Unable to play Stereo MP4 videos in my 5.1 setup

Hi,

I have a 5.1 speaker setup and am looking for a codec where i can play the stereo channel of MP4 files into 5.1 virtually. Currently it is playing in stereo.

Please find the full details for the file am trying. Kindly help


General
Complete name               : C:\Users\diwag\Downloads\Meyaadha Maan _ Thangachi Video Song _ Vaibhav, Priya, Indhuja _ Santhosh Narayanan - YouTube (1080p).mp4
Format                      : MPEG-4
Format profile              : Base Media
Codec ID                    : isom (isom/iso2/avc1/mp41)
File size                   : 68.6 MiB
Duration                    : 3 min 22 s
Overall bit rate            : 2 841 kb/s
Writing application         : Lavf55.19.102

Video
ID                          : 1
Format                      : AVC
Format/Info                 : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile              : High@L4
Format settings             : CABAC / 3 Ref Frames
Format settings, CABAC      : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames   : 3 frames
Codec ID                    : avc1
Codec ID/Info               : Advanced Video Coding
Duration                    : 3 min 22 s
Bit rate                    : 2 711 kb/s
Width                       : 1 920 pixels
Height                      : 1 080 pixels
Display aspect ratio        : 16:9
Frame rate mode             : Constant
Frame rate                  : 24.000 FPS
Color space                 : YUV
Chroma subsampling          : 4:2:0
Bit depth                   : 8 bits
Scan type                   : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)          : 0.054
Stream size                 : 65.4 MiB (95%)
Color range                 : Limited
Color primaries             : BT.709
Transfer characteristics    : BT.709
Matrix coefficients         : BT.709

Audio
ID                          : 2
Format                      : AAC
Format/Info                 : Advanced Audio Codec
Format profile              : LC
Codec ID                    : mp4a-40-2
Duration                    : 3 min 22 s
Bit rate mode               : Constant
Bit rate                    : 126 kb/s
Channel(s)                  : 2 channels
Channel positions           : Front: L R
Sampling rate               : 44.1 kHz
Frame rate                  : 43.066 FPS (1024 SPF)
Compression mode            : Lossy
Stream size                 : 3.03 MiB (4%)
Default                     : Yes
Alternate group             : 1

Method #1:
Windows control panel > sound > speakers > properties > enhancements > select "speaker fill" or "DTS connect"
Note: these enhancements may not be available. It depends on the capabilities of your sound hardware and driver.

Method #2:
MPC-HC options > external filters > add "ffdshow audio processor" and set it as preferred
Once added, double-click on ffdshow to access its settings.
In ffdshow audio processor settings, enable the Mixer.
On the Mixer page, select 5 channels + LFE as speaker configuration.
Enable the "Expand stereo to surround" option.

Thanks for the quick response. Method #2 worked for me. In addition to what you have suggested i had to enable LFE crossover as well to get the bass in the sub. Thanks for the timely help, appreciate it.

I have a question. Should i disable this mixer when i play an original 5.1 sound track? because i dont want to mess the original source when available. I would prefer if the filter does the mixing only if the track is stereo and not when it is 5.1 or above. Kindly respond.

Thanks in advance :-)

Mixing doesn't do anything when input is already same as the desired output. 7.1 audio will get downmixed, but that would happen anyway by the Windows sound mixer.

Thanks for the reply again. Appreciate the response.

Hello, i had the same issue.
I applied the method #1(speaker fill) and afterwards installed the Basic K-Lite Codec Pack which solved the problem.
Now i can play MP4 files as 5.1 in all media players.
The problem remains only when playing online video files such as from Youtube using Chrome browser.
In this situation output is still in stereo mode instead of 5.1 surround.

Is there any configuration could solve this issue?

It is not possible to change which decoder is used by your web browser. It is also not possible to change how it outputs audio.

Method #1 as described above works for all applications. If that functionality is not available on your system, then there is no solution.

Thank you very much for your answer.
Method #1 worked for all applications except for web browsers as you mentioned above.
As a matter of fact Chrome does not output 5.1 audio by default(Firefox does).
I followed this video and it worked!!!
Now Chrome plays Youtube videos in 5.1 audio mode.All are fine.