My 5.1 surround setup works with audio test but not in actual use

The weakness in your set up is the reliance on the analog sound card to create the 5.1 experience. Higher end speaker systems have an inbuilt digital to analog converter or DAC that creates the 5.1 experience. Most of the time stereo to DAC equals 5.1 surround. No DAC means the file source has to have been coded to produce data the sound card can use to create the 5.1 scenario. Without the required codecs then the sound becomes disjointed or limited to 2.1.

@wam

dac: digital analog converter. just what do you think a soundcard is (hint: it has a dac). now, i do agree there are many different levels and some are better than others for sure.

if sound was recorded in stereo then there is no way to get true surround from it. most of the time stereo sound to dac (regardless if its a high end sound system or just your soundcard) equals stereo sound and not surround. any kind of surround you do get (from some headphones with an onboard dolby digital soundcard or with software or other such device) are virtual surround only. you cant pull something from nothing without faking it.

the only way to get true surround is from a source recorded in such a manner. again, your system's codecs need to be able to handle it for sure but most soundcards support all of the latest formats.

i'm on a $1500 sound system (my receiver alone was $500) and i note the same issues as the op. its perfectly normal.

I know that this is a kind of old topic but I'm having difficulties to find a solution to my case.

My problem is very similar to the case in this post, I have a hp Elitebook 8560w connected via hdmi to my yamaha receiver that is connected to my tv.
When connecting the pc, windows 7 finds the new connection to the tv, and when I configure the speakers, I can hear all 5.1 sounds in the speaker configuration tests.

But when I try to run a movie, or play a game (counter strike GO for example) only the 2 front speakers works.
I've also tried the site indicated and it continues.

This is really strange, and it is kind of hard to find a solution in the internet.

any suggestions?

Thanks!!

Try going into the audio settings of the game that you are playing and see if you can find a setting which allows you to change it from 2.1 to 5.1 surround sound. If there is no option, then your game does not support 5.1 surround sound. I am not sure about the movie scenario. Also, not all HDMI cables support 5.1 surround sound. Your receiver may be converting the 2.1 stereo sound into virtual 5.1 surround sound if your HDMI cable does not support it.