Setting up 5.1 speakers on a Windows 7 laptop. Programs for setting up sound
Today I will teach you how to connect 5.1 audio systems to devices without multi-channel audio support. Anyone.
So, let's imagine a situation: you already have a good multi-channel audio system. We emphasize - analog, classic connectors are used as inputs RCA (tulip). At the same time, as a result of upgrading device gadgets with suitable interfaces, the system cannot be used.
How to connect such 5.1-channel speakers to devices with HDMI/Toslink digital outputs, the popular USB, or use a stereo output? Or, how to convert multi-channel digital audio signal to multi-channel analog?
Real and “virtual” multi-channel audio
A true multi-channel audio track puts voice into the center channel and effects and music into the rear and front speakers. Or - in accordance with the distribution during recording (in some multi-channel audio standards).
“Virtual” multi-channel audio is distributed according to the spectral characteristics of the reproduced sound. Software and hardware parse the signal into components according to predetermined algorithms, and distribute sounds around the listening point, creating surround sound.
Method 1. We spare no expense on high-quality sound
The easiest way is to buy a multi-channel receiver to suit your preferences and needs. The simplest, most effective. And the most omnivorous.
The purchase will give you a variety of input/output interfaces for video and audio signals, be able to independently decode files, and become the center of your home entertainment system. You can always choose a model with the required number of suitable inputs - and RCA in receivers is the most alive. 
Modern receivers support improved sound distribution algorithms, including Dolby Atmos, which can distribute any number of tracks to any number of speakers, taking into account the acoustic properties of the room.
The disadvantage of the solution is the cost. It starts from 10 thousand rubles for a used one and from 30 thousand for a receiver with Dolby Atmos support.
In addition, the receivers have impressive dimensions. It's good if the place and interior allow it. And if not?
Method 2. (Digital) Optical -> Multichannel Analog
This is why this article was started. I often get asked questions like: “How do I connect my home theater to my new TV? It doesn't have analog audio outputs!
Mine only has a two-channel mini-jack and optical Toslink. For the time being before purchasing new acoustics, I connected the old 5.1 set using this Chinese converter. 
Hidden inside the device is a rather primitive digital-to-analog converter and DSP processor- a chip responsible for mixing, equalizing and effects.
The application is very simple - we connect an acoustic system to the analog RCA outputs, on the other hand we supply an audio signal through a coaxial or optical connector and external power from the included power supply. 
If the signal corresponds to the number of connected acoustic channels, it passes without mixing and processing. As it is.
That is, if the film 5.1 channel audio track, and we use the appropriate audio system - the sound quality will be the same as the original.
If a two-channel track is fed to it, then the signal is converted using “virtual” mixing in the processor and distributed to all speakers.
Of course, this is very different from real 5.1-channel sound, but it still sounds nicer than regular stereo. Unless, of course, we are talking about films.
This way you can connect speakers to other devices- for example, through the usual headphone output of a laptop, tablet or player. 
But the output will only be virtual 5.1-channel sound, even if the original track is multi-channel. You won't be able to get anything else out of the stereo jack.
If necessary, the converter allows you to reproduce any incoming audio signal into two channels. Convenient for standard music systems systems 2.1, as well as in cases where the DSP converter plays the track incorrectly.
Method 3. HDMI -> Multichannel Analog
The option using HDMI is more promising, since this interface is used much more often in modern gadgets.
To transmit a multi-channel audio track, the connector in the audio source must support the HDMI Arc protocol. Otherwise, the usual stereo signal will be broadcast, which will be converted into “virtual” 5.1 by software.
If HDMI supports this function, you can purchase such a converter. This box also supports pass-through transmission of a composite signal: by connecting a source via HDMI, you can separately output sound to an audio system via coaxial, optical or analog connectors, while running the video on a projector or TV.
Method 4. USB -> Multichannel Analog
Most of the Chinese “multi-channel USB audio cards” offered on the Internet are rather primitive dupes that produce processed stereo. You won't be able to save money.
