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  1. pheedme
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    Got Surround sound up and running. Can hear wolves trying to sneak up waterfalls all around, and the thunder shakes the house with the subs :) Excellent.

    I was wondering if you are familiar with a parameter than can be changes so the in game music plays in surround sound?
    I seemed to have had some success in the past with another creation engine title, but i seem to have forgotten how to do it.
  2. eddyshore
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    Hey there, thanks for taking the time to put these instructions together.

    However, I must say I could not get them to work. (Skyrim SE)

    I have modified the skyrim.ini file in the folder with the proposed line, saved the edit.

    My speaker setup in windows is 7.1, running off a pioneer amp that recognizes the output from my computer and correctly plays all the test signals on all speakers.

    Spatial sound is off.

    Yet, no change in behavior from the game, only the front, center and surround back speakers output any sound. The side surround speakers are completely silent.

    Do you think of something else that might be at play here?

    I'll paste the Audio section of my ini file here:

    [Audio]
    uiAudioHWThread=8
    fMusicDuckingSeconds=6.0
    fMusicUnDuckingSeconds=8.0
    fMenuModeFadeOutTime=3.0
    fMenuModeFadeInTime=1.0
    1. Zamisay
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      You are correct it does not work, I have tried a few things, they do not work either. It does work for Fallout 4, it did work for Oldrim, (it may still work) but it does not work for Skyrim SE /AE, I will see if I can think of some other setting to try but it looks like uiAudioHWThread simply does not function on Skyrim SE /AE, in which case there is only 5.1, even setting your speakers to stereo, still seems to result in a 5.1 channel signal, according to OBS, maybe there is some other setting that must also be set, I am checking into it.

    2. eddyshore
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      Morning,

      I know it's probably going to be of no help, but for some reason after installing the collection <Gate to Sovngarde>, the game started recognizing 7.1 sound and playing it correctly from all speakers.

      The collection has around 1400 mods in it, so sifting thru all of them to figure which mod or mods did it is not something I expect out of anyone.

      Another thing I did that might have influenced it, is changed the frequency and bitrate of the sound output from 16bit 44khz to 24bit 44.1khz after remembering that skyrim was dumb about outputting correct sound with the default sound bitfreq.

      Anyway, fixed on my end but beats me what did it.
    3. Zamisay
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      Skyrim SE (and AE) uses the XAudio2 API from MicroSoft, which is supposed to just work by automatically detecting how many channels you have configured and then output the correct number of channels accordingly, so it might just be a matter of fiddling my way to the right format for my sound setup in order to be detected, proving that it does not 'just work' argh, frustrating, but potentially a way forward.
  3. lst02
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    I don't know if it's just for me, but some things became unbearable, the sound of the horse for example they don't stop making noise and it's very loud, how can I disable that? I already tried deleting the line and changing the values ​​and it didn't return to normal.
    1. Zamisay
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      In order to return to Glorious Stereo Sound (TM) you will want to defy and override Bethesda's by now some several years ago: "Default 5.1 Surround Setting" by adding:

      iAudioHWThread=2

      under the heading of:

      [Audio]

      Yaay!?!!

      Or in the case of a game bug setting yours (and ours) sensitive aural receptacles on fire by a relentless and endless looping sound bite (or byte? I do not know, do you?), you may choose to enter an interior cell and choose to wait 48 hours, which may solve it, if neither works, I do not know what to do right now, but will be interested to hear if it persist, perhaps some other solution will present itself to my increasingly less reliable little grey cells.
  4. Suakey
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    Thanks for this, my Skyrim sounds AWESOME now <3
    1. Zamisay
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  5. PoisonCoyote
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    Is there a way to make this work through steam link to an Apple TV?  I can't get Skyrim to stream in 5.1.  I have all my steam settings and app settings configured for 5.1.  Same with the Apple TV.   Selecting 5.1 still only produces stereo.
    1. Zamisay
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      This is what Bing Copilot says about it (And I certainly do not know any better, both are devices that I do not have):

