S Live 5.1 Digital (d400) is killing me

Ramscalore · Feb 18, 2006, 10:12 AM

So what ^^
I'm using the soundblaster from creative and a logitech 5.1 soundsystem.
Iv tried different Driver, different Codecs, different Musicplayer, test and so on
until now only rear , or only fron worked properly, sometimes , for a short time rear and front worked together ( wow! ) but i want to use the F*** centerspeaker, too , and i#m dreaming of a digital output, that also dont worked until now, only a very very quiet and poor sound comes out. Different Speaker test showed me that all speakers ar working fine, but only with the speakertest.... in the moment i'm using the KX driver.
My Question: Are there some typical problems like this for my hardware/software , or can somebody help me ? I'm very at the end with my nervs

P.s. sry for this fantastic english, i'm from germany and i'm really pissed off since 5 days with no chilling sound

Russ · Feb 18, 2006, 11:16 AM

Which specific model do you have (i.e. SB0xxx)?
What version of kX did you install?
Open up kX's 'about' window, and click on the 'Copy to Clipboard' button, and paste that info here.

Make sure your speaker setup under Windows is set to 5.1, and your speaker setup under kX (Surrounder+) is set to 5.1 with Surround ON.

Ramscalore · Feb 19, 2006, 12:42 PM

thx for your help, ive installed creative driver again, now rear and fron speaker are working, center speaker works too , but i get no sound of it. my soundcard is Model SB0060, the windows settings are setted correctly how you posted it. How can i test digital output and surround, do you know a program that surely give me digital output, or a plugin for winamp that makes the mp3 stereosound to work with all speakers ? when i set to digital output only , only a very quiet and poor quality sound comes out of all speakers. Another Question fpr digital output, can i always if it works let it on digital output only ? or doesnt sounds withhout digital work ?

Russ · Feb 19, 2006, 12:52 PM

How are you testing the digital output? i.e. Is it connected to a receiver, or a digital speaker package?
With a receiver, you will only get stereo, unless it is compressed (i.e. Dolby Digital, and for such material you would want to use SPDIF Pass-Through, and your receiver needs to be able to decode Dolby Digital, etc).

Ramscalore · Feb 19, 2006, 01:00 PM

ive switched the digital out on and started a video with powerdvd 6.0, and yes, ive a digital speaker system from logitech, the manual says that the system is for dolby digital too, when i switched on digital output and then switched to bypass the poor sound dissapears completely

Russ · Feb 19, 2006, 01:07 PM

Ok, so it sounds like it is working good for compressed signals (assuming you mean the it sounds good, when you say that the poor sound disappears completely).
What kind of connector does that speaker set use to connect to the soundcard? (i.e. is ia a 4 conductor mini plug, or is it only 2 conductor?)

BTW: The analog center/sub channel is shared with the digital output jack, so for analog use, you would need to disconnect the digital speaker system, and connect your center/sub speakers to the digital jack.

Ramscalore · Feb 19, 2006, 02:14 PM

nono, i mean that the sound dissapewars completely, but i think i've something found.... in windows mixer , where i can set volume etc from wave , mp3 ..... theres no spdif control... ive looked in options to aktivate the control, but it isn'T there too... why ?, what can i do ?

Russ · Feb 19, 2006, 02:42 PM

It has been a while since I used the Creative drivers, so I do not remember what options where in the Windows Mixer, etc (and each card may have slightly different options). For a more specific answer, you should really post your question in the Creative forum (since you are using the Creative drivers).

Make sure the DVD software is set to output to SPDIF, and that the DVD is set for Dolby Digital, and you are using SPDIF Pass-through in the Creative options (and you probably want to uncheck the Decode AC3 checkbox as well).

As for your speaker system, I do not know anything about it, but if it is compatible with Creative digital speaker systems, then you should be able to get digital surround, even without using Dolby Digital, it is just a matter of choosing the right settings in the driver and your DVD software.

See this message in the Creative forum, that gives an explanation of what settings to use for various setups:
http://forums.creative.com/creativel...ssage.id=12170

Ramscalore · Feb 20, 2006, 06:23 AM

So on, ive installed the newest kx driver, 2 questions: how to set up passthru and disable any ac3 decodiong in the kx driver ? , thx

Maddogg6 · Feb 20, 2006, 11:01 AM

In the KX Mixer 'MASTER PAGE' - theres a drop down for the AC3 PASSTHRU port selection - called 'Toggle AC3 PASSTHRU mode' - you need to set that to the desired SPDIF OUT PORT. Right next to that is the 'Toggle SPDIF IN AC3 DECODE mode' - Uncheck this to prevent KX from decoding AC3.

But it seems this varies by card model, so it may look a little different for you.