X-Fi Prelude decoding Dolby Digital/DTS from PlayStation 3 via SPDIF-In

Niro69

Hey all, long time viewer, first time poster.

I've been using an Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Pro with YouP PAX's drivers for a long time now. I'm about to start building a new PC and my first priority was the soundcard. I've already bought an Auzentech X-Fi Prelude 7.1 (still on its' way to me) but have just discovered that it may not be able to decode Dolby Digital and DTS from the PS3 via SPDIF-In like my Audigy 2 ZS has been doing for so long.

My question is this:

Is it possible for the X-Fi Prelude 7.1 to decode Dolby Digital/DTS via SPDIF-In and if not, is there another way, possibly through modified drivers, that it can do this?

I have also encountered Velbac but would like to keep this as a last resort, as well as the Logitech Z-5500, because I'd prefer to make use of the Prelude's high quality components all the way.

My System Specifications:

Logitech Z-5300
Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Pro
Windows XP Pro SP2
2 GB DDR2 RAM
XFX 8400 GS 256MB
Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4 GHz 800 MHz FSB
ASUS P5KPL motherboard

It should be noted that I just built this system as a temporary system to last me until Intel's Nehalem comes out so I can build a proper system. My PC of 6 years just died on me, hence why I'm building a new system.

Appreciate any help that is provided. Thanks!

Niro69

Doesn't anyone have any advice to offer?

How about a simpler question: Does anyone know if daniel_k had a driver for X-Fi under Windows XP? And do you know if it works with the Auzentech?

Robert McClelland

Sorry not right now I don't have my wireless yet so I can't ask your question hehe. And I don't have X-Fi Prelude 7.1 either there no waying to know if I can mod that yet lol with out having sound card. And Welcome

Niro69

Well that's alright, thanks for the response though.

Right now, I'm considering using Velbac.

Basically, I would have this setup: PS3 (Optical) > Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Pro > Auzentech Prelude 7.1

To use Velbac, do I need to install drivers for both soundcards? Considering that both use similar Creative files, wouldn't this cause a conflict? I am not clear on how to use Velbac in regards to installing drivers of each soundcard. Any help would be greatly appreciated, I'd like to get this working ASAP, I just invested quite a bit in the Prelude (it's not sold here, had to get it through a visiting friend) and now I fear it's useless. Thank you in advance.

Niro69

Someone? Please? A little help with Velbac? All I want to know is whether or not you need to install both drivers for both soundcards, if there is any particular order for this, and whether or not there could be any potential conflicts with the drivers (this concerns an Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Pro and an Auzentech X-Fi Prelude).

Thanks.

Robert McClelland

You might have wait for couple days for help on that dj_stick only one might know how. I haven't seen him around lately.

Tril

What I would do : I would use the installers of the two soundcards. If it works, all is good. If it does not work, after using the two installers, you can probably manually install the drivers. Unpack the driver files. They are usually cab files renamed to exe and cab files can be uncompressed with winrar.

Removed most of the post because I was talking of the wrong program and I did not understand properly what Niro69 wanted to do. See my next post for my answer to him.

Niro69

Thanks for the reply.

Basically what I want to do is get a Dolby Digital and DTS signal from the PS3 into the Audigy 2 ZS so it can be decoded, then send the decoded audio to the Auzentech which will output the sound via analog outputs.

The Auzen only gets PCM Stereo. DTS is particularly important to me, which is why I'd prefer the audio from the PS3 to be decoded straightaway rather than upmixing 2 channel audio.

Velbac sees the ASIO drivers as Auzentech ASIO. Since the drivers are pretty much the same as Creative's, I don't believe there should be a difference. I will attempt to do the setup today.

My plan is to remove the Auzen and uninstall all software, then installl the Audigy 2 ZS and drivers, then re-install the Auzen and start using Velbac. Hopefully this should work out. Will update you on my situation. Thanks!

Tril

I'm sorry. I did not completely understand what you wanted to do before and I mixed up the names of two programs I made (redocneXk and Velbac) so I was thinking you wanted to do something slightly different and some of my previous comments don't apply.

Here's what I think will happen. The Audigy 2 ZS will decode the signal from spdif-in and it will play it back on the Audigy 2 ZS. You will then use Velbac to send the audio from the Audigy 2 ZS to the Auzentech Prelude 7.1.

That should work. I've personally tested Velbac with an Audigy 2 as a source. What's important with Velbac is that the input card is a soundblaster or audigy card (X-Fi does also work but not very well), the output card can be any card.

ROBSCIX

I tried installing a Audigy2 along side a Prelude 7.1 and I got major issue with driver conflicts. You might be able to get around this if you use KX on the A2 and it allows decoding for Audigy 2. In theory you would install both cards as normal like Tril stated then you should use VelBac to link the two cards. Then setup the input on the Audigy and the output on the Prelude. I know one other who has this working right but he is using a Extigy and a Prelude and is using it for movies. The trouble you might have is latency...good luck, let us know how you make out.

Niro69

Alright, so I just finished installing both cards and drivers with no problems.

At first, my Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Pro external breakout I/O box didn't seem to be working but after about half an hour of messing around, I realised the soundcard had to be plugged in with a floppy drive power cable in order to send power to the breakout box for it to work. So there you go - if your breakout box doesn't work, connect the power cable to your soundcard!

Installed Daniel_K's drivers for the A2, went fine. Only installed the Audio Drivers and THX Console.

Installed the Auzen card and complete drivers (latest version, available on Auzen's site, as the drivers given with the CD are useless - they give a Code 37 error).

Everything's working fine so far, system seems stable, no apparent conflicts.



Now for the problem...

Velbac crashes everytime I configure it and start playback. Maybe I'm setting it up wrong. Any suggestions as to what settings I would need to configure for it to obtain audio from the A2ZS and send it to the Auzentech?

