Configure Ubuntu to Use 5.1 Surround Sound

By Adam Thompson On October 9, 2011

By default pulse audio in Ubuntu is configured to use only 2 speakers. For someone like me who wants to get the most performance possible out of their surround sound system this is simply unacceptable. Luckily adjusting this only involves one quick edit.

To enable more than two speakers (known as channels) we need to make an edit to the pulse audio daemon configuration file. This will require root privileges, which we will gain using the gksudo command. Press Alt+F2 and run the following command:

gksu gedit /etc/pulse/daemon.conf

You will be prompted for your administrative password, then the configuration file will be opened in Gedit (note that if you are running KDE instead of Gnome or Unity replace gedit with kate). Search for the following line:

; default-sample-channels = 2

We want to un-comment the line by deleting the semi-colon and change the channels from 2 to 6. The final result should look like this:

default-sample-channels = 6

Now reboot your system. Your sound should now be configured to output to 5.1 surround sound. As always if you have any issues please feel free to comment below and we will be more than happy to help you out!

 

Image from Deviant Art.  


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About Adam Thompson

An enigma wrapped in a riddle, Adam is a mysterious character. Said to be part cyborg, Adam is known for his superhuman abilities with technology and science. Adam is a Linux guru who designs and builds operating systems for giggles.
  • http://www.musicloversaudio.com/products/ Surround Sound Systems

    Wow, interesting! Has anyone else come
    across the same thing compared to this? I am curious where to find more
    responses on this matter…
     

  • Žiga Lausegger

    I have Xubuntu and above doesn’t work. I have 3 jack outputs in back of my sound card and they go to my sound system. It looks like only jack that is outputing a signal is the green one. I tried to turn on alsamixer and i get this output http://www.shrani.si/?3y/wo/HivAtxz/alsa.png, which indicates LFE, center and fronts are all on max volume… What now? My sound system worked under Windows… 

    • http://lotphelp.com Adam Thompson

      So is no sound at all coming from your other speakers? 

      • http://twitter.com/KristensBargais Kristens Bargais

        i got the same problem… :(

  • http://lotphelp.com Adam Thompson

    For those who are having problems getting this to work be aware of the following:

    1) That you actually have a 5.1 surround sound system connected to your machine

    2) You reboot after applying the changes.