How can you change the default audio output in VLC to 5.1?

Question

Is there a setting in VLC to change default audio output to 5.1?

I guess if the source is not in 5.1 you'll have to find software that emulates 5.1 output from a stereo signal. Could be your audio driver can do that. — slhck, Jun 04 '11 at 16:16

score 32 · Accepted Answer · edited Oct 04 '12 at 22:39

32

I felt the need to resurrect this as it’s pretty high up on search results and the solution no longer works for v2.0.2—however, I finally found a fix!

Press Ctrl+P to bring up preferences.
At the bottom of the right-hand navigation select the All radio-button under the Show settings area (bottom left of the interface).
Now expand the Audio tree, select Out Modules and select DirectX.
Select your "Output device" and "Speaker configuration" from the drop down menus.
Restart VLC.

edited Oct 04 '12 at 22:39

Synetech

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answered Oct 04 '12 at 20:14

Robin West

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Best answer. This was working for me. – joctee Oct 08 '12 at 11:46
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No such options under Mac OS X. – niieani Nov 21 '15 at 18:44
Or FreeBSD I have an "Audio output device" box to type something into - perhaps I need to give a particular device name...? – SlySven Apr 03 '19 at 21:16
So does VLC output 5.1 to DirectX and then DirectX mixes it to stereo? – endolith Jul 01 '20 at 15:10

score 4 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 10 '12 at 15:40

This was a bit confusing for me as well. I have 7.1 audio on my system. VLC always defaulted to stereo audio. Then I finally figured it out. You must have your sound cards speaker configuration set to 5.1 or else VLC will not choose the 5.1 track. I thought that 7.1 set for speaker configuration on my sound card would work for anything so the system would play 5.1 or 7.1 if available. But apparently with VLC, and maybe some other programs, your system must match exactly or it will not recognize your settings. This is a feature that the VideoLan team needs to fix. With the advent of 7.1 audio VLC needs to recognize that it can play 5.1 audio on a 7.1 system.

score 3 · Answer 3 · answered Jun 04 '11 at 15:58

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From vlc --longhelp --advanced:

  --force-dolby-surround {0 (Auto), 1 (On), 2 (Off)}
                             Force detection of Dolby Surround

There's also the respective setting in the GUI version of the settings under "Audio->Effects->Dolby Surround". Is has the options "Auto", "On" and "Off".

From what I understand, it should automatically detect whether the source media is surround sound or not.

answered Jun 04 '11 at 15:58

Victor

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As far as I can tell, this is a setting that changes whether DS/DTS should be used in the audio channel, but not the line configurati on (stereo, left+right, 5.1....) – dadver Jun 11 '11 at 08:40
Okay, then this answer is probably not what you're looking for. Sorry! – Victor Jun 11 '11 at 10:53
@Victor "it should automatically detect whether the source media is surround sound or not." How can I tell what VLC detected? – lmat - Reinstate Monica Nov 27 '15 at 22:07
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@LimitedAtonement I believe this is available under Tools->Codec information, if you look at the audio stream and how many channels it has. – Victor Nov 28 '15 at 09:12

Jiab77 · Answer 4 · 2016-08-29T15:23:06.720

Much better solution if you want to respect the audio mapping produced by VLC:

Using DirectX as explained above in the solution would give an audio mapping like this :

Stereo audio file:

main debug: using audio filter module "scaletempo"
main debug: conversion: 'f32l'->'f32l' 48000 Hz->48000 Hz Stereo->Stereo
main debug: conversion pipeline complete
main debug: conversion: 'f32l'->'f32l' 48000 Hz->48000 Hz Stereo->3F2R/LFE
main debug: looking for audio converter module matching "any": 12 candidates
main debug: using audio converter module "trivial_channel_mixer"
main debug: conversion pipeline complete

5.1 audio file:

main debug: using audio filter module "scaletempo"
main debug: conversion: 'a52 '->'f32l' 48000 Hz->48000 Hz 3F2R/LFE->3F2R/LFE
main debug: looking for audio converter module matching "any": 12 candidates
main debug: no audio converter modules matched
main debug: looking for audio converter module matching "any": 12 candidates
main debug: using audio converter module "a52tofloat32"
main debug: conversion pipeline complete
main debug: conversion: 'f32l'->'f32l' 48000 Hz->48000 Hz 3F2R/LFE->3F2R/LFE
main debug: conversion pipeline complete