The Audio Renderer 2/Output Device 2 options are grayed out (but probably because they're only for KX drivers).

I don't know what to set the ASIO Driver, Matrix Preset, Audio Renderer 1 and Output Device 1 options to.

Available options:

ASIO Driver

• Auzen X-FI ASIO [D800]
• Auzentech ASIO
• SB Audigy 2 ZS 24/96 [D...
• SB Audigy 2 ZS ASIO [D880]

Matrix Preset

• kX drivers
• Creative drivers (other than X-Fi)
• Creative drivers (X-Fi)

Audio Renderer 1

• WaveOut
• DirectSound

Output Device 1

• Primary Sound Driver
• Auzen X-Fi Audio [D800]
• SB Audigy 2 ZS Audio [D880]

Greatly appreciate the help so far. Thanks guys!

Niro69

Oh dear, another problem. Audio comes out as if it is being played at 2 times the speed!

Do you suppose I'll have to install the kX drivers then?

Will there be any problems if I just remove the Audigy drivers and install the kX or should I uninstall every audio driver and install the kX and then the Auzen? Please advise, thanks.

UPDATE: Not an issue any longer.

The fix was simple. Simply go to the Creative Audio Console (for the Audigy 2 ZS) and configure the settings to reflect the settings in the Auzen driver. For instance, switch on DD/DTS decoding via SPDIF-In, set speakers to 5.1, etc.

ROBSCIX

I am unsure if you mean you got it to work or not. Set the OS to use the Audigy 2 as the default card. Set Velbac As:
I am pretty sure you need to set the ASIO for the Audigy
Matrix for the (other then X-fi)
Render is Direct sound.
Output is the Prelude....then set the Prelude to use Digital out within the driver.
I am pretty sure this should be the right config. The ASIO driver may be off.

Let me know if this is working for you because I have been thinking of trying the same thing.

Niro69

Velbac seems to be causing the problem where the audio gets distorted and played back at twice the speed.

While there were no problems with the installation, Velbac fails to work as the audio from A22ZS isn't being sent to the Auzentech.

After reading your post, I realise I made a few mistakes. First, I was using the Auzen as the primary soundcard. I changed this to the Audigy 2 ZS.

Now I don't get any audio because Velbac just doesn't work. I tried setting it to what you specified and it crashed. I tried other ASIO drivers, no sound.

I'm not quite clear on what you mean by setting the Prelude to use Digital Out within the driver? Do you mean change the SPDIF-In setting in the Auzentech Audio Console? If so, it's grayed out and I can't edit it. I can only set Digital Output (PCM) Sampling Rate Setting to 48KHz or 96KHz (it's at 96).

Niro69

ROBSCIX, I am pleased to inform you that I have just made progress!

It seemed there was a problem with the ASIO Buffer Latency setting. I had set it to 500ms and it had caused Velbac to crash. I set it to 10ms and SUCCESS! I have just changed it to 5ms, no difference. I've left it at that.

Settings I used:

ASIO Driver: SB Audigy 2 ZS Driver [D880]
Matrix Preset: Creative drivers (other than X-Fi)
Output Device 1: Auzentech


Have not yet tried out DD/DTS. Will do that now.

Niro69

Have just tried out DD/DTS from the PS3. Result: Failure.

The whole set up seems to be crumbling apart now. While stereo sources such as MP3 worked fine, multi-channel sound from the SPDIF source didn't even make a sound (stereo sound via SPDIF was fine).

In addition, it seems to have affected normal audio playback as only my right speaker seems to be working now. I do not know yet if this is a temporary issue.

It seems there are too many problems for the solution to be implemented successfully. Do you suppose kX drivers will have better luck?

I am considering this setup to be too unwieldy now and seriously contemplating purchasing a Z-5500 (not a favourable option).

UPDATE: Changing the ASIO Buffer Latency brought back audio from all speakers. When multi-channel audio was played back again, the audio stopped working altogether until the latency was changed again. MULTI-CHANNEL VIA VELBAC IS A NO-GO.

BTW, I am using Velbac 2.00.

Niro69

Update on my situation:

I bought a Z-5500 to handle the PS3 and Prelude. Liking the detail I can hear over the Z-5300, but mid-range seems to be worse than that of the 5300s. That and I feel the subwoofer enclosure of the 5300 was superior, it produced deeper bass with more clarity, not just boominess. I'm fond of the speaker wire though, used 14 gauge to hook it all up.

Thing is I'm very disappointed with the general muddy sound of the PS3 via SPDIF. When it was passed through the Audigy 2 ZS, audio tended to sound better than playing it on my PC, so using TVersity, I played all my MP3s and videos.

I don't know if it's the quality of the Auzentech that just blows everything out of the water or the lack of a customisable EQ on the Z-5500, but I'm a bit disappointed. This was just a thought, but I wonder if I were to connect the PS3 to the Auzentech via SPDIF-In, and then connect the Auzentech to the Z-5500 via the SPDIF-Out, whether it would sound better.

Logic implies that this wouldn't make a difference as if I were to use SPDIF Passthrough (the option is grayed out in the Audio Console anyway), then the audio would be sent as-is straight to the Z-5500 and I would still get the same dull sound.

Just wanted to post this here to get any thoughts from you guys. So any thoughts?

ROBSCIX

Is there any options for output quality on the PS3? Sorry it doesn't seem to be working out for you. Passthrough is just that so your correct in that it wouldn't change a thing.
I suggest messing with settings on both the PS3 and Z-5500's. The DAC on the Z-5500's isn't the highest quality but I don't think things are quite how they should be if your describing the audio as "muddy"..good luck. If you make any progress or figure out the trouble let us know.