Windows 10: 5.1 surround sound system showing up as headphones

I just set up a surround sound system in my room with my computer using an RCA to USB-C connector, in some games it can support 5.1 surround sound freely yet in regular Windows applications and the control panel it shows as headphones and doesn't utilize the back two speakers. Is there some way I can fix this? The fact that it can be supported by some games and otehr applications makes me think that this isn't an issue with my sound card but I can't be sure.

:)

 

Headphones do not show up when Realtek is installed

OK, so this happened to me on my laptop. It wanted to use the realtek drivers no matter what. Let me show you what to do.
Step 1. Open the start menu and type 'Device Manager' in the search bar. Click on the result.

Step 2.

You'll see this window appear.

Step 3.

Expand the 'Sound , video and game controllers' category.

Step 4. Find 'Realtek High Definition Audio' in the list, then right click it and select Properties.

Step 5.

Click on the 'Driver' tab near the top of the window.

Step 6.

Now click on the button that says 'Roll back driver'.
If the button is dimmed, make sure your Realtek drivers are currently installed.

Step 6. If you did it correctly, the system should ask you to restart to finish. If it does then you finished the tutorial correctly!
Once restarted, Open device manager again using step 1. Expand the 'sound, video and game controllers' category again.

Step 7. If it says 'High Definition Audio Device' then you did it right. Here's a pic for example purposes:

 

Muffled sound after removing USB headphones and plugging them in again.

Hi,

Thank you for writing to Microsoft Community Forums.

Provide us additional information to assist you better with this issue:

1. What is the make and model of the computer and headphone?
   
2. Have you tried the same headphone on different computer?
   
3. Are you facing the same issue with the different headphone?
   
4. Which version of Windows is installed on your device?
   

Refer the article Which Windows operating system am I running
to provide the details.

Try the below suggested steps.

Method 1

1. Right click on Volume icon > Sounds >
   Playback.
   
2. Select Headphone > Properties > Advanced.
   
3. Uncheck “Allow applications to take exclusive control of this device”.
   
4. Switch to Spatial sound tab > Uncheck “Turn on 7.1 virtual surround sound”.
   
5. Click on OK and check the status of the issue.
   

Method 2

If the issue still persists I suggest you to refer the article Fix sound problems in Windows
10 for the troubleshooting steps.

Hope it helps. Get back to us for further assistance on this issue. We will be happy to help you.

Muralidhar

Microsoft Community Moderator

 

No Virtual Surround With New Headphone From Amazon

These headphones from Amazon (see Link) are supposed to have 7.1 virtual surround sound. It only shows as a stereo device in Windows 10 (build 18363.535)

It is a model EasyAcc G941 (or EasyAcc 7.1 Virtual Surround Sound USB Gaming Headphones).





only Stereo (EasyAcc Driver)




7.1 (here MSI DS502 driver stock photo)


I have since found out it is sold under a variety of brands. For instance: MSI DS502 and by SADES.

I tried installing all these drivers (and of course the EasyAcc driver) and they are identical except for the brand logo. The driver is always a C-Media driver with version 8.1.12.26 and a driver date from 2015. All the controls are locked down or invisible except for stereo left/right volume control. In Windows 10, it shows as a stereo device in control panel.





control panel




device manager

How can I make this work with 7.1 surround sound?

- - - Updated - - -

Update: I've found the missing controls:





Needed to right click the speaker symbol. So, completely counter intuitive. Like so many apps from Asian hardware manufacturers. Reminds me of my GeForce over-clocking tool.

However now it still registers in Windows as a stereo device. How can any app or game output to it in 7.1? I don't think it can.

I guess my question now is: Any headphones with virtual surround should register in Windows as a 5.1 or 7.1 device. Is this correct?