I have experienced numerous distros not correctly using my Logitech z506 surround sound system correctly,
attached to my SoundBlaster Audigy Rx 5.1/7.1 soundcard. Zorin by default only uses 2 speakers and incorrectly identifies the output coming from S/PDIF!
My solution was to install all ALSA packages via Synaptic Package Manager (including 'apulse' for when listening to streaming in Browser, but excluding OSS and JACK packages. I also install qastools which include:
- QasConfig - browser for the ALSA configuration tree
- QasHctl - mixer for ALSA's High level Control Interface
- QasMixer - desktop mixer with features similar to alsamixer
Additionally I use Audacious, use ALSA plugin settings in Audacious, and Identify the correct output. Once Audacious is setup correctly all other Applications that use audio produce sound from all speakers.