Saw a few others with similar setups that had issues when I searched so I figured I'd post how I got mine working ("good enough") as it may help someone else. But first, most excellent driver pack! My sound setup has never been this clear.
My Setup:
OS: Windows 10 20H2
Mobo: MSI X570 Gaming Plus w/ Ryzen 3600
Audio Chipset: Realtek ALC1220
Audio Connection: Both Digital Optical and 5.1ch Analog are connected to a Yamaha receiver (so I can cover any audio-out scenario). Ideally, the less I have to switch modes, the better.
My initial issues were vast. I could not get Nahimic to work (other driver packs did, but had surround issues with the rear speakers). It would install and launch, but didn't seem like it would do anything. Sonic Sound 3 would crash and output didn't seem right. Had a few other random issues. I did have a prior driver-pack installed, so I decided to start fresh.
- Be sure to uninstall all old drivers, including any copies of programs that may not have cleared (check UWP/WinStore apps and Add/Remove). I had residual files from various drivers and THX stuff still installed.
- I cleared what I could via Add/Remove and UWP/WinStore, but for the items that couldn't be uninstalled I used the free ZSoft Uninstaller Portable: https://portableapps.com/apps/utilities/zsoft_uninstaller_portable --> For me it was a matter of searching for "THX" and clearing the two programs that remained.
- Restart the PC (do not shutdown and start if you have Fastboot enabled, as in the latest versions of Windows 10 this is akin to a hibernation).
- Run the downloaded driverpack .exe as Administrator (may not be necessary, but I did so anyways).
- Verify that "Install apps from any source, including loose files" is turned on (you can always turn it off right after -> recommended, for security).
- Used the settings found below (after trying a mix of them, this led to best results).
- Restart the PC after install is completed.
- Side Note: When running Sonic Studio 3 and switching to Advanced mode, the program will seemingly just close (no message). Relaunching it instantly closes it again. I found that if you just wait a minute and relaunch, it'll come up and work fine.
- Another note if you only get 3.1 output via digital: Go into to the advanced properties for the Digital output and disable "enable audio enhancements" .. that allowed actual 5.1 audio. I believe this has the side-effect of disabling certain audio features (Bass Boost, Voice Clarity, etc.). So may want to toggle it depending on what you're doing.
- See note below the Options box ...
After all of this, the digital tab of the Realtek Audio Console (Universal / UWP) displayed the option to push 5.1 Dolby Live or 5.1 Interactive .. both worked and the receiver displayed the proper feed on the LCD. Something it has never done before. I don't believe upmix-to-5.1 is working, but whatever, I don't really need it.
Code:
Options:
-------------------------------------------------------------
Realtek Control Panel:
-> Select Realtek Audio Console (Universal) w/ Both Decoders
CreativeLabs:
-> Install THX TruStudio Pro (this one works when running in Analog Speaker mode)
Dolby:
-> Install Dolby Atmos
A-Volute:
-> Sonic Studio 3
ASIO:
-> Install Realtek ASIO
Issues - 12/29/2020:
After more testing today, I did notice that in digital mode, with the receiver showing the proper DTS mix the surround sound is mapping the rear channel to the front left/right. This will likely still work my use case, but worth noting. I was able to properly remap these channels in Analog mode and get that functioning for the most part (5.1 works in the speaker test), although it does come back with certain audio mixes. Not sure it's worth my time troubleshooting, I tend to game with headsets and that's the only time I switch to a surround config.