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TechieTypeGamer's avatar
TechieTypeGamer
5 years ago

Re: ME1 audio issue - dialog & sfx in surrounds instead of center

I was able to fix this issue for me; hopefully it helps you. Well, this was a quick fix anyway. In a nutshell, like me, you probably have the surround settings on your surround controller set to straight through. Straight through means you let the devices connected to the controller choose their own settings. On my controller there’s even a button called Straight, and no button for any other program setting, so it must be a common way to configure your sound. Indeed, I used to experience a weird echo effect when I first bought my surround controller until I pushed that awesome Straight button, and once the connected devices (satellite, PS3, PS4,) controlled the sound settings the echo was fixed and sounded great. Anyway, what you need to do is have your controller provide the surround settings that match your set up instead of your PS4/PS5, then speech comes out of the front speaker. Keep in mind that some movies/shows/games may sound weird until you put it back in straight mode. So you might have to go back and forth on settings. Oh, here’s another tip, there may be two buttons for settings on your remote, one called Setup and one called Option; they list different menu items. I had to push the Option button, then I found the DSP/Surround option and scrolled through the program options until I found “5ch Stereo”.

5 Replies

  • DMoctezuma's avatar
    DMoctezuma
    5 years ago
    @TechieTypeGamer Sorry, this is incorrect. 5ch Stereo simply means your receiver will take a stereo signal and route it to all your speakers. Front L+R are mirrored to Rear L+R. You’re still listening in Stereo, but now it’s sent to all speakers. The game is mixing sfx and dialogue to the incorrect channels, this is a software issue, has nothing to do with your A/V receiver.
  • Abu_Sami_5's avatar
    Abu_Sami_5
    5 years ago
    I can't believe the developers didn't notice the problem. The game on Ps3 had a nice surround. I don't know if the problem is fixable or simply EA doesn't care. I waited for a week hoping it fixed but then I couldn't wait anymore. I had to downmix to stereo which is fortunately isn't bad but not as good as surround.
  • TechieTypeGamer's avatar
    TechieTypeGamer
    5 years ago
    @DMoctezuma Maybe I didn't explain it very well. After all, I agree with what you said. Yes, the problem is a ME1 software issue, but I was able to move the dialog from my left-rear speaker to the central speaker.

    Either the controller/receiver is processing the surround channels or the source is (PS4 in my case). If the controller is in straight through mode, it does whatever the PS4 wants it to do, regardless of whether it's good or bad. So, if you had 2.1 coming out of the source and the receiver is in straight mode, sound will only come out of the front two speakers even though you have 5.1 speakers. But if you were to change from straight to 5.1 on the receiver, it processes the surround configuration instead of the PS4. So, changing from straight to 5.1 changed the speaker configuration to be correct. That's why my dialog for ME1 is now coming out of the central speaker in front. Know what I mean?
  • infocynic2's avatar
    infocynic2
    5 years ago
    @TechieTypeGamer wrote:
    @DMoctezumaMaybe I didn't explain it very well. After all, I agree with what you said. Yes, the problem is a ME1 software issue, but I was able to move the dialog from my left-rear speaker to the central speaker.

    Either the controller/receiver is processing the surround channels or the source is (PS4 in my case). If the controller is in straight through mode, it does whatever the PS4 wants it to do, regardless of whether it's good or bad. So, if you had 2.1 coming out of the source and the receiver is in straight mode, sound will only come out of the front two speakers even though you have 5.1 speakers. But if you were to change from straight to 5.1 on the receiver, it processes the surround configuration instead of the PS4. So, changing from straight to 5.1 changed the speaker configuration to be correct. That's why my dialog for ME1 is now coming out of the central speaker in front. Know what I mean?

    The "5.1 ch stereo" setting on ANY receiver (also called 7.1, etc., or all-channel stereo depending on your model and configuration) will take a stereo signal and basically play it back through all 5 (or 7, etc.) +1 subwoofer (if present) speakers more or less equally, putting the same signal out to each speaker, usually with some light processing to try to "guess" what should go through the center and/or rear speakers. In your case, with your particular amp, it sounds like your amp's 5.1 channel stereo setting has lucked into processing the signal well enough to make it work for you. This is very YMMV, as some receivers may just mix left + right and apply that as what should come out of center in this mode. 

    it will degrade a normal 5.1 signal, but if you normally use STRAIGHT mode on your receiver you could just toggle on and off of that while you're playing, but that's kind of a pain. 

    All in all, it's an iffy hack, but it MAY work for SOME people. It doesn't fix the issue, just hides it, and it won't sound as good as a real fix would. It's also horribly inconvenient unless you keep your receiver's remote handy (I think most with receivers are using some sort of universal remote -- RIP Harmony) OR have a receiver that remembers presets based on inputs and have the PS4/5 connected directly to it (not via eARC from the TV) *AND* on top of all that, you're not switching between ME1 and some other game that has good sound all the time where you'd need to constantly be flipping it (another YMMV here: look for a "SCENES" setting on your receiver: you may able to store 5.1/7.1 ch stereo as a SCENE and "Surround Decode" as another, again ymmv a lot on how convenient this is to toggle all the time).

    None of this should be necessary, because EA should be patching this for us.

  • QuadraQuack's avatar
    QuadraQuack
    5 years ago

    5 Channel Stereo is not surround sound. So what you are doing might be a work around of sorts for a receiver, but it ruins the surround sound feature in the process.

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