Unlocked Realtek HD Audio Drivers Windows 7 & 8 (With Dolby Digital Live and DTS Interactive)

[Ruben Portier]

I hate the test mode, Dolby Home Theater (2.0 -> 5.1) not working, and the Windows/Realtek app's being confused. I want to buy a new sound card, but I will use it for digital output only (S/PDIF), just like I'm doing now with my onboard Realtek sound card. I was wondering which card I should buy. From which I can understand, the quality doesn't really matter that much for digital output.

I also wonder if anyone else is having problems with the Dolby Home Theater. I have it turned on in the Windows Audio Devices and in the Realtek app, but when playing audio from Chrome it is still stereo-only. No audio plays through the rear or center speakers (or has this something todo with Chrome, YouTube... ?).

EDIT: After some search I found out (in this forum) that I need to use some special parameters when starting Chrome. But still, with Dolby Home Theater, the rear speakers are not as loud as my front and center speakers. Isn't it just possible to make the rear speakers play the same as the front speakers?

 

[Andrewx64]

Can't seem to get this enabled. Through Coax or Optical. Though it does enable in analog.

 

[Ruben Portier]

Is someone else getting popping noise somethings with the optical cable and Dolby Digital Live? I'm using a Logitech Z906 as AMP. I get a pop noise sometimes when sounds starts playing (new message on Skype for example) after silent for a while. Also, when playing the same sound very fast again (by tapping the volume manager in Windows where you hear that "djung"-sound), I also get weird pop-noise. Is this normal, a bug in the Realtek driver or something wrong with my Z906?

 

[spoonhandle]

Is someone else getting popping noise somethings with the optical cable and Dolby Digital Live? I'm using a Logitech Z906 as AMP. I get a pop noise sometimes when sounds starts playing (new message on Skype for example) after silent for a while. Also, when playing the same sound very fast again (by tapping the volume manager in Windows where you hear that "djung"-sound), I also get weird pop-noise. Is this normal, a bug in the Realtek driver or something wrong with my Z906?

I'm convinced this an issue with Dolby Digital Live encoding. Every sound card I have tried from various manufacturers and the modded realtek drivers on various decoding devices and motherboards (Mixamp Pro, different surround receivers) all had popping from time to time when there is not audio playing. It's like a clicking noise right?

 

[Andrewx64]

Does anyone know how to get the DTS connect dolby home theatre selectable for Optical/Coax digital.

 

[Andrewx64]

For me it seems to be always greyed out whenever I try to install the drivers 2.71 A1 method.

 

[dvojinov]

on my system I have DTS NEO PC , DTS INTERACTIVE , DOLBY DIGITAL LIVE with R.273 , TEST mode method and it works perfectly

 

[Nitrowing]

I'm having the same problem as a couple of others on here - only 3 channels are working.
I've got optical out to my Denon 7.1 amp but when I run 5.1 or 7.1 tests I get 'Left', 'Centre' and 'Right' - the side/rear play through the left/right channels and there's no LFE
The board has an ALC892 http://www.realtek.com.tw/products/productsView.aspx?Langid=1&PFid=28&Level=5&Conn=4&ProdID=284 which claims to have everything!
I'm using the 278 drivers with the dll as I spent 2 hours messing about with the 273 & 275 + sys
The Realtek control panel doesn't show any Dolby, just 2 channel but the Windows audio allows me Dolby Live & Interactive.

I'm going to try this next
http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=392085

 

[Andrewx64]

I'm having the same problem as a couple of others on here - only 3 channels are working.
I've got optical out to my Denon 7.1 amp but when I run 5.1 or 7.1 tests I get 'Left', 'Centre' and 'Right' - the side/rear play through the left/right channels and there's no LFE
The board has an ALC892 http://www.realtek.com.tw/products/productsView.aspx?Langid=1&PFid=28&Level=5&Conn=4&ProdID=284 which claims to have everything!
I'm using the 278 drivers with the dll as I spent 2 hours messing about with the 273 & 275 + sys
The Realtek control panel doesn't show any Dolby, just 2 channel but the Windows audio allows me Dolby Live & Interactive.

I'm going to try this next
http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=392085

Yea its kinda strange that these driver's don't unlock DTS connect for digital and trying the Dolby Home Theater V4 and the Dolby driver only unlocks Dolby Digital Live only. Try these,

Also gives you X-FI is the best drivers im using make sure to have Digital Signature disabled during boot up.

 

[FreedomEclipse]

If youre only interested in optical go for a Xonar DG. they are fairly cheap

 

[dvojinov]

According to this ALC892 data sheet there are 2 versions of the chip or packages included in the chip:
pdf section 13

ALC-892CG "GREEN PACKAGE"

ALC-892CG-DTS-package/features and includes DTS Connect license

Seems to me that this may be embedded in the hardware in a form of "bios" internal firmware ..maybe ..just speculating because it is quite obvious that some people does have DTS working and other doesn't I believe it my be even on the hardware level . I guess I'm lucky to have this DTS version as it works for me .
Out of curiosity Ill try this XFI modification as my system is always TEST enabled , however I may have problems with this as I also have SB OMNI 5.1 USB with SBX software on my system.

