Any way to pass 5.1 via Nvidia HDMI?

kinger8938 · 8 Jan 2022 at 16:42

As I understand it, Nvidia didn't want to pay for the license for Dolby etc?

Is there any easy way to somehow make it work? I did see a video explaining the installation of a modified driver to force it to work as it should but not sure if that's the way to go

I did have 5.1 working fine via an external soundcard and optical connection but I've switched to a HDMI ARC set up

Thanks for any tips

EsaT · 8 Jan 2022 at 18:36

Standard HDMI can pass through up to 8 uncompressed PCM channels.
(so good for 7.1)

You simply select HDMI as sound output playback settings of Windows and set it to 5.1 or 7.1 configuration.

Bill Turnip · 8 Jan 2022 at 23:41

What are you connecting the hdmi to, a TV or av receiver? I spent quite a bit of time fighting this and was never able to manage it due to a lack of pass-thru on my TV.

I'll help where I can but I had to use a separate optical cable in the end - it'll depend very much on what you're plugging the hdmi into.

kinger8938 · 9 Jan 2022 at 08:37

Bill Turnip said:
What are you connecting the hdmi to, a TV or av receiver? I spent quite a bit of time fighting this and was never able to manage it due to a lack of pass-thru on my TV.

I'll help where I can but I had to use a separate optical cable in the end - it'll depend very much on what you're plugging the hdmi into.

Tbh yeah it's a pain, HDMI CAN indeed sent the signal but pretty sure as it's coming from Nvidias GPU, it won't touch any thing Dolby thus just sents 2.0 stereo pcm

I'm pretty sure I went optical/external soundcard originally because I couldn't find a solution but that was a few years back so just wanted to see if anything had changed.

Now my set up is PC to LGCX via HDMI. then LG to SONOS Beam (+surround set up) via ARC.

all worked fine via external soundcard/optical, just had an optical switch set up but this caused a few headaches from time to time. So ditched all that and gone the ARC route.

Pretty sure I'm stuffed but can't be sure

*Reason I wanted to ditch the optical/switch method is that it has issues in that it keeps switching back to other sources when you press this random button on our TV remote.
Sometimes sound wouldn't play at all until turning pc off and on etc, I just want something that works. Didn't bother me so much but family kept pressing wrong buttons and switching audio etc

kinger8938 · 9 Jan 2022 at 08:41

EsaT said:
Standard HDMI can pass through up to 8 uncompressed PCM channels.
(so good for 7.1)

You simply select HDMI as sound output playback settings of Windows and set it to 5.1 or 7.1 configuration.

Unfortunately it's not this simple (for my situation)

I'm certain it's down to nVidia not holding a license for Dolby?

EsaT · 9 Jan 2022 at 08:50

Uncompressed PCM signal specified in HDMI standard has nothing to do with Dolby.

kinger8938 · 9 Jan 2022 at 08:55

EsaT said:
Uncompressed PCM signal specified in HDMI standard has nothing to do with Dolby.

Apologies I won't pretend I know much about any of this

I just assumed Dolby 5.1 is what I was after for games etc.

So I should get 5.1 regardless then?

Bill Turnip · 9 Jan 2022 at 09:07

EsaT said:
Uncompressed PCM signal specified in HDMI standard has nothing to do with Dolby.

True, but the issue is more likely the sonos or tv here. I have a playbase which does not have hdmi in, only optical in. When connecting from nvidia gpu to TV, then passing through to playbase, going to Windows and selecting 5.1 meant no sound came through the sub or rears using the test sounds.

If the pc is connected directly to the sonos, without using the TV, does that work? I understand that you probably need to plug in to the TV to get a picture, but you can at least determine if the tv is an issue here.

I don't think that a sonos beam accepts more than a stereo as an uncompressed, pcm signal. If it does, you would need EARC rath than ARC to achieve this anyway, so I think without this you would be out of luck. So you know if your TV is regular ARC or EARC?

The_Arbiter · 9 Jan 2022 at 09:09

Never knew of such an issue. I suppose you could use your motherboard hdmi to output also, if supported. But ultimately just going optical again is what i'd do. I don't know how Sonos Beam works, am guessing the soundbar wirelessly connects to the other speakers? Otherwise an AVR setup could be nicer?

Does the CX not forward optical to hdmi? Where was the splitter going to?

Bill Turnip · 9 Jan 2022 at 09:09

https://www.trustedreviews.com/how-to/get-dts-sound-on-sonos-arc-and-beam-4040661

This has an explanation under the pcm audio section. Also bear in mind that you cannot use dts to get surround sound through sonos systems either (probably not an issue for the pc problem, but it may be if you have a blu Ray player or something you try to use in future.

Bill Turnip · 9 Jan 2022 at 09:18

The_Arbiter said:
Never knew of such an issue. I suppose you could use your motherboard hdmi to output also, if supported. But ultimately just going optical again is what i'd do. I don't know how Sonos Beam works, am guessing the soundbar wirelessly connects to the other speakers? Otherwise an AVR setup could be nicer?

It does wirelessly connect to the other speakers, but it's remarkably limited in the sound formats it accepts. I had to use optical in the end, and change my on board sound drivers to send a dolby 5.1 signal. The bandwidth for optical isn't enough for 5.1 pcm, I belive. The sonos certainly doesn't accept 5.1 pcm via optical.

https://support.sonos.com/s/article/4945?language=en_US

This link shows the accepted formats. Depending on your beam, it seems multichannel pcm is possible, but will require eARC. You'll need to confirm the type of connection you have.

kinger8938 · 9 Jan 2022 at 09:22

Bill Turnip said:
https://www.trustedreviews.com/how-to/get-dts-sound-on-sonos-arc-and-beam-4040661

This has an explanation under the pcm audio section. Also bear in mind that you cannot use dts to get surround sound through sonos systems either (probably not an issue for the pc problem, but it may be if you have a blu Ray player or something you try to use in future.

