Realtek HD Audio analog 5.1 setup

Hi there,

I'm having some problems with blu-ray analog playback...

The start of the story goes right back to plugging in the cables from my 5.1 channel z-5500 speaker system. The surround cable in this system is coloured black, which matches the rear input on the audio hardware. However, if I select 5.1 speakers in the realtek configuration screen, the rear speakers option is greyed out, I can only select sides. And, with sides selected, I get no sound from the surrounds. At this point there are two solutions I can find:

1. Stick with a 5.1 software configuration, and move the black speaker cable from the black rear input to the grey side input. (Actually you can also retask the rear input to sides to achieve the same result.)
2. Lie and say I have a 7.1 configuration, this enables the rear speaker option, and I can disable sides to have a 5.1, 7.1 config .

I've been working with option 1, 5.1 software config plus cable in sides input.

This setup seems to work fine for most 5.1 audio software. However, enter PowerDVD 10, software that purports to output full range (non-downsampled) blu-ray audio on ALC889. Sounds cool, so I tried out the trial.

Sure enough a blu shows 48Khz,24bit full resolution when playing. Great! Except, that I get no audio from the surrounds in the Dolby TrueHD main feature! I can get sound from all 6 channels, if I move the black speaker back to the black rear input. Of course in this configuration, the surrounds are silent if I try to send audio their way using other windows software.

This is all a bit nuts, and I'm pulling my hair out trying to figure out the permutations of surround channels going to sides or rears or both.

Can anyone share some wisdom on the correct configuration for 5.1 speakers with realtek hd audio? A workaround to get PDVD10 sending surround channels to sides?

Thanks

Dale

Interesting further discussion in this thread on Tom's Hardware.

One guy puts up a screenshot showing Realtek HD Audio 5.1 config as front/center/*rear*, seems he has an ALC888 on GA-MA770T-UD3P mobo.

Not what I get, I get only front/center/*side*.

My GA-MA78GPM-UD2H mobo manual states (incorrectly, this 5.1 config doesn't work for the surrounds):

Rear Speaker Out Jack (Black)
Use this audio jack to connect rear speakers in a 4/5.1/7.1-channel audio configuration.

Side Speaker Out Jack (Gray)
Use this audio jack to connect side speakers in a 7.1-channel audio configuration.

Click to expand...

Interestingly, the latest GA-880GM-USB3 mobo's come with the following (reversed) instructions:

Rear Speaker Out Jack (Black)
Use this audio jack to connect rear speakers in a 7.1-channel audio configuration.

Side Speaker Out Jack (Gray)
Use this audio jack to connect side speakers in a 4/5.1/7.1-channel audio configuration.

Click to expand...

Looks like there is some change happening in the surround designations, and the software and hardware folks haven't got their act straight.

Well, SamuraiHL over at avsforum uses a 7.1 configuration, with sides disabled in Realtek HD Manager.

This means you have black speaker cable to black jack (rears).

He combines this with an 8 speaker setup in PDVD, and reports that this works for him.

All it bit wierd though, indicating to the OS that you have a 7.1 system, minus 2 side surrounds. When for sure you actually have a 5.1 speaker set...