Enable sound via Graphics card HDMI without enabling dual screen?

[kam03]

I have a audio receiver setup with my PC to output sound via HDMI but to do this i need to enable dual screen.

Is there anyway to enable HDMI sound without having to enable dual screen? I only have one screen and enabling dual screen makes the graphics card memory run at full clock speeds, when there is no need.

You can see the audio device listed on the sound options. The window on the right shows dual screen. I don't have dual screen, the second device is a receiver. If i disable 2nd screen then the audio device disappears off the sound devices. I need to enable dual screen in order to output sound.

Now my question is how can i enable sound without having to enable dual screen?

Spec:

i7 3770K @ 4.5ghz, Asus P8Z77-V, 16GB 1866Mhz CL9, Sapphire Vapor-X 290X, Crucial M4 128GB, Seagate 3TB, EVGA SuperNOVA 850 G2, Windows 7 Ultimate x64, NEC LCD2690WUXi, Yamaha RX-V667 Receiver, Monitor Audio Vector 5.1

 

[450]

Run the monitor off the receiver.

 

[reaper12]

You can't. It's how HDMI works.

IF you want to use the HDMI audio out from your graphics card then you have to enable dual screen.

What's the problem with having dual screen on?

 

[d50man]

can you edit powerplay profile to down clock memory for a workaround?

 

[kam03]

You can't. It's how HDMI works.

IF you want to use the HDMI audio out from your graphics card then you have to enable dual screen.

What's the problem with having dual screen on?

With single screen GPU ram speed idles around 150mhz. Once you enable dual screen it jumps to 1410mhz and stays there permanently and doesn't fluctuate which makes the gpu idle temp rise from 38c to 48c. The other down side is mouse disappearing when i take it too much tot he right and application windows getting stuck at times on the second non existent screen if moved too much to the right.

 

[kam03]

Run the monitor off the receiver.

That will work but i think running it off the receiver will produce a few ms input lag? I'll also have to get a hdmi to dvi cable as my monitor only has dvi input.

 

[Armenius]

With single screen GPU ram speed idles around 150mhz. Once you enable dual screen it jumps to 1410mhz and stays there permanently and doesn't fluctuate which makes the gpu idle temp rise from 38c to 48c. The other down side is mouse disappearing when i take it too much tot he right and application windows getting stuck at times on the second non existent screen if moved too much to the right.

Can't you clone the desktop instead of extending it to get rid of those latter issues?

 

[kam03]

Can't you clone the desktop instead of extending it to get rid of those latter issues?

Receiver is detected as a 1080p device and my monitor is 1200p. I can't run clone with different resolutions.

 

[Nenu]

You can't. It's how HDMI works.

IF you want to use the HDMI audio out from your graphics card then you have to enable dual screen.

What's the problem with having dual screen on?

Not true, you can run single screen and pass HDMI audio.
I do it to my PC screen all the time and when playing movies to my AV processor.

Dual screen raises the idle power used by my 290x by 40W.

can you edit powerplay profile to down clock memory for a workaround?

I do this and it is useful but you cant get near the idle clock speeds so its not as good.

That will work but i think running it off the receiver will produce a few ms input lag? I'll also have to get a hdmi to dvi cable as my monitor only has dvi input.

This is why I dont feed my video through my AV processor.
I either feed audio as USB for high quality stereo or via dual screen HDMI for 5.1.
Sound sync issues are not apparent while gaming in 5.1 because there is very little need to sync audio and video so tightly.

For films it can be preferable to feed both audio and video through a single HDMI feed because you reduce sound sync issues.
Its easy enough to sync them though if using dual screen using the video player or the sound processors config.

 

[kam03]

Not true, you can run single screen and pass HDMI audio.
I do it to my PC screen all the time and when playing movies to my AV processor.

Dual screen raises the idle power used by my 290x by 40W.

How do you pass HDMI audio without the video?