That's another aspect that's become muddied, DTS. Sonos does now support it but any time you Google it, it throws up topics prepatch so gets confusing :'(

kinger8938 · 9 Jan 2022 at 09:27

The beam really only offers one connection, HDMI and only 1 of them

The system does come with a HDMI to Optical adapter which is how I originally had it.

I used to go BEAM to Optical Switch. Then switch to the TV, PC (External soundcard) and a PS4 at that time.

I now have a PS5 which doesn't have optical. So current set up is

BEAM to TV VIA HDMI arc. Then TV off to PS5, PC etc.

The PS5 gets 5.1 when gaming, no problem

There's many factors that I understand could be the issue. I think I'll end up either going back to optical and maybe getting a better switch? But ARC seems better for the ps5 etc.

The LG supports EARC but the beam is only ARC so I have that toggled off on the TV

kinger8938 · 9 Jan 2022 at 09:30

Bill Turnip said:
It does wirelessly connect to the other speakers, but it's remarkably limited in the sound formats it accepts. I had to use optical in the end, and change my on board sound drivers to send a dolby 5.1 signal. The bandwidth for optical isn't enough for 5.1 pcm, I belive. The sonos certainly doesn't accept 5.1 pcm via optical.

https://support.sonos.com/s/article/4945?language=en_US

This link shows the accepted formats. Depending on your beam, it seems multichannel pcm is possible, but will require eARC. You'll need to confirm the type of connection you have.

Thanks for the link.

Mine is ARC not EARC as it's a gen 1 Beam.

kinger8938 · 9 Jan 2022 at 09:33

I think this is why I'm hung up on Dolby Digital as my 5.1 preference as it works with my kit, is probably what the ps5 is using etc.

And as Nvidia doesn't hold a license, it doesn't pass through in that supported format.

My external soundcard was picked as it supported that, sound blaster Omni or something like that.

Excuse my ignorance, but is there any way to somehow still utilise the soundcard by like looping it back to the pc then out together via HDMI ( I'm guessing not

)

kinger8938 · 9 Jan 2022 at 09:49

I saw this potential Virus method which might work

Not sure what happens when you go to install a new Nvidia driver though

EsaT · 9 Jan 2022 at 10:15

Games output always uncompressed (PCM) sound signal no matter the speaker channel configuration.
You've always needed separate AC3/DD encoder, like sound card with one, to get compressed DD5.1 signal.

Now if that Sonos had second HDMI it would be easy to get multichannel PCM from PC to it through direct cable.
But only that one port complicates things lot.
eARC would have bandwidth for 8 PCM channels, but that original ARC has lame last millennium 1Mb/s bandwidth fitting only compressed surround sound.

There are software Dolby Digital encoders, but not sure if those are officially available separately.
These hacked ones have always risk of including also malware.

Actually patents of original DD5.1 have expired, so anyone should be able to do their own encoder without paying any royalties.

Bill Turnip · 9 Jan 2022 at 10:19

kinger8938 said:
That's another aspect that's become muddied, DTS. Sonos does now support it but any time you Google it, it throws up topics prepatch so gets confusing :'(

Absolutely - I couldn't get it to work at all, ended up getting a Samsung player to decode dts to dolby prior to sending the signal to the sonos. If I'd known there would be so many compatability issues, I'd have certainly considered an AVR setup, but wireless is a big thing for my front room.

kinger8938 said:
The PS5 gets 5.1 when gaming, no problem

This will probably be because the ps5 decodes to dolby digital before sending to the sonos - although using optical, I had the exact same experience with an xbox 1x.

Another thought, does the hdmi input you're using for the pc support eARC? My TV only has ARC, and it turns out only has ARC on 2 of the 4 inputs.

I was never able to make it work in the end and had to return to a direct optical connection. You may eventually have luck with an hdmi, but I'd suggest connecting directly to the sonos from both the gpu and then the motherboard. The pc will only send the sound it generates, so make sure that the signal you are testing with is definitely a dolby or uncompressed pcm signal, whichever you are trying to produce

EsaT · 9 Jan 2022 at 10:20

kinger8938 said:
Excuse my ignorance, but is there any way to somehow still utilise the soundcard by like looping it back to the pc then out together via HDMI ( I'm guessing not )

Most sound cards have way to loop back output signal back as input, which could be likely then connected to some other output using "virtual audio cable".
https://vb-audio.com/Cable/index.htm

But not sure if that capturing output works for SPDIF.

The_Arbiter · 9 Jan 2022 at 10:24

I kept trying to get this round my head, but i kept forgetting the initial reason, nvidia.

It's annoying that while we have advancing tech, parts of it just don't keep up, or drop support for it. Like AVR's VRR passthrough issues, sync issues on TV passthrough, and companies not buying licences.

I suppose even with a manual switch, you've got the console issue.

[edit]
Found this.

https://nvidia.custhelp.com/app/ans...ch-hdmi-audio-formats-do-nvidia-gpus-support?

GeForce GTX 480, 470, and 465 do not support advanced audio codecs.
GeForce GTX 590, 580, and 570 do not support advanced audio codecs.

But IIRC, those aren't carried over optical anyway.

Maybe take all cables out, a TV reset, with DDU and reinstall, then connect it all back up?