How do you get mp3 audio to play through the center channel of a 5.1 computer
speaker system?  Can only do front-L,R and rear-L,R. Have Soundblaster
card and an NVidia sound card (both 5.1). Windows XP.
Thanks

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Clarification of Question by bluepresto-ga on 22 Apr 2006 12:30 PDT

An extension of this same problem is that real player audio only comes
out the front speakers, while mp3 comes out all 4. Is there some
software that would allow me to output whatever I want through any of
the 5 speaker.

Which channel of audio would you have coming out of the center, the
left or the right? ( i hope you see the sillyness of this )

Im sure you could upsample a recording using adobe audition or
something that would allow you to send information through the center
channel, however it will completely destroy the stereo imaging
characteristics (if you even HAVE one using computer speakers)

Bottom line: you probably don't want stuff playing out of that speaker.

many 5.1 systems I have used that are not connected to computers (use
reciever boxes) have an option to play the radio or audio cds, etc
through all 5 speakers.  The center seems to be a combination of left
and right.
In these non-computer based surround systems the sound is great when
used in this way. I would like to be able to do this with my computer
speakers. I figured there would be some software that would allow me
to output a mono mix of left and right through the center channel, but
have been unable to locate any programs that will do this.

You did not specify which NVidia card you have but here is a
suggestion that should work.  Go to the NVidia site www.nvidia.com and
download the appropriate NVidia Mixer software to go with your
soundcard.  In most cases it will be part of a large driver/software
pack designed for you specific type of sound card.

Load the updated drives and software and run the NVidia Mixer.  In
version 1 (build 444) at the bottom left of the mixer are a series of
buttons.  The second one is the speaker configuration page.  On this
page select the 5.1 setting.  Then launch the speaker setup wizard to
ensure that everything is working properly.

With most players you should now get sound from all 5 of your speakers
on most recordings.  The software takes the common elements from L and
R and places them in the center channel.  It is not as discrete as a
true 5.1 mix but it should utilize the center channel speaker with
most music.

You can use the other elements of the NVidia Mixer to enhance the
playback to create various soundfields, equalizations and balance
levels.  A few minutes of investigation will yield a great deal of
sonic improvement to most systems.

Happy listening

That's exactly what I want it to do, but unfortunately the speakers
are set up correctly but I still don't get mp3 out the center channel
through any common audio players.  I know it is set up correctly (with
NVidia Mixer) because DVDs, Video Games, and surround sound speaker
tests all send a unique center channel sound.
Some of the players I have tried are:
winamp, windows media player, windows media player classic, itunes, songbird.
None of them send mixed center channel audio. :(
Thanks for the idea though.

Try using WinAmp and set the PlugIns/Output in the Preferences screen
(Ctrl-P or Options-Preferences) to the NVidia Audio driver instead of
Primary Sound.  The dialog box should indicate that you are configured
to a 5.1 sound system. You will need to close WinAmp and reopen for
the changes to take affect.

I've got to the point where it says Nvidia in that preferences menu,
and 5.1 below that. However it's still mp3 sound to the 4 corners, not
the center.  Does it play out the center on your system when you do
this? I have N-Force 2 by the way.

I found out that if I use the intervideo winDVD to play an mp3, it
comes out the center channel well, however it makes the rear channels
much less powerful.

Yes I get output from my center speaker on most recordings for my MP3 listening.  

I also have the nForce2 chipset.  Are you using the latest drivers
from NVidia or the ones that came with your system.  My system works
much better since downloading the driver set 5.10 for the nForce
chipset and 84.21 for the forceware.  The drives which came with my
system were very basic and quite old - 2004.

Good luck

I've been using 5.10 drivers throughout a few re-installs.

I figured it out... Using winamp and the plugin called wave 5point1
output alpha there is balanced output to all 5 speakers.