The VideoLAN Forums

I can no longer get surround sound since VLC version 2.0.8.

All I can select in Audio Device now is either "Default" or my sound card "SB X-Fi Audio [8C00]" both of which give a very loud distorted stereo sound, the selection of 5.1, 2 Front 2 Rear, Stereo, Mono, A/52 over S/PDIF have all disappeared and Stereo mode is now listed beneath Audio Device and is greyed out.

VLC version 2.0.8 works fine so I have stuck with it other than testing each new release up to 2.1.3 and the vlc-2.2.0-git-20140409-0030 nightly build.

I have tried every update since 2.0.8 and I still can't get 5.1 sound, I was hoping an update might eventually fix the issue but so far it has not and the later versions just give distorted sound output on surround sound movies.

I tried resetting the cache/settings to defaults, uninstalling, reinstalling, I have since done a fresh install of Windows XP Pro (unrelated) but I still have the same same problem, I tried setting my speakers to 5.1 instead of 7.1 (not that it used to be a problem in version 2.0.8.) I also tried the default settings for my speaker setup and tried turning different settings on and off but so far no good.

I set the output IN VLC to waveOut and the distortion stopped but the sound was muffled and although I could hear some sound coming out of the rear speakers it still sounded like stereo to me and the vocal was coming out of the left and right speakers instead of the front speaker as it used to and was so low it could hardly be heard.

Directx and windows mutimedia device output also give distorted stereo sound.

Same problem with all of the surround sound movies that I have tried be it AC3 or DTS .mkv all of which work fine in VLC 2.0.8 with its default settings.

Does anyone have the same problem as me or know why surround sound no longer works with my sound card (details below) since version 2.0.8?, are there any known problems with Creative sound cards or drivers?.

Any other settings that I could try changing in VLC player? or would it just be a waste of time considering that all of the options to select 5.1, 2 Front 2 Rear, Stereo, Mono, A/52 over S/PDIF are no longer showing?.

Is it enough to post this here or should I be writing a bug report?.
If there are any other details that I can give that may help please let me know.

I have creative sound card drivers installed (latest update) all of the details are below*:

OS Name Microsoft Windows XP Professional
Version 5.1.2600 Service Pack 3 Build 2600
OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
System Manufacturer alienware
System Model alienware
System Type X86-based PC
Processor x86 Family 6 Model 15 Stepping 6 GenuineIntel ~2666 Mhz
BIOS Version/Date Phoenix Technologies, LTD 6.00 PG, 22/01/2008
SMBIOS Version 2.4

*Sound Card: Creative X-Fi Audio Processor (WDM)

Sound Blaster SB073A X-Fi XtremeGamer Audio 7.1 Sound Card

Driver version: 2. 18. 15

speakers:
Creative Inspire T7900
7.1 surround sound, (Analog speakers) plugged in via jack plug leads in to the sound card (not optical)

---
Graphics card:
Name NVIDIA GeForce 7950 GT
adapter Type GeForce 7950 GT, NVIDIA compatible
Adapter Description NVIDIA GeForce 7950 GT
Adapter RAM 512.00 MB (536,870,912 bytes)
Installed Drivers nv4_disp.dll
Driver Version 6.14.13.0783
---

Thank you.

I reinstalled 2.1.3 in a sandbox and tried some of my original DVD's out of interest but I wish I hadn't, I tried again with 2.0.8 and it worked perfectly, version 2.0.8 selected and played the 5.1 soundtrack automatically 2.1.3 however selected kill all eardrums automatically .. not what I want.