soundblaster --> AC3 over ONE s/p-dif?

DJ_ViRuS · Aug 9, 2003, 10:44 PM

hi, i was really surprised of the features of kx.... i wanted to put another really bad soundcard (terratec 128i) in my computer to get 2 independent outputs, with kx it works with the SB live 5.1 (i had problems with win2k)... so i tried a lot of things and my question is, if i can get a 5.1 ac3-stream out of the card with one s/p-dif output.... i've a big sony amp. with digital inputs, but it always says only "2ch PCM" ... :-((

can somebody help me please?

sorry for my bad englich, i'm a 16 years old dj from germany...

don't forget, stay tuned, techno rulez and TarmCenter is the place to live :-PPPP

thanks

Nappylady · Aug 11, 2003, 08:01 PM

This is, alas, impossible. SPDIF is, by design, only a 2-channel format. In order to use 6, you must either use 6 analog channels or a TOSLINK channel, and the Soundblaster Live! has no TOSLINK port.

Sorry, man. Good luck to you anyway.

DJ_ViRuS · Aug 11, 2003, 08:04 PM

that's wrong... toslink is something like a "cable"-format..... toslik (optical) is also s/p-dif...

so..

you can put a 6 or 8 ch. format over a coaxial cable

Daniel Drummond · Aug 11, 2003, 11:12 PM

Yes, that's wrong. SPDIF and OPTICAL can carry exact the same things. For instance I send 7 channel audio (6.1 system) from my DVD player to my receiver through a SPDIF cable (coaxial).

DJ_ViRuS · Aug 11, 2003, 11:14 PM

that's what i mean :-)

Nappylady · Aug 12, 2003, 02:41 PM

Wha?

There are two optical formats that go over the same lightpipe cables; TOSLINK and SPDIF. TOSLINK is exclusive to optical, SPDIF can be sent over coaxial cable or over optical cable. SPDIF is an exclusively 2-channel format. (see http://concert.towson.edu/doc/CH/CH....ing.clocks.htm)

If you're sending 8 channels of audio through a coaxial cable, that's some trick. Do not confuse SPDIF and TOSLINK just because they can both be sent over optical cable, they are VERY DIFFERENT.

Daniel Drummond · Aug 12, 2003, 03:30 PM

Man, you are just wrong... And there is no trick at all. SPDIF cannot be sent over a OPTICAL calbe, because SPDIF isn't a kind of SIGNAL, its just a name Sony Phillips DIgital Format. What goes inside of this kind of cable are electric impulses. What goes into an Optical cable is light. That's the difference. If the link you mention states otherwise, the link is wrong...

DJ_ViRuS · Aug 12, 2003, 04:16 PM

man you are (i don't know how to translate) laberst scheiße!!! (say shit???) joah...

s/p-Dif means SONY/PHILLIPS DIGITAL INTERFACE THAT CAN BE TRANSFERED OVER KOAXIAL AND OPTICAL CABLES-..... is a difference to AES/EBU.... but nothing more...

you're a newcomer

Daniel Drummond · Aug 12, 2003, 05:12 PM

Check http://www.cobaltcable.com/which/audio_connections.htm and http://www.audiovideo101.com/learn/a...nid=101&List=7 and http://www.epanorama.net/documents/audio/spdif.html and www.google.com (for more info on the subject). Keep in mind that I transfer DTS 5.1 and 6.1 and Dolby Digital 5.1 and 6.1 sound through a COAXIAL SPDIF cable all the time here at home and it works perfectly...

DJ_ViRuS · Aug 12, 2003, 06:26 PM

but you can also tranfer dts, DD, sdds and others over a OPTICAL SP-DIF CABLE!!!

