[HELP] Problem of optical/SPDIF IN

Nuja

Hi,
Im having hard time with optical/SPDIF in: I Cant seem to find out how to make it work. My soundcard is X-fi extreme audio pci-e, using the last driver and audio console. I got no spdif/optical tabs in the audio console.
How do I activate SPDIF/optical in ?

What im trying to do: connecting my xbox 360 to my soundcard using an optical monstercable, my soundcard's optical/SPDIF IN and my XBOX 360 optical/SPDIF OUT.

Im running on XP PRO SP3.
I dont know what to do anymore...plz help me ^^

BiGBrOwNPimpsta

hmm if you are in gaming mode, on the mixer there's a settings button that lets you change the option (or in any mode). but i have never used the pci-e version

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Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Music | Logitech Z-5500 THX 5.1 Surround Sound Speakers | 2 Lite-On 20x S-ATA Burners | Logitech G700 Mouse | Logitech MX5500 Bluetooth Keyboard

mike2h

do u have anything hooked up to the other outputs? do u have the newest drivers for the pcie vers of the card? i had issues with previous vers.
also do have the vers that comes with the i/o panel. that gave me problems when using optical out. ended up having to send that setup back &just going with the titanium pcie card... wich is really good bty.

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Logla

Also take into consideration that the xbox may not pass 5.1 dolby digital surround to your card. Usually only dolby stereo. I have had to change the settings on the xbox in order for my card to pick up a signal over SPDIF.

Nuja

Hi,
thank you everyone for your help. I dont have any option to change "mode". My outputs are: my headset in the the back of my computer, my 2.1 in the front.

that is my driver version, settings and options available:



My soundcard has optical input/output but no addon (i/o panel).

I changed the settings of my xbox 360 but it didnt change anything. (both xbox 360 optical output and my computer's optical input have its red light on)

I have no option for dts/dd.

mike2h

unhook everything except optical. & chk out what logla mentioned then give it a shot.

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Nuja

if I unhook everything how can I check that my xbox360 sound is going into my soundcard's optical in ?

edit: I tried what u told me, and its still the same.

mike2h

u chk xbox settings?

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Nuja

yes I did, I just tried all options

mike2h

id got to creative site, down load newaest non beta drivers, uninstall yours & reinstall with new download.
also have you tried your toslink cable on somehting else? make sure it is not problem. aside from kink(wich is fairly obvious) the only thing that goes wrong with them is the fibre ends getting messed up. wich isnt hard to do.

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mike2h

also, u do have dig in for optical enabled in sound panel right? it shouldnt make a diff, but i would disable dig out for optical to.
bty if that isnt the titanium vers, the i/o front panel has seperate optical in/out connections.

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Nuja

I installed the last driver and it didnt change anything. All the option available are in the picture I posted before. I only have on SPDIF option that is all :/

My soundcard is a X-Fi Extreme Audio PCI-Express, with an optical in and an optical out (on the sound card), only got 1 line out and 1 line in in the front panel of my computer using internal cable.

mike2h

someting else you could try is to disconnect your front i/o panel & see if it works. i had probs with my titanium vers of that same setup.
i know this sounds retarded, but r u absolutely sure you have it in the proper port ive done that one lol.
u could also have a bad port. i had one of those when i was going throught my various titanium swaps trying to get it to work the way i wanted.
like i said, it would help a lot if you could hook your xbox with the same optic ccable to somebody elses comp.

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Nuja

Hi,
i dont know anyone who have optical IN in their soundcard. Im almost sure its soundcard 'hardware ? software) issues, because I also have problem with Line in: my line in = mic at the back of my computer, when i connect a mic its working, but if i connect a rca 2 jack at my xbox 360 and line in, its not getting the sound. Also If my 2.1 is not connected to the front panel i cant hear sound with my headset (which is connected at the back of my computer)

Nuja

by the way, im trying to get my xbox 360's sound to go into my optical input, to be able to listen with my headset (connected to the pc) or my 2.1. I just want the soundcard to play the sound coming from optical in.

mike2h

dont think thats going to happen. dont know about that series, but with titanium with i/o panel using the rear optical & the front headphone jacks doesnt work. harsware problem so its not fixable.
but i agree, does sound like hardware issue for u. one thing u can try, is to call creative support & ask. it may be someting really simple(usually is lol). absolutely do not use their online support. it is staffed by idiots & is an utter waste of time & a good source of frustration.
bty, have u tried your xbox with that particular toslink cable on anybodies ht setup? all ht setups will have an optical input. it would be a good check to make sure were the actual problem is. im sure u prolly have done this but i had to ask

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Nuja

hi,
do u know if there is a way to allow playback of input ?
I tried using rca to jack connection between my 360 and soundcard's line In, i cant hear the line in playback if i dont use apps to hear it: ie audacity or the voice test of windows. Any way to force windows to add playback of input stuff ?

