Creidim

I've searched through google cache, and 90% of the audigy related questions, especially those that have to do with pinouts, all seem to end up on these forums.

I own a original Audigy SB0090. I recently re-discovered the fact my videocard (Zotac 8800GT) has a SPDIF in connector. The last time I recall wiring a spdif (pin 17 or something) I would get full sound while in Linux, but no matter what I clicked in the windows panels (creative and windows utilities) I could never get it to pass the sound along in windows.

This is the pinout I used last time IIRC:

Creative Sound Blaster AUD_EXT pinout and wiring @ pinouts.ru

This looks like my connector, but mine is 'missing' pins 29/30
I'm assuming thats what they mean by KEY in the pinout chart

Now I find messages about bridging some pins, making the SB think a live drive is installed so it turns on all the SPDIF connectors in windows or something?

So my simple question is, I know linux will let me manually choose a spdif channel, so which output should I use so that I get sound in Windows as well (via spdif->gpu->hdmi out) and do I need to bridge any other pins or is it a matter of choosing the right spdif out?

Any help would be appreciated.

janez

Are you using the kx drivers in windows?
About the bridging of the pins, iirc its about convincing the original CL drivers that there is a compatible drive present at a newer Audigy 2ZS. Apparently its irrelevant for kx and for your card. Someone may correct me if I´m wrong

If you use kx you can basicly pick any output and see what it corresponds to in the dsp and wire it with whatever you like. It can be an FXBus or an Input or a mixer...

Tyrsonswood

I'm pretty sure janez is right, I've connected sound cards via SPDIF using KX drivers, never had to bridge pins (although I've heard of that), this gives me two extra recording channels, but not to a video card....... should be the same thing connecting wise.

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Creidim

See, here's my issue though, I thought the Kx drivers were for those involved in chaining cards together, or doing high-end audio mixing etc.

I only boot Windows to game, and I need EAX / Hardware acceleration to work. I read some of the wiki pages about Kx, and I notice that some 'issues' required you to turn off hardware accel.

I just wish I knew which SPDIF output the Audigy uses in Windows by default, when I used SPDIF Out (0 I think) on pin 17 of the AUD_EXT, it worked flawlessly in Linux, but in Windows, even after selecting digital output, still would produce no sound.

If I dont have to switch drivers, I would rather not, I prefer to make sure the hardware is setup right, so that in future it's not a matter of tracking down obsoleted packages, just getting the legacy drivers from creative.

I appreciate you folks replying, I guess I can wait a few days, and if I can't find a simple hardware solution, I may have to look into those Kx drivers.

Regards,
Philip

Tyrsonswood

You do lose EAX with KX drivers from what I kinow about that, I don't use EAX. Did you try the other spdif outs on the audigy...... yours is the AUD-EXT, the link you posted should be correct, it's also posted here in the forums, Soundblaster Live!, Audigy 1/2 and X-Fi* Pinouts

Double check and make sure they are the same pinouts and then try each output and look for your signal.

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Creidim

The pinouts are correct, as I recall using pin 17 (SPDIFO#0) to hookup the card before. I was hoping someone knew which SPDIF-Output was used by default in Windows on the Audigy.
(I assumed the first, but the Linux drivers may be similar to Kx in that they just output on all 4 by default)

Just to be sure I took a photo of mine:



I guess I will be stuck with trial & error switching pins between 9, 17, 19 and 22. Can I use the same 'ground' for all of them or do I need to use a ground nearest the pin I use? ie 8/9 then 16/17 etc? or will pins 8 & (whichever) work?

Tyrsonswood

Okay.... I was in the process of responding when it seems the forum went down.

Anyways........ Those ground pins are all connected, just to be sure I checked a card with my meter. I've always used the adjacent pin out of convenience but GND is GND.

I wish I knew which pin was default for you, but I don't. Sorry 'bout that.

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Creidim

Well, you're a braver individual than I I own a multimeter, but other than continuity checks, and battery testing, I haven't used it much, I don't know if I have a steady enough hand to make sure I touch pin #1 and not 1 and/or 2/3/4 since they are all adjacent, maybe I'll plug an IDE cable onto the aud_ext and test which pin with it, so I'm not bridging the wrong two pins with the tester haha

(It's OPERATION! Creative Labs style!)

What setting should I use for checking if a pin is active?
Like black to gnd and red to the spdif out pin when it's 'playing' something in windows and digital output is selected I assume.

I know that should give a 'signal' of some sort, but I have no idea what setting on the meter to use. I was thinking use the 6v or 12v DC like for batteries and check for something spiking in/out of the 5v range?

Or is there a better way to do this?

Tyrsonswood

I tested continuity on a card out of the machine...... my hands shake to much for live surgery these days. To test for signal I would use one of my other cards (in your case the spdif input on the video card) with the spdif cable. the audigy end of that cable would have two connectors GND and signal..... hook GND to a known ground and try each known signal pin.