**Eugene Gavrilov** · Aug 13, 2003, 12:33 AM

hey, guys

so, spdif vs toslink vs ac3 stuff...

as far as I remember, the SPDIF/AES format currently supports only two-channel audio
(there was an unofficial 'multichannel' update which wasn't yet widely accepted)

there are two subformats: consumer (IEC-958) and professional AES/EBU (AES3-1992)
at least audigy board can handle both types of inputs (I'm unsure if Live can handle AES/EBU)

in order to transfer multichannel audio via SPDIF, different compression algorithms are used
(such as DTS, DolbyDigital) however, the data is still transferred as '16 bit stereo'

as for kX Driver, neither Live, nor Audigy currently support on-the-fly DolbyDigital encoding (compared to nForce chipset)
Audigy supports Dolby Digital / AC-3 passthru

as for 'TOSLINK' and 'Coaxial' -- both connections differ only on the 'media' layer

/Eugene

doctorj1024 · Sep 24, 2003, 01:19 PM

Hi Guys!

i've already made it (ac3 -> my yamaha amp) with a sb live value card! it worked fine until i installed the kx drivers! sounds better with it, but ac3 is going to hell. what should i do? don't know how to route the ac3 directly to the spdif out. Please help! is it possible with the kx drivers??

Greetz

DeadMan2003 · Sep 28, 2003, 11:23 PM

I am still waiting for AC3 passthru on SBLive! cards (10k1) with KX drivers. I have been waiting for over a year now and still nothing. The people developing the KX drivers seem to have no interest in making this work for those who wish to have stable ASIO and AC3 passthru on SBLive! cards.

Sigh...

Starlord · Oct 27, 2003, 10:31 PM

the Thing i know is i run THX Dolby Digital over Optical and it works fine, if the DVD Sounds are fine
but to get AC3 or EAX Running correctly, wich are basedonto annother Decoding..#
you must use the 6 CHannel connektings on the Back of the Soundcard...

The Problem isnt the connekting, u can send the same Data over Optical but
the most Recivers are based on Audio for Musik Decodings
and AC3 and EAX are based for Computer Game Play Decoding, and an Reciver dont understood what
the AC3 or EAX Sound would do, thats why you must put the encodet Sounds over 6 Channel Settings
from the Soundcard to the Reciver, Thats something an Reciver can handle with, but AC3 or EAX over one Channel in different no knowing coding he dosent understood....

Orestis · Dec 28, 2003, 03:53 PM

First of all, let me say I have a SB live! Platinum with the DTT2500 Digital, hooked up via the mini DIN and the livedrive's SPDIF out.

The thing about SPDIF, is that while it normally carries 2 channels, it can also carry multichannel info, if this info is encoded using a specific format (for example Dolby Digital). This info appears to be normal 2-channel data, but can be expanded (e.g. to 5.1), using an external amplifier.

The problem I (and probably others) are facing, is that, both Creative's drivers and the kx drivers don't allow for AC3 data to be passed to the SPDIF output, thus effectively disabling the external AC3 decoders. In my case, this means I'm stuck with the normal speaker outputs, which means 4.1 audio at best.

I think the SPDIF passthrough on 10k1 cards should receive a bit higher priority.

Starlord · Dec 28, 2003, 04:56 PM

hm hm the difference between kx and SBlive drivers
are
kx drivers are running when i insert an Orginal DVD
but the SB Drivers, shut down the Digital out...

and thats why i never would buy an Soundblaster again....

**dj_stick** · Jan 4, 2004, 04:59 AM

AC-3 passthrtough is bein developed for version 3536, and you can sign up to be a beta-tester if you want - ie if there are bugs in the AC-3 passthrough, you can send the report in

NATSat · Jan 27, 2004, 12:05 PM

Creative has its own format comparably with Dolby digital.

http://europe.creative.com/estore/pr...rod=512&page=6

"Digital Out for 5.1 support (6-channel SPDIF Output to Creative digital speakers) "

The technology must be very similar. Compressing for 6 Channel on the fly

Perhaps could the algorithm be changed to DD?

