No "Bass" Whatsoever Since Installing Vista (5.1 Surround Speakers)

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Motherboard (which my speakers are connected to) - http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/Motherboard/Products_Overview.aspx?ProductID=2551


I've just installed Vista Home Premium (x64).

I have a 5.1 surround sound system with a subwoofer, but songs I'm listening to are producing absolutely ZERO bass. It sounds as if I don't even have a subwoofer installed. In XP the bass was working great, but on Vista something must have changed because it sounds like the sub isn't even plugged in, although I don't know what it could be.

I included a screenshot of my current speaker setup, so maybe you can figure out what the problem is from that, I'm not sure though.

There's no bass in games, Windows Media Player, Youtube or anything which is a real annoyance, because the added Bass is one of the best features of having a 5.1 surround sound system.

I know it's probably something extremely simple, but I just can't think of what it might be. In the screenshot below you can see an option to test the sound coming from each individual speaker, and whenever I test the subwoofer sound, it seems to be working perfectly (I hear an extremely loud & LOW bassy sort of noise, which I guess is expected from the subwoofer), but ONLY in that test thing, nowhere else. This means that it's plugged in for sure, but I don't have any idea why it's not working when listening to music etc.


Speakers Setup - http://img32.picoodle.com/img/img32/3/1/2/f_SpeakersSetm_6174802.jpg

Bass Test Screenshot - http://img37.picoodle.com/img/img37/3/1/2/f_Untitledm_acd6fc3.jpg

Thanks in advance.
 
Right, I had a mess around with the speakers and I'm fairly certain the problem has something to do with the location in which they are plugged into the motherboard.

As you can see from the screenshot, my motherboard has SIX different locations where I can plug an audio device in to (in this case, 5.1 surround sound speakers). I have THREE wires coming from my speakers. One is connected to the Front Left & Front Right speakers, One is connected to the Rear left & Rear Right speakers, and the third is connected to the Centre & Subwoofer. Therefore this means I need to find the THREE correct locations to connect these three wires.

The audio connector locations on the motherboard say "Centre/Sub", "Rear" and "Side". I connected the Subwoofer to the "Centre/Sub" location, the Front speakers to the "Side" location and the Rear speakers to the "Rear" location. This seems to be working perfectly when I do the TEST located in the speaker settings. I click sub & sub works, I click front left/right & they work, I click rear left/right and THEY also work.

So why is it when I listen to a song or whatever, the bass is non existant?

I then had a FURTHER mess around with the speakers, and moved the Subwoofer wire from the Sub jack into the GREEN jack below it and guess what... Bass appeared all of a sudden. I then thought "great" so went back to the Test thingy, to see if it'd all work out properly, but now when I click SUB in the test, no sound comes out. So what does this mean? I now have Bass in my games, music, videos etc but when I click the SUBWOOFER icon in the Test area, no sound appears. It's like I can either have Bass in the Test or Bass in games, music, video etc. Why won't it just work in both?

It's pretty frustrating tbh.

Pic of my Mobo audio jacks - http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/FileList/Image/motherboard_productimageback_ga-p35c-ds3r_big.jpg
 
well this is the jack setup
Pink = Microphone In (mono)
Blue = Line-In (stereo)
Green = Line-Out / Front Speakers / Headphones
Orange = Center Speaker and Subwoofer
Black = Rear Surround Speakers (5.1, 7.1 systems)
Grey = Mid Surround Speakers (7.1 systems)


you should just be using the green, orange and black jacks

in the speaker setup shot check the speaker fill box and that will simulate surround sound and up mix the audio to 5.1

is the sound playing out of the rear speakers?
in some games you need to go into the sound settings and change it for a 5.1 setup
not all games support 5.1 surround sound


for most surround sound setups i would recommend a sound card but you should be good with on board sound. you just lose quality with on board

what kind of speakers do you have?
 
I'm currently using the Green, Black & Grey jacks. The subwoofer is plugged into the green jack as this seems to be the only one that will give me bass in music, games etc. Although then, when it's plugged into the Green jack, the actual TEST program doesn't produce any bass, which I find weird. If I put the subwoofer in the ORANGE jack, then the bass test in the TEST program works, but not in games etc :S
 
you need to reconfigure your sound configurations in vista audio properties and in games, if the test program works, which normally means the test program is right and everything works as it should be.
 
