Logitech Z506 rear speakers not working properly with Asus Z370 Prime-A Motherboard

[elkabongtssss]

Hi, I was recently trying to test whether the onboard soundcard of my Asus Z370 Prime-A motherboard would work with my 5.1 channel speakers (Logitech Z506). For the past year I was only using the single green cable from my speakers to rear stereo jack input (green) of my motherboard.

During that time, the Front L-R, Center, and subs are working and the Rear L-R outputs a very subtle ambient sound, almost unnoticable. However, I tried testing the full 5.1 channel output this week by using the additional black and orange cables from my speakers and connected them to the black (Rear) and orange (SubW/C) input of my motherboard. Only the Front L-R, Center and subs output sound, while the Rear L-R now has no output. Also tried the 5.1 sound test using Realtek, I noticed that all the output are only coming from Front L-R and center. Also, I cannot find 5.1 surround sound or DTS on the sound configuration of windows.

I tried checking all the connections of my speakers and all seem to be properly connected. I also tried uninstalling and reinstalling the provided drivers of my Mobo (Asus Realtek HD audio), but still encounter same issue.

(Sorry for the long post, I just want to explain the situation as much as I can...)

 

[Paperdoc]

I suspect you have been deceived by a feature of the Realtek sound system. It has caused confusion for many, myself included. It will describe how I have to configure mine - yours will be similar.

The root of this is a feature that allows you to re-assign any of four audio output jacks to other output channels. It kicks in any time you unplug and then plug something into those jacks, and it REQUIRES that you give it answers. If you ignore the screen query it does not use the default suggestion, it simply sends NOTHING out of that jack. So, follow the process.

To start, unplug all your speaker plugs from the speaker system from the rear panel mobo audio output jacks. In your case, that would be three items (or four if you also unplug the microphone plug). Get your mobo manual and review what it says about the colours of the jacks. I'll suggest the colours mine uses and yours should be the same, but that is NOT for sure! Now, arrange your stuff so that you can have access to the rear panel and plugs so you can plug things in, PLUS be able to see your screen AND use your keyboard. Now, reboot the machine and it will realize that it has nothing plugged in.

1. Plug in ONE speaker cord - say, the green one for front left / right stereo into the light green jack - and watch the screen for a pop-up window that says it detects that you plugged in something and asks you to tell it what that was. It may suggest the correct thing, or you may have to change it. Whichever, do NOT ignore this - answer! Then the screen will disappear. If you wait too long it will disappear anyway but NOT know what that was, so it won't send anything out on that jack hole.
2. Plug in ONE more jack - say, the Orange front center / sub-woofer plug into the orange jack. Again, respond properly to the pop-up query.
3. Third plug - say, grey rear left / right stereo into grey jack - and respond again.
4. IF you had the microphone unplugged, plug that into the right jack (usually pink) and respond to the pop-up.

Now you probably have all your speakers plugged in and the replies registered. Use the Realtek configuration tool - usually reached via an icon at lower right of your screen - to set correct configuration. Find where you can tell it to use the 5.1 speaker system, then find the little sound test tool that plays sounds running around your room, to verify the speakers all work. You can then set up the balances from left to right, front to back, etc. and test them until it sounds right.

 

[elkabongtssss]

I suspect you have been deceived by a feature of the Realtek sound system. It has caused confusion for many, myself included. It will describe how I have to configure mine - yours will be similar.

The root of this is a feature that allows you to re-assign any of four audio output jacks to other output channels. It kicks in any time you unplug and then plug something into those jacks, and it REQUIRES that you give it answers. If you ignore the screen query it does not use the default suggestion, it simply sends NOTHING out of that jack. So, follow the process.

To start, unplug all your speaker plugs from the speaker system from the rear panel mobo audio output jacks. In your case, that would be three items (or four if you also unplug the microphone plug). Get your mobo manual and review what it says about the colours of the jacks. I'll suggest the colours mine uses and yours should be the same, but that is NOT for sure! Now, arrange your stuff so that you can have access to the rear panel and plugs so you can plug things in, PLUS be able to see your screen AND use your keyboard. Now, reboot the machine and it will realize that it has nothing plugged in.

1. Plug in ONE speaker cord - say, the green one for front left / right stereo into the light green jack - and watch the screen for a pop-up window that says it detects that you plugged in something and asks you to tell it what that was. It may suggest the correct thing, or you may have to change it. Whichever, do NOT ignore this - answer! Then the screen will disappear. If you wait too long it will disappear anyway but NOT know what that was, so it won't send anything out on that jack hole.
2. Plug in ONE more jack - say, the Orange front center / sub-woofer plug into the orange jack. Again, respond properly to the pop-up query.
3. Third plug - say, grey rear left / right stereo into grey jack - and respond again.
4. IF you had the microphone unplugged, plug that into the right jack (usually pink) and respond to the pop-up.

Now you probably have all your speakers plugged in and the replies registered. Use the Realtek configuration tool - usually reached via an icon at lower right of your screen - to set correct configuration. Find where you can tell it to use the 5.1 speaker system, then find the little sound test tool that plays sounds running around your room, to verify the speakers all work. You can then set up the balances from left to right, front to back, etc. and test them until it sounds right.

Hi! Thank you so much for your detailed explanation. In my case, my motherboard has a total of 5 onboard audio i/o connections which are: Mic In (Pink), Front Speaker Out (Lime), Line In (Light Blue), Subwoofer/Center (Orange), Rear Speaker Out (Black).

I forgot to mention that I tried this procedure when I was testing the cable connections of the speaker. However, I noticed one thing that may be an issue. When plugging the green cable, a popup modal appears that lets me select a preferred input (ie. Front Speaker Out) which is correct. But when I plug in the Subs or the Rear cables (colored Orange and Black respectively), I notice that only a notification message from Realtek appears on the task bar saying something like... "You just unplugged/plugged a device into the audio jack". However, no pop-up modal to let me choose or decide which connection was it.

 

[Paperdoc]

For what you describe, I suggest you look closely in the Realtek tool for what type of speakers you are trying to use. MAYBE if it is set to 2-channel stereo or headphones, it does not recognize that other speakers just might exist. Ensure that you set that option to 5.1 channel (6-speaker) surround sound. THEN try the process of going through from no speakers to three sets.

 

[elkabongtssss]

For what you describe, I suggest you look closely in the Realtek tool for what type of speakers you are trying to use. MAYBE if it is set to 2-channel stereo or headphones, it does not recognize that other speakers just might exist. Ensure that you set that option to 5.1 channel (6-speaker) surround sound. THEN try the process of going through from no speakers to three sets.

Sadly, I did try this test as I've mentioned on my original post. However, only front speakers are working when all 3 wires are connected to the motherboard. All speakers would only work if I disconnect the 2 wires, but only runs in stereo mode. I think it has something to do with my past configuration in Realtek when I was still using the single green wire setup.

I tried installing both realtek audio drivers from Realtek website and Asus but the Realtek audio manager kept choosing Stereo setup as default.

 

[elkabongtssss]

Heck yes, finally got it to work!!

All this time I was ignoring the fact that I have other 3rd party audio software installed. I was using a SteelSeries headset and the SteelSeries Engine Software also has this audio configuration setup. All I did was uninstall the software, both Realtek and SteelSeries engine and voila. My system finally recognized all the speakers correctly when I choose 5.1 surround.

 

[Paperdoc]

Nice work figuring out the problem. Congrats!