Drzony · Mar 22, 2004, 03:19 PM

The situation is as follows AC-3 is a compression type that means it is 5.1 sound transferred over single coaxial cable.
Now Creative "invented" their own way to transfer sound i.e. the digital out on SBLive 5.1/Audigy is not a standard mini-jack (if You look at normal stereo jack it has three parts separated by plastic those are left, right and ground) but it is a triple signal jack (if You look at Creative's speakers they have jack which consist of 4 parts those are front, rear ans LFE+Center). Creative cards when using digital out compress sound to 3 separate stereo PCM signals (and since stereo PCM travels through one cable since it is digital and not like normal stereo through two) and then speakers decode 3xPCM stereo to 5.1. To test this attach a mono jack to SB and connect it to Amplifier which will say stereo PCM. I have talked about it with Creative support a lot so I know what I'm talking about.

All (or almost all) Dolby Digital Amlpifiers understand Dolby Digital 5.1 which means exactly AC-3, now Creative cards can only output AC-3 if it is in passthrough mode i.e. AC-3 is transferred to digital out UNCOMPRESSED. Now for games still 3xPCM is transferred to digital out. What we need to have one SPDIF/Optical cable from SB to Amplifier is AC-3 encoding that means capturing 5.1 channels and then compressing them to digital signal and transferring it through AC-3 passthrough.

And that is what is
"Digital Out for 5.1 support (6-channel SPDIF Output to Creative digital speakers) "
it's just 3xPCM stereo

Hope I've cleared up the situation

**dj_stick** · Mar 29, 2004, 01:07 AM

the creative digital din is not a new encoding, all it is is sending 3 different s/pdif STEREO sources down a 9 core cable

xxhiyanxx · Apr 17, 2004, 09:04 PM

ok... i'm not much more knowledgeable then the average consumer that has done his homework. this is the setup i have. a SB live 5.1 (chip SB0220) connected to a DTT2500 speaker system. i am using powerDVD. i am using the Digital out from the SB card over the y connector that uses the co axial cable and the 9-pin proprietary cable. i have both of these cables connected to the DTT2500 because i wasn't sure if it was an either/or situation. what i'm gathering from this forum is that i CANNOT decode AC-3 on my DVD's with this video card? creative's drivers are no help, they won't even find the card so i decided to try the KX drivers. i get a 2 channel sound, basically no voices... on the DVD"s i'm using. the whole reason i bought this card was because it was supposed to be 5.1...

**dj_stick** · Apr 18, 2004, 02:17 AM

it is 5.1 and there is software decoding of AC-3, but no passthrough yet(for exxternal decoders)… you need a software decoder tho

xxhiyanxx · Apr 18, 2004, 03:57 AM

ok... so if i had a dolby reciever that took a 5.1 input i'd be ok for sound... but because i'm relying on the reciever itself to decode i cannot get it because the card does not send the digital signal out of the SPDIF port? that seems kinda useless but on well..

**dj_stick** · Apr 18, 2004, 04:27 AM

what im saying is that if you hd a dolby decoder it wouldn't work
you need a software AC-3 decoder to use the 9pin DIN connector from the 4pole 3.5 jack (orange) on the sb live 5.1

JasonMoodie · May 2, 2004, 11:48 PM

I had issues with my creative driver.
I’m using a SBlive 5.1 card (SB0100). I’m also using a Sony DTS/Dolby Digital 5.1 decoder that is built in to my AMP.
I’m running a coaxial cable I made. This cable is running from the digital out on the sound card to the Coaxial in on the AMP. I used a mono jack to an RCA.

I was told that the only way I would be able to get the 5.1 sound to work from my DVD's was if I used the Creative drivers. So I installed them. With the creative drivers all I had to do was turn the Digital output only on and the AC3 decode off. These were obvious settings within the Creative Mixer.

The 5.1 sound worked. It sent the DTS or Dolby Digital 5.1 code to the AMP and the AMP decoded the signal and gave excellent 5.1. The only problem I had was it would sometimes blue screen on boot.

So I upgraded the drivers to the latest Creative drivers. This stopped the Blue Screen problem but introduced another problem. Now when you play a DVD the DVD plays at about double speed in random sections of the DVD. There was no sound when it played at double speed. Very odd. And yes I did try different players. Some of them produced the same result while others skipped.