      Spoiler:  
      Show
      The Steam Link app for Apple TV allows you to stream your Steam games to your television. However, it seems that achieving 5.1 surround sound has been a bit of a challenge for some users. Let’s dive into the details:
      Remember that technology can be finicky, and results may vary based on your specific setup. If you encounter any issues, consider checking for updates or reaching out to the Steam Link community for further assistance. Enjoy your gaming experience on your Apple TV! 🎮📺134
  6. Dragonscoils
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    Considering that STEP says that 6 is the default number the game runs with I'd say there is a lot of placebo going on here.
    1. Zamisay
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      But that is not what it says?
      https://stepmodifications.org/wiki/Guide:Skyrim_INI/Audio#uiAudioHWThread
      uiAudioHWThread:
      Default is 2.
      I do not understand your comment?

      It would be great if they changed the default to 6, even on a stereo system there is some gain in audio fidelity, for some reason.
    2. Dragonscoils
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      Hmm. Well luckily I was able to find the reference I found.

      https://stepmodifications.org/forum/topic/11523-skyrim-special-edition-default-values-for-all-valid-ini-settings/

      The spoiler for Skyrim.ini says 6. Perhaps it was increased for a later version of the game?
    3. Zamisay
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      You are right, apparently they moved to the snazzier Xaudio2 engine from Microsoft with the Special Edition, and it at least provides 5.1 audio right out of the box from the very beginning, I could have sworn I tested this, but apparently not, or at least not properly, anyway, you still have to set up the speakers correctly in Windows and turn off yucky spatial audio in order to get it right.

      Thank you so much! I would have been so much more embarrassed if it had take me even longer to have this pointed out to me!
    4. Dragonscoils
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      PC surround audio is quite the rabbit hole. My current setup is 2 channel optical with regular non-discrete dolby 5.1. My HDMI connection has always been wonky. Good luck!

      EDIT: Actually it would be a compressed 5.1 dolby digital not the older pro logic version. Another rabbit hole. 
    5. Suakey
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      @Dragonscoils
      Well no. I came from the mod "Binaural 3D Surround Sound for Headphones" and was searching for something less buggy because I had audio cracks with this mod and found this + a thread on steam, but the thread on steam seems to be wrong knowledge about that.
      Anyways, 5.1 / the default setting that skyrim is running at, sounds weird if people are behind you. It sounds like there is only one stage behind you and the audio switches noticeably between the left and right ear.
      When I changed the values in the ini to 8, the soundstage got bigger. There are no cuts between left and right if the sound comes from behind and it sounds just better in terms of the directions.
      Im using the Steelseries Pro Wired + DAC btw. 
  7. CurvingFyr3
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    A lot of audio devices use a virtual surround set to simulate their own highly detailed "virtual" surround. I have such a device for my desktop, and my VR headset has another built in. Would this adjustment work with those devices to enable their intended virtual surround features?
    1. Zamisay
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      If your device requires a multichannel input from your PC or on your PC, then yes, it will totally work!
      And I believe that is how virtual surround set devices work, so short answer, yes!
  8. StrayHALOMAN
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    I have a 9.1.5 sounds system in my bedroom.
    It's an LG S95QR... What settings would I use?
    Yes I use a big TV as a desktop monitor.
    1. Zamisay
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      I think that would be uiAudioHWThread=16 or something around there, but the highest I have seen a PC being capable of outputting is like 9.1 and I can not even find where I found that, most PCs are limited to 7.1 from a HDMI plug or at most 5.1 compressed from the SPDIF plug, unless you are outputting an ATMOS or DTS signal, which is still only a 7.1 signal on my PC.

      DirectX, Skyrim SE, Legendary Edition and the HDMI plug is fully capable of 9.1.5, I just have not seen any drivers capable of it, I am afraid you are stuck at 7.1 which would be uiAudioHWThread=8

      I have tried uiAudioHWThread=16 and it worked, but I can not verify how many channels I got out of it or if they corresponded to an ATMOS layout or something else, since I am limited to outputting a 7.1 signal, whichever way I try.

