Sound - will it get a boost in Windows 9?

[Marc Isikoff]

The problem that comes up most with sound in Windows 7/8 is "can I play audio to 2 different devices?"

There's threads covering that, but for the most part, let's make the scenario generic.

You have a PC connected to a TV through say HDMI and there's audio coming out of the TV's 5 watt speakers.

Next, you want rear speakers but settle on bluetooth speakers that say they can pair up as left/right.

The shortcoming of Sound in Windows (thru Win8) is you can select only one device in the Playback tab of Sound Properties. While you see TV (HDMI) as well as Bluetooth Speaker you cannot mix/match one or the other to fill in your 6 speakers of a 5.1 setup. Only one can be the default Device.

What I'd love to see, and I think a gang of people will agree, is:

1. Let all devices be listed in Sound dialog under "Devices" tab.
2. Let each device name it's method (HDMI, RCA, Bluetooth, etc).
3. Let Playback tab get retooled to select audio profile (2.0, 2.1, 5.0, 5.1, 7.0, 7.1, custom) if you have enough devices to fill the profile (grey out 7.0 and 7.1 if you have 6 devices max).
4. Let Playback tab also let you choose which device for which profile's components (e.g., let me say my bluetooth speaker is my center speaker in my 5.1 profile).

I doubt this would be super difficult for Msoft to do and doesn't violate any patents (that I know of) but would give playback options that everyone would probably use.

Thoughts?

 

[FinalDrive]

Yeah, I tried everything I could to get JUST movies and video audio to playback through my TV through HDMI (from 770) and have game sounds come out of my PC's 5.1 (from X-fi/Z), but nothing worked to do what I wanted. I was able to use the "listen to this device" to get audio through both locations, but they weren't isolated, both devices played both sources audio, frustrating.

I ended up building a HTPC to accomplish this task.

 

[Marc Isikoff]

Yes, if you use a 3rd party device like a Logitech 5500 you just need SPDIF to it. But for those wanting flexible use of speakers, like "hey, let me move them to the backyard deck" you need like Sonos or bluetooth.