 

[Steve-007UK]

Tried this with my onboard sound using the latest drivers and the alternate method and all seems to work nice and dandy.

 

[dvojinov]

Yea its kinda strange that these driver's don't unlock DTS connect for digital and trying the Dolby Home Theater V4 and the Dolby driver only unlocks Dolby Digital Live only. Try these,

Also gives you X-FI is the best drivers im using make sure to have Digital Signature disabled during boot up.

First of all Thank you Andrew,
This is one very interesting ,modification and I got it to work however the full potential for my system goes only over ANALOG out and 6CH Direct mode over my Logitech Z5450 speakers regarding DTS Connect , CMS and other Creative enhancements .

Well as I'm a DTS fan I chose DTS Connect to handle all my 5.1 Surrounds and 2.0 > 5.1 upmixes for listening music over my player AIMP 3.6 and I have to say I was impressed how powerfull the audio quality is and how nicely it is spread around 5.1 speakers .

All sliders work from Crative Control panel regarding Audio Channels i can adjust Front.center , surround as well as the EQ is working .
As I chose to use DTS Connect I don't need X-FI CMSS to handle SURROUND operations so I left it disable , however If I disable DTS CONNECT then CMSS is working as well and I could change the SURROUND ratio from the slider .

DTS Movies working great as well as DOLBY 5.1 codded movies again ,very nice dynamics and quality I favor DTS .

As for the DIGTAL OUTPUT ..it works ...but only as pass through so every DTS or DOLBY will be played 5.1 adn it works corectly however 2.0 >5.1 doesnt so the music Im listnening over AIMP will always be played PCM 2.0 over digital out , and I dont like that .
So far I left my system connected analog 6ch Direct and I'm going to hang in there for some time ..so far it is very impressive.

Good thing I have no conflict between my SB OMNI USB and SBX Software and this REALTEK Creative mod the control panel for this is recognized as SOUND BLASTER X-FI3 and both system are working separately not conflicting each other...nice! ...that was the biggest concern to me .

 

[dvojinov]

Yea its kinda strange that these driver's don't unlock DTS connect for digital and trying the Dolby Home Theater V4 and the Dolby driver only unlocks Dolby Digital Live only. Try these,

Also gives you X-FI is the best drivers im using make sure to have Digital Signature disabled during boot up.

Buddy I saw your msg Ill post the answer here as it is too long for that private msging thing or what ever it is :

This might get a bit confusing

Firstly for now I'm using that SB X-Fi mod which works really nice.

I don't know if you saw my post regarding ALC data sheet and chip types , check it out if you didn't.
So lets go first with REALTEK Windows Vista / 7 / 8 - 32 bit and 64 bit - R2.73 M1 that I was using before.

Basically the most important thing is system has to be in TEST mode always , there is explanation how to do it and keep it in TEST and you have to sign the respective driver RTKVHD64.sys if you using 64 bit OS .
If everything is done properly once you install the driver and overwrite with the signed RTKVHD64.sys evrything should sit correctly .

DTS MUST and I mean MUST BE VISIBLE END SELECTABLE within RELTEK CONTROL PANNEL under DEFAULT FORMAT , you should see there all kind of formats but last two must be :
DOLBY DIGITAL LIVE
DTS INTERACTIVE

If you don't see this there you wont be able to listen 2.0 on 5.1 system spread around all 5 speakers only 2.0 will be supported.
Lets assume you have this option you just have to select it and that it ..if you use RELATEK DIGITAL OUT do all adjustment from Relatek Control Panel under RELATEK DIGITAL OUT TAB there you will find tab with enhancement and there you will see two selective options left DTS INTERACTIVE right DLOBY DIGITAL LIVE if everything is set properly even while you listening something you can change form DTS to DDL on the fly and it works, I played with this many time .

If everything is working correctly and you use DTS INTERACTIVE:

All music 2.0 will be played 5.1 you have to hear sound on all speakers ..notice REAR will be atmospheric sounds so it is not like SPEAKER FILL where every speaker is playing the same, DTS INTERACTIV will simulate 5.1 and do a magic out of 2.0

MOVIES:

If the movie is DOLBY coded it will let through DOLBY if it is DTS it will played DTS if the movie doesn't have any encoding but use only PCM2.0 it will be played DTS , again DTS INTERACTIVE will do some magic and simulate 5.1 out of PCM 2.0 at least it works so on my system.

