sorround speakers, but the stereo ones sound like crap.

Any idea how to solve this??, could it be the speakers or could it be the onboard HDA???


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## CH@NO (Feb 8, 2009)

Ok, mid-solve the distorsion sound, low all volume levels to 60 (it was in 100), but even still at 60 I MUST up the speakers volume nearly 100% of It's capacity and they sounds kinda quiet, not "barely" but sounds if my past 2.1ch HT was setted at 30% aprox.

So what happens here????, I blame the onboard sound, I think It cannot handle correctly the power output of this setup....and I'm concerned 'cause my new mobo has a Realtek HDA too, hope It'll NOT sound like this or I'll be VERY dissapointed.


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## 2wicked (Feb 8, 2009)

speaker fill is the realtek setting you need to turn on.


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## CH@NO (Feb 8, 2009)

2wicked said:


> speaker fill is the realtek setting you need to turn on.



thanx mate, very useful info


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## sneekypeet (Feb 8, 2009)

also set the room correction to real distances of the speakers to your ears, it will eliminate alot of the cross talk and clear things up!


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## Darren (Feb 8, 2009)

CH@NO said:


> Hi.
> 
> 
> The problem is I'm using Vista and the speakers doesn't work properly, when trying to play a music file it only sounds on STEREO (subwoofer+2 speakers), but setting the setup to 5.1ch using control panel ALL the speakers sounds fine, VERY ODD.



This is 100% correct, its because MP3 files are recorded in two channels, i.e. stereo.

You can not have more channels than the source permits and magically have channels appear just because you decide to connect more speakers. A two channel source file is a two channel source.



CH@NO said:


> I readed various post about this issue, and they say that Vista SUCKS rendering 5.1/7.1ch, but the posts was kinda outdated (more than a year ago).



It's not necessarily to do with Vista. People usually blame vista because there perception of how a soundcard operates is distorted.



CH@NO said:


> Is it possible that I'm doing something wrong????, I NEED TO CONFIRM that the speakers works fine, It had 1 month of warranty and I'll return to my home tomorrow and I'll not be able to go back here after 4-5 weeks.



Don't worry its not broken, lol

Your sound card needs to up mix those 2 channels in MP3s into a pseudo "fake" 5.1, not all soundcards have such a feature, but sometimes its called "virtual speakers" or "movie mode" or "multi channel", the name varies.

Edit:

Your only other alternative is to purchase a sound card which has encoding of Dolby Digital onboard which will upmix two channels into five channels. But you'll need to be using a digital connection and have a speaker system with amplifier.

Edit 2:



n-ster said:


> that "fake" 5.1 can be done quite easily, but the sounds sounds REALLY weird sometimes... just google it



Indeed. 

It depends on the soundcard and what features it allows for, there are codecs such as CCC which allow for a fake matrix 5.1 in movie files, don't think it will work for MP3s or games.

http://www.cccp-project.net/

Edit 4:

The explanation that Solaris17 gave is correct!


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## n-ster (Feb 8, 2009)

that "fake" 5.1 can be done quite easily, but the sounds sounds REALLY weird sometimes... just google it


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## LoneReaction (Feb 9, 2009)

Get a cheap sound card, like Creative X-fi extreme gamer.. I got that. When I play stereo music, it expands it to 5.1.

Works for stereo videos too.. And you don't have to keep changing settings when you play a game that has 5.1, or a movie that has 5.1 sound.


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## Mussels (Feb 9, 2009)

its been said pretty clearly. stereo audio only comes out of your speakers in stereo, unless something upmixes them.


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