Troubles with 5.1 output

Hi,

Nooby registering here to get some much needed support/advice - many thanks in advance.

I have a Windows 7 PC and I am trying to get it to play suitable mkv files in 5.1. I have two pairs of Harman Kardon SoundSticks II. I have one in the green audio port and one in the black port at the back of my pc. I go into playback devices and change my speakers to 5.1 and they all test fine (front left, front right, back left, back right).

I then change VLC settings to 5.1 also.

However, when I play films (with 5.1 audio) I get a strange mix. There is sound coming out of all four speakers, the sounds for the rear speakers seems to be giving me the correct ambient 'rear' sound but I only get very muted sound from the front speakers and no dialogue.

I appreciate something is wrong but I cannot for the life of me figure it out.

Any and all advice is much appreciated.

 

I found out the problem - I had no centre channel. I simply changed it to 'quadraphonic' and it works brilliantly.