Please help with getting 5.1 sound to work in HTPC > TV > AVR setup

[Dredd2929]

Hello,

I'm having a problem getting 5.1 surround to work with my HTPC. My setup is HTPC (Windows 10 with GeForce 3080 Ti) connected to TV (LG C1) via an HDMI cable, then TV connected to AVR (Marantz NR1609) via a separate HDMI cable.

I have it set up this way because in order to take advantage of G-sync, you have to have the GPU output directly connected to the TV instead of PC > AVR > TV, which is how I used to have the setup wired and the 5.1 surround was working fine.

However, now in Windows it only gives me the option to select stereo sound. There is no 5.1 option. I really think this is a matter of having right settings on my TV and AVR, but so far I haven't had any luck messing with the settings. I currently have ARC enabled on the TV and my AVR.

If anyone out there has a similar setup to mine and has any thoughts on how to get this work, I would greatly appreciate any help.

 

[Trebdp83]

Hello and welcome. The audio is being limited to stereo because of the bandwidth limitation of ARC. While the TV supports eARC and will pass multi channel lossless audio to the receiver, the receiver only supports ARC and will only accept lossy multi channel audio from Dolby Digital/+ bitstreams or DTS bitstreams. However, DTS is not supported by the TV at all and it will not pass it along to the AVR.

The Thenaudio SHARC device can be used to deliver the lossless audio from the TV to the AVR. You would connect the HDMI cable coming from the TV eARC port to the SHARC and connect a second cable from the SHARC to an HDMI input port on the AVR other than the MONITOR/ARC port which would now be used to deliver video from the AVR and its connected devices to the TV using a TV HDMI port other than the TV’s eARC port. Audio codec support will still be limited by the TV’s supported formats.

Thenaudio - Home

Thenaudio manufactures cutting edge Audio Video processors, specializing in eARC conversion and distribution.

www.thenaudio.com

 

[Dredd2929]

I got it working. I ran another HDMI cable from the PC's GPU to the receiver using a DisplayPort to HDMi adapter. As soon as I plugged it in, the PC recognized my receiver as a playback source, and now 5.1 sound is working perfectly.

 

[billqs]

I'm glad to hear you got it working! I used to have horrible audio problems with my HTPC running Windows 7. The solutions online kept having me chuck then reinstall the Windows PlayReady but it didn't cure it. What solved the problem was unchecking Exclusive Mode in the sound properties. (I would not uncheck it unless you have that particular problem.