Genius sw hf5.1 4000 speaker system, no bass

[Carnageman]

Along with my other speakers, I have a Genius HF5.1 4000 speaker system rigged to my computer. Now, while the 5 speakers of this set seem to be outputting all 5 channels of surround sound, when I play any game that should have some kind of 5.1 support, the sub-woofer channel of the center/sub-woofer output never seems to get any attention at all. No bass coming from it, ever. On some occasions it does, though, like S.T.A.L.K.E.R., but there the audio almost sounds mono compared to, say, FlatOut2.

Earlier on this meant that I couldn't get any bass at all in games when running in 5.1. I did get it in 2.1, but I think that goes by another mechanism. As of now, I have 2 extra 2.1 systems I scavenged from around my house (they weren't being put to any purpose anyway, so I thought I'd make use of them) that I can configure to be extra front and rear channels, in which case the sub-woofer on those kind of compensates for the lack of bass. Though, the center speaker is still bass-less so it feels out of balance.

Anyway, I figure there could be 2 theoretical solutions to this problem: either 1) Get the .1 channel on my Genius system to be recognized, or 2) Make the cen/sub channel mono, in which case all channels should have independent bass. However, I have no idea how to accomplish either. Any help?

PS. Imp, if you would bother to get into the mechanics of how the upmixing is done through the kernel, I'm sure it'd help. And how I can tell if a game has native 5.1 support.

Also: 1st post in the Tech Support subforum.

[imperialreign]

Well, for your interest in the upmixing . . . I'll simply break it down. The upmixing itself is generally carried out via the audio drivers, usually at the low level (within the OS kernel) seeing as how it's a driver operation.

Although I'm not 100% sure of the upmixing process (as it can vary greatly based on audio hardware, drivers, decoders, encoding, etc.), basically, what happens is that the drivers take the output stream and "split" the track. Although it's already 2-channel (L/R), it makes "copies" of each individual side, and then pans the audio. The original track is still played, but is sent to LF/RF and each side is panned a bit more to the L/R respectively . . . to cook up LR/RR, the tracks are typically inverted, then panned slightly more towards center. Center front is usually derived by panning the LF/RF more towards center and passing it through a high-pass filter (removing low frequency), the the sub channel takes the same process and passes it through a low-pass filter (to allow for only low frequency sounds).


If your sub isn't working - start with: make sure it's plugged in correctly, make sure it's powered correctly, make sure the gain is set properly (if equipped with gain control), double check the subwoofer volume channel in WIN's audio control panel, and make sure to double check the wiring to the speaker driver itself (if you've crossed + and -, it will cancel out and sound really quiet) . . . if using an X-Fi, double check the THX crossover settings in the X-FI control panel, bass settings and gain,

[Carnageman]

Actually, my sub itself is working perfectly, considering that it sounds great when I'm playing music or if I check it in the realtek audio manager, it just seems that not a single game recognizes it. So yeah, it's not a mechanical problem and unfortunately none of those steps are thus going to help.

Still, thanks a ton for the upmixing info. I was kind of thinking that's how it's done.

[chaosshade]

The realtek system isn't exactly all that friendly imo. You can change up the settings to make it do different things (or to get better sound.)

You could try switching the center/sub channels and see if that gets you an results. Also be sure that "bass management" isn't checked. You could also try selecting "speaker fill" to see if that has any effect. I only have two pairs of speakers set up and they're not really even in the proper configuration.

One is an ass set of tinny speakers I looted from my college and the other is a rather nice pair of harman/kardons that I got w/ my first rig.

[Carnageman]

No idea where to find "bass management" or "speaker fill". Do I have something outdated? I haven't really updated any sound drivers for a while.

[chaosshade]

You might have an older version. I just got a new board, so they probably changed the interface. Try updating your drivers, that might help.

[Carnageman]

I don't think I even know how to update the sound drivers. With a gfx card it's easy, but I don't even know where to begin with the audio drivers. If it's a motherboard integrated card, do the new drivers come with the motherboard updates or separately? It's a GA-P35-DS3L/S3l mobo, if that helps.

[chaosshade]

I originally installed the drivers that came on the motherboard's CD, but there was an update for it on EVGA's site and a further update w/ the regular windows updates. I'd say check the manufacturer's website first (the motherboard's) then check windows update (hit custom if you use XP, otherwise look in "optional" for 7 and Vista)