I've done ALL that. Like I said, the bass works in the TEST but not in music, games etc, UNLESS I switch some of the audio jacks around. Then there is bass present in games etc, but NOT in the test.

Why the hell won't it just work in the test AND everything else?
 
Hello,

I too am having the EXACT same issue. I have an Asus M2N32SLI Deluxe Mobo with the latest Bios (2101) and drivers possible from the Asus site.

I have struggled to find someone who was having the same issue for the longest time thinking it was just me and my machine, however now I'm certain this is a Vista issue and not an ID10t error.

I myself am an A+ Certified technician and this has stumped me for almost a year now until I decided to do a search today and found this thread.


I run the Test with my speakers plugged in and set to 5.1 mode and I can test each channel without trouble. When I run a game or play music (WMP or Winamp) I don't have any sound coming from the subwoofer at all.

Does anyone have any suggestions other than driver updates? I'm running the lastest with Microsoft UAA.

My system is Vista Ultimate OEM SP1 4 gig RAM 8800 GTS 640meg x2 video card with M2N32 SLI Mobo

Thanks in advance!
 
I had the same problem all you guys need to do if you have the realtek HD audio manager is to make sure the speaker configuration is set to 5.1 speaker and to check the "speaker fill" and "enable bass management" options by doing this you will hear your subwoofer in the test and music(wmp, winamp, musicmatch etc.)
it work for me................... EnjoY😉
 
The problem:

1=The OP is running in analog mode. This would be 6 channels via analog cables into his reciever. Unless his reciever supports a bass crossover for 6 channel input (nearly none do under 2000$$++) he will not get any subwoofer output in most apps on a current OS using onboard sound.

2=Games, media players ect rarely support a bass crossover bar some pro apps.

3=For the last 2-4 years or so it has been left up to sound card hardware and applications associated with that hardware to provide redirection to subs when using analog outputs.

4=Going to a digital output like SPDIF or fiber ect will not fix the problem as current apps like media players and games ect do NOT convert stereo sound into surround. It will result in loss of surround outside of tracks and or dvds that are specificly encoded with surround. No games atm support digital streams of surround sound.

How to fix:

I myself refuse to buy **** box systems. My PC is connected to my 5.1 system as well. I have had the same problem. Here are your options:

Analog(The OP's system)

1=Purchace a current sound card like an XFI model. The XFI series comes standard with a bass crossover and redirection feature that allows you to run your 6 channel analog output and ensure the bass always hits your sub no matter what you are doing. It doesnt matter what your settings are in your OS the XFI is the last stop before your sound system and has the final say. You will have full surround support in any app with the propper codecs and it should be no trouble at all to run in full surround in any game that supports it. The XFI also has all the features you need to run your music in simulated surround better known as "5 channel stereo". Keep in mind nearly NO recievers support filters for 6 channel analog inputs so its up to you to make sure its done in your rig before the reciever. These run from 50$-400$ The lower end XFI models will give you what you need but will not have the digital outputs in most cases as they are provided by a drive bay device or external device that comes with the higher end models.

2=Purchase a subwoofer that supports a high power line in. In other words your sub will accept 1-5 of your speaker wires that go to your speakers. You run your wires to the sub, the sub filters out the bass and then you run your wires to your speakers from the sub. Some Yamaha options are as cheap as 50$ for small theater systems with this feature. Not highly recomended as bass quality is usually a tad low and you have no control over the frequency levels the sub outputs unless you blow a hudge chunk of change on a high end self powered sub.

3=Try your hand at finding a 3rd party app for your onboard sound that supports a crossover for your subwoofer. Good luck. Most of the ones I have seen such very badly and are almost always a driver or 2 version behind the current.

Digital:

1) You can sacrifice surround in games and use a digital output if your onboard supports it. Current hardware under the pro level is not nearly powerfull enough to support true digital surround in games as it is nearly impossible to "buffer" sound long enough for digital output without creating a bad delay. It will then allow you to use your reciver to filter the bass to the sub. You should still retain surround in DVD playback IF and only IF you have the codecs to support it. Your sound quality will jump a great amount and your music will be the tell tale.

My setup:

I run a PCI-XFI-Plat edition. You can find them under 200$. This gives me 3 consoles to use. One is for recording and converting. One is for entertainment. One is for gaming. Each has its own pros and cons.

