5.1 Audio Support for In-Home Streaming

[boyd]

Support for quadraphonic and 5.1 surround audio has been added to the latest Steam Beta Client when streaming from a Windows host. Your Windows host does not need to support 5.1 audio to use this feature; 5.1 audio can be recorded on a machine with 2 speakers and then played back on a client with a 5.1 setup.

To enable 5.1 audio support for In-Home Streaming, opt into the Steam Beta Client on your Windows host. If streaming to another computer running Steam, you will also need to opt that client into the Steam Beta Client. If streaming to a Steam Link, support is already included in the latest version of the Link firmware.

The Windows Steam Client and Steam Link will attempt to automatically detect the client side speaker configuration and enable 5.1 audio recording when appropriate. You can use the In-Home Streaming settings in the Steam Client and Steam Link to see what speaker configuration Steam detected and manually select a different configuration.

FAQ

What 5.1 audio can Steam record?
Steam currently only records 5.1 audio from processes launched through Steam. Other host system audio will be mixed with audio recorded from the game process as stereo audio.

Is 5.1 audio supported when streaming to a Linux or OSX client?
Yes, however you will need to go into the In-Home Streaming settings and select your speaker configuration manually.

Will streaming 5.1 audio from a Linux or OSX host be supported in the future?
We are investigating adding support to stream 5.1 audio from both platforms.

Will 7.1 audio support be added in the future?
We are investigating adding 7.1 audio support to both the Steam Client and Steam Link.

[Zombiefly]

i've created a bug on the steam beta support forum, please add your experiences
http://steamcommunity.com/groups/SteamClientBeta/discussions/0/368542844481393553/

[Zombiefly]

i have windows 10, Soundblaster ZS, control panel: v2.15.04
I have the speakers set to 5.1 on the host machine, pro studio off, crystal voice off, scout mode off, no encoder, play mix to digital output off...


I'm going to try making the onboard realtek the default soundcard and see if that changes anything.

EDIT: Nope
it's nothing to do with the soundblaster, as when changing it to use any device on the host, i'm still getting the same errors in the stream log

[2016-04-17 17:16:01] Game: Half-Life 2: Update (290930)
[2016-04-17 17:16:01] Recording system audio
[2016-04-17 17:16:01] Changing record window: 00010DE2
[2016-04-17 17:16:01] Recording on device: Speakers (XSplit Stream Audio Renderer)
[2016-04-17 17:16:01] Audio client mix format:
[2016-04-17 17:16:01] format: 65534
[2016-04-17 17:16:01] channels: 2
[2016-04-17 17:16:01] samples/sec: 44100
[2016-04-17 17:16:01] bytes/sec: 352800
[2016-04-17 17:16:01] alignment: 8
[2016-04-17 17:16:01] bits/sample: 32
[2016-04-17 17:16:01] channel mask: 0x3
[2016-04-17 17:16:01] data format: {00000003-0000-0010-8000-00AA00389B71}
[2016-04-17 17:16:01] Initializing audio with 2 channels and 44100 samples/sec
[2016-04-17 17:16:01] Audio mix: start=6723634244, returned=0
[2016-04-17 17:16:01] Audio source [System Windows]: init=0, through=0, last_start=0, mixed=0, drop_before=0, drop_after=0
[2016-04-17 17:16:01] CLIENT: Got control packet k_EStreamControlSetQoS

[2016-04-17 17:16:01] CLIENT: Got control packet k_EStreamControlSetTargetBitrate

[2016-04-17 17:16:01] CLIENT: Starting audio stream: frequency=48000, channels=6

[2016-04-17 17:16:01] CLIENT: Couldn't open audio device: format=2, channels=6, frequency=48000. Audio is disabled: DirectSound CreateSoundBuffer: Invalid parameter

The invalid parameter is on the client side, whatever is happening to initialise the HDMI in the code is badly formatted, passing an invalid parameter, therefore the sound is unavailable.

[Rush]

I am experiencing the same problems as above. Stereo works fine, but am getting no audio with 5.1 enabled.

