According to Mass Effect Legendary Edition page, ME1 doesn't work in surround mode: "20. Verified by User:Shadowstealer7 on 2021-05-14 Tested using Razer Surround 7.1 virtualisation and confirmed using Special K. Mass Effect 1 did not show any channel activity other than left and right stereo channels."
After a lot of trial and error I was able to get full surround (5.1 in my case) in ME1 using OpenAL Soft and Forcing HRTF OFF via OpenAL settings. Steps to perform:
- Extract OpenAL Soft to %AppData%\OpenAL
- Copy DLL files according to readme.txt, overwrite system files
- Open %AppData%\OpenAL\alsoft-config\alsoft-config.exe
- In Playback tab: Set correct channels mode that match your system and speakers setting
- In HRTF tab: Set HRTF to "Force off" (this was required for ME1 to use surround instead of headphones mode)
- Save settings
If it still doesn't work, delete OpenAL32.dll and wrap_oal.dll from "Mass Effect Legendary Edition\Game\ME1\Binaries\Win64" folder.
I've tested the game on W11 and Creative X-Fi sound card using Daniel_K's Support Pack 8.0 drivers.