I tried the kX Project drivers, very, very, kewl. I like them a lot, but it would not let me turn the AC3 decoder off therefore I was only getting a stereo signal sent to the AMP. The AC3 encoder appeared to be sending the rear channels to another SPDIF port.

I was about to give up and buy another sound card then I though lets start again from the beginning.

I uninstalled the kX driver and removed any evidence of the creative drivers.

After a reboot Windows XP installed its own Microsoft driver. After that I went in to the sound properties and set digital out only. I then played my DVD, It worked perfect in 5.1 via the Digital Port on the card. I went to all that trouble with drivers and found that the default MS driver that came with WinXP worked perfectly.

Oh well it all works now, Just though Id share my experience with you all as it may help?

**dj_stick** · May 3, 2004, 04:16 AM

currently AC-3 passthrough (which is what you want) does not work with 10k1 cards (sb live etc)

JasonMoodie · May 3, 2004, 04:31 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by dj_stick
currently AC-3 passthrough (which is what you want) does not work with 10k1 cards (sb live etc)

I presume you mean that it doesn’t currently work with the kX drivers. The card obviously is capable as it is working on my system using the plain old WinXP driver.

**dj_stick** · May 3, 2004, 04:40 AM

yes that is what i meant… when 3538 is out it may be working… but for now if you can it is best to directly connect your DVD drive to the speakers

wimms · May 5, 2004, 09:03 PM

What? AC3 passthrough is not there??? omg.. I've been banging this thing for 3 weeks straight, and only now see that 10k1 has no KX support for ac3... damn

When will 3538 get ready? Is it in beta? Why is this issue neglected for so long? Its so major problem for 10k1 users.

Btw, can anyone explain what does ac3 passthrough actually do or need? I imagined that it only needs bit perfect copy of application data into spdif port. Can't this be achieved by dsp routing?

**dj_stick** · May 6, 2004, 04:33 AM

there IS an AC-3 DSP plugin, but im not sure how well it works - as for a major problem - not really - considering the main aim for this project, ASIO and music stuff… and as soon as the beta 3538 is ready it will be posted here

Aug 9, 2003, 10:44 PM	#1
DJ_ViRuS DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Aug 2003 Posts: 5 Rep Power: 0	soundblaster --> AC3 over ONE s/p-dif? hi, i was really surprised of the features of kx.... i wanted to put another really bad soundcard (terratec 128i) in my computer to get 2 independent outputs, with kx it works with the SB live 5.1 (i had problems with win2k)... so i tried a lot of things and my question is, if i can get a 5.1 ac3-stream out of the card with one s/p-dif output.... i've a big sony amp. with digital inputs, but it always says only "2ch PCM" ... :-(( can somebody help me please? sorry for my bad englich, i'm a 16 years old dj from germany... don't forget, stay tuned, techno rulez and TarmCenter is the place to live :-PPPP thanks

Aug 11, 2003, 08:04 PM	Thread Starter #3
DJ_ViRuS DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Aug 2003 Posts: 5 Rep Power: 0	noo... that's wrong... toslink is something like a "cable"-format..... toslik (optical) is also s/p-dif... so.. you can put a 6 or 8 ch. format over a coaxial cable

Aug 11, 2003, 11:12 PM	#4
Daniel Drummond DriverHeaven Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Brazil Posts: 1,137 Rep Power: 0	Yes, that's wrong. SPDIF and OPTICAL can carry exact the same things. For instance I send 7 channel audio (6.1 system) from my DVD player to my receiver through a SPDIF cable (coaxial). __________________ www.palcomp3.com.br/ed

Aug 12, 2003, 03:30 PM	#7
Daniel Drummond DriverHeaven Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Brazil Posts: 1,137 Rep Power: 0	Man, you are just wrong... And there is no trick at all. SPDIF cannot be sent over a OPTICAL calbe, because SPDIF isn't a kind of SIGNAL, its just a name Sony Phillips DIgital Format. What goes inside of this kind of cable are electric impulses. What goes into an Optical cable is light. That's the difference. If the link you mention states otherwise, the link is wrong... __________________ www.palcomp3.com.br/ed