[2016-04-17 14:55:24] Recording on device: Speakers (Realtek High Definition Audio)
[2016-04-17 14:55:24] Audio client mix format:
[2016-04-17 14:55:24] format: 65534
[2016-04-17 14:55:24] channels: 6
[2016-04-17 14:55:24] samples/sec: 48000
[2016-04-17 14:55:24] bytes/sec: 1152000
[2016-04-17 14:55:24] alignment: 24
[2016-04-17 14:55:24] bits/sample: 32
[2016-04-17 14:55:24] channel mask: 0x60f
[2016-04-17 14:55:24] data format: {00000003-0000-0010-8000-00AA00389B71}
[2016-04-17 14:55:24] Initializing audio with 6 channels and 48000 samples/sec
[2016-04-17 14:55:24] Audio mix: start=232964370, returned=0
[2016-04-17 14:55:24] Audio source [System Windows]: init=232999932, through=2186, last_start=1706, mixed=480, drop_before=0, drop_after=0

[2016-04-17 14:55:24] CLIENT: Starting audio stream: frequency=48000, channels=6

[2016-04-17 14:55:24] CLIENT: Couldn't open audio device: format=2, channels=6, frequency=48000. Audio is disabled: DirectSound CreateSoundBuffer: Invalid parameter

Host specs:
MSI Z97 Gaming 5 Motherboard w/ Realtek Audio Driver
Nvidia 980 Ti
Intel i5-4690K
Windows 10

Client:
Intel NUC 4th gen i5

Receiver:
Denon X6200w

I've tried installing unlocked realtek drivers with DTS/Dolby Live, but that did nothing.

[(=_WhoisYourdaddY=_)]

Messaggio originale di boyd:

Support for quadraphonic and 5.1 surround audio has been added to the latest Steam Beta Client when streaming from a Windows host. Your Windows host does not need to support 5.1 audio to use this feature; 5.1 audio can be recorded on a machine with 2 speakers and then played back on a client with a 5.1 setup.

To enable 5.1 audio support for In-Home Streaming, opt into the Steam Beta Client on your Windows host. If streaming to another computer running Steam, you will also need to opt that client into the Steam Beta Client. If streaming to a Steam Link, support is already included in the latest version of the Link firmware.

The Windows Steam Client and Steam Link will attempt to automatically detect the client side speaker configuration and enable 5.1 audio recording when appropriate. You can use the In-Home Streaming settings in the Steam Client and Steam Link to see what speaker configuration Steam detected and manually select a different configuration.

FAQ

What 5.1 audio can Steam record?
Steam currently only records 5.1 audio from processes launched through Steam. Other host system audio will be mixed with audio recorded from the game process as stereo audio.

Is 5.1 audio supported when streaming to a Linux or OSX client?
Yes, however you will need to go into the In-Home Streaming settings and select your speaker configuration manually.

Will streaming 5.1 audio from a Linux or OSX host be supported in the future?
We are investigating adding support to stream 5.1 audio from both platforms.

Will 7.1 audio support be added in the future?
We are investigating adding 7.1 audio support to both the Steam Client and Steam Link.

[Rush]

Shame that this just doesn't work yet. Was looking forward to getting a steam controller to use with it. Guess I will toss that money towards a Nvidia Shield.

[MarcParis]

American beast, simply move to stereo and apply dolby pro logic II on your receiver to recover a proper sound quality.
5.1 support is very depending on games you are launching.

One of the major games that I've played on steam link and are working fine are : Ashes of singularity and Resident evil revelations 2...and damn, when 5.1 is supported, it rocks!

[jackburnt]

That's not 5.1 though-- that's simulated. We're trying to get 5.1 proper to work, which it doesn't. The game I've been testing is Shadow of Mordor, which sounds great on my gaming computer, but doesn't stream 5.1 at all.

[pping neverdie2499]

like

[McStickenstein]

[2016-04-23 16:22:54] Game: Rocket League (252950)
[2016-04-23 16:22:54] Recording system audio
[2016-04-23 16:22:54] Changing record window: 000C04B0
[2016-04-23 16:22:54] Recording on device: CABLE Input (VB-Audio Virtual Cable)
[2016-04-23 16:22:54] Audio client mix format:
[2016-04-23 16:22:54] format: 65534
[2016-04-23 16:22:54] channels: 6
[2016-04-23 16:22:54] samples/sec: 48000
[2016-04-23 16:22:54] bytes/sec: 1152000
[2016-04-23 16:22:54] alignment: 24
[2016-04-23 16:22:54] bits/sample: 32
[2016-04-23 16:22:54] channel mask: 0x60f
[2016-04-23 16:22:54] data format: {00000003-0000-0010-8000-00AA00389B71}
[2016-04-23 16:22:54] Initializing audio with 6 channels and 48000 samples/sec
[2016-04-23 16:22:54] Audio mix: start=1059085016, returned=0
[2016-04-23 16:22:54] Audio source [System Windows]: init=0, through=0, last_start=0, mixed=0, drop_before=0, drop_after=0
[2016-04-23 16:22:54] Changing record audio process: 000C04B0
[2016-04-23 16:22:54] CLIENT: Got control packet k_EStreamControlSetQoS

