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Configure 5.1 or 7.1 Surround Sound in a Virtual Machine

If you have a 5.1 or 7.1 surround-capable sound card connected to your Mac (via USB or FireWire), you can use it in your virtual machine. Follow these steps:

Step 1 . Configure the sound card in Mac OS X.

Step 2 . Select the sound card as the sound output device in the virtual machine configuration.

Step 3 . Configure the sound card in the guest operating system.

Configure the sound card in Mac OS X

To configure a sound card in Mac OS X:

  1. Start the Audio MIDI Setup application (you can find it in /Applications/Utilities ).
  2. Select your 5.1 or 7.1 surround-capable sound card and choose the necessary sample rate and bit depth from the Format pop-up menus.

    Note: Make sure these settings match the appropriate settings for the sound card.

  3. Click Configure Speakers , select Multichannel and choose the necessary type of output from the pop-up menu.
  4. Set this sound card as the default output device in Mac OS X: select it in System Preferences > Sound > Output .

Select the sound card as the sound output device in the virtual machine configuration

After you have configured the sound card in Mac OS X, select it as the sound output device in the virtual machine configuration:

  1. Do one of the following:
    • Click the Parallels icon in the menu bar and choose Configure.
    • If the Parallels Desktop menu bar is visible at the top of the screen, choose Actions > Configure .
  2. Click Hardware and select Sound .
  3. Make sure the Connected option is selected.
  4. Choose Default from the Output menu.

Configure the sound card in the guest operating system

Configure the sound card in the guest operating system.

In Windows 7/Vista:

  1. Click Start > Control Panel > Hardware and Sound > Sound .
  2. On the Playback tab, select Parallels Audio Controller and click Configure .
  3. Select 5.1 Surround or 7.1 Surround (depends on your sound card), click Next several times, and then click Finish .
  4. On the Playback tab, select Parallels Audio Controller again and click Properties .
  5. Click the Advanced tab and choose the sample rate and bit depth.

    Note: The specified settings shouldn't be higher than the same settings specified in the Audio MIDI Setup application in Mac OS X (described above).

  6. When ready, click OK twice.

In Windows XP:

  1. Click Start > Control Panel and double-click Sound and Audio Devices .
  2. On the Volume tab, click Advanced in the Speaker settings section.
  3. On the Speakers tab, select the necessary speaker setup.

In Linux:

You can try to follow these general guidelines to use the 5.1 or 7.1 surround-capable sound card in Linux:

  1. Click System > Preferences > Sound .
  2. On the Hardware tab, choose the necessary speaker setup from the Profile menu.
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