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Is it possible to "upmix" (split) stereo output from games, winamp, youtube and so on through 5.1 speaker set? Movies from DVD or some games uses all 6 speakers, but most of today's usage does not.

I know foobar2000 can upmix stereo MP3 to all speakers, I'd like to process all stereo sound that way.

Is there any solution for Windows XP or 7?

EDIT: I'm talking about onboard 5.1 sound output AC97 nForce2 chipset in my case. Definitely low-end. EDIT2: No digital output, 3 analog mini-jacks there.

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3 Answers

up vote 2 down vote accepted

As Skelly says, it would depend on your driver.

For me, it's this setting:

screenshot of Realtek Audio Manager

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Thanks a lot for this. I spent about an hour setting up my speakers. –  Tomáš Pajonk Dec 14 '09 at 16:22
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If your hardware has a 5.1 output path, the upmix will be supported.

If you are wiring your audio output to external equipment through a stereo path,
you will be limited to that.

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Yes it's possible, though it might depend on your sound card drivers. I use a Creative X-Fi card and the Creative Control Panel app lists two faux surround modes for upmixing stereo: Stereo Surround and Stereo Xpand. If I remember correctly, the former option does what you need, it basically puts the stereo signal from the front L+R spakers in the rear L+R speakers too, I don't remember what happens to the center channel though, it's been a while since I've used a surround speaker set.

Check your driver controls for any similar-looking options.

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