[2016-04-23 16:22:54] CLIENT: Got control packet k_EStreamControlSetTargetBitrate

[2016-04-23 16:22:54] CLIENT: Starting audio stream: frequency=48000, channels=6

[2016-04-23 16:22:54] CLIENT: Couldn't open audio device: format=2, channels=6, frequency=48000. Audio is disabled: DirectSound CreateSoundBuffer: Invalid parameter

Host is set up with a virtual 5.1 playback device. Tried using physical 2.1 speakers as the playback device on host side but that makes it only two channel, contrary to the feature suggesting that the client does not need 5.1 audio. Client uses a Corsair Vengeance 1500 USB headset (virtual 5.1).

[Rush]

Messaggio originale di jackburnt:

That's not 5.1 though-- that's simulated. We're trying to get 5.1 proper to work, which it doesn't. The game I've been testing is Shadow of Mordor, which sounds great on my gaming computer, but doesn't stream 5.1 at all.

I've actually been trying to get it to work with Shadows of Mordor too. No luck.

[McStickenstein]

Messaggio originale di gorman42:

I post it here, in case it could help people. If you have my problem (garbled sound, flanging, echoing, etc.), you might want to have a look at your \Steam\streaming_client.exe.log.

If at the beginning of a streaming session the log shows, after "Initializing player" a line like this:

Failed to initialize xaudio2, 5.1 audio may not be supported. Error: XAudio2: XAudio2Create() failed at initialization

You need to install DirectX Runtimes (June 2010). I thought that being under Win 8.1 updated with all recommended updates I didn't need it but I was wrong.
Thanks to dqtl74 for helping me out in the Bugs section.

I think that this fixed my issue; I'm not 100% sure though, because I didn't recal seing that error line before.

However, using a 5.1 virtual audio cable device does NOT work. I get the error regarding "Creating Mastering Voice" - this is probably because there is no physical audio cable connected.

I also had to manually change my host's setup to 5.1 in the device configurations, even though it physically just has a 2.1 setup. Leaving it as a 2.1 setup will NOT send 6 channels through streaming, even if the client has 5.1 option selected.

[Rush]

Messaggio originale di McStickenstein:

Messaggio originale di gorman42:

I post it here, in case it could help people. If you have my problem (garbled sound, flanging, echoing, etc.), you might want to have a look at your \Steam\streaming_client.exe.log.

If at the beginning of a streaming session the log shows, after "Initializing player" a line like this:

Failed to initialize xaudio2, 5.1 audio may not be supported. Error: XAudio2: XAudio2Create() failed at initialization

You need to install DirectX Runtimes (June 2010). I thought that being under Win 8.1 updated with all recommended updates I didn't need it but I was wrong.
Thanks to dqtl74 for helping me out in the Bugs section.

I think that this fixed my issue; I'm not 100% sure though, because I didn't recal seing that error line before.

However, using a 5.1 virtual audio cable device does NOT work. I get the error regarding "Creating Mastering Voice" - this is probably because there is no physical audio cable connected.

I also had to manually change my host's setup to 5.1 in the device configurations, even though it physically just has a 2.1 setup. Leaving it as a 2.1 setup will NOT send 6 channels through streaming, even if the client has 5.1 option selected.

I tried doing this, but no dice. Still only getting sound through stereo.

[jackburnt]

Any suggestions? I quit playing games using streaming because of this (and FPS loss) issue.

[Zombiefly]

i gave up on this and now use a raspberry pi running moonlight to stream via nvidia gamestream. works brilliantly, complete with 5.1 sound over hdmi. I have no idea what valve are doing here, tbh

[ArbraxaS]

i gave up on this and now use a raspberry pi running moonlight to stream via nvidia gamestream. works brilliantly, complete with 5.1 sound over hdmi. I have no idea what valve are doing here, tbh

Dodging dolby licence fees i guess.