Just got Vista a few days ago and I'm liking the new bling but it's turned my 5.1 system to crap. I've searched on Google and seems a lot of people are having the same problem as me but no one can really figure out how to fix it(i'm suprised Microsoft have let this bug go on for so long). First off, sound isn't coming out of 2 of my speakers properly and it doesn't even use my sub woofer. The sound is really weak. I've turned up all the bars and ticked 'speaker fill' but nothing changes and the other options don't do anything to the sound.

Another problem is the volume in general, while using headphones, isn't as loud as it was on XP. It's on the same settings I use my 5.1 on because the 'headphones' setting says there are no headphones connected, but I don't see how it knows seeing as it uses the same green port as normal speakers..

If anyone has any advice please share, thanks!

So, what sound card? What speakers?

Got vista drivers for soundcard/onboard sound?

x86 or x64?

Most likely the drivers... Vista seems to have that problem

You're not outputting via SPDIF to a digital decoder are you? If you want digital surround sound you have to set it up via the Media Centre control panel I think.

Vista is not the problem everyone likes to think it is. It's the new OS and driver support by the manufactures is more likely the issue everyone has. It's been more than a year and unless you are using brand new or legacy equipment you might need to play with your sound levels and settings.

Of course as the creative sarcasm goes, no one can honestly help you with out detailed specs on your system. Otherwise we can only speculate as to what the issue might be.

Oops how could I forget to post specs. I'm using the onboard sound drivers for the Gigabyte P35C DS3R mobo and using Vista x86 'high definition audio device'. I've downloaded all the updated realtek drivers aswell. 'Speakers' is set to the default not Digital Output device. I've done all the configuring to get it as loud as it can go.

When I test the speakers in Vista they all respond, even the sub woofer which is really loud. It's only when I try a game,dvd or cd that it won't respond properly. I've tried different media players aswell but they all have the same issue.

One thing i have tried when i came accross issues like this is i forced the xp driver instead of using the vista drivers sometimes it seems like the vista drivers are under developed for some current hardware. im not sure if that will solve your porblem or not but it might help a bit?