 

[Nenu]

You pass the video as well.
Why would you not want to pass video when only using that one video connection?

It doesnt matter if video is present if you dont want to use it, pretend it isnt there.
To get audio down any HDMI/DVI output, video has to be present.

edit
I see the confusion, I responded to him assuming he meant for single screen with audio going to the same device.
If he meant that you must use 2 HDMI outs with video for separate audio and video, he is correct.

 

[kam03]

You pass the video as well.
Why would you not want to pass video when only using that one video connection?

It doesnt matter if video is present if you dont want to use it, pretend it isnt there.
To get audio down any HDMI/DVI output, video has to be present.

edit
I see the confusion, I responded to him assuming he meant for single screen with audio going to the same device.
If he meant that you must use 2 HDMI outs with video for separate audio and video, he is correct.

Yes.

This is how it's setup:

GPU DVI --> LCD Monitor
GPU HDMI --> Receiver for audio

 

[Nenu]

There is no way to get audio down HDMI without video because the HDMI receiver chip syncs to the video and will not enable the connection without it.

There are other ways to pass audio without using HDMI but there can be restrictions.
If your receiver has USB, SPDIF or stereo analogue in, you can get stereo, this is straight forward.

With SPDIF you can get 5.1 if your output sound card supports DDL or DTS compression but it is lower quality due to the compression.

You can send 5.1 via analogue if your receiver has analogue 5.1 inputs.

 

[Armenius]

I agree. It seems like 5.1 channel direct analogue would be your best solution. Most A/V receivers should have analogue inputs to support this if I'm not mistaken. If your mobo came with its own audio solution you could install and use that. Otherwise you could pick up a decent discrete sound card for $80-$100.

 

[Unknown-One]

Why don't you just use one video-out and put this in-line? http://www.amazon.com/ViewHD-Premium-Extractor-Converter-VHD-H2HSAs/dp/B00KBHX072

It'll split the audio out so you can use it on its own, without needing to use a second HDMI port.

Actually, wait... why don't you just go GPU > Receiver > Monitor ?

can you edit powerplay profile to down clock memory for a workaround?

AMD locks the RAM at full-speed in this scenario because there's a long-standing bug that causes display flickering when the clockspeed of video RAM is adjusted in real-time while using multiple monitors in Extended Desktop mode.

This has been an issue since 2009. AMD seems perfectly happy to continue using a power-wasting work-around rather than actually fix the flickering problem...

 

[Nenu]

Why don't you just use one video-out and put this in-line? http://www.amazon.com/ViewHD-Premium-Extractor-Converter-VHD-H2HSAs/dp/B00KBHX072

It'll split the audio out so you can use it on its own, without needing to use a second HDMI port.

Output is stereo or compressed 5.1, he has those options anyway.

Actually, wait... why don't you just go GPU > Receiver > Monitor ?

Covered in posts 6 and 9.
You get video lag.
I find the amount of lag varies each time the connection is made and can be stupidly long.

AMD locks the RAM at full-speed in this scenario because there's a long-standing bug that causes display flickering when the clockspeed of video RAM is adjusted in real-time while using multiple monitors in Extended Desktop mode.

This has been an issue since 2009. AMD seems perfectly happy to continue using a power-wasting work-around rather than actually fix the flickering problem...

Yeah, quite annoying it is too.
On my old GTX580, I used dual screen output permanently because it didnt use any extra power.

 

[DoubleTap]

Are you just trying to get 5.1 sound for games?

A sound card that does Dolby Digital Live encoding will send gaming surround sound to your receiver through the optical cable - there is compression, but it's not bad.

 

[Unknown-One]

Have you tried simply putting both display-outs into "clone" mode? That way Windows acts like you have one monitor, and just sends the same video signal out of both display heads. This might allow the card to clock-down, but I'm not 100% sure.

