Getting confused outputting 5.1 over analog

[archcommus]

I know there are many threads regarding this issue. I have read them and am just getting more confused, plus many of them are older.

I have an Audigy 2 and Logitech z-5500's. I use the 6 channel direct analog mode, just since that's what I've always used and it works well for games, movies, CMSS (expanded stereo) for music, etc. I used to use Media Player Classic as my player which decoded 5.1 perfectly fine on its own (set it to 3 front + 2 rear) and output it over the three analog cables. With Sage, I've tried all the audio decoder filters and no matter what I do I hear voices in every speaker (instead of just the center, this is my basic test to see if 5.1 is working properly). Now I understand that Sage doesn't actually have decode capabilities, so I'm supposed to have it output in an SPDIF fashion and then let my Audigy do the decoding? Well, I have my Audigy set to 5.1 and to use the built-in decoder, with the NVIDIA Audio Decoder set, and it's not working right.

What should I be doing here? Thanks.

[archcommus]

Okay, I downloaded AC3Filter, set it up to output 3/2 + SW 5.1 channels, and set Sage to use it for DVDs, but still use the NVIDIA Audio Decoder for TV. However, it seems that "Use AC3Filter for PCM" needs to be checked to make this work, but this also makes it work for TV audio, as well, which I don't want it to do. I want TV audio to be output as regular stereo and then let CMSS handle it. Is there any way to let AC3Filter work on DVD audio but not TV audio?

[GKusnick]

In the AC3Filter config, do you have "Prefer AC3Filter" selected? Try "Prefer other decoder" and see if that makes a difference.

[archcommus]

Thanks. However before trying that, I noticed I was incorrect about the PCM setting, it doesn't seem to need to be checked for the AC3Filter to work for DVDs. Right now, I have AC3Filter set to be used for AC3, DTS, and PES (DVD), and I have all unchecked to use SPDIF passthrough. And now TV is being output as stereo expanded through CMSS2, and DVDs are being decoded properly.

Thanks!

[archcommus]

Heh, actually, I realized that my default decoder, ffdshow, can do this just fine on its own, don't even need AC3Filter. Just set Sage to Default Audio Decoder Filter, and set up ffdshow properly.

Two options I'm not sure about, LFE and volume normalization. I'm not sure if the first makes any noticeable difference. The second just seems to make it louder. What should I have these set to?