I once was a Sony surround sound receiver snob, owning 4 different ES models from the early to mid 00's. I can tell you from experience that there's a reason why I switched to Yamaha receivers.
Sony's...it's not that they don't "function" so much as that they are extremely quirky with menu settings "logic" to where they can infuriate you to no end to get it to just play the damn content.
That all being said, I know their "menu logic" quite well, and highly doubt much has changed. Sony, like any old school company...is resistant to change.
So...I bet I can help. My questions are as follows.
1) Are you saying the surround speakers and subwoofer are leftovers from the prior owner? And if so...
............1a) what is the speaker setup, meaning - are we talking about a 5.1, 6.1, or 7.1 speaker, etc setup? Reason I ask is to eliminate whether you have all speakers hooked up correct speaker to receiver. Whatever the setup, you first and foremost must make sure you have all your speakers set up to the correct places on the back of the receiver. I am assuming, you've confirmed you have them all hooked up correct.
But, humor me. What setup do you have? It could be important later.
2) What is the receiver model number please?
3) I am assuming you have hooked HDMI directly from the PS5 to the receiver, then an HDMI from the receiver to the TV. And also, this is exactly how you also have your cable box hooked up.
4) when you say "music", what are we talking about, what is/are the music source(s) and how are they hooked up to the receiver?
Here are my initial thoughts. Most video games, the initial splash (load) screen content is NOT going to be in a particular surround sound format other than stereo PCM (2 channel) - only when you actually begin playing the game will the fancy surround sound formats kick in.
Then, most Youtube content is also in stereo PCM format. Not all apps actually have for example Dolby Digital sound formats.
So...the reason why I state these (I don't own a PS5...just going from past game consoles I've owned and used and how they operated from a sound perspective) as being highly probable is the following.
You (most likely) have to tell the PS5 in the settings menu of the console itself how to handle all sound formats. There should be settings (per the Playstation website) where you HAVE to tell the PS5 whether you're using a receiver or not, then how many channels (therefore speakers) your receiver is using.
Find out how to customize the PlayStation®5 console audio output for your TV, headset or AV system.
www.playstation.com
Notice this paragraph...
"
Audio Format (Priority)
Set the audio output format to use for games and for video apps.
Available settings may vary depending on your devices and audio settings configuration."
What that tells me is you have to define what formats you want the PS5 to output in some fashion...meaning, you have to tell it how to decode and PASS THROUGH whatever audio content is present TO your receiver - whether you are using an app or playing a game.
Next...you then have to in the receiver settings tell IT what to do with whatever you're sending to it no matter the input. The receiver will have "global" decoding settings for things such as stereo signals (matrix it into various Dolby Pro Logic or DTS formats, or simply leave it in 2 channel stereo). But you probably will also have settings as far as what to do with DD or DTS formats - I usually would tell my Sony's to "auto-decode" those.
Now...here's where shit gets confusing. You also have to set up the receiver from a speaker setup perspective what it should do when (for example) you may be feeding more channels from a source (such as a PS5, or BD player, etc) than what you have set up for speaker setups. Meaning...say you have a front main/center/rears + sub speaker setup - a traditional 5.1 setup. You have to tell the receiver how to treat say a 7.1 signal (or maybe one of those newer fancy shmancy Dolby formats I haven't had the pleasure of dealing with yet).
Then of course, you'll have to set up the speakers themselves with the receiver - large/small, which speakers you actually have hooked up, etc. Then levels of output for each, etc. Some receivers also will make you tell it where each input is getting the audio from (meaning, is the audio being sent from somposite stereo, optical/coaxial digital inputs, or ONLY HDMI). Make sure all those are set up correct.
Confused yet????
So...my advice is first, work with the PS5. Make things simple. Set up the PS5 to match your speaker configuration before ANYTHING ELSE. If you have a 5.1 speaker system hooked up, set up the PS5 to where it knows that. Then, all you want the PS5 to do otherwise is to pass through all other audio as it is on the disc or app. LET YOUR RECEIVER DO ALL THE DECODING. So...tell the PS5 to output stereo signals as stereo, then to pass through everything else as is.
THEN - if your Sony receiver is any kind of pimpin' newfangled receiver worth it's money spent - it should have a way to view the audio signal either on screen menu wise, or in the viewing panel on the front of the receiver. Look in your receiver owner's manual how to do BOTH of these.
Most Sony receivers I know of will at the very least have decoding information icons on the front panel that'll tell you what type of audio signal is being sent. Pimpin' receivers will have a way to view audio and video signals via some sort of on screen menu.
Only that way will you know what you are truly sending from the PS5 to your receiver. If the PS5 is "doing its job" and sending everything it can send in its original format - then it is a matter of figuring out ONLY the receiver menu setups to where your surround sound will decode and process properly to where you begin getting sound output the way you want it to.
My hunch is, assuming everything is hooked up correct wiring wise - that the PS5 and receiver aren't in sync from a decoding settings standpoint. The games "sub only outputting sound"...something there tells me there's a setting for LFE signals fouled up there involving small to large speakers and whether you want the receiver to send LFE to the sub only, sub and fronts, or not at all...something strange like that. Hard to say really.
So, help ME out here. What Sony receiver model number we talking about here? I know the Sony Support website by memory, I've downloaded so many manuals from it...maybe I can lead you into specific settings to check as a baseline setup before anything else.