      Anyway, as far as I can tell, in order to get the right type and number of channels output, you just add them up, except that subwoofers maybe only counts as 1, regardless of how many you have, but I could be wrong, I can not test the bigger setups, since I can, at most, only output a 7.1 channel signal.

    2. StrayHALOMAN
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      I have a soundblaster AE-9, but right now I'm using my TV with my soundbar since it combines them to make 9.1.5
      I'll just stick with 7.1, my PC does support atmos but when I tried the pc was acting a bit screwy.
    3. Zamisay
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      If you output to ATMOS, the PC has to live encode the audio to a compressed format, and that takes a bit of horse power, unless it is super stable, it could get quirky. And, even if, I choose ATMOS or DTS:X for my output formats, I am still limited to 7.1 channels. However if you are playing a Blu-Ray on your PC you can just stream the audio track over HDMI to your TV and then Soundbar and get however many channels that track contains, it does require your soundbar to be able to decode ATMOS though, but it sounds nifty enough that it should be able to do it.

      According to the info I could find the AE-9 only has TOSLINK and analog outputs, phono left and right, minijack center/sub and minijack rear channels, so 5.1 analog or TOSLINK also known as SPDIF optical out which maxes out at a 5.1 compressed signal, a HDMI plug should at least give you 7.1 channels uncompressed PCM signal which is easier for the PC and better quality.

      It sounds like your soundbar is doing some black magic to arrive at a 9.1.5 solution? If the soundbar could connect to the PC with a USB 3 cable or something with a equal or higher transfer speed it could conceivably get all the channels that way, but I doubt anyone has made that (I mean it would basically be adding a 9.1.5 sound card to the sound bar, and I have not seen that exist anywhere).
  9. Tenz81
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    hello, what about quadraphic? is it uiAudioHWThread=4 going to help?
    1. Zamisay
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      Yes, uiAudioHWThread=4 is Quadrophonic setup.
      I am so very sorry I am only responding now, I thought I would get an email when there was activity on this forum, I will look into that. Ooh! I am a knucklehead, I did not follow my own forum.
    2. Tenz81
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      well of course I tried it myself, no worries, thanks for the suggestion!
  10. dickman290
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    I’m still looking forward to a 7.1.4 or object-based surround sound to use my in-ceiling speaker, hear the dragons shout from the top of my head would be absolutely insane.
    But still, great job, great mod.
    1. Zamisay
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      You would need a sound card that is 7.1.4, I do not know of any?
      Anyway, DirectX is object based (and was object based way before Atmos and the others came to town, just the way games work, since they are dynamic), so it would just be a matter of plugging in uiAudioHWThread=12, which is a setting that works and does produce surround sound, I just do not have the hardware to produce more than a 7.1 surround sound stream.
    2. Zamisay
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      Actually my hardware should easily be able to pull it off, it seems to be a Windows limitation, which is weird, since the DirectSound portion does not seem to have any such limitations from what I can see, so technically it should be a software fix, as far as I can see.
      Argh! Soo aggravating.
    3. dickman290
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      You really help me a lot. I haven’t see some game audio relevant discuss on AVS forum, basically they are movie lovers (or should I say equipment lovers?) , there's really very little game related discussion, let alone how to implement panoramic sound for Skyrim via mods. Anyway, thank you very much.
    4. Zamisay
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      It is just a one line tweak really, and some troubleshooting steps, that are almost more important than the tweak.

      Yeah the AVS forum is a bit useless for this stuff, I have no idea where to find this stuff either, but to be fair, most games you just set your sound system for surround in Windows, on your receiver and turn it on in the game, at that point, any configuration advice for good sound in movies, is also what you would do for good game sound.

      That said, surely not everyone is using headphones and stereo speakers? It does not seem completely realistic to me, surround sound is just so awesome, but it takes some tweaking to get it just right, I guess very few people has heard a well set up system?