Is it possible to use spotify with a 5.1 setup?

[Swindle]

Tried googling and looking over the forums however I can't seem to find an answer/solution.

I have a 5.1 speaker setup (5 speakers + a sub) however spotify sounds only use 2 speakers + the sub. This is natural for most audio files, however I was wondering if there was a way of converting it to 5.1.

I usually use a program called Foobar which converts mp3 files into 5.1 when you play them, making sound come out of all speakers, however there is no option for this within spotify.

Has anyone found a solution to this?

[neo-x]

Spotify doesn't support it. Usually the computer has the possibility to route the sound accordingly. I myself use an amp and my computer is connected to it via HDMI. HDMI delivers the sound to the amp directly from the computer. Majority of the apps only send out 2 speaker signals. Only specific software like Cyberlink PowerDVD can use it through SPDIF and use the full range speakers. I bet Foobar also can handle the requests and the speaker configuration and route the sound accordingly.

I'm not sure if there is an idea open about this to modify the app to support multiple speaker setups.

My 2 cents.

[hinezee]

Music is traditionally stereo. if you listen to music from a CD then it will play by default in stereo. I'm not sure if music is recorded in 5.1 as it would need to be adjusted at production I think.

I listen through a Denon amp and that has plenty of options to play in 5.1, 7.1 omouse all 8 speakers equally.  The input source is still stereo so it's the amp that does the work of making it sound 5.1.   

[webste58]

Yes You are correct in some way.
There is music recorded in 5.1 format. Pink Floyd and other grat artist release DTS CDs, there are also some concerts released in DVS CD  audio like Nirvana Unplugged or Mike Oldfield Milenium Concert.

Spotify can only output stereo, there is no other way 😕 Foobar on the other hand can use Matrix plugin or other surround audio plugin to output 5.1 as well as play DTS content, i'm using that setup at this particular moment.

There is some solutions for Spotify

- Output 2.0 audio to amplituner (usualy some Home cinema set like Herman Cardon AMP)  and there change matrix settings to say 5.1 surround
- Use Boxee to output sound to AMP and change matrix - same like above
- Instal virtual audio output. If You change virtual audio calbe to be the only one then it becomes systems default (Used by Spotify) You can then redirect this virtual cable to some kind of filter with 5.1 matrix compatibility like ffdshow or AC3 matrix. There is some mystery to me how to sustain this filter as active process when it need to be loaded by other software (player) but somewhere out there in deeph ot the interent must be as anwser to this question as well 🙂

[moon_t]

I don't have a solution, but do have a workaround I use if I want to listen in surround. Spotify Web Player takes on the characteristics of the browser, so in my case if I use Firefox which is set up as surround configured, I get surround output.

As I say not a solution, but a workaround that's good for me until something better comes along.

[wOhst]

You just need the right software or hardware! Depends on if you want it for free or want to upgrade your gear. I love to listen Spotify on my HiFi-System where I can choose from different surround functions. Often I just enjoy it in stereo, how it was mixed in the studio 😉 . I use a 5.1 System on my Onkyo 7.2 AV-Receiver (with BiAmping).

[remusjohn · Accepted solution]

Hey everyone,

I think i found the solution to the problem wherre "speaker fill" does not help.

you can force the spotify app to ignore it's own audio settings by adding "--disable-audio-output-resampler" to the shortcut path"

go to the properties of your shortcut of spotify (on win 8, you can find your shortcut in C:\Users\[yourname]\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs)

add quotationmarks (") at the begin and the end of the path than ad a space and "--disable-audio-output-resampler"

apply and exit.

this should, in combination with speakerfill, enable all of your speakers by some version of virtual surround.

greetz

David

[Wizzard005]

This worked for me on windows 7 x64 with X-Fi, however its not a true bass re-direct, but it works better than 2 channel only.   I have Mackie studio monitors and powered mackie sub..

[judeno]

Where exactly do I enter the "sentence"?

[StBBrad]

I have entered the sentence, but my Realtek drivers and the destop app still refuse to play using the rear channels or subwoofer. The web app uses all channels. 

[eastonch]

Completey fixed it over here Win 8.1 (worst decision of my life...)

Awesome sound!

[seanpatrick76]

It didn't work for me unfortunately, also using win 8.1, HDMI to Receiver.

[andix84]

Didn't work for me too.

