5.1 Audio Not Working

[tibbs14]

When I setup the link to use 5.1 Audio I only get sound from the Front Left and Front Right speakers. I have the steam link set to 5.1 Audio, I have the steam link connected directly to my receiver using HDMI. The receiver detects there is a 6 channel signal. When I play games or go to Youtube and play this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqVCPE8_ntE sound only comes through the two main speakers. I have tried the last 8 builds including the latest beta build.

My host computer (Windows 10) is using a Asus Xonar STX sound card and that is the only audio device enabled. Below is the first portion streaming_log.txt entry:

[2016-03-19 11:28:04] CLIENT: Attaching controller Logitech F710 Gamepad (DInput) with ID 0
[2016-03-19 11:28:04] CLIENT: Got control packet k_EStreamControlSetQoS
[2016-03-19 11:28:04] Streaming started to 192.168.1.4:33527, MTU = 1468
[2016-03-19 11:28:04] =====================================================================
[2016-03-19 11:28:04] Game: UNKNOWN (0)
[2016-03-19 11:28:04] Recording system audio
[2016-03-19 11:28:04] Changing record window: 00040550
[2016-03-19 11:28:04] Recording on device: Speakers (ASUS Xonar Essence STX Audio Device)
[2016-03-19 11:28:04] Audio client mix format:
[2016-03-19 11:28:04] format: 65534
[2016-03-19 11:28:04] channels: 6
[2016-03-19 11:28:04] samples/sec: 44100
[2016-03-19 11:28:04] bytes/sec: 1058400
[2016-03-19 11:28:04] alignment: 24
[2016-03-19 11:28:04] bits/sample: 32
[2016-03-19 11:28:04] channel mask: 0x60f
[2016-03-19 11:28:04] data format: {00000003-0000-0010-8000-00AA00389B71}
[2016-03-19 11:28:04] Initializing audio with 6 channels and 44100 samples/sec
[2016-03-19 11:28:04] CLIENT: Got control packet k_EStreamControlSetTargetBitrate
[2016-03-19 11:28:04] CLIENT: Starting audio stream: frequency=48000, channels=6
[2016-03-19 11:28:04] Changing record audio process: 00040550
[2016-03-19 11:28:04] CLIENT: Initialized audio decoder: codec=3, sample rate=48000, channels=6
[2016-03-19 11:28:04] CLIENT: Got control packet k_EStreamControlStartAudioData
[2016-03-19 11:28:04] CLIENT: Got control packet k_EStreamControlSetCursor
[2016-03-19 11:28:04] CLIENT: Got control packet k_EStreamControlSetTitle
[2016-03-19 11:28:04] CLIENT: Got control packet k_EStreamControlSetIcon
[2016-03-19 11:28:04] CLIENT: Got control packet k_EStreamControlHideCursor
[2016-03-19 11:28:04] CLIENT: Got control packet k_EStreamControlSetCursor
[2016-03-19 11:28:04] CLIENT: Got control packet k_EStreamControlSetCursorImage
[2016-03-19 11:28:04] >>> Switching video stream from NONE to Desktop_MovieStream
[2016-03-19 11:28:04] CDesktopCaptureNV: Unsupported device or driver
[2016-03-19 11:28:04] CDesktopCaptureDWM: Reinitializing D3D for adapter 0x7e34
[2016-03-19 11:28:04] Video adapter: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970, vendor ID: 0x10de, device ID: 0x13c2
[2016-03-19 11:28:04] CDesktopCaptureDWM: desktop duplication enabled
[2016-03-19 11:28:04] >>> Capture method set to Steam D3D10 NV12 + NVENC H264
[2016-03-19 11:28:04] >>> Capture resolution set to 1728x1080
[2016-03-19 11:28:04] >>> Capture resolution set to 1920x1080
[2016-03-19 11:28:04] CLIENT: Video size: 1728x1080, output size: 1920x1080
[2016-03-19 11:28:04] CLIENT: Marvell hardware decoding
[2016-03-19 11:28:04] >>> Client video decoder set to Marvell hardware decoding
[2016-03-19 11:28:04] CLIENT: Got control packet k_EStreamControlStartVideoData
[2016-03-19 11:28:04] CLIENT: Got control packet k_EStreamControlVideoEncoderInfo
[2016-03-19 11:28:04] CLIENT: Marking frame 0 complete with status k_EStreamFrameResultDroppedReset
[2016-03-19 11:28:04] CLIENT: Video size: 1920x1080, output size: 1920x1080
[2016-03-19 11:28:05] CLIENT: Marking frame 1 complete with status k_EStreamFrameResultDroppedLate
[2016-03-19 11:28:05] CLIENT: Marking frame 2 complete with status k_EStreamFrameResultDroppedLate
[2016-03-19 11:28:53] Audio mix: start=76358391, returned=2371680
[2016-03-19 11:28:53] Audio source [System Windows]: init=76412857, through=2372845, last_start=2372365, mixed=2370231, drop_before=0, drop_after=0

