Trouble hooking up Bluray 5.1 surround sound system to Desktop PC.

[Bartok]

I recently received an LG 5.1 Bluray surround sound system for free from my father and am trying to get it working with my desktop pc but have run into some weird issues. I'll link the system I have down below in hopes that it might help. So I have the system connected to my pc using an HDMI cable from my GPU (GTX 770) to the HDMI IN port on my bluray player / receiver. The issue is I am getting a noticeable hissing noise that goes away as soon as I unplug the hdmi cable. I've made sure that the receiver is also connected to the same powerbar as my pc. So it doesn't appear to be any issue with signal to noise ratio or ground loop feedback. There also appears to be a noticeable delay in the audio I am getting while playing games that support 5.1 surround sound. The other weird thing that is going on is that windows seems to be registering the bluray player as a second display. So when I turn it on and off my monitor goes blank for a moment while it sorts out the newly added "display" before returning to normal. Except that my mouse on the right of my screen will disappear which I can only assume is in the area where is thinks my new monitor is. So yeah some weird stuff going on while connecting this though HDMI. I don't know if anyone else has had these issues so I'd appreciate any feedback. My first step is probably going to go and pick up a toslink cable tomorrow. I know it doesn't fully support uncompressed 5.1 but at least then I can see if the issue persists while connecting a different input. Any feedback or tips for troubleshooting would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

The system I have: https://www.lg.com/ca_en/home-theater-systems/lg-HB905PA
A link to the manual: https://www.lg.com/ca_en/support/manuals?csSalesCode=HB905PA.BCANLL
My motherboard just in case: https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/Z87-G45-GAMING/Specification

 

[Mussels]

Oh god, you're entering into a rabbit hole of hell, digital audio is a pain in the ass on PC.

HDMI does NOT do audio seperately - it is a display and audio combined. You need to run Video card -> receiver -> monitor
It will only work with "normal" TV resolutions and refresh rates, so 1440p or high refresh rate monitors work work

If the sound source changes between PCM, DD or DTS standards you can get a bit of delay as it changes (you can disable those in device manager by unticking some boxes for your HDMI audio)

optical is stero only for 99% of PC use, the hissing should not exist but might be because you have no display connected to the receivers HDMI output?

 

[Bartok]

Oh god, you're entering into a rabbit hole of hell, digital audio is a pain in the ass on PC.

HDMI does NOT do audio seperately - it is a display and audio combined. You need to run Video card -> receiver -> monitor
It will only work with "normal" TV resolutions and refresh rates, so 1440p or high refresh rate monitors work work

If the sound source changes between PCM, DD or DTS standards you can get a bit of delay as it changes (you can disable those in device manager by unticking some boxes for your HDMI audio)

optical is stero only for 99% of PC use, the hissing should not exist but might be because you have no display connected to the receivers HDMI output?

Unfortunately I have an ultrawide display and it only has a dual link dvi connection. So I can’t hookup my monitor to the DVD player unfortunately.

 

[Mussels]

then you're doomed to always having an invisible second monitor, unless you actually connect a 1080p monitor or TV to it

You may find optical with less issues if you want stereo audio, but getting 5.1 audio out of optical on PC is another entire bucket of fun with only a very few, hard to find sound cards support real time encoding (which allows *all* audio to be 5.1, and not just DVD's and blu rays)

 

[CityCultivator]

Creative's cheapest card with DDL/DTSi (5.1 audio over optical):
Internal: Sound Blaster Z
External: Sound Blaster X3 (Only DDL)

 

[Mussels]

Creative's cheapest card with DDL/DTSi (5.1 audio over optical):
Internal: Sound Blaster Z
External: Sound Blaster X3 (Only DDL)

easier to find that i expected tbh, good work

 

[Bartok]

Creative's cheapest card with DDL/DTSi (5.1 audio over optical):
Internal: Sound Blaster Z
External: Sound Blaster X3 (Only DDL)

Is this really the only solution here? No way to fiddle with any settings on the pc to get this to work?

 

[mx62]

wild guess
did you try a dvi splitter
dvi also send sound

 

[Bartok]

wild guess
did you try a dvi splitter
dvi also send sound

The only DVI cable I have on my pc is going straight from my GPU to my monitor so I don't think it would be an issue with that cable.

 

[Night]

Toslink is your best bet, as it's for audio only. There's also RCA cable option but you'll be limited to 2.1 only.

 

[mx62]

The only DVI cable I have on my pc is going straight from my GPU to my monitor so I don't think it would be an issue with that cable.

yeah but you can buy a dvi spliter and connect to receiver via hdmi dvi cable
just a thought i dont know if it will work but....
just a cheap solution

 

[Bartok]

yeah but you can buy a dvi spliter and connect to receiver via hdmi dvi cable
just a thought i dont know if it will work but....
just a cheap solution

As far as I know there are no dual link dvi to HDMI adapters that are actually dual link. They are all single link adapters even if they are advertised as dual link and they don't support the resolution of my monitor of 2560x1080 @ 60Hz. However, I did seem to fix the secondary display issue just not by going into display setting and clicking show only on monitor 2. So now I don't get the annoying mouse moving off the screen but I need to test the surround sound now. Currently rewiring a few speakers to see if that fixes the hissing problem I was having.

 

[claes]

Have you tried modified drivers?

Unlocked Realtek HD Audio Drivers for Windows 10 (Dolby Digital Live/DTS Interactive)

Hello, I take the initiative and create this thread since the old one is getting too big and people mix windows 7 and windows 10 methods. The purpose of this thread is to help people, who are using windows 10 and Realtek R2.80 or newer driver version, unlock DTS and Dolby Digital playback...

www.techpowerup.com

 

[Mussels]

Have you tried modified drivers?

Unlocked Realtek HD Audio Drivers for Windows 10 (Dolby Digital Live/DTS Interactive)

Hello, I take the initiative and create this thread since the old one is getting too big and people mix windows 7 and windows 10 methods. The purpose of this thread is to help people, who are using windows 10 and Realtek R2.80 or newer driver version, unlock DTS and Dolby Digital playback...

www.techpowerup.com

those are complicated, messy, work for only specific sound cards, and if they break they break your OS. not something i would recommend anyone do.

 

[Bartok]

Have you tried modified drivers?

Unlocked Realtek HD Audio Drivers for Windows 10 (Dolby Digital Live/DTS Interactive)

Hello, I take the initiative and create this thread since the old one is getting too big and people mix windows 7 and windows 10 methods. The purpose of this thread is to help people, who are using windows 10 and Realtek R2.80 or newer driver version, unlock DTS and Dolby Digital playback...

www.techpowerup.com

I’ll give this a shot. Thanks for the suggestion.

those are complicated, messy, work for only specific sound cards, and if they break they break your OS. not something i would recommend anyone do.

Can you elaborate on why these may break your os system?

 

[Mussels]

I’ll give this a shot. Thanks for the suggestion.

Can you elaborate on why these may break your os system?

they often need driver signature disabled (which messes with a few games anti cheat systems) and replacing files manually - if things screw up and you dont have the original files to replace them with, an OS reinstall may be the only way out

these mods are made by people who dont have the hardware to test them on, so they're always a gamble - i personally dont think its worth the effort and suggest one of those creative cards for real time encoding and going the optical route

 

[Ferather]

Mussels is correct enough. Always make sure its signed, and where possible you can see the files (not hidden behind an installer).

ALWAYS make a restore point or other type of backup.