🚀 go-pugleaf

I have some basic questions about Dolby Digital 5.1 sound and the
Sound Blaster Live 24-bit (SB0410) card. I searched on Google and
Wikipedia without finding an answer I could understand.

I have a DD5.1/DTS external amplifier/decoder and speaker system
connected to my SB Live card through S/PDIF. I have set the SB Live
speaker configuration to 5.1. When I turn on the digital connection
and play DVD movies through PowerDVD, I get DD5.1 and DTS just like I
should. However, all games, music, and the SB diagnostic utilities
only use the left and right front speakers. All the other speakers are
quiet, even during the SB diagnostics when the sound is supposed to
move to each speaker..

Is there some setting I'm missing to allow my PC to use the other 3
speakers and subwoofer, or does DD5.1 only work when you hook up a
Creative Labs' 5.1 speaker system directly into the card without a
decoder?

What puzzles me is if PowerDVD can output DD5.1 and DTS to my external
decoder, then why can't games or other applications do the same? I
searched Google for "PC games support DD5.1" and couldn't find a list.

FWIW, my ECS/Nvidia chipset motherboard has built-in 7.1 sound and I
had the exact same problem with the Realtek sound software... DD5.1
and DTS only worked in PowerDVD. I assumed the onboard audio didn't
work properly so I bought the SB Live 24 bit card to get DD5.1 in my
PC games but it behaves just like the built-in sound. I must be
missing a really basic concept here. Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks.