okay, so i did even more research.
the problem isn't the sound card. it's vista. turns out vista doesn't support dolby digital so no matter what i do, it won't work. i will always get static if i turn my ps3 to dolby digital audio output.
could anyone explain why this might be or how i might be able to get around it?
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okay, now i find an article that says the exact opposite of creative....
Dolby 5.1 Gets Vista Boost - 1/30/2007 7:06:00 AM - TWICE
am i loosing my mind?