Spotify desktop only uses the 2 front speakers on a 5.1 setup

[feijudas]

I have 5.1 audio with my windows but Spotify only uses the 2 front speakers, how do I get it to use ALL of the speakers?

Speaker fill makes NO DIFFERENCE!

[Sebasty]

Hey @feijudas 

Spotify doesn't support 5.1 out of box, like most other programs it outputs stereo audio.

However there are a few different methods on how to make Spotify play audio on 5.1.

Voicemeeter is one way to get it work - see this post on how to use it.

Another user also made it work by adding a specific line with quotation marks to spotify startup icon:

--disable-audio-output-resampler

as seen here:

Let me know how you get on 🙂

[Ryuhouji]

There's always EqualizerAPO w/ P.E.A.C.E. 
Since this is a global software that modifies all audio on your system, it can be used to redirect audio directly, by mapping input R/L to Output R/RR/L/RL, or just simply enable 5.1/7.1 upmix. This works for literally everything that plays audio on your system. It's a fairly heavyweight solution, but I really like tweaking my audio and have a good computer. 

Here's what PEACE looks like:

This should be a better solution than all that other stuff.

[AlpBingol]

Hi,
I have an issue with spotify app that is when ever i switch the channel from stereo to 4.0 or 5.1 it cannot play any music. I have set up my audio system to be 4.0 but when using spotify i have to switch it to stereo which is un-ideal.

Is there a way to make spotify be able to play in 5.1 or 4.0 channel mode? i am not expecting surround audio yet (Although would be nice to have) i just want to listen to my music without needing to fiddle with the cables to be able to use all my speakers.

Thank you.

Plan:

Premium

Country:
Turkey

Device:

MSI GT76

Operating System:

Windows 10

[AlejaR]

Hey @AlpBingol,

Thanks for posting on the Community and welcome.

In this case, we’d like you to know at the moment Spotify doesn’t support 5.1 surround sound.

Another user had a similar request, so they posted this idea about it. Feel free to add your vote and you can also Subscribe to it in the three-dot menu, that way you can stay up-to-date with any relevant news about this.

Hope this clears things up. If you have any questions or need anything else, the Community is here for you.

Take care!

[AlpBingol]

Hi, thank you for the response.
I knew that spotify doesnt support 5.1 or 4.0 most of the other
applications also dont support that format but only application that cant
play any sound in that configuration is spotify. Others make 4.0 or 5.1
into stereo and still play sound.
My question is why cant spotify play any sound when in 4.0 or 5. 1 mode?
Thank you very much again.

[Jeremy]

Thank you for your reply.

We can’t give any specifics about how content is encoded but we deliver a stereo audio signal to a device and it’s up to the receiver to work out what to do with it. As reports from other Community users show, this can lead to different results depending on the individual set-up, such as upmixing the audio which gives an unwanted reverb sound, playing only through 2 speakers, or as in your case not producing any sound. 

For now, you’d have to adjust audio settings on your end but ideally there would be an option in the app to enable/disable audio upmixing so everyone can enjoy listening to music in the way they prefer, which is something we’ll keep in mind for the future.

We hope that this cleared thing up for you. Let us know if we can help you with anything else.

Have a great continued weekend 🙂