Question No Bass Management/Speaker Fill (or equivalent) for my 5.1 Sound System - Windows 10

jondan97

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I bought 2 or 3 years ago a logitech z506 and had it working properly on my PC until yesterday. The only thing I had to do was to go to the Realtek HD Audio Manager and check the option for Bass Management which would allow my 5.1 system to work properly on YouTube and other stereo "only" sources.

Yesterday, I upgraded my PC and along with other parts, I also upgraded my motherboard. Now, all the options have disappeared from the Realtek Manager and the sound system only works when I test it through the windows control panel (subwoofer etc. work properly). Other than that, it only plays in stereo mode meaning only the right and the left speakers make sound.

I've tried reinstalling the drivers manually and checking windows settings for "speaker fill" but enhancements tab is missing.

Now I've uninstalled all the drivers and the manager, and Windows does not even recognise the device anymore but If I reinstall the realtek drivers, the device will be working again (in stereo mode only of course). Any idea what to do or somehow enable speaker fill? Thanks.

Current motherboard: asrock fatal1ty b450 gaming g4 (which supports 7.1 audio)

Previous motherboard: asrock z97 anniversary
 

jondan97

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May 17, 2017
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Did you reinstall Windows on your new hardware and then obtained motherboard chipset and audio drivers?

Not really, I literally swapped motherboards and just plugged the ssd with Windows on it.

I've deleted every Realtek driver and tried to find one that corresponds to my motherboard (if that makes sense). The Windows audio drivers do not recognise the sound system at all and downloading drivers from the Realtek website will make the device recognisable, but will only allow me to configure it as stereo and not as 5.1. So I just googled the name of my motherboard + audio driver and downloaded the drivers that supposedly come along with my motherboard. Windows will allow me to configure it as stereo or 5.1 and even 7.1 but only if I download these particular drivers. I remember in the Realtek HD Audio Manager, there would be an option for speaker fill, which would basically upmix stereo sound but now I have no idea how to do that.

Also, the new motherboard does not utilise the Realtek HD Audio Manager, but provides me with some other program named Realtek Audio Console, which has some basic options like bass management etc. but no speaker fill.

Photo of how my Realtek Audio Console looks like.
Photo of how my previous Realtek HD Audio Manager would look like.
 
Last edited:

boju

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Windows 10 has a lot of issues with Realtek software but doesn't help continuing an previous OS install on different hardware/different chipsets. Makes it hard because you don't know what kind of conflicts there are.

Anyway,

Tutorial how to get Manager back, not sure if it'll help but give it a crack.

Your audio chip is ALC892

Is your motherboard G4 or K4? Only found Asrock site for K4

K4 mobo drivers. https://www.asrock.com/MB/AMD/Fatal1ty B450 Gaming K4/index.asp#Download

It notes, only contains audio driver. The audio control software is downloaded via Windows updates. Audio driver either from Asrock or Realtek, doesn't matter. Realtek frequently updates their drivers so probably better getting from them.
 

jondan97

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May 17, 2017
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Windows 10 has a lot of issues with Realtek software but doesn't help continuing an previous OS install on different hardware/different chipsets. Makes it hard because you don't know what kind of conflicts there are.

Anyway,

Tutorial how to get Manager back, not sure if it'll help but give it a crack.

Your audio chip is ALC892

Is your motherboard G4 or K4? Only found Asrock site for K4

K4 mobo drivers. https://www.asrock.com/MB/AMD/Fatal1ty B450 Gaming K4/index.asp#Download

It notes, only contains audio driver. The audio control software is downloaded via Windows updates. Audio driver either from Asrock or Realtek, doesn't matter. Realtek frequently updates their drivers so probably better getting from them.

It's K4, sorry for the misspelling.

Tried video, didn't work.
Drivers from the Realtek site are basically the same as in the video, downloaded them, only recognises my device as stereo, audio console will not even open, sometimes it says "it doesn't support this machine" and others "failed to connect to RPC service"

Where I downloaded from:
https://www.realtek.com/en/component/zoo/advanced-search/250?Itemid=276

Asrock drivers from the link you sent work and recognise the device as 5.1, but options in the Audio Console such as Bass Management and Swap Center/Subwoofer are gone which makes me think that it is maybe an outdated version of a driver I found online.

The driver I found online shows the above options but I found it on a random website, not associated with Realtek or Asrock. Not sure how safe it is but it works:
https://drivers.softpedia.com/get/S...Driver-6-0-1-8397-for-Windows-10-64-bit.shtml
 

jondan97

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May 17, 2017
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I guess you are right. It has more options than what the official websites provide, but still not the one I'm looking for. Makes me believe that my sound card does not support upmixing or something like that. Oh well.
 

sagor1

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Jul 5, 2012
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@boju
I have same situation with my audio console driver.Speaker fill option is missing.
Is there any way to add speaker fill option to it?
Because of that i use windows generic driver.
My mobo is Asrock b365m phantom gaming 4.
 
Jan 20, 2020
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ASRock Fat4lity K4 doesn't have this feature, no matter what driver you install, you won't be able to hear the bass in a stereo format. Only 5.1 sound channels would work for this matter.