Another thing is external audio cards. Some of them are capable of producing multi-channel audio and are suitable for connecting to tablets, laptops, and desktop computers. 
Unfortunately, even Smart TV, not to mention most devices with proprietary firmware (receivers, media players) will not be able to recognize it as an audio device. Therefore, Creative Sound Blaster Omni Surround 5.1, Creative X-Fi Surround 5.1 Pro or ST Lab M-330 USB are suitable only as computer accessories, or in the case of separate broadcasting of audio and video from a computer. And this is a completely different story.
“Chinese box” or full-fledged receiver?
In fact, the choice is ambiguous. If you need to connect several devices into a single system, the choice is obvious.
Surely, almost every user wants the sound reproduced by his computer to be of the highest quality. If you are one of them, then most likely you have thought about how it can be improved. The most effective solution, of course, would be to buy better equipment, such as a good audio system, an additional sound card, and things like that.
However, you can do without this, because there are many programs designed to customize and improve the sound quality of your computer. This material will present the most effective of them.
The most popular driver package for configuring built-in Realtek sound cards. Provides basic audio customization options.
Unlike competitors, it ensures the correct operation of the sound card and has only the most necessary functions.
Volume2
A small program that is a replacement for the standard Windows volume control. In addition to standard features, it has several additional functions.
Having the least functionality among other programs, Volume2 aims only to increase the convenience of volume adjustment and does an excellent job of it.
FxSound Enhancer
FxSound Enhancer contains a small set of simple but effective tools for improving sound. They allow you to improve sound quality in real time.
This program allows you to adjust individual sound parameters, such as, for example, increasing clarity and enhancing low-frequency sounds. However, its free version has somewhat reduced capabilities.
ViPER4Windows
This program has enormous capabilities for customizing sound. With the right skill, you can achieve almost professional sound quality.
ViPER4Windows includes all the same features as FxSound Enhancer and, in general, has the largest set of tools for changing sound parameters among its competitors, but also requires some knowledge to get quality results.
All of the programs presented above for changing sound parameters have the necessary functions to improve the sound. All you have to do is choose the most suitable one for yourself.
After purchasing acoustics with support for 5.1-channel sound mode, I encountered a number of problems. Simply put, 5.1 mode did not work in Windows 10; out of five columns, only 2 worked, and even then in compatibility mode. At first I thought it was all Google Chrome (which itself controls the sound), but no, I needed to know one feature when setting it up. We continue with detailed instructions for setting up 5.1 sound on Windows 10.
First you need to check which sound card is installed on your PC. To do this, you need to go to the “Device Manager” and find the item “Sound, game and video devices” (this can be done by right-clicking on the “Start” button, “manager” will be the fifth from the top). If the sound card is from any other manufacturer other than VIA Audio, skip the next step.
If the sound card is made by VIA Audio, then before setting it up you need to install the driver version: “VIA HD Audio v 11.11.00” (you can download it from the link). However, the VIA programmers made a mistake and assigned the wrong one to the built-in mixer, so after downloading the archive with the drivers we simply unpack it into any folder. Then you need to go to the “Device Manager”, then in the “Properties” of the built-in sound card, find the “Driver” tab and click on the “update driver” button. Next, “search for drivers on this computer.” Then select the folder with the unpacked drivers from VIA. Upon completion of successful installation, reboot the PC.
To configure 5.1 sound on Windows, you need to go to the “Playback Devices” tab (right click on the volume icon in the Windows tray). Next, select the speakers we need and click on the “Settings” button in the lower left corner. Next, and this is very important, you need to select the 7.1 sound mode!, then click “next” and uncheck the “side pair” of speakers. Then we simply click “next-next” and exit the settings window. 5.1 sound activated, congratulations.
You also need to configure the virtual surround sound mode so that when playing files with stereo sound, not 2 speakers work, but all 5. To do this, you need to go to the “Properties” section (the button in the lower right corner). There is a tab “Enhancements”, where there is a list of different modes, we are interested in the “Enable Speaker Fill” mode - check the box opposite. This completes the sound setup.
