I have a 5.1 Sound System. It works great in 2 channels but when I switch to 5.1 the subwoofer ain't working. My motherboard has a nvidia 4 ultra chipset so it supports 5.1 configuration. Also in nvidia mixer when I use sound test everything is great and I can hear the subwooofer working as is should. But when I want to watch a movie or listen to music the subwoofer is as good as dead. Can somebody help me?

In my eyes your lucky, i can not get my subwoofer to be quiet.

I have had the same problem but with different chipsets, thinking that you are running Windows XP go into Control Panel then go into Sound and Audio Devices, look at the bottom of the General Tab and you should see Speaker Volume and Advanced. First Click on Advanced and set the computer to what sound system best suits you. Then go into Speaker Volume and configure the volumes for each channel and test. Then again, your computer might be like mine and not show the six channels, only the left and right. If that doesn't work go into the Audio tab and make sure the default device is the one you are using, adjust the other ones if the sound card also does their job.

If that doesn't work I find a reinstall of drivers is a good fixer of these kind of problems, make sure you have a copy of the drivers though before you uninstall them as you wont have sound at all, if that is the case just use System Restore located in Accessories. It is always wise to create a restore point before you do anything like this just incase any thing goes wrong.

To Reinstall Drivers:
1. Right Click the My Computer Button and click on Properties.
2. Click the tab 'Hardware' and go into Device Manager.
3. Go into the Sound, Video and Game Controllers Sub-Menu right click your sound card and click uninstall, click yes when it asks you if you're sure and then restart. Either it will reinstall the drivers during the restart and you should hear the Windows Startup Music on the next startup, if it doesn't install the drivers though the copies of the drivers.

Hope This Helps

thewebber1988

P.S. The reinstall could be an ideal oppertunity to upgrade the drivers, go to the manufactuers website and download them there.

Nope still doesn't work. I mean it works only when testing it with nvidia mixer, I hear every channel laud and clear including the subwoofer. If I start a movie (dvd 5.1 channels) the subwoofer goes quite. I have Windows XP SP2 and the latest drivers from nvidia (actually tried 2 versions of nvidia drivers).
So since I can hear the subwoofer in nvidia driver tests I think the problem is hardware related.

What program are you using to play DVD's. If you use PowerDVD version 5.0 go into configure, sound, select 6 speakers and then choose and audio expander, I use Dolby Pro Logic Movie Mode. This is the only version of PowerDVD or any DVD player for that manner that works with mine, if you use the later versions I had really big troubles and got rid of it.
This has me puzzled but I will try as much as I can to help.
Also go into Device Manager and check what the Status of the Device is by going into properties. Otherwise try e-mailing NVIDIA's support.

Another problem that I had with my card was that Windows Installed the wrong drivers so it thought it was a 4 channel card, check that on yours.

Hope This Helps.

thewebber1988

Well I wasn't using PowerDVD... I was using Media Player. So I took your advice downloaded and installed PowerDVD 6 and it works great now... 6 beautiful channels. Of course it only works as it should in PowerDVD.
Thanx for your help. I greatly apreciate it!

Glad I Could Help, Windows Media Player is only limited to 2 channels and it will play the identical stereo in the back speakers. It you want extra bass in Windows Media Player try changing the first 2-3 bars on the Graphic Equaliser upwards and that should Improve it, you have to fiddle around to get the right sound though.

Have fun with your new surround sound.

thewebber1988

I got very similar problem

I have a 5.1 Sound System. My motherboard has an integrated nvidia 2 sound card, it supports 5.1 configuration. In nvidia mixer when I use sound test I can't hear the subwooofer working. And when I try to watch movies, not all music and sounds (usually voices) I can hear with 5.1 sound system. But when I choose 4 chanels system everything is OK exept that my subwooofer is useless. Well.... It appears not with all movies. Some formats run perfect with 5.1 system.
That problem appeared when I reinstalled my Windows XP. I got newest drivers, but nothing changed.
Thank you for your help in advance.
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Justinas