Aug 12, 2003, 05:12 PM	#9
Daniel Drummond DriverHeaven Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Brazil Posts: 1,137 Rep Power: 0	Check http://www.cobaltcable.com/which/audio_connections.htm and http://www.audiovideo101.com/learn/a...nid=101&List=7 and http://www.epanorama.net/documents/audio/spdif.html and www.google.com (for more info on the subject). Keep in mind that I transfer DTS 5.1 and 6.1 and Dolby Digital 5.1 and 6.1 sound through a COAXIAL SPDIF cable all the time here at home and it works perfectly... __________________ www.palcomp3.com.br/ed

Aug 11, 2003, 08:01 PM	#2
Nappylady DriverHeaven Addict Join Date: Jun 2003 Posts: 257 Rep Power: 0	This is, alas, impossible. SPDIF is, by design, only a 2-channel format. In order to use 6, you must either use 6 analog channels or a TOSLINK channel, and the Soundblaster Live! has no TOSLINK port. Sorry, man. Good luck to you anyway.

Aug 11, 2003, 11:14 PM	Thread Starter #5
DJ_ViRuS DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Aug 2003 Posts: 5 Rep Power: 0	that's what i mean :-)

Aug 12, 2003, 02:41 PM	#6
Nappylady DriverHeaven Addict Join Date: Jun 2003 Posts: 257 Rep Power: 0	Wha? There are two optical formats that go over the same lightpipe cables; TOSLINK and SPDIF. TOSLINK is exclusive to optical, SPDIF can be sent over coaxial cable or over optical cable. SPDIF is an exclusively 2-channel format. (see http://concert.towson.edu/doc/CH/CH....ing.clocks.htm) If you're sending 8 channels of audio through a coaxial cable, that's some trick. Do not confuse SPDIF and TOSLINK just because they can both be sent over optical cable, they are VERY DIFFERENT.

Aug 12, 2003, 04:16 PM	Thread Starter #8
DJ_ViRuS DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Aug 2003 Posts: 5 Rep Power: 0	man you are (i don't know how to translate) laberst scheiße!!! (say shit???) joah... s/p-Dif means SONY/PHILLIPS DIGITAL INTERFACE THAT CAN BE TRANSFERED OVER KOAXIAL AND OPTICAL CABLES-..... is a difference to AES/EBU.... but nothing more... you're a newcomer

Aug 12, 2003, 06:26 PM	Thread Starter #10
DJ_ViRuS DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Aug 2003 Posts: 5 Rep Power: 0	but you can also tranfer dts, DD, sdds and others over a OPTICAL SP-DIF CABLE!!!

Aug 13, 2003, 12:33 AM	#11
Eugene Gavrilov kX Project Lead Programmer and Coordinator Join Date: Dec 2002 Posts: 3,119 Rep Power: 75	hey, guys so, spdif vs toslink vs ac3 stuff... as far as I remember, the SPDIF/AES format currently supports only two-channel audio (there was an unofficial 'multichannel' update which wasn't yet widely accepted) there are two subformats: consumer (IEC-958) and professional AES/EBU (AES3-1992) at least audigy board can handle both types of inputs (I'm unsure if Live can handle AES/EBU) in order to transfer multichannel audio via SPDIF, different compression algorithms are used (such as DTS, DolbyDigital) however, the data is still transferred as '16 bit stereo' as for kX Driver, neither Live, nor Audigy currently support on-the-fly DolbyDigital encoding (compared to nForce chipset) Audigy supports Dolby Digital / AC-3 passthru as for 'TOSLINK' and 'Coaxial' -- both connections differ only on the 'media' layer /Eugene

Sep 24, 2003, 01:19 PM	#12
doctorj1024 DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Sep 2003 Posts: 1 Rep Power: 0	already made it Hi Guys! i've already made it (ac3 -> my yamaha amp) with a sb live value card! it worked fine until i installed the kx drivers! sounds better with it, but ac3 is going to hell. what should i do? don't know how to route the ac3 directly to the spdif out. Please help! is it possible with the kx drivers?? Greetz

Sep 28, 2003, 11:23 PM	#13
DeadMan2003 DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: May 2003 Posts: 5 Rep Power: 0	I am still waiting for AC3 passthru on SBLive! cards (10k1) with KX drivers. I have been waiting for over a year now and still nothing. The people developing the KX drivers seem to have no interest in making this work for those who wish to have stable ASIO and AC3 passthru on SBLive! cards. Sigh...

