Windows 10: Windows 11 no longer has Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound!

I have been enjoying 5.1 surround sound from my home computer through a home theater receiver for years. I mainly stream from HBO now MAX and Netflix, as well as watch movies through Windows Media Player Windows Movie & TV. However, ten days ago on 07.10.2024, all the surround sound suddenly disappeared, and now I can only hear in stereo. My operating system is Windows 11 with all available updates, and I use the Edge browser for streaming. I have not made any changes to the software or hardware I am using. I have read that the Dolby Access plug-in from the Microsoft Store might solv

:)

 

Sound Blaster Z - Dolby Digital surround sound cuts out

I have the same card, I think some clarification on what it does is needed:

You need to use Dolby Digital Live! encoder and the 5.1 speaker setting (not SPDIF) for it to ENCODE 5.1 In REALTIME and send it over it's SPDIF. This is only required for games that have realtime surround sound, it takes the audio from the 5.1 channels from the game and encodes it in real-time to Dolby Digital 5.1 (hence the name Live). The receiver/soundbar getting this signal will see it as Dolby Digital 5.1. A Dolby Digital 5.1 encoded stream can be sent over SPDIF's 2 channel bandwidth, so this is a lossy encode, compared to sending the audio uncompressed, which SPDIF can only do 2 channels of, so you would need to use HDMI, but it seems like your soundbar doesn't have HDMI so have to use SPDIF.

You do not need to use the Dolby Digital Live! encoder for things like Movies or TV shows that have Dolby Digital 5.1, these audio streams are PRE-ENCODED and can be sent over the SPDIF as is, the receiver/soundbar will see these as Dolby Digital 5.1.

Going back to the sound cutting out problem, I just switched computers and am getting this issue too, not sure what it is, didnt happen on my old machine, but yes, switching the encoder to none and then back to Dolby Digital Live! fixes the issue. I will try the fix listed in this thread though.

But why do you need 5.1 for your soundbar, it doesn't actually have the rest of the speakers for surround? You could probably pass it 2 channel stereo and it would sound similar.

 

Enable and Troubleshoot Surround Sound in WIndows 11 (2023)

Have you enabled Surround sound? See how to enable Surround Sound in WIndows 11:

How to Enable Spatial Sound in Windows 11

https://techschumz.com/install-dolby-atmos-on-your-windows-11-pc-or-laptop/

How to enable spatial sound on Windows 11 - Pureinfotech

How to Enable Spatial Sound and Enhance Audio on Windows 11

https://thegeekpage.com/5-1-channel-surround-sound-not-working/

Troubleshoot Surround sound in Windows 11:

https://thegeekpage.com/5-1-channel-surround-sound-not-working/

Fix: Channel Surround Sound Not Working in Windows 11/10 (Avoid ad links which intrude into editorial copy, especially avoid Restoro, PC Repair Tool and Reimage ads)

Reddit - Dive into anything

https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows11/comments/q00of2/its_impossible_to_select_51_spatial_audio_in/





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Dolby surround

Prior to creators update fall the optical out surround sound was perfect. same thing happen in spring with creators update. I cant roll back so I have a useless media pc. Why the hell do you not talk properly to the hardware maufactureres and tell them
what you plan to do?

I mean realtek they do a lot of hardware stuff and you have messed up again always windows 10! win 7 great , I upgraded to 10 no dolby digital for 3 months!!! 1 month for creators update in spring. give us the option to update or roll back! no end
of complaints for this same issue how hard can it be? its happened before 3 times . never with win 7

I mean 3 times!!! same issues all over the world , how much do you pay these fools? Test 100 % stuff before you release . It not like my pc is way out .. i7 gigabyte 3 gaming z170