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Not sure if this is a very basic question for this community, but I am finding it real hard to determine if the sound card in my computer supports 5.1 speakers?

The Device Manager -> Sound, Video and Game Controllers just show Realtek High Definition Audio, and I am unable to find any additional clues in the Properties.

I do have 5.1 speakers - and a quick internet search gives me lame answers like "check if you have 5 speakers with 5 audio jacks" which is not what I want, as the speaker will be unable to play 5.1 sound unless the card supports it.

Kindly let me know if any additional system configuration details would help. I am using Windows 7 Home Edition.

Mozan Sykol
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4 Answers4

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The 5 audio jacks you quote is the important thing, not the number of speakers.

It refers to the audio jacks on your motherboard or sound card, not the plugs from your speakers.

If you have multiple audio output jacks on your motherboard/sound card then you have support for surround sound (providing the correct drivers are installed)

The standard jacks are as follows:

Green - Front L/R
Black - Rear L/R
Grey - Side L/R
Orange/Yellow - Sub & Centre
Blue - stereo line in
Pink - mono mic in

2.0 will have 3 jacks - Green, Blue, Pink

5.1 will have 5 jacks - Green, Black, Orange/Yellow, Blue, Pink

7.1 will have 6 jacks - Green, Black, Grey, Orange/Yellow, Blue, Pink

In the pic below, clockwise from top left: 7.1, 7.1, 5.1, 2.0, 2.0

enter image description here

If you want to see in your system properties you need to open up the RealTek HD Audio Manager (from Control Panel or System Tray icon) and this should show an image on the right that will show you which are available on your system (jacks which are plugged in will be highlighted):

enter image description here (Error here is because I am accessing this PC via RDP with audio disabled)

Shevek
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  • Thank you very much - unfortunately I am not allow to vote up yet. And I just discovered that I do not have a 5.1 soundcard :(. However, my 5.1 speaker system comprises 1 sub-woofer and 5 speakers. The 5 speakers connect directly to the sub-woofer, while the sub-woofer has three audio jacks for input which should connect to the jacks in the motherboard. Why three then? And not five jacks? – Mozan Sykol Feb 06 '12 at 15:01
  • the three will be green, black and orange and will require matching outputs on your motherboard. You can connect the green one only and you might get 2.0 output. You can buy a 5.1 PCI or PCI-E sound card for very little cost. – Shevek Feb 06 '12 at 15:05
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    the other 2 jacks are for input to PC (mic and Line In) so nothing to do with speakers – Shevek Feb 06 '12 at 15:14
  • How does this work with digital outputs, since there's only a single cable for them no matter how many speakers are attached? – Dan Is Fiddling By Firelight Feb 06 '12 at 18:06
  • @DanNeely digital output sends the raw audio stream (e.g. 6 channel AC3 or DTS). This would normally be for connecting to an amplifier which can decode that audio and split to the speakers. – Shevek Feb 07 '12 at 16:23
  • @Shevek There's no bi-directional link for the receiver to report what is attached to it back to the PC? – Dan Is Fiddling By Firelight Feb 07 '12 at 16:36
  • @DanNeely not sure what you mean... – Shevek Feb 07 '12 at 17:24
  • @Shevek can the receiver tell the PC 'I have 2.0 speakers attached' or 'I have 7.1 speakers attached' so a game knows if it should spend extra cycles setting up 3d sound, or if generating anything other than basic stereo audio would be wasted. – Dan Is Fiddling By Firelight Feb 07 '12 at 18:54
  • @DanNeely no - it is one way only. Whatever is being output will be sent to the receiver for decoding. The user will know what speakers are connected to the receiver and thus will configure the game output accordingly. This is the same on an Xbox 360 which has optical digital audio out - you have to manually select stereo or surround sound in the 360 Dashboard (in fact I just connected my 360 to my 5.1 receiver this afternoon!) – Shevek Feb 07 '12 at 19:13
  • let us [continue this discussion in chat](http://chat.stackexchange.com/rooms/2419/discussion-between-shevek-and-dan-neely) – Shevek Feb 07 '12 at 19:14
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According to this guide, some cards are able to use those standard 3 ports to output the audio for 5.1 setup if u se them up that way. I am testing it at this moment on my 3 port audio card, but my driver seems to know only 2.1 setup. I am gonna try another drivers but I dont think it will help.

Edit: it is actually working. I just installed realtek driver which can be downloaded here and I was able to setup my speakers for 5.1 with those typical green/blue/red ports.

Srneczek
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The realtek audio manager can deliver 7.1 audio to headphones. It doesn't depend on number of jacks. User can also connect two sets of speakers via 2 jacks to get 5.1 , 7.1 or 5.2 or 7.2 output. It must be unbelievable for many. But I know because I'm using it.

Advait Thakur
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You will only be able to connect 5.1 speakers if the physical connectors are present. This is the case if the card supports 5.1 output. However, if the software is not properly installed, the card may only output 2 channel audio. Does the sound card or MB have the necessary connectors for 5.1 audio? If you have teh needed connections and still no 5.1 audio, it could be the driver /audio software or the original audio is not a 5.1 source.

Finally, more info on your system would help. If a barnd name, exact make/model. If not, then the MD make/model or audio card make/model

Dave M
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