No sound via HDMI

Magpie2121

Magpie2121

Magpie2121

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Joined
13 Aug 2011
Posts
206
I've just purchased a PC from Overclockers and need some sound to go with it.
The motherboard I have is the MSI P67A-C45 Intel P67:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...odid=MB-167-MS

apparently it has 8 Channel HD Audio with THX TruStudio Pro

Now the monitor I have is an Acer GD245HQ 23.6 Inch Widescreen LCD Monitor. I have connected the PC to the monitor via HDMI but can't seem to get any sound When I press the settings button on the monitor, the volume controller option is disabled.

I don't even know if this monitor even has built in speakers and I can't find this information from anywhere.
First of all, is there anything you can recommend to get the sound working on the monitor or how to get it working?

If it won't work then can you recommend some cheap speakers that will be compatible with this PC to acieve HD sound?

Thanks
 
Most monitors dont have speakers built in :(

Have you tried plugging some headphones or old speakers in ?

What would be the budget of the new speakers ???
 
Providing the monitor does have speakers you may need to go into the bios. I had a similar issue with my HTPC. I needed to alter the setting on the HD audio. I think it was set to ac'97 and needed to be changed.

Hope it helps
 
To be clear, if you are connecting to the monitor via HDMI and plan to use sound from that connection, then it is your graphics card (not motherboard) that you need to check is up for it. May I ask what model number graphics card you are using? If you are using a relatively new graphics card (AMD graphics card from the past few years or GTX 400 series or newer) then HDMI should be pretty simple and you just enable it within the windows audio settings. If you are using an older card, then you may need to connect a 2pin S/PDIF connection from the motherboard to graphics card to get audio over HDMI.

That said, I wouldn't even bother with the in-built speakers (if your version has any) since they are universally terrible. Instead invest in something like this and you will find the sound quality much better.

As for "HD sound" I don't know what you mean, there isn't a basic standard for audio like there is for video, though for what it's worth if you went for some nice quality speakers like the Acoustic Energy Aego M 2.1 kit then you would be getting some really nice quality sound - though to get the most out of them you would have to invest even more in a decent sound card like the Xonar DS or D1/DX (which adds to the cost even more).
 
Andi is quite right. I just checked your mobo spec and it doesnt have HDMI on the mobo so my suggestion will not help in your case as you must be using the gfx cards HDMI port.

The speakers in the monitor will probably sound "tinny", same is true of many laptops. Same will be true of cheap 2.0 speaker setups you can buy. Either buy an analogue or USB headset or as andi suggest a 2.1 setup. That ".1" refers to a subwoofer which helps add depth to the sound.

I purchased a 2.1 logitech setup for my gfs machine. They were around £40 i think and with the bass level adjusted the sound quality was more than reasonable.
 
Many thanks for all your repsonses.

@RJC - The model number of my monitor is GD245HQ and there is an "audio out" socket on the back of the monitor.

@cmndr_andi - The graphics card I have is the Radeon HD6450. I've had a look at the motherboard box which states 8 channel (7.1) HD audio subsystem with S/PDIF out and THX TruStudio Pro.

So I'm not sure if my monitor will have speakers built in? How can I go about achieving HD audio?
What options do I have - I would much prefer just to use the in built speakers of the monitor if that's possible and if it has them.
Thanks
 
Magpie2121 said:
Many thanks for all your repsonses.

@RJC - The model number of my monitor is GD245HQ and there is an "audio out" socket on the back of the monitor.

@cmndr_andi - The graphics card I have is the Radeon HD6450. I've had a look at the motherboard box which states 8 channel (7.1) HD audio subsystem with S/PDIF out and THX TruStudio Pro.

So I'm not sure if my monitor will have speakers built in? How can I go about achieving HD audio?
What options do I have - I would much prefer just to use the in built speakers of the monitor if that's possible and if it has them.
Thanks
Click to expand...

Does is show bid or bmid anywhere on the monitor or packaging.
 
Magpie2121 said:
@cmndr_andi - The graphics card I have is the Radeon HD6450. I've had a look at the motherboard box which states 8 channel (7.1) HD audio subsystem with S/PDIF out and THX TruStudio Pro.

So I'm not sure if my monitor will have speakers built in? How can I go about achieving HD audio?
What options do I have - I would much prefer just to use the in built speakers of the monitor if that's possible and if it has them.
Thanks
Click to expand...

That graphics card has it's own audio device built in, so when you connect it to a HDMI device (like a TV or monitor with speakers) then you can indeed get sound out, so long as the AMD catalyst graphics drivers are installed correctly and the "High Definition Audio device" (or similar) is selected as default in the windows audio devices page of control panel.

As for the sound devices that are supported by the motherboard, if you are using this graphics card then these are irrelevant if you are using a HDMI connection since they are just bypassed. If you wish to use the motherboard's sound then either connect the green 3.5in stereo output of the motherboard to the monitor (if there is the required connection on the monitor) or connect up a set of separate speakers.

On further investigation, it seems that there are not any speakers on that monitor - however there is a 3.5in audio output connection so you can plug in a set of external speakers into the monitor and they will output the sound passed over the HDMI connection. However, I would not suggest doing this as you have a 120Hz monitor there and using the HDMI connection means you can't run it in 120Hz mode, but 60Hz. Therefore I would strongly suggest connecting up a set of external speakers (some good options have been mentioned above) directly to the motherboard and connect to the monitor using a dual link DVI connection - so you can achieve 120Hz refresh rate, on-screen movement should feel a lot smoother.
 
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