Oct 27, 2003, 10:31 PM	#14
Starlord DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Oct 2003 Posts: 5 Rep Power: 0	the Thing i know is i run THX Dolby Digital over Optical and it works fine, if the DVD Sounds are fine but to get AC3 or EAX Running correctly, wich are basedonto annother Decoding..# you must use the 6 CHannel connektings on the Back of the Soundcard... The Problem isnt the connekting, u can send the same Data over Optical but the most Recivers are based on Audio for Musik Decodings and AC3 and EAX are based for Computer Game Play Decoding, and an Reciver dont understood what the AC3 or EAX Sound would do, thats why you must put the encodet Sounds over 6 Channel Settings from the Soundcard to the Reciver, Thats something an Reciver can handle with, but AC3 or EAX over one Channel in different no knowing coding he dosent understood....

Dec 28, 2003, 03:53 PM	#15
Orestis DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Dec 2003 Posts: 4 Rep Power: 0	First of all, let me say I have a SB live! Platinum with the DTT2500 Digital, hooked up via the mini DIN and the livedrive's SPDIF out. The thing about SPDIF, is that while it normally carries 2 channels, it can also carry multichannel info, if this info is encoded using a specific format (for example Dolby Digital). This info appears to be normal 2-channel data, but can be expanded (e.g. to 5.1), using an external amplifier. The problem I (and probably others) are facing, is that, both Creative's drivers and the kx drivers don't allow for AC3 data to be passed to the SPDIF output, thus effectively disabling the external AC3 decoders. In my case, this means I'm stuck with the normal speaker outputs, which means 4.1 audio at best. I think the SPDIF passthrough on 10k1 cards should receive a bit higher priority.

Dec 28, 2003, 04:56 PM	#16
Starlord DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Oct 2003 Posts: 5 Rep Power: 0	hm hm the difference between kx and SBlive drivers are kx drivers are running when i insert an Orginal DVD but the SB Drivers, shut down the Digital out... and thats why i never would buy an Soundblaster again....

Jan 27, 2004, 12:05 PM	#18
NATSat DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Jan 2004 Posts: 1 Rep Power: 0	Creative has its own format comparably with Dolby digital. http://europe.creative.com/estore/pr...rod=512&page=6 "Digital Out for 5.1 support (6-channel SPDIF Output to Creative digital speakers) " The technology must be very similar. Compressing for 6 Channel on the fly Perhaps could the algorithm be changed to DD?

Mar 22, 2004, 03:19 PM	#19
Drzony DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Mar 2004 Posts: 2 Rep Power: 0	The situation is as follows AC-3 is a compression type that means it is 5.1 sound transferred over single coaxial cable. Now Creative "invented" their own way to transfer sound i.e. the digital out on SBLive 5.1/Audigy is not a standard mini-jack (if You look at normal stereo jack it has three parts separated by plastic those are left, right and ground) but it is a triple signal jack (if You look at Creative's speakers they have jack which consist of 4 parts those are front, rear ans LFE+Center). Creative cards when using digital out compress sound to 3 separate stereo PCM signals (and since stereo PCM travels through one cable since it is digital and not like normal stereo through two) and then speakers decode 3xPCM stereo to 5.1. To test this attach a mono jack to SB and connect it to Amplifier which will say stereo PCM. I have talked about it with Creative support a lot so I know what I'm talking about. All (or almost all) Dolby Digital Amlpifiers understand Dolby Digital 5.1 which means exactly AC-3, now Creative cards can only output AC-3 if it is in passthrough mode i.e. AC-3 is transferred to digital out UNCOMPRESSED. Now for games still 3xPCM is transferred to digital out. What we need to have one SPDIF/Optical cable from SB to Amplifier is AC-3 encoding that means capturing 5.1 channels and then compressing them to digital signal and transferring it through AC-3 passthrough. And that is what is "Digital Out for 5.1 support (6-channel SPDIF Output to Creative digital speakers) " it's just 3xPCM stereo Hope I've cleared up the situation

