AC3 decoding not recognized on Audigy 1

mixminus1 · Dec 12, 2003, 09:40 PM

I picked up a new bulk pack Audigy 1 (SB0230 on the card, SB0232 according to the KX control panels) - card only, no Creative software - for the sole purpose of decoding Dolby Digital 5.1 DVD soundtracks to the various S/PDIF outputs so that I could use my own external D/A converters (with balanced outputs) to feed a mixing board.

The bizarre thing is, everything on the card works - EAX surround stuff, all the digital ins and outs (I built a breakout for the digital I/O off the "AUD_EXT" connector)...EXCEPT the Dolby Digital decoding. The Creative Surround mixer won't display the option to enable it...well, first off, none of Creative's various driver packages will recognize the card at all...I have to use the ctcomp.exe patch app to get it to be recognized, and even then, I still have to install all the apps manually from the install CD I picked up from Creative (nothing new, just FYI). The Audigy 2 driver install that I found out about here works, and installs all the apps, but still has absolutely no sign of any option for the Dolby Digital decoding. The 5-channel speaker test works flawlessly, and again, I can get sound out of all the speakers from the EAX stuff (which I have absolutely no use for).

With the kX drivers (3534 full install), I've gotten one DD 5.1 bitstream to play perfectly - the THX OptiMode 5.1 pink noise setup track - but like others who have posted, most DD soundtracks are terribly choppy (for all DVD playback, I'm using ZoomPlayer with CyberLink's video decoder and InterVideo's audio decoder - 2-channel stuff is always flawless with any of the drivers).

Basically, I'd really like to get the Creative drivers/apps to work for this, since I realize that DD decoding isn't a priority for the kX guys - very cool drivers in all other respects, though - and I only need this one thing to work. Anybody have an idea as to why the Creative Surround mixer won't recognize/allow the DD decoding? Thanks!

System (this is for DVD playback only - absolutely no gaming):
Compaq Deskpro EN (Intel 815E chipset) 933 PIII
256 MB RAM
WinXP Pro SP1
Matrox Millenium G450
SB Audigy 1 (the Compaq BIOS correctly recognizes the card and disables the onboard sound - the Audigy is sharing an IRQ at the BIOS level with the onboard Ethernet controller - it was either that or the video card)

Dec 12, 2003, 09:40 PM	#1
mixminus1 DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Dec 2003 Posts: 2 Rep Power: 0	AC3 decoding not recognized on Audigy 1 I picked up a new bulk pack Audigy 1 (SB0230 on the card, SB0232 according to the KX control panels) - card only, no Creative software - for the sole purpose of decoding Dolby Digital 5.1 DVD soundtracks to the various S/PDIF outputs so that I could use my own external D/A converters (with balanced outputs) to feed a mixing board. The bizarre thing is, everything on the card works - EAX surround stuff, all the digital ins and outs (I built a breakout for the digital I/O off the "AUD_EXT" connector)...EXCEPT the Dolby Digital decoding. The Creative Surround mixer won't display the option to enable it...well, first off, none of Creative's various driver packages will recognize the card at all...I have to use the ctcomp.exe patch app to get it to be recognized, and even then, I still have to install all the apps manually from the install CD I picked up from Creative (nothing new, just FYI). The Audigy 2 driver install that I found out about here works, and installs all the apps, but still has absolutely no sign of any option for the Dolby Digital decoding. The 5-channel speaker test works flawlessly, and again, I can get sound out of all the speakers from the EAX stuff (which I have absolutely no use for). With the kX drivers (3534 full install), I've gotten one DD 5.1 bitstream to play perfectly - the THX OptiMode 5.1 pink noise setup track - but like others who have posted, most DD soundtracks are terribly choppy (for all DVD playback, I'm using ZoomPlayer with CyberLink's video decoder and InterVideo's audio decoder - 2-channel stuff is always flawless with any of the drivers). Basically, I'd really like to get the Creative drivers/apps to work for this, since I realize that DD decoding isn't a priority for the kX guys - very cool drivers in all other respects, though - and I only need this one thing to work. Anybody have an idea as to why the Creative Surround mixer won't recognize/allow the DD decoding? Thanks! System (this is for DVD playback only - absolutely no gaming): Compaq Deskpro EN (Intel 815E chipset) 933 PIII 256 MB RAM WinXP Pro SP1 Matrox Millenium G450 SB Audigy 1 (the Compaq BIOS correctly recognizes the card and disables the onboard sound - the Audigy is sharing an IRQ at the BIOS level with the onboard Ethernet controller - it was either that or the video card)