FarCry and other games in 5.1 sound

Fidoboy · May 16, 2006, 03:45 PM

I have a CMI 9880 C-Media audio card onboard, conected through SPDIF with a 5.1 sound system (Creative CambridgeSoundworks DTT3500). I get 5.1 sound when watching DVD movies for example, i've also downloaded Rightmark 3DSound 2.2 and it sounds ok in 5.1... but FarCry and other games only sounds in stereo...

In farCry, for example, i've activated hardware mixing and eax 2.0 but the sound is still stereo...

Please, please... can anybody here help me??

Many thanks in advance,

.:FiDo:.

Tril · May 16, 2006, 11:22 PM

SPDIF is stereo. If you use SPDIF to get more than two channels of audio, that means that the audio is encoded to AC3. A game does not encode its audio to AC3 so you won't be able to get more than two channels from a game by using SPDIF.

To get 6 channels of audio, you can :

Use six analog connections between the soundcard and the speakers
Or, use an AC3 encoder to encode the audio of the game and use the AC3 capability of the sound card.

BTW, this is the kX drivers forum so you should usually only post here if you use those audio drivers.

Fidoboy · May 16, 2006, 11:26 PM

Sorry, for my offtopic then, i was thinking that this were a general audio support forum. By the way, SPDIF is no stereo, you are totally wrong, using a RCA conection you can send up to 6 channels digitally... I use it for listen DVDs and it works fine in 5.1... And, as i told before, using RightMark 3DSound i get 5.1 sound in DirectSound 3D and EAX

Russ · May 17, 2006, 12:28 AM

As Tril indicated, with normal uncompressed audio, SPDIF is stereo only.
Your DVD's use digital compression (i.e. AC3,DTS, etc) to give you 5.1 audio over SPDIF.

As for your D3D and EAX results, I believe that the C-Media CMI9880, includes Dolby Digital Live, which does Dolby Digital encoding/compression on the fly, via software, and that is how you are able to get 5.1 audio over SPDIF there.

**dj_stick** · May 17, 2006, 02:26 AM

Fidoboy - take a read of this thread.
It might help you to understand the difference between pure s/pdif and compression algorithms like AC-3 and DTS

Thread moved to Audio General and Technical Discussion Forum

Fidoboy · May 17, 2006, 10:46 AM

Many thanks DJ_Stick, i've readed it and now i can understand better the way that SPDIF works. About FarCry game, i've discovered that disabling EAX in the preferences i get 5.1, it appears to be a bug with this game, because with other games EAX gives me 5.1 sound also. My sound card is capable of encoding the signal 'on the fly' and there is a little CPU usage for this.
After reading the other thread, i'm beginning to think that analog conections are much better for games, but unfortunately i have only a wire to connect with my decoder, so i'll continue using this system..

.:FiDo:.

May 16, 2006, 03:45 PM	#1
Fidoboy DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 3 Rep Power: 0	FarCry and other games in 5.1 sound I have a CMI 9880 C-Media audio card onboard, conected through SPDIF with a 5.1 sound system (Creative CambridgeSoundworks DTT3500). I get 5.1 sound when watching DVD movies for example, i've also downloaded Rightmark 3DSound 2.2 and it sounds ok in 5.1... but FarCry and other games only sounds in stereo... In farCry, for example, i've activated hardware mixing and eax 2.0 but the sound is still stereo... Please, please... can anybody here help me?? Many thanks in advance, .:FiDo:. Last edited by Fidoboy; May 16, 2006 at 04:08 PM.

May 16, 2006, 11:22 PM	#2
Tril S-3D enthusiast Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Canada Posts: 1,676 Rep Power: 64 System Specs	SPDIF is stereo. If you use SPDIF to get more than two channels of audio, that means that the audio is encoded to AC3. A game does not encode its audio to AC3 so you won't be able to get more than two channels from a game by using SPDIF. To get 6 channels of audio, you can : Use six analog connections between the soundcard and the speakers Or, use an AC3 encoder to encode the audio of the game and use the AC3 capability of the sound card. BTW, this is the kX drivers forum so you should usually only post here if you use those audio drivers.

May 17, 2006, 12:28 AM	#4
Russ HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 5,561 Rep Power: 62	As Tril indicated, with normal uncompressed audio, SPDIF is stereo only. Your DVD's use digital compression (i.e. AC3,DTS, etc) to give you 5.1 audio over SPDIF. As for your D3D and EAX results, I believe that the C-Media CMI9880, includes Dolby Digital Live, which does Dolby Digital encoding/compression on the fly, via software, and that is how you are able to get 5.1 audio over SPDIF there. Last edited by Russ; May 17, 2006 at 12:33 AM.

May 16, 2006, 11:26 PM	Thread Starter #3
Fidoboy DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 3 Rep Power: 0	Sorry, for my offtopic then, i was thinking that this were a general audio support forum. By the way, SPDIF is no stereo, you are totally wrong, using a RCA conection you can send up to 6 channels digitally... I use it for listen DVDs and it works fine in 5.1... And, as i told before, using RightMark 3DSound i get 5.1 sound in DirectSound 3D and EAX

May 17, 2006, 10:46 AM	Thread Starter #6
Fidoboy DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 3 Rep Power: 0	Many thanks DJ_Stick, i've readed it and now i can understand better the way that SPDIF works. About FarCry game, i've discovered that disabling EAX in the preferences i get 5.1, it appears to be a bug with this game, because with other games EAX gives me 5.1 sound also. My sound card is capable of encoding the signal 'on the fly' and there is a little CPU usage for this. After reading the other thread, i'm beginning to think that analog conections are much better for games, but unfortunately i have only a wire to connect with my decoder, so i'll continue using this system.. .:FiDo:.