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m15 R3, 5.1 Surround Sound issues
After a fair amount of internet searching I've come to the conclusion that the Dell Forums are my next course of action before spending any more time/money trying to fix my audio issues.
I have a brand new Alienware m15 R3 (ordered 9/8/2020).
How can I get 5.1 Surround Sound out of the Alienware m15 R3?
Right now I'm using an HDMI Audio Extractor [https://www.bestbuy.com/site/insignia-hdmi-audio-extractor-black/6324750.p?skuId=6324750] with video being send to a 2nd monitor via HDMI and audio being sent to my speaker system [https://www.logitech.com/en-us/product/speaker-system-z906?crid=1588] via Optical Audio Toslink. Apparently, this computer can't decode 5.1 to send it along HDMI > Audio Extractor > Optical Audio. I basically get stereo only, some audio from the surround speakers and the center speaker blends even though I have all the settings on the computer set to 5.1 audio. Is there a way to decode to 5.1 with software (free or paid) to send 5.1 audio in the way I have currently setup?
Alternatively, I've researched more and apparently this USB Sound Card [https://us.creative.com/p/archived-products/sound-blaster-x-fi-surround-5-1-pro] could work via USB port then combining the RCA R/L with a Y-Splitter Cable and then using a 3x3mm Multi-Channel cords to the Multi-Channel inputs on the back of my speaker system. Would this work for the system or is there an easier way? Also, could I use the Thunderbolt 3 Port and convert to USB A to get audio? All the rest of my USB A ports are being used.
If any additional information is needed please let me know. Thanks!
jphughan
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November 7th, 2020 17:00
@EricB87 Toslink/SPDIF can only carry 5.1 audio when it's encoded as Dolby Digital or DTS, aka "bitstream" audio. This is typically found in movies and other "pre-created" content. It is typically NOT used for things like games where the audio mix isn't pre-created. Those types of applications output multi-channel PCM audio, but Toslink/SPDIF does not have the necessary bandwidth to carry multi-channel PCM, only stereo PCM. There are a tiny handful of games that have functionality to perform on-the-fly encoding of raw audio into bitstream audio using engines like Dolby Digital Live, but they are quite rare.
So your HDMI Audio Extractor would probably be fine for scenarios where your system was sending a bitstream signal, but it won't be useful for multi-channel PCM source signals.
The only way to 5.1 PCM audio out of a system is via HDMI, DisplayPort/USB-C, or a set of 3x headphone jack connectors. Your system doesn't have the jacks to enable that last option, and to my knowledge you can't use HDMI or DisplayPort solely for audio; you have to be sending a video signal as well. So ideally you'd run your HDMI output into a device that can accept both a video signal and a multi-channel PCM audio signal, such as an AV receiver. Since that isn't an option with your speaker setup, the next easiest option would probably be to see if you can find an HDMI Audio Extractor that offers the necessary connectors to output the extracted audio as 3x 3.5mm (or 6x RCA). But I don't know if those exist since I've never had a reason to look for them.
Otherwise, yes an external sound card would work as well, and here again you'd want one that offered 3x 3.5mm or 6x RCA outputs. That X-Fi adapter you linked would work, although I'm not sure why it mixes and matches analog outputs types by offering 2x RCA and 2x 3.5 mm. But it would work, since that's still 6 total channels of analog output (5 speaker channels plus 1 subwoofer) and your Logitech speaker system does have multi-channel analog inputs. And since that speaker system offers that as 3x 3.5mm inputs (the 2x RCA inputs appear to be a separate stereo input), then you'd just need a 3.5 mm to dual RCA adapter to connect to the X-Fi.
EricB87
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November 7th, 2020 17:00
Thanks @jphughan for confirming what I thought was the issue and also that my solution would work. At this point I'm trying to figure out why a top end gaming laptop has to have so many adapters to work with a top end gaming speaker system. It's pretty sad. I'll likely go with the solution I came up with and that you confirmed. I did have some messages directly from Dell Technical Team so hopefully they will find a solution and let me know. I'll update here if they come up with anything interesting!
jphughan
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November 7th, 2020 18:00
@EricB87 Oh, and one more thing. Take whatever you receive from Dell Support with a huge grain of salt. You wouldn't believe how many people here I've helped who got downright wrong answers and sometimes laughable ideas from Dell Support. Most recently, I've seen stories about customers being told that certain high-end laptops can only run external displays through a docking station because they're too high end for basic cables and adapters or that a laptop can only run a 4K external display when the laptop itself has a 4K built-in display. So ideas you get from them may be "interesting", but that is not always the same as "workable". This topic really isn't something that I would count on a Dell Support rep to understand well enough to make a good suggestion.
jphughan
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November 7th, 2020 18:00
@EricB87 Happy to help, although sorry I didn't have better news. Getting multi-channel PCM audio out of laptops using a method other than HDMI has been a challenge for quite a while now. It's just a function of the popularity of use cases. Most people who care about multi-channel audio at all typically only care about it for movies, in which case only having support for sending bitstream over HDMI or SPDIF is sufficient. Multi-channel PCM is typically required only by gamers, and the gamers who actually have surround setups increasingly have them as part of home theater setups, in which case an AV receiver would be able to accept multi-channel PCM over HDMI. There are certainly gamers who have 5.1 speaker setups independent of AV receivers as is your case, but many of them would have desktop PCs for their gaming, where multi-channel analog outputs are pretty common. Your use case involves gaming on a laptop and using surround sound in a setup that does not involve an AV receiver. That's a pretty narrow slice of the market even among gamers, and people in edge cases are more likely to need adapters or other devices since it just doesn't make sense to build functionality to support a ton of edge cases into a core product like the laptop itself. And I say that as someone who had a Logitech Z5500 speaker setup that I loved for several years. But I only connected my PC via digital coax because I only needed 5.1 for movies, and since then I got a home theater setup that includes an AV receiver.
EricB87
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January 16th, 2021 12:00
After using the Thunderbolt port to a USB hub I plugged in a USB-A from the hub to the Sound Blaster product that I previously listed. It works perfectly! Now I just need to buy a better quality microphone and my gaming computer setup will be complete...until I feel like upgrading my monitor. Thanks for the help and hopefully my post helps others!