In other hand if you don't see DTS INTERACTIVE and DDL within Realtek CONTROL PANEL > DEFAULT FORMAT ..no dice , your system either doesn't support DTS I /DDL in that case:
Al audio 2.0 will be played 2.0 so only left and right + sub if you have
All DTS coded movies will be played DTS (5.1)
All Dolby coded movies will be played DOLBY (5.1)
ALL movies without coding PCM 2.0 will be played 2.0 again as music only on two speakers
Same behavior goes for the games

If by chance you have this options and it is wrong mapped like only 3 speakers working ,surround doesn't ,that's again a compatibility issue..its very tricky to get this correct.

I'm pretty lucky with me msi GT72 2QE gaming lap which is powered by ALC 892 both modification are working well Realtek or X-fi you posted , although X-Fi mod works as I want only in ANALOG mode (6ch DIRECT) for me .

 

[Nitrowing]

OK, best result so far for my Optical Out
Uninstall the Realtek driver, reboot and allow Windows to install it's own driver.
Install "Dolby PCEE Drivers", choose "DHT(release)" for Home Theater v4. Ignore the unsigned driver warning.
Reboot and go to playback devices. Set digital as default and click Properties, Advanced tab. On the drop down menu 'Dolby Digital'

I now have 5.1 surround, tested with a 7.1 Ch Dolby TrueHD file playing through VLC. The side/rears operate through both the rear and side output signals.

 

[Andrewx64]

First of all Thank you Andrew,
This is one very interesting ,modification and I got it to work however the full potential for my system goes only over ANALOG out and 6CH Direct mode over my Logitech Z5450 speakers regarding DTS Connect , CMS and other Creative enhancements .

Well as I'm a DTS fan I chose DTS Connect to handle all my 5.1 Surrounds and 2.0 > 5.1 upmixes for listening music over my player AIMP 3.6 and I have to say I was impressed how powerfull the audio quality is and how nicely it is spread around 5.1 speakers .

All sliders work from Crative Control panel regarding Audio Channels i can adjust Front.center , surround as well as the EQ is working .
As I chose to use DTS Connect I don't need X-FI CMSS to handle SURROUND operations so I left it disable , however If I disable DTS CONNECT then CMSS is working as well and I could change the SURROUND ratio from the slider .

DTS Movies working great as well as DOLBY 5.1 codded movies again ,very nice dynamics and quality I favor DTS .

As for the DIGTAL OUTPUT ..it works ...but only as pass through so every DTS or DOLBY will be played 5.1 adn it works corectly however 2.0 >5.1 doesnt so the music Im listnening over AIMP will always be played PCM 2.0 over digital out , and I dont like that .
So far I left my system connected analog 6ch Direct and I'm going to hang in there for some time ..so far it is very impressive.

Good thing I have no conflict between my SB OMNI USB and SBX Software and this REALTEK Creative mod the control panel for this is recognized as SOUND BLASTER X-FI3 and both system are working separately not conflicting each other...nice! ...that was the biggest concern to me .

Glad to hear your enjoying this X-FI mod, this was the last resort for me found that this was the best mod i had ever used.

 

[Andrewx64]

Buddy I saw your msg Ill post the answer here as it is too long for that private msging thing or what ever it is :

This might get a bit confusing

Firstly for now I'm using that SB X-Fi mod which works really nice.

I don't know if you saw my post regarding ALC data sheet and chip types , check it out if you didn't.
So lets go first with REALTEK Windows Vista / 7 / 8 - 32 bit and 64 bit - R2.73 M1 that I was using before.

Basically the most important thing is system has to be in TEST mode always , there is explanation how to do it and keep it in TEST and you have to sign the respective driver RTKVHD64.sys if you using 64 bit OS .
If everything is done properly once you install the driver and overwrite with the signed RTKVHD64.sys evrything should sit correctly .

DTS MUST and I mean MUST BE VISIBLE END SELECTABLE within RELTEK CONTROL PANNEL under DEFAULT FORMAT , you should see there all kind of formats but last two must be :
DOLBY DIGITAL LIVE
DTS INTERACTIVE

If you don't see this there you wont be able to listen 2.0 on 5.1 system spread around all 5 speakers only 2.0 will be supported.
Lets assume you have this option you just have to select it and that it ..if you use RELATEK DIGITAL OUT do all adjustment from Relatek Control Panel under RELATEK DIGITAL OUT TAB there you will find tab with enhancement and there you will see two selective options left DTS INTERACTIVE right DLOBY DIGITAL LIVE if everything is set properly even while you listening something you can change form DTS to DDL on the fly and it works, I played with this many time .

If everything is working correctly and you use DTS INTERACTIVE:

All music 2.0 will be played 5.1 you have to hear sound on all speakers ..notice REAR will be atmospheric sounds so it is not like SPEAKER FILL where every speaker is playing the same, DTS INTERACTIV will simulate 5.1 and do a magic out of 2.0

MOVIES:

If the movie is DOLBY coded it will let through DOLBY if it is DTS it will played DTS if the movie doesn't have any encoding but use only PCM2.0 it will be played DTS , again DTS INTERACTIVE will do some magic and simulate 5.1 out of PCM 2.0 at least it works so on my system.