The safest way to do this it to turn the computer off, make each connection, boot it up and check for signal. This could also be done "live" with the computer running but extreme caution would be advised...... you don't want to mistakenly attach to the wrong pin while it's running or get a wire tangled in a fan, etc. Just double check all connections, mark the pins so you know what is what, in theory it would be the came as any coax external connector, like the front of a "Live! Drive" and they can be connected hot.

Just be careful.

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Creidim

Well, I am unsure if it is a combination of SP3, that stupid UAA patch from MS, or just that the new Creative driver package for my audigy borrowed some of the Kx project voodoo, but things have changed.

I ended up using pins 8 & 17.
Once again, in Linux (using the OSS 'audigy' driver) and pulseaudio in digital stereo duplex, I get sound on my TV from HDMI. I have to set it to Analog Stereo Duplex if I want to get the headphone jack (Line 1 out) to fire up (which then cancels the audio via hdmi *sigh*) but once I figure out how to get pulseaudio to fire up the spdif out and the headphone jack, I'll be golden. I know it's possible....

BECAUSE

This is the weird part, I re-installed WinXP, slipstreamed sp3 this time, instead of my old sp2 disc. I had to apply some kb hotfix from MS before the onboard ac97 would even install the drivers, but then when I disabled that AC97 chipset, and threw my audigy in the system with the new Creative drivers, I reboot and voila!

Sound on the TV via HDMI! No boxes to check, no settings to change.
*AND* sound via the headphone jack in the front of my PC (which is just routed from a 3.5mm plug I put in the audigy in the back)

So although creative's website says 'Digital & Analog output simultaneously is not possible' with my Audigy, obviously it is.

I thank everyone for their assistance, I'm guessing that perhaps a combination of SP3, newer drivers, lacking the UAA hotfix, or some other combination of gremlins was preventing me from getting audio in Windows previously, as it appears to be working now, and I've got to keep EAX

And Tyrsonswood, I have no idea how to give kudos or rep or anything, but a big thumbs up for answering my post and offering suggestions

Tyrsonswood

No problem man, glad you got it working.....

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chris89

Pin 8 = GND?
Pin 17 = SPDIF Out?

I hooked mine up according to this...
http://pinouts.ru/Multimedia/creative_int_pinout.shtml

All I could manage is scratchy popping sounds from the tv's speakers. I plugged the Orange Wire to GND and the black wire to SPDIF Out on the board and it works fine.

The 2 wires coming off the video card. The Orange wire is SPDIF Out and the Black is GND.

I'll test it again using pin 8 for GND and 17 as i did before for SPDIF out. In the Audio panel on windows 7 there is Speakers on Creative Audigy and SPDIF on Creative Audigy. I have yet to get the SPDIF to work properly anyway.

I'm currently using 17 for spdif out 0 and 18 for GND to my Audigy 2 ZS Live Drive SPDIF OUT 0. I have it hooked up via Coax to my Reciever. Which works but it's all weird and the SPDIF tests say it's in use by an application etc.

Creidim

****

First, you say you have an Audigy 2, I believe yours has an AD_EXT connector, with a DIFFERENT pinout than my Audigy 1 AUD_EXT port, please double check *your* hardware's pinouts BEFORE you go hooking wires up according to what works for me.

****

Second,

I would make sure that you are using the newest drivers from creative, I know they seem to be approaching a a unified driver type model, a bunch of legacy and current cards are covered with a Win7/vista/2k3/xp/2k driver now.

You should then use the Creative control panel, and making sure 'sync with Windows audio properties' or something like that is checked, and choose 2.0/2.1ch if it's routed to the TV. By default it should be checked AFAIK.

I know my PS3 would make my TV exhibit that exact symptom (scratchy popping sounds) when I was trying to pass-through or output an audio signal the TV couldn't reproduce.

janez

See?! I guess you do have a driver problem. Finding the right pins and hooking them up with something is the easy part. You can just modify an internal Audio cable for CDrom2soundcard to build an adapter to whatever you want to connect it to, follow the pinout and plug it into the right place in the aud_ext. Make sure that gnd is connected with ground and signal out to signal in. A multimeter usually has a through tester with a signal tone. Doesn´t yours? But you can also see on the layout of the board where gnd is and that those pins are all connected.
you can also access the digi outs at the backside of the card in that 3.5mm connector. This is the pin assignment:


But what use is that if you can´t address any specific output with any specific signal in the software for the card? I don´t know about that EAX stuff, but I guess apart from that you´re gonna love kx. KX was basicly created to give you access to anything that is there and that creative partially tries to withhold just to sell you the almost same card with a new driver over and over again.

Creidim

Or a new card using the same broken old driver Whatever makes $

I know even my onboard does 5.1, but I still compare all soundcards to my poor GUS Pro plug and pray, that died during a summer storm *sniff*