SDI to HDMI with 5.1 audio

Hello, I am putting together a 5.1 surround sound set up with a Yamaha receiver. Video source is SDI that I'm converting to HDMI with a micro black magic.

However it does not seem like i am getting proper 5.1 out of my speakers. I checked all cabling, and all the settings via the receiver. I am not getting center channel or correct surround sound. It sounds like I am getting actually getting channel 7 and 8 on my surround speakers.

My question is could the micro black magic be a problem child here? Does any one have experience converting SDI to HDMI and getting proper 5.1? Thanks!

start out by swapping the feeds of your center and LFE signals to the receiver. (inside the NLE preferences)

Many home units are wired for a different order of files.

I run mine out to a Sony home receiver, and both this and my previous setup out of Avid, and Black magic needed those channels to be swapped. (feed track 3 to output 4, and track 4 to output 3)

I think your receiver might also need to be able to accept pcm audio, which they may not all do...but it sounds like you are getting sound, just not the correct sound?

I've just automatically been doing it this way for about 11 years now.

Standard (SMPTE) 5.1 channel layout is:
Left, Right, Center, LFE, Surround Left, and Surround Right.

For cinema distribution 5.1 layout is:
Left, Center, Right, Left Surround, Right Surround, and LFE

It may be that the audio channel layout embedded in your SDI source does not match the (possibly film) layout that your receiver is expecting. If that's the case, check to see if your Yamaha receiver offers an input option that correctly matches the (SMPTE) source layout. Or vice versa. If your SDI source is coming from an NLE (like Resolve) check to see that your NLE is setup to output the correct mapping for your receiver (eg in Resolve, use either "5.1" or "5.1 Film" as needed). If you have no control over either then swapping the cable outputs from the receiver (to your speakers) is likely your easiest solution.