Acoustic system 5.1 what it is? How is system 5.1 different from 2.1 or 2.0? Which is better 5.1 or 2.1? And in general, what’s the point of installing a 5.1 system and how to connect it?
You've probably noticed that both computer speakers and TV speakers come in different configurations, meaning the number of individual speakers used in a particular system. Some people have only two desktop speakers, others have two speakers on the table and a subwoofer, and still others have six acoustic system elements or even more. This difference indicates the use of different speaker circuits. What does it mean? This means that a system with two desktop speakers is a 2.0 system i.e. The speaker system has two speakers (two channels) and no subwoofer, which is why it is designated as 2.0. Accordingly, if the system has two speakers and a subwoofer, then this is 2.1 acoustics. In the case of using two front speakers + two rear (or side) + center channel + subwoofer, it turns out that there are six elements in the system, and it is designated as 5.1.
Which is better 5.1 or 2.1? The answer to this question will most likely be subjective, since everyone has their own needs for listening to music or watching movies. For some, desktop computer speakers are quite enough, while others will spend a long time and carefully choosing a multi-channel system and will not mind spending several tens, or even hundreds of thousands of rubles on it. As far as sound is concerned, 2.0 or 2.1 systems transmit stereo sound through two speakers, which are usually placed in front on the edges of the listener. The 5.1 system surrounds the listener in a circle, in addition to the front side speakers as in 2.1, a central channel is installed in the front center and two more speakers at the rear along the edges plus a subwoofer. This configuration gives surround sound that surrounds the listener and, as it were, places him inside the plot (when watching a film), adding to the viewer the effect of presence and reality of what is happening on the screen.
As for the technical part, how connect 5.1 and how to configure it? There are several nuances: the first is that music in the mp3 format, which is most often used, is, as a rule, stereophonic, i.e. the sound is designed for playback in a 2.0 or 2.1 system and is not divided into additional channels, you can bypass this, more on that below; second, sound from the Internet played through a browser has the same problem as in the first case, but here you still need to be able to configure the browser itself, more on that below; third - films, for full multi-channel sound, the film file needs to have a corresponding multi-channel track (this does not seem to be a problem, but this must be taken into account when choosing a film).
Further, on the hardware side, the 5.1 speaker system has three pairs of tulip-type input jacks (RCA). A pair for the front speakers, a pair for the rear speakers and a pair for the center channel and subwoofer. The connection between the PC and the acoustics occurs using three cables, on one side with tulip-type connectors that just plug into the sockets of the speaker system, and on the other, a 3.5 jack plug. It turns out that a PC or TV (DVD player) must have three connectors for connecting “jack 3.5” or three pairs of tulip-type connectors (between the acoustics and the DVD player, the connection goes through cables on both sides with “tulips”). In the case of DVD, everything is clear, there should be these connectors on the rear panel (if, of course, the player has such a function). But on a desktop computer, or even more so on a laptop, you will find three 3.5 jack connectors designed specifically for 5.1 speaker connections, a rarity (on stationary PCs should not be confused with green, blue and pink connectors, which are respectively responsible for connecting 2.0 speakers or headphones, a line input for connecting external subsystems and an external microphone).
How to connect a 5.1 system to a laptop or desktop PC if there are no necessary connectors? You need to buy a suitable sound card that supports connecting 5.1 speakers. In the case of a stationary PC, this can be either an internal one, connected directly to the motherboard, or an external sound card. In the case of a laptop, this will be an external sound card connected to the laptop via a USB cable. You can buy such a sound card in a regular store or order it, usually cheaper, on AliExpress, I’ll leave the link here: 5.1 sound card on AliExpress.
So, you bought a 5.1 sound card and now you need to connect and configure it. Next I will explain using the example of a sound card from AliExpress, which comes in blue or black.