If that doesn't work, you could try this hardware solution instead: http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=101&cp_id=10113&cs_id=1011301&p_id=8204&seq=1&format=2

Covered in posts 6 and 9.
You get video lag.
I find the amount of lag varies each time the connection is made and can be stupidly long.

I'd look at getting a better receiver then, honestly...

A receiver that adds video lag is pretty much only usable for movies and TV (assuming it can adjust the audio delay to match). Totally worthless for gaming.

 

[kam03]

I agree. It seems like 5.1 channel direct analogue would be your best solution. Most A/V receivers should have analogue inputs to support this if I'm not mistaken. If your mobo came with its own audio solution you could install and use that. Otherwise you could pick up a decent discrete sound card for $80-$100.

There is no way to get audio down HDMI without video because the HDMI receiver chip syncs to the video and will not enable the connection without it.

There are other ways to pass audio without using HDMI but there can be restrictions.
If your receiver has USB, SPDIF or stereo analogue in, you can get stereo, this is straight forward.

With SPDIF you can get 5.1 if your output sound card supports DDL or DTS compression but it is lower quality due to the compression.

You can send 5.1 via analogue if your receiver has analogue 5.1 inputs.

Yes this method works but i have disabled the built in sound card as the whole point of my 5.1 receiver setup is to not use a sound card but to use the graphics card audio output so I have lossless PCM audio on my receiver and also using the receiver to do all the decoding thus making my receiver act as the sound card.

If i used a sound card and connected it to my receiver via analogue it will defeat the purpose of having a receiver as the sound card will do all the processing and the receiver will just sit there powering the speakers and doing nothing.

Never mind, i've been using this setup since i had a 6970 so i can live with it. Just thought there might be a way maybe or some setting im not aware of.

Anyway thanks for all the help guys.

 

[Nenu]

I'd look at getting a better receiver then, honestly...

A receiver that adds video lag is pretty much only usable for movies and TV (assuming it can adjust the audio delay to match). Totally worthless for gaming.

lol, its the Oppo 105.
I had the same issue with the Onkyo TX-SR875 and Emotiva UMC-1.

Yep, receivers are pretty much only good for passing video for movies and TV.

 

[reaper12]

Not true, you can run single screen and pass HDMI audio.
I do it to my PC screen all the time and when playing movies to my AV processor.

Dual screen raises the idle power used by my 290x by 40W.

We aren't talking about single screen. He is talking about HDMI out to a separate receiver while his monitor is plugged into the computer using DVI. Effectively two displays even though he has only one monitor.

You have to have dual screen enabled for this to work.

*EDIT* I see you realised this later in the thread.

 

[DoubleTap]

I agree. It seems like 5.1 channel direct analogue would be your best solution. Most A/V receivers should have analogue inputs to support this if I'm not mistaken. If your mobo came with its own audio solution you could install and use that. Otherwise you could pick up a decent discrete sound card for $80-$100.

Most new AV receivers do not have discrete analog inputs anymore until you get into the $800-1000+ range. I looked and looked and looked because my old Onkyo died and this was the easiest way to get surround for gaming.

Yes this method works but i have disabled the built in sound card as the whole point of my 5.1 receiver setup is to not use a sound card but to use the graphics card audio output so I have lossless PCM audio on my receiver and also using the receiver to do all the decoding thus making my receiver act as the sound card.

If i used a sound card and connected it to my receiver via analogue it will defeat the purpose of having a receiver as the sound card will do all the processing and the receiver will just sit there powering the speakers and doing nothing.

Never mind, i've been using this setup since i had a 6970 so i can live with it. Just thought there might be a way maybe or some setting im not aware of.

Anyway thanks for all the help guys.

This is the best way to do audio but if you have anything more than a single 1080p/60hz screen, it starts to run into problems. I thought the Discrete Analog configuration sounded best for gaming - DDL over optical works well enough if you have a good receiver, but of course, as soon as I got that going on my new receiver, the DDL card died. Anything more than stereo audio on a PC is just a maze of constraints these days.