BiGBrOwNPimpsta

their forums may be of some help as well

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Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Music | Logitech Z-5500 THX 5.1 Surround Sound Speakers | 2 Lite-On 20x S-ATA Burners | Logitech G700 Mouse | Logitech MX5500 Bluetooth Keyboard

Nuja

they never answer the only help is given by the users (on creative forum)

Maddogg6

it may be possible that CL intentionally made surround encoded S/PDIF inputs difficult to work with - the whole 'copying DVD's is evil' - which would be possible to record pristine DVD audio that way.

So - try setting the 360 (I presume - XBOX 360) into stereo audio out mode if possible (You should be able to do this) and try setting up the mixer that way - if it works, then my theory above is probably correct, and may not be possible without some software to decode the surround encoded S/PDIF, like a DVD player for instance.

This supports my theory...tho, its about Vista, they could have adopted the same ideas into newer XP drivers too.
Getting Your X-Fi or Audigy’s Dolby and DTS To Work In Windows Vista (SPDIF IN Working Too) No More Goat Soup

I could be wrong, but I suspect surround decoding is done with software now. Try searching for '(your card maker & model) AC3 decoding' - maybe a freeware app exists to address this..??

And this also supports my idea...from CL....
Not that, if your license includes 3rd party software to decode DD/DTS (DVD player) - then this driver release will not, and you need to use the software they provide to decode the DD/DTS.
RE:
Creative Worldwide Support > X-Fi XtremeMusic

I dont have CL drivers or an XBOX 360.... so, you cant shoot me for not being 100% right - but I bet I am on to something here

Nuja

the problem is that the inputs are not in the playback part of mixer so we cant hear them even if they work

Zelig

Have you tried both stereo and surround input to verify if it's only surround that doesn't work?

Also,for the optical connection, it should be the "Digital-In" input you select, not the "S/PDIF-In".

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Nuja

there is only spdif-in.

Maddogg6

Well - you should be able to use those terms interchangeably - even for optical - its digital *and* its S/PDIF.

But I am confused - you say you cant find anything in the mixer?
So what is labeled S/PDIF?

Also - What S/PDIF connector on the X-Fi are your connecting to...

I ask - because - on older CL cards - the SPDIF on the header connecter - are 5V TTL levels (and require additional circuitry to convert the voltage) - but many devices only output .5V (too low of level) - Which is why (imho) why its a good idea to also make sure stereo S/PDIF works from the external device first.

edit: - Doesnt CL use their own Mixer? Maybe just not shown in windows mixer? (for copy protection reasons, so you can not record DVD audio with software relying on win mixer, for instance... ??

Nuja

there is no input in playback! (only playback, in record there is line-in, mic, mic FP, SPDIF-in, but it only allow to record, not to hear)
there is spdif-in in record. The only mixer i have is the windows one (seems like there is no creative mixer for XFI Extreme Audio PCI-Express). I connect my optical cable to the SPDIF-in.

Nuja

Im sure I cant hear all the inputs because they are not in playback (playback allow you to hear what is being recorded, record only record sound without allowing you to heat)

Zelig

I'm not sure about the labels in XP, but in Vista for my X-Fi card, for optical input, it has to be "Digital-In" that's selected, not "S/PDIF-In".

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Nuja

Im looking for a way to enable/activate (make them appear) line-in, mic, spdif-in, in playback in windows mixer. that is the only way i guess...but how ?

Maddogg6

Doesnt that just differentiate between 2 different inputs?
Im guessing
Digital = Digital CD
S/PDIF = Some other digital input...??

Which is why I asked OP to specify which input he is connected to?

Yes, but a program can *instead* of 'recording' the SPDIF input, it could process that input and play it so you can hear it - like, a DVD player, or some other (DD decoder for instance) application designed to do so.

Seems, the driver may not allow monitoring that input (DSP limitation is another possibility I suppose) directly like you expect.

I would not be suprised if a modded driver could tho. I am thinking its the specific model X-FI that is not allowing you to monitor that input - or, it could be an electronic / interface problem. Is the jack shared - like Line in or SPDIF in? Autosense not working for instance...?? (again could be an electronic problem)

Try recording that input - does that at least work?

Nuja

yes its working, I used audacity to check. The problem is the fact that im not able to set the inputs in playback as they are not available.