EDIT

[MilkyWay]

I think im missing something, im trying to get my centre channel to work with my A/V receiver and my stereo bookshelf speakers. I have my pc hooked up to the monitor with DVI and the receiver with HDMI for audio.

I have Tannoy Mercury V1 fronts, Tannoy Mercury VC centre and a Pioneer VSX-527 receiver.

 

[CJCerny]

Probably just sending stereo from your PC to your receiver. How many channels does your receiver say it is getting from your PC?

 

[Dent1]

Center channel with only work in a true 5.1 environment. Center channel is suppose to carry the speech or dialogue. The only way to configure the center is through the receiver's options. It can't be done within windows.

On pre encoded materials (DVD, Blu Ray) where DTS or DD 5.1 is present, the center speaker will be activated and self managed. Otherwise for all other material which is PCM Stereo you can enable Prologic 5.1 or DTS Neo 5.1 or Multi Channel PCM or some variant which will upmix from 2.0 to 5.1 on the receiver itself. Obviously your receiver will think you've got rears as well but its the only way to include the center within the mix.

 

[MilkyWay]

Will the lack of rears make a huge difference, will it try to send a signal to the rears even though there are none?

 

[CJCerny]

Will the lack of rears make a huge difference, will it try to send a signal to the rears even though there are none?

Depends on how you configure your receiver and how it works. If you configure it to know that you don't have the rears, it will either throw that info away or spread it to your existing speakers. You'll just have to try it.

The real problem is that you are only going to be able to send 2.0 to your receiver from your PC unless it pre-encoded DD or DTS tracks (those on a DVD or BR). If you want to create 5.1 on the fly from a game, you need a sound card that can create 5.1 on the fly, like one that has DD Live functionality.

 

[Dent1]

Will the lack of rears make a huge difference, will it try to send a signal to the rears even though there are none?

It will make no difference, DTS Neo and Prologic will send the signal the rears, but you won't hear anything because rear speakers are not connected.

Alternatively, on the receiver, you can disable the rears. There will be an option on the receiver saying: center: Yes, front: Yes, rear: No or similar. The only disadvantage is you won't be able to enable DTS Neo or Prologic and it will be replaced with Full Mono or Full Stereo or similar which will essentially duplicate the sounds from the fronts into the center. Nothing wrong with this but you'll get miscellaneous sounds in the center opposed to "just" speech which is what the center speaker is intended to do.

What CJCerny said was also correct. However enabling DTS Neo or Prologic will solve that issue. I wouldn't waste money on an encoding soundcard on a 2.1 system, although its something to consider in the future if you buy rears.

 

[MilkyWay]

Alright my Pioneer receiver has Dolby Pro Logic IIz and DTS-HD.

I can set in the FM tuner, Stereo, Stereo ALC (auto loudness control), Dolby Pro Logic, PLII music, PLII Movies, PLII Game, DTS NEO:6 Cinema or Music. On the PC HDMI connection i only get PCM or Stereo, with the AUTO/DIRECT button i get Direct or pure direct or auto surround.

I managed to get the centre working on my pc.

I've turned off the sub, rears, high fronts and enabled the centre on my receivers menu. I can only select PCM or stereo with the pc connection so i use digital PCM. In the realtek properties i can set it to 5.1 and also turn off the speakers i don't have, then i enabled speaker fill which makes stereo get mixed to other channels so i can get voice on centre even with a stereo source.

Haven't had a chance to use my TV or 360 with the speakers yet as my long HDMI cable is fucked and im looking for a large L shape corner desk to place my tv next to my pc. Im also going to try optical audio on my replacement Laserdisc player i think that will enable PCM or Discs that have DTS. Dolby AC/3 might require a modulator but there is a jack for that on my player.

If i set a film in VLC to 5.1 that has DTS will i lose any sound? im not missing anything that would be pumped to the rears?

 

[Dent1]

Alright my Pioneer receiver has Dolby Pro Logic IIz and DTS-HD.

I can set in the FM tuner, Stereo, Stereo ALC (auto loudness control), Dolby Pro Logic, PLII music, PLII Movies, PLII Game, DTS NEO:6 Cinema or Music. On the PC HDMI connection i only get PCM or Stereo, with the AUTO/DIRECT button i get Direct or pure direct or auto surround.
I managed to get the centre working on my pc.

I've turned off the sub, rears, high fronts and enabled the centre on my receivers menu. I can only select PCM or stereo with the pc connection so i use digital PCM. In the realtek properties i can set it to 5.1 and also turn off the speakers i don't have, then i enabled speaker fill which makes stereo get mixed to other channels so i can get voice on centre even with a stereo source..

That's the problem. Within Window's Audio Properties and within Realtek divers you're suppose to select stereo as the configuration. As far as windows is concerned you've got only two speakers because the audio source is only 2 channels, the receiver will acknowledge this and enable DTS Neo and Prologic feature for a 2.0 to 5.1 up mix.


If you select 5.1 in windows most receivers will hide the Prologic and DTS Neo feature because you are telling the receiver there is nothing to up mix.

Likewise, if you disable the rears the receiver's menu it will also hide the Prologic and DTS Neo feature, because those features are specifically for a 5.1 environment.

Basically, for Prologic and DTS Nero to work correctly, you want windows to think you're running a 2.0 setup, and you want your receiver to think you're running a 5.0 or 5.1 set up.

If i set a film in VLC to 5.1 that has DTS will i lose any sound? im not missing anything that would be pumped to the rears?

Yes if you're playing back a DVD with Dolby 5.1 or DTS 5.1, the Prologic and DTS Neo feature won't be needed. You'll will be missing whatever is supposed to come from the rears and subwoofer. This may be explosions, general sound effects, whatever it may be.