Wanting to use DTS 5.1 on PS4 with Sound Blaster ZxR

[ColePi]

So I have my PS4 running its sound into the optical input on my ZxR's DBpro Daughter Board and I can hear audio from my PS4 fine but I've hit a snag, Whenever I try to switch the encoder to Dolby or DTS through the sound blaster pro studio application it tells me that "The task requires exclusive control of your audio device. Please stop playback and try again". I'm not sure how to remedy this, even though I have enabled the option to be exclusively controlled to all ZxR related recording / playback devices in my sound options. It also switches the output in the pro studio application to speakers whenever I try to switch to the Dolby or DTS encoder. I'm assuming any of this will work in the first place though, since when I go to choose the primary output on my PS4 it gives me the option to tick in boxes to "Select the input format supported by the device" which include Dolby Digital 5.1, DTS 5.1ch, and AAC, as stated earlier though I'm wanting to use DTS but if for some odd reason I can't Dolby is just fine. However another thing that puzzles me is that right below the menu for choosing the primary output port is this other menu that lets me choose "Audio Format (Priority)" and it lists the options; Linear PCM, Bitstream (Dolby), and Bitstream (DTS). I currently have Linear PCM selected as whenever I use one of the other two I just get static. So that is my problem.
http://imgur.com/a/obWIO (Images y'all can actually look at what if I'm that bad at describing things)

 

[the nerd 389]

Go into the playback devices menu on the PC. Select the SPDIF output device, and go to the advanced tab. Make sure "Allow applications to take exclusive control of this device" is enabled.

 

[ColePi]

Go into the playback devices menu on the PC. Select the SPDIF output device, and go to the advanced tab. Make sure "Allow applications to take exclusive control of this device" is enabled.

I'm glad it was just me being oblivious and thinking I checked all of the devices to allow applications to take exclusive control, so that's fixed but I still get static when switching to the DTS or Dolby bitstream, Even when I have the encoder set the the corresponding audio format.

 

[the nerd 389]

If I understand correctly, the system looks like this:

PS4 -> PC -> Receiver/Speaker Set

So far, you've established that the PS4 and PC support DTS/Dolby. What about the receiver?

 

[ColePi]

by receiver you mean headphones? if so I'm using a Sennheiser HD 598 which are stereo. I seem to think the issue lies in the PS4 though, my PC is doing everything okay now but whenever I switch the audio format to the DTS / Dolby Bitstream on my PS4's sound settings I get static.

Also yes that seems to be correct.

PS4 is connected to the soundcard in my pc via optical cable and I have my pc audio running alongside my PS4's audio which go into my headphones.

 

[the nerd 389]

Okay. When you change the PS4 settings, do you also change the PC's settings?

If the PC attempts to treat a DTS/Dolby stream as PCM, it will produce something that sounds like static.

Also, if you're using headphones, there is no reason to use a 5.1 signal stream. A simple stereo stream is all that headphones can accept. If you use a 5.1 signal with headphones, the sound card has to merge the 6 channels in the 5.1 signal into two channels before sending it to the headphones. As a result, the 5.1 signal is largely thrown away.

 

[ColePi]

I thought I was changing the PC's settings but apparently I wasn't, I'm pretty sure the encoder selector just changes the output and doesn't manage how it treats a DTS/Dolby stream input. Though I can't seem to find where I would make it so that my pc recognizes a DTS/Dolby stream. I don't see any options in the software or sound settings.

I guess you're right about me not needing 5.1. Though I was under the impression that having 5.1 would give superior positional audio for games, Even when used on stereo headphones.

 

[the nerd 389]

Whether or not it will improve positional audio depends on two factors:

The first is how bad the algorithm used by the PS4 is.

The second is whether or not the Creative algorithm is good enough to give better results without precise knowledge of where the source is coming from. (The PS4 has the in-game coordinates, the Creative just has 6 channels of audio)

 

[ColePi]

Well thanks for the help.