Is there a surfire way to test 5.1 audio? A video or music file? Or a game that supports 5.1? Thank you for any help.

[Quad]

AFAIK Steam doesn't capture the desktop in 5.1. Also Youtube only has stereo support for user uploaded videos.

If you want to test, just find a game that has surround support. All of Valve's games support 5.1 and I think Counter-Strike: Source has a audio test (or at least it did many years ago).

[KStrike]

Hello,

I had the same problem like you and solved the problem for myself.

First things first:

I have connected my Steam Link to an A/V reveiver (Teufel DS6). The receiver identified the multi channel support of Steam Link.

Then I played a movie (Star Wars Episode 1) in 1080p for testing purposes and I had a true 5.1 surround sound. Everything went well as espected.

I was about to play some music (Winamp and Youtube) but now the problem started. The sound was only played through my front left and right speaker but the center and both rear speakers were silent.

I have solved the problem as followed:

I am using an old Creative X-Fi Elite Pro soundcard. In my soundcard settings I activated the 5.1 speakers and activated the CMSS-3D. This mode upmixes stereo signals to all channels.

I know that most kind of actual onboard soundcards have a similar option.

Just take a look in your soundcard settings (soundcard user interface), activate the 5.1 speaker setup and take a look for enhancement options. There should be something like "speaker fill". This mode upmixes stereo signals to all channels.

You have to change these settings and restart your Steam Link connection. This should work.

[MBinMD]

Originally posted by Koala:

Hello,

I had the same problem like you and solved the problem for myself.

First things first:

I have connected my Steam Link to an A/V reveiver (Teufel DS6). The receiver identified the multi channel support of Steam Link.

Then I played a movie (Star Wars Episode 1) in 1080p for testing purposes and I had a true 5.1 surround sound. Everything went well as espected.

I was about to play some music (Winamp and Youtube) but now the problem started. The sound was only played through my front left and right speaker but the center and both rear speakers were silent.

I have solved the problem as followed:

I am using an old Creative X-Fi Elite Pro soundcard. In my soundcard settings I activated the 5.1 speakers and activated the CMSS-3D. This mode upmixes stereo signals to all channels.

I know that most kind of actual onboard soundcards have a similar option.

Just take a look in your soundcard settings (soundcard user interface), activate the 5.1 speaker setup and take a look for enhancement options. There should be something like "speaker fill". This mode upmixes stereo signals to all channels.

You have to change these settings and restart your Steam Link connection. This should work.

That doesn't give you true surround, though. I can switch my receiver to all channel stereo and accomplish the same thing.

[KStrike]

Originally posted by Jumpy-B-L:

That doesn't give you true surround, though. I can switch my receiver to all channel stereo and accomplish the same thing.

Greetings,

I am using my 7.1 soundcard (with a 5.1 speaker setup) nearly since 10 years and I know the difference between true 5.1 surround sound (every speaker channel has its own source) and upmixed stereo (every speaker receive the same source).

My 5.1 speaker setup (Teufel CE 400 SW with 5x Teufel Concept S FCR) was directly connected to my soundcard previously. Now it is connected to my A/V receiver (just like my Steam Link).

For testing purposes I used a movie with 7.1 sound sources and I checked on every channel. The center speaker mainly received speech sources and all the other channels received their own independent sound sources (ambient sounds, fly by sounds of space ships, shooting sounds etc.).

The Steam Link is doing its job if you correctly manage your soundcard settings.