In other hand if you don't see DTS INTERACTIVE and DDL within Realtek CONTROL PANEL > DEFAULT FORMAT ..no dice , your system either doesn't support DTS I /DDL in that case:
Al audio 2.0 will be played 2.0 so only left and right + sub if you have
All DTS coded movies will be played DTS (5.1)
All Dolby coded movies will be played DOLBY (5.1)
ALL movies without coding PCM 2.0 will be played 2.0 again as music only on two speakers
Same behavior goes for the games

If by chance you have this options and it is wrong mapped like only 3 speakers working ,surround doesn't ,that's again a compatibility issue..its very tricky to get this correct.

I'm pretty lucky with me msi GT72 2QE gaming lap which is powered by ALC 892 both modification are working well Realtek or X-fi you posted , although X-Fi mod works as I want only in ANALOG mode (6ch DIRECT) for me .

You are saying you have DTS Interactive and Dolby Digital 5.1 modes working with the X-FI mod? Thought this wasn't possible as I get the No test tone playing error.

 

[dvojinov]

No errors msg here and Dolby 5.1 and DTS I are working however only in ANALOG mode . Just wonder what is that SONIC thing in the driver tab I left it disable . SRS is disabled automatically to give priority to XFi-MB software.

 

[Ruben Portier]

I have just installed the latest Realtek driver (2.78) with the A1 method! It is working as it should without any problems, and without testing mode enabled!

 

[dvojinov]

I have just installed the latest Realtek driver (2.78) with the A1 method! It is working as it should without any problems, and without testing mode enabled!

That's great , In my case I was never successful with this method and I try every single release . Can I ask you something ? I'm particularly interested in one REALTEK HD ADIO MANAGER TAB that's DEFAULT FORMAT TAB can you please expend the format window so I can see what is given as option to you and post a screen shot, please be sure the last two on the bottom are visible . If it is to much trouble please could you tell what is set as your default format ?

Thanks !

 

[Steve-007UK]

That's great , In my case I was never successful with this method and I try every single release . Can I ask you something ? I'm particularly interested in one REALTEK HD ADIO MANAGER TAB that's DEFAULT FORMAT TAB can you please expend the format window so I can see what is given as option to you and post a screen shot, please be sure the last two on the bottom are visible . If it is to much trouble please could you tell what is set as your default format ?

Thanks !

I know your asking the other person but is this what you wanted to see?

latest drivers and the alternate method used

 

[dvojinov]

I know your asking the other person but is this what you wanted to see?

latest drivers and the alternate method used

Absolutely , that's it that's how it should be but in my case when ever I try this with new RTL drivers I don't have the last two , and of course the driver doesn't work for me than as it should , wonder why ? Although R273 M1 works perfectly correct . It may be due to different hardware layouts for the same ALC892 as mine has this DYNAUDIO optimizations and when I use new driver with old modified dll even the input ports are not shown correctly it shows only 2 instead of 5.
Strange enough when I go to Control panel > SOUND> and RTL OPTICAL DEVICE there under format I have DTS and DDL but selecting it does nothing as when I check RTL AUDIO MANAGER > DEFAULT FORMAT there it is missing and it doesn't work correctly .

 

[Ruben Portier]

Well, I do not have these two options available. It need to select hem in the Windows Audio Manager. I'm also wondering how it is possible that some have the options available in the Realtek Sound Manager and some other don't. Hower, selecting them using the Windows Audio Manager works fine without any issues.

 

[dvojinov]

Exactly that's a mystery to me as well , why it is available in the driver Windows DEVICE tab but then not in Relatek Audio Manager ?
My goal is to get DTS I working , for now two methods are working for me the original R273 M1 both DIGITAL/ANALOG and this Realtek X-Fi modification but DTS interacive is available only in ANALOG setup ,while using DIGITAL, DTS and Dolby does work but no DTS interactive or DDL optimization .

 

[Steve-007UK]

Well, I do not have these two options available. It need to select hem in the Windows Audio Manager. I'm also wondering how it is possible that some have the options available in the Realtek Sound Manager and some other don't. Hower, selecting them using the Windows Audio Manager works fine without any issues.

Do any of you own AMD GPU's aswell and do you use the driver from the realtek site or just the one that gets installed by the CCC driver? I ask because if i use the HDMI driver from realtek it messes with my onboard sound and GPU HDMI sound.

For the modded driver all i did was download the newest realtek driver and extract the files, i then replaced the DLL file with the modded one followed by disabling driver signing.

I then restarted the pc and installed the sound drivers and everything just seemed to work no issues at all.