Dolby Pro Logic II decoder

Background

Certain NGC and Wii games support 5.1 surround sound via Dolby Pro Logic II sound encoding. Dolby PLII uses matrix encoding to embed a 5.1 surround mix inside a standard 2.0 stereo signal, thus enabling 5.1 sound from standard RCA stereo jacks, without the need for additional audio hardware, jacks and wires (e.g. Optical toslink).

Instructions

Dolphin 5.0 decodes Dolby Pro Logic II natively, without needing an external decoder (like an A/V receiver). You will need 5.1 speakers, please test to make sure your speakers are properly setup, configured and working in your computer's audio settings before attempting.

In order to activate DPLII decoding:

1. Close any running games (you can save your progress by setting a save state)

2. Go to Options -> Audio Settings. It should take you to the Audio Tab in Dolphin Configuration Settings.

3. Under "Backend Settings" go to "Audio Backend:" and click the drop-down menu, and change the default setting of "XAudio2" to "OpenAL".

4. The option for Dolby Pro Logic II decoder should now no longer be grey-ed out, and you should be free to click the check box, activating the feature.

5. In order to work, you may have to turn on DPLII inside the game's settings. Check the in-game menu to see if you can change from stereo output (2.0) to Dolby Pro Logic II output.

Games with Surround Sound

List of games that support Dolby PLII:

List of NGC games: http://www.mobygames.com/attribute/sheet/attributeId,206/p,14/

List of Wii games: http://www.mobygames.com/attribute/sheet/attributeId,206/p,82/