Apr 17, 2004, 09:04 PM	#21
xxhiyanxx DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 2 Rep Power: 0	ok... i'm not much more knowledgeable then the average consumer that has done his homework. this is the setup i have. a SB live 5.1 (chip SB0220) connected to a DTT2500 speaker system. i am using powerDVD. i am using the Digital out from the SB card over the y connector that uses the co axial cable and the 9-pin proprietary cable. i have both of these cables connected to the DTT2500 because i wasn't sure if it was an either/or situation. what i'm gathering from this forum is that i CANNOT decode AC-3 on my DVD's with this video card? creative's drivers are no help, they won't even find the card so i decided to try the KX drivers. i get a 2 channel sound, basically no voices... on the DVD"s i'm using. the whole reason i bought this card was because it was supposed to be 5.1...

Apr 18, 2004, 03:57 AM	#23
xxhiyanxx DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 2 Rep Power: 0	ok... so if i had a dolby reciever that took a 5.1 input i'd be ok for sound... but because i'm relying on the reciever itself to decode i cannot get it because the card does not send the digital signal out of the SPDIF port? that seems kinda useless but on well..

May 2, 2004, 11:48 PM	#25
JasonMoodie DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: May 2004 Posts: 3 Rep Power: 0	I had issues with my creative driver. I’m using a SBlive 5.1 card (SB0100). I’m also using a Sony DTS/Dolby Digital 5.1 decoder that is built in to my AMP. I’m running a coaxial cable I made. This cable is running from the digital out on the sound card to the Coaxial in on the AMP. I used a mono jack to an RCA. I was told that the only way I would be able to get the 5.1 sound to work from my DVD's was if I used the Creative drivers. So I installed them. With the creative drivers all I had to do was turn the Digital output only on and the AC3 decode off. These were obvious settings within the Creative Mixer. The 5.1 sound worked. It sent the DTS or Dolby Digital 5.1 code to the AMP and the AMP decoded the signal and gave excellent 5.1. The only problem I had was it would sometimes blue screen on boot. So I upgraded the drivers to the latest Creative drivers. This stopped the Blue Screen problem but introduced another problem. Now when you play a DVD the DVD plays at about double speed in random sections of the DVD. There was no sound when it played at double speed. Very odd. And yes I did try different players. Some of them produced the same result while others skipped. I tried the kX Project drivers, very, very, kewl. I like them a lot, but it would not let me turn the AC3 decoder off therefore I was only getting a stereo signal sent to the AMP. The AC3 encoder appeared to be sending the rear channels to another SPDIF port. I was about to give up and buy another sound card then I though lets start again from the beginning. I uninstalled the kX driver and removed any evidence of the creative drivers. After a reboot Windows XP installed its own Microsoft driver. After that I went in to the sound properties and set digital out only. I then played my DVD, It worked perfect in 5.1 via the Digital Port on the card. I went to all that trouble with drivers and found that the default MS driver that came with WinXP worked perfectly. Oh well it all works now, Just though Id share my experience with you all as it may help?

May 5, 2004, 09:03 PM	#29
wimms DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 4 Rep Power: 0	What? AC3 passthrough is not there??? omg.. I've been banging this thing for 3 weeks straight, and only now see that 10k1 has no KX support for ac3... damn When will 3538 get ready? Is it in beta? Why is this issue neglected for so long? Its so major problem for 10k1 users. Btw, can anyone explain what does ac3 passthrough actually do or need? I imagined that it only needs bit perfect copy of application data into spdif port. Can't this be achieved by dsp routing?