SB X-Fi Extreme Gamer, Win 8.1 x64

[kachunkachunk]

If you're using an X-Fi, just use CMSS 3D. The Soundblaster suite generally does a multi-channel re-matrix pretty well.

[andix84]

I've tried all setting with CMSS, and windows speakers configuration, still doesn't work.

However, when i listening music from any player (aimp for example) then it's ok, so problem must be with spotify, not with sound driver.

[kachunkachunk]

Ah okay! So despite doing "--disable-audio-output-resampler" on the Spotify launcher shortcut *and* using the CMSS 3D settings, you're not seeing any positive effect? Kind of surprising, but that kind of implies to me that Spotify is not actually doing anything with that launcher setting. CMSS has been solid in my past experience.

My current system doesn't have a Soundblaster card anymore, however, so I can't really try these things myself.

But what I can say works for me is to use Voicemeeter or Voicemeeter Banana. The app can do some matrix upmixing for you on the output but yeah it might feel overkill or overly complicated. I kind of like the app and managed to get everything down to very low latency however.

Give it a stab if you're comfortable, otherwise there might be some YouTube videos on it.

Or when I have some time early next week, I could try to put together a quick guide.

Edit: Hang on, are you using Neo2 or Dolby DTS? You might need either of those turned on as well if you're hooking things up to a receiver.

[user-removed]

friend got some other solution? did not work what you have posted, I have 8.1 windows 64 bit, asus sound card xonar dg 5.1 and for some reason z506 logitech sound system know music from spotify could sound in my 5.1 but since yesterday I stop sound in 5.1 some days ago and now only in stereo

[kachunkachunk]

Sorry this is later than I promised.

Got my Soundblaster Z into my gaming system to check this stuff out. As I said before, CMSS-3D or whatever your equivalent should work. Currently I am using my SB-Z and have optical audio going out of my system encoded in DTS, to my receiver (Denon AVR1913).

The receiver is currently playing my Spotify, Youtube, Google Play Music, etc over my left, right, center, and rear channels with no problems.

1) In your control panel, you turn on SBX Pro Studio's Surround capability (CMSS or CMSS 2 would be your equivalent for older cards/panels).

2) Ensure your speakers are actually configured for 5.1 in Windows and the same is shown in the control panel. Something easily forgotten after reinstalling drivers, etc- that kind of thing.

3) Under Cinematic, enable DTS or Dolby Digital Live - whatever your receiver supports (often both). In my case, using DTS Neo:PC had to be left disabled. In older experiences this was fine to have enabled, so chances are CMSS users will want this enabled. Try toggling it on and off, but be sure to check that CMSS and/or Surround (for SBX Pro Studio users) stays enabled. It kept unchecking/disabling Surround mode in SBX Pro Studio for me when I enabled Neo:PC under Cinematic. I guess it's now mutually-exclusive in current software/cards.

4) Under Advanced Features, I left "Play stereo mix to digital output" as disabled, it had no bearing on this issue.

Now, before I got my Z into my system, I did still get Spotify working over HDMI, using Voicemeeter software. It's an audio mixer/muxer good for folks doing casts of some kind.

There are other software solutions for fixing this problem and effectively giving you the functions that I named above (i.e. CMSS and SBC Pro Studio). Razer has one equivalent with their software: http://www.razerzone.com/ca-en/surround

And believe or not, Creative has a Soundblaster software solution that works quite well and just about any sound device. Good reviews on it, and IMO worth the $30 over what Razer offers for free. http://software.store.creative.com/p/software/sound-blaster-x-fi-mb3

Anyway like I said, you can still achieve this stuff for free using voicemeeter, JACK, etc. It just takes more work. You also admittedly lack all the nice and fancy audio processing stuff that again, IMO, Creative/Soundblaster is *really* good for. Seriously, the Crystalizer is pretty great and not merely a simple equalizer preset.

The downside to using an entirely software-based solution is increased latency (over hardware or just leaving it as stereo without encoding audio into digital). It may not be an issue for most people but it might drive latency sensitive twitch gamers a bit mad.

[user-removed]

It's works great ! Thank You !!!

[Deku]

in the " Xonar " program you have to activate the SPDIF output and set " Dolby Digital Live" and then check " Virtual 7.1 speaker" (I think this last is optional . " me so my works