Entertainment mode foucuses the hardware on sound quality. I set this console up for digital. It allows me the absolute maximum quality I can get out of my hardware. It allows me to use a digital bitstream out and I get full digital surround playing DVDs. Its above and beyond the quality of any analog output. I filter my music with my reciver in 5 channel surround and let it take care of any redirection to my sub. My output from my system in this mode is SPDIF or FIBER to my reciever. This mode uses more system resources outside of the sound card itself

Game mode I set up for analog 6 channel output(like the OP is using). I use the sound cards crossover to redirect and filter the bass to my sub. I get full surround in games, DVDs and have all the same filters available to me as I do in entertainment mode but its analog and thus lower quality.
This mode I only use for games but it will do everything. This mode foucuses on using the sound card in an optimised way so that your sound does not tax the rest of your PC. It makes a big difference in my games.

The key is the hardware. I have with the XFI Plat edition a drive bay that gives me SPDIF and Optical outputs. It also has the standard analog 6 channel outputs on the back(3 jacks like the OP). There are other models that come with digital output options as well but I find that the Plat edition provides me with not only the outputs for everything I could ever need but the inputs as well and they are easily available for fast connections of any device.

More or less the end result is developers all over the place are leaving bass up to the hardware. If the OP wants bass all the time he needs to either spend the money on an insanely expensive reciever or invest in a modern sound card.
 
Great reply!

I own a first gen sound blaster audigy, does anyone know if this card supports bass x-over?

If not. Does anyone know the oldest model that does?

Thanks again!
 
I am having this exact same problem. I have an XFX 780i motherboard with the Realtek HD Audio manager and a Logitech 5.1 surround sound speakers. I dual boot both Windows Vista 64 bit and Windows XP 32 bit.

In Windows XP, the bass works flawlessly. In Vista, the bass does not work at all, the music coming from the bass is going tot he middle speaker, and when I test the middle speaker, it sounds the exact same. I have checked and unchecked both Speaker Fill and Bass management. I just now installed an updated version of the Realtek software and drivers.

Has anyone been able to fix this problem?
 
I just rebooted to XP (I only use XP to burn CD's with my copy of Nero, that wont install on Vista) and tested the bass... makes me say "Why am I even using Vista?". Its like a completely different experience with the bass working.

The audio manager looks different, but its called the same as it is in Vista. It does not have "Speaker fill" or "Bass management" like the Vista version. Swap Center/bass is unchecked, I should try that in Vista to see if anything happens, I have had it unchecked in the past with no results.

One other thing I notice is that the program does not have a 5.1 surround sound, it only has an option for "6CH Speakers", not 5.1 surround sound. Maybe thats my problem, I need to figure out how to switch it to 6CH in Vista?
 
I found a solution.

It's software based.

I can't post the link because I'm at work but you need to use the creative audio console and sound equalizer.

This allows the computer to digitally process a cross-over frequency that the software forces to output to the sub, thus creating the full 5.1 surround sound experience.
 
Possible solution for those with Realtek audio. It works for me with my on-board Realtek with ASUS M3N78Pro mobo:

1) Open Realtek audio manager an click "Sound Effects" tab. Choose "Room" in the environment box. Other options will give different sounds. The default "None" results in no sub woofer output.

2) Ensure "Enable Bass Management" is not selected in "Speaker Configuration" tab

It seems that the sub woofer output is regarded as a sound effect which has to be configured in order to produce an output

Good luck
 
dvddxr3 do you have any more info about the software you are using ??

the creative audio console is easy i'm just not 100% about the sound equalizer.

thx
 
I had the EXACT SAME problem with Vista 64-bit, a Creative Labs X-Fi Fatal1ty soundcard (set to 5.1) used with an audio reciever with a preamp output to an Active subwoofer...no subwoofer sound output, EXCEPT when testing the speakers.

I fixed it by unchecking the "Full Range Speakers" setting for the Front and Rear speakers. I noticed that you have the same settings in your RealTek settings. I think when you set those speakers "Full Range", then the audio interface does not redirect the low frequencies to the Subwoofer channel.

Try that, it "may" fix it. Good luck! :)
 
yup works, only problem is i've just had to go out and buy new speakers as my old one are not loud enough hehe
 
Bumping this because having the exact same issue and can't fix it, in Windows 7.
Usually I'd use the Creative Control Panel in XP to fix it; alas the software won't install on windows 7.

Tests etc. all run fine, can hear bass no problem.

Games/apps - no bass.

