I have enjoyed gaming over VMware Horizon for a few months, and I thought it was time to push the limits further. Would I be able to get True Surround Sound or Dolby Atmos, and how would it make a difference in games?
Before, I used Philips FW-M55 as my Mac Mini M1 speakers.
My ideal plan was to buy a Sony HT-A9, but it is costly. I instead bought Logitech Z906 5.1 Surround Sound Speakers System for less than 300 EUR.
Z906 is a passable computer speaker with True Surround Sound (THX-certified). I feel the speakers are a little weak, and the subwoofer is not booming. However, it is good enough for me.
Next, I needed a USB sound card to pass through the device via the VMware Horizon client. I bought a Creative Labs Sound Blaster X4 (Hi-res 7.1 External USB DAC and Amp Sound Card with Super X-Fi), and playing games with it is just outstanding. 🙂 It is not even close. The Creative Labs Sound Blaster X4 is complete trash. 🙂 After installing Creative Blaster Audio Drivers 2.0.2.10, a requirement for Dolby Digital Live, Windows 11 crashes and gives me a nice blue screen.
After many hours of troubleshooting, I wrote to Creative Labs support. Based on Google searches, many people have similar problems with Creative Labs soundcards, USB, and PCIe.
Conclusion:
Yes, I can pass through the sound card without any problem to VM, and it works without any issue. My problems had nothing to do with VMware Horizon or vSphere. It is better to invest in very good speakers and spend time searching for which devices would be best to buy. There are many buzzwords, BS claims, and trash hardware and software. A simple example is Surround Sound Systems with Bluetooth. High-quality Bluetooth speakers will always play audio back in mono or stereo. Few games support surround sound, which makes the time and effort questionable.
Remember, to get Surround Sound, all the components must support Surround Sound, Including the speakers, sound card, operating system (macOS over SPDIF only two channels), application (game or movie player), and the movie or music that you are listening to or watching.
Speakers: Logitech Z906 5.1 Surround Sound Speakers System is okay, but I feel Sony HT-A9 or a soundbar would be better.
Sound Card: Creative Labs Sound Blaster X4 is complete trash. The application runs slowly on macOS and Windows. Furthermore, some features need a created account and another application. The drivers crash Windows 11. Dolby Digital Live is stereo but is unavailable on macOS or 5.1. Z906 sounds better with this sound card, but not much.
Update 06.01.2023: I got surround sound working 5.1 over analog output. I needed to disable Matrix on the Logitech Z906 Speaker System. And the color code is wrong on Sound Blaster X4. The correct one is.
Line Out 1 (green) – Front stereo channels
Line Out 2 (black) – Rear stereo channels
Line Out 3 (orange) – Center & Subwoofer channels
Dolby Digital Live is not possible to use still. Creative Labs answered they do not support VM. I knew they started to blame that, but nothing to do with this.
Conclusion: Surround sound makes a difference in games.