No/little sound out of rear speakers in 5.1

[Stigmata]

I've been having trouble with this for months and months, but I've just been too lazy/complacent to bother asking for help.

OS: Windows XP Home SP2
Motherboard: Asus M2N32-SLI
Sound Card: SoundMAX HD Audio (5.1, possibly 7.1)
Speakers: Zalman Theatre 5.1 Headset

No matter what driver or hardware settings I use, or which outlets I plug my headphones into, I get almost no sound out of the rear speakers. I say "almost" because they reproduce sound at a very low volume. It's pretty much undetectable when playing games, and I can only hear them when listening to a test "moving sound" loop. I've also tried searching, mostly in vain, for new or better drivers, and the only one I found changed nothing at all.

I'm checking the BIOS now, but I don't expect to find anything.

 

[DEATHMASTER]

Did it ever work properly

 

[Vegeta897]

There's no front/rear fader on your headphones?

 

[Stigmata]

Did it ever work properly

Nope. I'm starting to think the sound card itself is busted, since switching the front and rear plugs just makes the front speakers quiet.

There's no front/rear fader on your headphones?

I have no idea what that is or means.

 

[Asus]

What are you trying to play on 5.1?
games, stereo music, dvd w/5.1 audio

Is it low when doing the surround sound test?

 

[Stigmata]

I mostly play TF2, but sometimes I play Clear Sky or Beyond Good & Evil. Stereo music, dvd/avi video all seems to work fine, since they all have two-channel audio.

The rear volume is low or zero in all cases, including the surround sound test.

 

[DEATHMASTER]

My TV surround system does that if the movie isn't explicitly in 5.1 mode. so 2.0 sounds as you describe. I suppose it's normal.

 

[No Limit]

Open up a FPS that has granades. Throw a granade behind you. Is the sound loud enough that way?

There is a fader in the soundmax control panel, you have looked at that right? Also, my soundmax will play 2.1 audio on the rear speakers too, it just reproduces the front ones. I'm suprised yours doesn't do this.

 

[DEATHMASTER]

I'm gonna see if I can do that with my TV somehow.

 

[Stigmata]

Open up a FPS that has granades. Throw a granade behind you. Is the sound loud enough that way?

There is a fader in the soundmax control panel, you have looked at that right? Also, my soundmax will play 2.1 audio on the rear speakers too, it just reproduces the front ones. I'm suprised yours doesn't do this.

Fader doesn't do anything. I can't hear things behind me in games.

[edit] Updated to the latest audio drivers, nothing was fixed.

 

[Asus]

Can you take screen shots of the Soundmax control panel settings? (alt+prt scr)

Is the SoundMAX HD audio a card you bought, a riser card that came with your mobo or onboard audio? And if it's onboard or a riser card, does the SoundMAX handle the analog part of the sound or just the digital (you use analog sound with the Zalman's).