Surround Sound on Realtek Audio Windows 8

by porkchopsnbutter
Reply

Original Post

Surround Sound on Realtek Audio Windows 8

★★ Novice

I cannot get 5.1 surround sound to work.  This the log file:

 

[4.963] Init: Audio Driver: Speakers (Realtek High Definition Audio) ({0.0.0.00000000}.{a19ec984-7d40-4fbe-a304-eb28ba1e78e2})
[4.997] Init: Audio Device: Generic Software
[5.103] Init: 64 Free Sources, 2 Reserved

 

I am running patch 1.02. 

 

I have tried every guide I can find (delete DeviceName= in the bioengine.ini file, delete bioengine.ini).  I have updated the drivers of my sound and installed OpenAL.  No matter what it does, it defaults to generic software and only plays stereo.

 

I am running windows 8.

 

Hardware:

Intel i7 3930k processor

Asus Rampage 4 Extreme motherboard

8gb ram

Nvidia Geforce GTX 680 video card

 

I am using a CD key from Origin but I am running an installation of the game from the DVD bought in the store a few years ago.  The patch 1.02 was downloaded outside of Origin.

 

Please tell me how to fix this.  I cannot play a game like this with stereo.

 

Message 1 of 5 (2,152 Views)

Re: Surround Sound on Realtek Audio Windows 8

Hero

Have you ever had surround sound running on older Windows versions?

 

I have tried the tweaks to get surround sound to work on both integrated Realtek and VIA audio. It didn't work on either. I had to buy a Creative sound card to get it to work on my old PC, while the VIA HD was upgradable to support software emulated EAX by installing SoundBlaster MB (trial). I don't recommend the latter, since an entry level SoundBlaster card is cheaper than the software.

 

While I think Demiurge did an admirable job porting ME1 to PC, they really screwed up the audio.



CCP Hero Banner - Red.png


Message 2 of 5 (2,150 Views)

Re: Surround Sound on Realtek Audio Windows 8

★★ Novice

I used to use a Creative X FI Platinum sound card before I upgraded to i7, but my current motherboard has only PCIe slots and the card was PCI.  I don't remember if that worked, but the last I tried it was with Windows 7.

 

I don't currently have a Windows 7 computer anymore.  I don't want to buy an entry-level sound card because they generally are useless for actually handling surround sound.  The last time I used one like that, it only had surround sound when the sound was mixed by the software (such as a DVD, or doom 3 which used software sound), and directly told the card which channel to use.

Message 3 of 5 (2,144 Views)

Re: Surround Sound on Realtek Audio Windows 8

★★ Novice

Why has no one from EA responded to this yet?  It's already been two days and I want to play this game now.  I already had to buy another CD key for it because Bioware took down their site that stored the CD keys you uploaded.  Now, please, someone from the development team tell me how to fix this.

Message 4 of 5 (2,135 Views)

Re: Surround Sound on Realtek Audio Windows 8

[ Edited ]
Hero

@porkchopsnbutter wrote:

Why has no one from EA responded to this yet?  It's already been two days and I want to play this game now.  I already had to buy another CD key for it because Bioware took down their site that stored the CD keys you uploaded.  Now, please, someone from the development team tell me how to fix this.



This is unofficial tech support. If you want EA to respond, use official tech support at http://help.ea.com.

 

Even though you can't access your profile on the old forums, EA can dig up your keys for you if you linked your Origin ID to your nickname on the old forums. I did this myself once.

 

This is not the BioWare forum. BioWare (or Demiurge) devs don't post here.

 

Ever since launch, the only fix I know of that's guaranteed to work is upgrading your hardware. The audio engine was optimized for SoundBlaster technology, which is why they have a "sounds best on" label on the game's box.



CCP Hero Banner - Red.png


Message 5 of 5 (2,132 Views)