AndreaColombo86 wrote on 2026-04-23, 18:19:

Joseph, I think it was you who mentioned that Baldur’s Gate 2 outputs 5.1 surround sound when EAX is enabled. Do you know whether that is the case with the first Baldur’s Gate as well?

I think the original Baldur's Gate was just 4.0, but it's been a few years since I tested that.

AndreaColombo86 wrote on 2026-04-23, 18:19:

I wonder if I can get surround sound from it when playing the BG Trilogy mod (which essentially ports the first game to the second game’s engine.)

No idea.

AndreaColombo86 wrote on 2026-04-23, 18:19:

If the game is capable of 5.1 surround, then CMSS-3D should be able to virtualize that for headphones. Should I set Windows XP to 5.1 and the Creative control panel to headphones for optimal performance?

From my experience, that tends to vary from game to game. Try both 5.1 and stereo (or headphones) for speaker settings and then pick whichever sounds best to you. Nowadays, I always play with a proper (physical) set of 5.1 speakers, so I can't really say what's better for headphone use.

Tangentially related question: how do you handle surround-speaker positioning? My problem with 5.1 speaker setups for computers was always the impossibility to properly place surround speakers without them getting in the way. Where I have my PC now, I just couldn’t fit them: They’d be right in the middle of my room and I would knock them over all the time.

AndreaColombo86 wrote on 2026-04-23, 20:00:

Tangentially related question: how do you handle surround-speaker positioning? My problem with 5.1 speaker setups for computers was always the impossibility to properly place surround speakers without them getting in the way. Where I have my PC now, I just couldn’t fit them: They’d be right in the middle of my room and I would knock them over all the time.

Of course, everyone's situation is different, but here's what works for me. My front left and front right speakers are on their respective sides of the desk. The front center speaker is below the monitor, and the subwoofer is under the desk. The rear left and rear right speakers are behind the chair that I sit on while gaming. When not in use, I can roll up the cables of the rear speakers and tuck them away under the desk.

That said, for the optimal acoustic experience, it's probably better to use a home theater sound system that is properly positioned inside a dedicated room. I don't own one of those, so someone else is better suited to explain that in more detail.

Are you using a CRT screen? What solution did you adopt to fit the center speaker underneath it?

I do own a dedicated home theater system (well, my dad does), but my retro PC is in my room and my gaming PC is in the living room, so that’s a no go 😀

AndreaColombo86 wrote on 2026-04-23, 20:41:

Are you using a CRT screen? What solution did you adopt to fit the center speaker underneath it?

No, I use a 16:10 LCD monitor for Win9x and WinXP gaming. Specifically, the ASUS ProArt PA248QV.

It has a stand which allows me to adjust its height. When the stand is fully extended, the front center speaker fits nicely under the monitor.

AndreaColombo86 wrote on 2026-04-23, 20:00:

Tangentially related question: how do you handle surround-speaker positioning? My problem with 5.1 speaker setups for computers was always the impossibility to properly place surround speakers without them getting in the way. Where I have my PC now, I just couldn’t fit them: They’d be right in the middle of my room and I would knock them over all the time.

Back in the days of yore, the speakers were small in size and some models had stands that you could buy separately, so you could position them wherever and whenever you needed to.

AndreaColombo86 wrote on 2026-04-23, 20:00:

Tangentially related question: how do you handle surround-speaker positioning? My problem with 5.1 speaker setups for computers was always the impossibility to properly place surround speakers without them getting in the way. Where I have my PC now, I just couldn’t fit them: They’d be right in the middle of my room and I would knock them over all the time.

I re-arranged my study so the retro station (connected via KVM to the 98 and XP boxes) is at the corner of a large corner desk so I can put the rear speakers on the ends of the corners without taking much much if any space. It helps that they are tiny cubes from an FPS1000 system.

NeoG_ wrote on Today, 04:11:

AndreaColombo86 wrote on 2026-04-23, 20:00:

Tangentially related question: how do you handle surround-speaker positioning? My problem with 5.1 speaker setups for computers was always the impossibility to properly place surround speakers without them getting in the way. Where I have my PC now, I just couldn’t fit them: They’d be right in the middle of my room and I would knock them over all the time.

I re-arranged my study so the retro station (connected via KVM to the 98 and XP boxes) is at the corner of a large corner desk so I can put the rear speakers on the ends of the corners without taking much much if any space. It helps that they are tiny cubes from an FPS1000 system.

That looks good; it's hard to find a solution that works for the satellites. I read heaps of guides on height and position and I'm sure it all makes a difference, but not many people have a dedicated room to get it all 100% perfect. My desk was in a corner and I ended up turning it to sit 90 off the wall, and then mounted the satellites on the wall behind me.

I had the inspire 5300s with the official stands.

My desk was in a corner and I ran both rear speaker wires against the side wall and one of them behind my chair. I had to get up in a certain direction.

Later upgraded to Logitech 5300s and later z5500s, which annoyed my upstairs neighbor. I wound up switching to headphones.