— connect the tulips of the cord coming from the GREEN “front out” connector of the sound card to the 5.1 system into the corresponding color sockets for the “tulips” of the channel responsible for the front right and left speakers (in the case as in the picture, these are R and L, related to 5.1);
— connect the tulips of the cord coming from the BLACK “rear out” connector of the sound card to the 5.1 system into the corresponding color sockets for the “tulips” of the channel responsible for the rear right and left speakers (in the case of the picture, these are SR and SL);
— connect the tulips of the cord coming from the ORANGE “cen/bass out” connector of the sound card to the 5.1 system into the corresponding color sockets for the “tulips” of the channels responsible for the center channel and subwoofer (in the case of the picture, these are C and SW).
Multichannel sound.
Now let's talk about the nuances described above. As already mentioned, music in mp3 format does not have a breakdown for playback in 5.1 systems and, in fact, when playing such files, we obtain division across all channels using software methods. Not everyone gets the breakdown across all channels when playing with standard players, so you can install the JetAudio player and set “Surround (Multi-channel audio)” in its settings. Generally speaking, you need to look for music in multi-channel format and listen to it.
5.1 sound in the browser.
The second point is about playback via a browser. Not every browser will immediately play 5.1 sound, it often happens that only two speakers work when listening through a browser. Therefore, the browser needs to be configured to play 5.1. To configure 5.1 in Opera, you need to insert “opera:flags” into the address bar, and then look for settings related to audio (previously, the problem was solved by turning on the “Non-default channel layouts for audio output streams” flag). Time goes by, Opera is updated and maybe for someone everything will work right away. In any case, there are a lot of discussions about this on the Internet, I think there is a solution out there somewhere.
For settings 5.1 In Chrome, you need to insert “chrome://flags” into the address bar, find and enable “#try-supported-channel-layouts”. The browser must be restarted for the changes to take effect.
A nuance in the USB Multi-Channel Audio Device settings
Another nuance is related to the effect settings on the “Effect” tab in the “USB Multi-Channel Audio Device”. For some reason, when setting the ambience settings, ambience size and equalizer, the sound in all channels except the two front ones begins to become very muffled, and therefore the system seems to be operating in 2.0 mode. This problem can be solved by adjusting the volume level of each speaker using the controls numbered 2 in the previous picture.
Thus, here I have outlined all the problems that I had to face when setting up my 5.1 system, but as a result, all the players and browsers, music and movies that I use and turn on work in 5.1 sound mode.
First of all, after connecting a multi-component speaker system, you need to set the correct settings in the computer operating system. As you know, this speaker system has three output connectors that connect to the microphone input, line input and linear output of the system unit. Thus, it is necessary to convert the input jacks to the output signal. Moreover, the change in the functioning of the connectors must be made in such a way that they produce the correct signal for the speaker system, because in the case of using a 5.1 system, the overall sound signal is divided into components associated with one or another part of the speaker system.
Open your computer's control panel. Go to the Hardware and Sound section. Next, click on the “Manage audio devices” button. In the window that opens you will see the device. Select this device and click on the “Configure” button. Select 5.1 Surround Sound. Now the audio signals will be distributed correctly between the audio ports.
Software settings
Audio settings provided by the speaker manufacturer's software include volume controls for each speaker, tone controls, equalizer, and surround settings. In the program, you can also select the type of speaker system, which implies a particular number of speakers. In this section, select “5.1 Sound”. The main window of the program displays the location of the speakers in the area of the sound receiver, that is, the listener. Each of the speakers can be placed as it stands in real life. By clicking on the icon of a particular speaker, a volume control appears. Thus, it is possible to adjust the overall sound of the system so that the sound seems evenly distributed in space.
Please note that any specific system speaker volume setting can be saved. This is convenient if you often rearrange the room by swapping speakers. After adjusting the volume, check the surround sound quality. For this purpose, there is a button, when pressed, some standard stereo sound is heard. You can also check that all speakers in the system are correctly connected to a common node by double-clicking on each of them in the sound setup program. You will hear the sound from this speaker and can check the match.