Using Xfi Xtreme Gamer & Sony 5.1's

Tries bobariz's fix, found the "full range speaker" boxes, unchecked; still got the issue. 🙁
 
I stumbled onto this thread because I've become annoyed at my own difficulties regarding 5.1 analog speakers and my VISTA-64 SP2 configuration. I have a Creative SB X-Fi (PCI) Fatal1ty sound card.

I had become used to entering the Media Center Setup each time I started Media Center, reconfiguring to "5.1 speakers" each time. This would fix the problem until I either shut-down Media Center, or rebooted -- to start it again. All of the sound, before reconfiguration, would come out of the center speaker; none of the satellite speakers or the bass woofer would exhibit any sound -- until after reconfiguring within Media Center to "5.1 speakers."

This time, having looked through this thread briefly, I entered Creative Audio Control Panel, and chose "Entertainment Mode" -- this, while leaving Media Center on "Live TV" in the background tuned in to CNN.

Media Center brought up a window, noting a "problem" with its sound configuration, and all sound stopped briefly. After clicking "Yes" to the message box, sound resumed in 5.1 mode.

I have yet to verify that this fixes the problem once and for all. Right now, I just want to watch the news on CNN.

EDIT: 20 minutes later: Yeah, Ba-aby, Yeahh!! For those who experienced this problem with the X-Fi Creative sound cards, this seems to be the solution. You have to run your audio configuration in "Entertainment" mode to keep the 5.1 configuration in Media Center (at least within VISTA's Media Center.)

I exited Media Center, and restarted it. I still get the sound from all five speakers and the bass woofer. This is a quantum departure from the behavior I described before. This is the way it SHOULD work!!
 
I found a solution for the Realtek built in stuff - I went into Control Panel and then selected sound while playing a source... Despite doing all of my tweaks on the "SPEAKER" settings in the Realtek manager, the OUTPUT was assigned to the "HD AUDIO 2ND INPUT"... that is, the headphones... so we are getting headphone output to 5.1 speakers, that's why it sucks so bad...

SOLUTION - in control panel I selected the Speakers (Top selection for me) and chose CONFIGURE. Left everything default. Then, after that, I selected it (highlighted speakers, as the top choice - we are still in SOUNDS from control panel) and also clicked "Set Default" and hit Apply.

Just for good measure I did the same in the Realtek Console: On the tabs on the top, highlight the speaker tab (leftmost for me) and then right click that tab - make it default.


This worked for me. I can now listen to Fret Heaven on www.live365.com without my ears bleeding. Hope this helps all of you!!!


Voodoods
 
in vista, i unselected full range speakers in 5.1 configuration and selected bass management and speaker fill. it works! sub plus all five. sounds great!
 


is there any way you could give me another explanation of this? i still am having problems and dont completely understand your solution
 
My bass is also completely missing when playing audio, video and games.

My setup:
Windows 7 pro
Creative X-FI XtremeGamer Fatality pro
5.1 speakers (brand: teufel)
Gigabyte P55A-UD3 motherboard

I've tried Creative's SupportPack 2.0 and the latest official creative drivers 2.18.0013.

When I run Creative Console Launcher, my speakers are set to 5.1. I use 'Game Mode' but it doesn't matter what mode I run, no Bass. When I do the speaker test in the program, all 5 satellites work, yet I only get a low and weird noise from the sub.

When I test the speakers using creatives THX program, the sub is heard a bit better, but still quite low and hollow somehow.

All 5 speakers run perfect on their respective channels.

Full-Range speakers is NOT checked in Windows speaker setup, and testing the speakers in this program, give the same results: speakers work fine, except the sub is not working well. Same results when Full-range speakers IS checked.

Enabling 'bass redirection' in creative's console launcher isn't solving the problem either.

All system drivers are up-to-date.

I have also tried to move the soundcard into a different PCI slot. Same results.

I have also tried to use the speakers with the motherboards Realtek soundcard, putting all speaker cables into the motherboards audio jacks instead, and installing the latest realtek drivers. Same results.

Bass is gone and overall the speaker output sounds not optimal.

The funny thing is, the sub worked when I had windows 7 RC running and overall the sound from the speakers sounded much clearer and crispier. I used another motherboard then (Asus P5B deluxe, with a core2duo CPU). Now I'm on a Core i5 setup, but doubt that this is making the problem.


The support pack 2.0 was latest installed, by first uninstalling every creative stuff on the pc, and then further by using drivesweeper.


Please any suggestions? It's driving me nuts
 
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