Problem with 5.1 music playback on SXPS16

I recently got new 5.1 sound system to use with my SXPS 1645.... but i have experienced one problem when i connected all 3 jacks to my laptop. i cannot make all 5.1 play when i turn on music with itunes or Windows Media player. I've checked separate sound playback on each of the speakers and it works perfectly fine, even while watching movies all 5.1 speakers are active. but when i turn on music (MP3 stereo) only the sub and two front speakers are playing. i even tried disabling Independent (RTC), as i thought that the core of the problem is in the interfered playback caused by ind. RTC... did not help. Does anybody have same problem? Any possible solutions?
i'd appreciate any replies!
Drivers are up to date

 

well..I think it is caused by the mp3 file itself. Since it is stereo, meaning it can only produce 2.1 sound, so that's the reason why only two front speakers are playing.

as for the movies, most probably they support 5.1, to find out whether it support 5.1 or not, simply launch the movie with media player classic, right click and go to properties, if you see 6 channels is stated, then it supports 5.1 surround sound

 

yes, i do know all that stuff, but even if the MP3 file is stereo format, it should be played on all speakers of 5.1 system, that is why there is a sound driver to convert and extend 2 way stereo sound into 5.1
i had a desktop with 5.1 sound system, did not have any problems playing music on it.
and to repeat again, when i watch movies with 6ch audio, all 5 speakers and the sub are active.

 

nobody has same problem???? or nobody has 5.1???

 

Well this is not that simple. Stereo music should be played in stereo, so that's how it works.
You have 5 options:
1. You buy a jack splitter and then you have sound to all speakers, but you lose surround sound (real 5.1) when needed.
2. You buy an external sound card that supports CMSS-3D (Creative X-Fi Surround 5.1 should do the trick).
3. You install Creative X-Fi MB software (you can try it for 30 days for free), search on Google.
4. You listen only 5.1 audio (DTS and DVD audio files instead of mp3s).
5. You use a plug-in for your player that can expand 2.0 content to 5.1 setup, foobar2000 has ChannelMixer for this, I don't know for other players, but this will work only for mp3s and/or your music, not for youtube and/or other players.

 

my soundcard is Creative CMSS-3D enabled, still doesnt play in all speakers. but thanks for suggestions. thats weird cause my old desktop did not have such problems

 

one more detail, when i enabled EAX Effects through Creative soundblaster software all 5.1 speakers are active, but still, no solution for normal playback

 

Solution Found!!!
If you're using Vista or Win7, here's what you need to do:

Open your control panel and go to "sound"

In the "playback" tab select your speakers and click the "properties" button.

In the speaker properties dialog open the "enhancements tab". Check off "Speaker Fill". This creates a virtual environment for stereo audio sources to play through surround sound.

NOTE: you may need to close and restart iTunes if you have it open.

Found on internet,,, thanks to sumlameuser