Using WaveOut as i'll describe, respects better the audio mapping for stereo content and keep the same mapping as the first solution :

Stereo audio file:

main debug: using audio filter module "scaletempo"
main debug: conversion: 'f32l'->'f32l' 48000 Hz->48000 Hz Stereo->Stereo
main debug: conversion pipeline complete
main debug: conversion: 'f32l'->'f32l' 48000 Hz->48000 Hz Stereo->Stereo
main debug: conversion pipeline complete

5.1 audio file:

main debug: using audio filter module "scaletempo"
main debug: conversion: 'a52 '->'f32l' 48000 Hz->48000 Hz 3F2R/LFE->3F2R/LFE
main debug: looking for audio converter module matching "any": 12 candidates
main debug: no audio converter modules matched
main debug: looking for audio converter module matching "any": 12 candidates
main debug: using audio converter module "a52tofloat32"
main debug: conversion pipeline complete
main debug: conversion: 'f32l'->'f32l' 48000 Hz->48000 Hz 3F2R/LFE->3F2R/LFE
main debug: conversion pipeline complete

Now if someone feel this workaround as a proper solution, you can do it like this :

Press Ctrl+P to bring up preferences.
Go to "Audio" on left (or on top if VLC 3.0.x)
In output, set output module to 'WaveOut audio output', no need to change your speaker configuration as the first solution.
Restart VLC

Hope that will be helpful for someone...

score 1 · Answer 5 · answered Mar 16 '21 at 00:55

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You need Dolby Atmos for headphones from Windows Store and activated Movie preset (Detailed) Then,

Settings for VLC:

Tools > Preferences > Audio > Output Module > WaveOut audio output.
Device - Set your audio device.
Reboot VLC.

answered Mar 16 '21 at 00:55

Vitalie Chiaburu

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Josh McGee · Answer 6 · 2021-03-08T13:39:27.027

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Robin West's answer didn't work for me, but got close.

Tools > Preferences
Show Settings > [check All]
Audio > Output Modules > MMDevice (I need to double click Output Modules to see this)
[set Output Device]
reboot VLC for it to take effect

edited Mar 08 '21 at 13:39

answered Feb 16 '21 at 04:26

Josh McGee

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score 0 · Answer 7 · answered Feb 16 '21 at 23:11

You have to configure tow settings: Directx and MMDevice. Here is how to proceed:

Directx:

Tools > Preferences
Show Settings > [check All]
Audio > Output Modules > Directx > in the Speaker configuration dropdown list, select mono.

MMDevice:

Audio > Output Modules > MMDevice > in the Output back-end dropdown list, select Directx audio output.

score 0 · Answer 8 · answered Feb 16 '21 at 23:15

This is an example if you want to set the audio output in mono. You have to configure tow settings: Directx and MMDevice. Here is how to proceed:

Directx:

Tools > Preferences
Show Settings > [check All]
Audio > Output Modules > Directx > in the Speaker configuration dropdown list, select mono.

MMDevice:

Audio > Output Modules > MMDevice > in the Output back-end dropdown list, select Directx audio output.

score 0 · Answer 9 · answered Jul 08 '13 at 11:27

Only if your audio format is dts/dolby digital 5.1, the 5.1 channel could activated in VLC. If the original file is of only stereo type, the 5.1 option will not get highlighted in the above said menu. You try using SURCODE DTS and Gold wave software for converting a stereo file into user defined 5.1 DTS file.

score -1 · Answer 10 · answered Sep 14 '14 at 18:27

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open VLC> go to preferences> select all mode in the bottom left corner> select audio> find stereo audio output mode> select Dolby Digital Surround at bottom of list. As of 2.1.5 VLC.

answered Sep 14 '14 at 18:27

Blankman

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How can you change the default audio output in VLC to 5.1?

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