Audigy4 SB0610 Digital Output?

chris.miller · Jul 8, 2006, 09:32 PM

I just bought this card (SB0610) and I can't get it to output digital at all. Analogue works ok, apart from the fact that analogue front outputs in fact on the Generic S/PDIF pins from the epilogue. When I installed the driver, I chose all values from Audigy 2 ZS and all turned out to work exactly the same. Nothing happened when I toggled Front and rear, nor when I toggled headphones to center. I connected it to a digital receiver. Whe I run ac3 passthrough my receiver lights the front L+R LEDs but that's it. It should light up all 5.1 LEDs and decode sound. When it outputs stereo the LEDs turn off again. I use the latest version of kx drivers (3538j) and I have been using kx drivers for a long time now. I used to have a Live! card (SB0102) which ran perfectly with kx, with digital output (no AC3 passthrough, of course...).

Could this card be included in the next driver release, please?

I can se that the card is partially supported and I would really like to use it with digital output most of all.

Thanks in advance. (I use WinXPsp2)

Chris

Russ · Jul 8, 2006, 09:57 PM

Does that card have digital inputs?
If so, you might try connecting the card's digital out, to it's own digital in, and see if you get a signal, to verify that it is not a compatibility issue with the receiver.
Additionally, you might try loading epiloglt_k2 (in addition to epilog), and test the pins on that as well, as I think that it has pins not available on epilog.

chris.miller · Jul 9, 2006, 06:50 AM

Thanks for the quick reply. I wasn't aware of epiloglt_k2's existence. Unfortunately, even if I tried all its outputs, the card could not output digital.

As for its digital inputs, there are none. It is the Audigy4 bulk version with only the rear inputs (standard Line In and Mic) and one Aux input inside the case to which I connect the tuner card. There is no problem with the receiver, I can assure you. The original Creative drivers work fine on digital out. And my previous Creative board worked fine with the same receiver (Panasonic SA-HE75) using digital output. (I already miss that card...)

The reason that's keeping me from switching back to Creative drivers is the multitude of plugins that I can insert between the AC97 pins from the prologue and the x_router to shape up the weak signal coming from Aux_in, that is the sound coming from the tuner. The cable company seems to enjoy sending very weak sound levels (I had to raise the AC9 gain to maximum and to increase output from the dynamics processor about 5dB to level it out with wave out level - that adds up to about 30dB increase!!!). It's rather uncomfortable turning the amp level up and down when launching and exiting DScaler...

So I think that the current driver does not "see" the dgital out on the card or it does not use it accordingly. (Remember I tried outputting ac3 and it kind of activated digital out, but no sound was decoded in the receiver)

Chris

Russ · Jul 9, 2006, 12:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chris.miller

So I think that the current driver does not "see" the dgital out on the card or it does not use it accordingly. (Remember I tried outputting ac3 and it kind of activated digital out, but no sound was decoded in the receiver)

Chris

Yeah, that is what made me think that maybe there was a compatability issue (not meaning that the receiver is bad) with the receiver and kX, but it was a long shot anyway. I guess you will have to wait until someone is able to figure out the particulairs with that card model, but without any info from Creative, there is no telling if/when that model will be fully supported.

TheKezReturns · Jul 12, 2006, 08:47 AM

Quote:

As for its digital inputs, there are none.

The digital connector on the back of the card is labelled 'DIGITAL IO' so I's expect digital in to be accessed via one of the rings of a stereo(or more) mini plug.
Anyways, if you get it working, please posts your results in the thread I started.

Russ · Jul 12, 2006, 02:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheKezReturns

The digital connector on the back of the card is labelled 'DIGITAL IO' so I's expect digital in to be accessed via one of the rings of a stereo(or more) mini plug.
Anyways, if you get it working, please posts your results in the thread I started.

Interesting... A quick search shows the jack described as: "Digital I/O (for stereo SPDIF output to Digital I/O Module)". That wording is a bit strange though (i.e. why does it specifically say "SPDIF output" as opposed to SPDIF I/O via Digital I/O Module?), so it is hard to tell if it is like the digital output on some other cards (with 3 SPDIF outputs), or if it is really digital I/O.

TheKezReturns · Jul 13, 2006, 02:08 AM

A look at the quickstart guide and your link shows an interface with a coaxial and optical in and the same for out. Manual also states that your can connect only 2.1 digital speakers, and like you say, it's stated as 'stereo SPDIF output' suggesting 2 channels only. Ofcourse multiple digital speaker systems can be used with an external decoder.
They could have left the damn CD SPDIFF in on the card. 3.5mm jacks are a bastard to solder, I can only imagine what a 4 pole one will be like.

pb05 · Jul 18, 2006, 06:22 PM

Hi Chris,
I've noticed the same pb (cf. http://www.hardwareheaven.com/general-discussion/108798-pb-digital-out-3538j-sb0610.html)
On my Audigy 4 SB0610 / 3538j, there is no way to activate the digital output when all is perfectly working with the CL drivers

I used 3538j with my old SBLive and it was working fine, so it seems than there is an issue related to the Audigy 4 dig out

**Eugene Gavrilov** · Jul 23, 2006, 11:26 PM

sb610: digital switch is not functional yet
I will add a kind of 'doo' switch to the next driver build - please re-check
(this should switch 'doo' / 'line-in' mode, I guess)
E.

chris.miller · Aug 2, 2006, 06:37 AM

Thanks, Eugene, for your reply and for the new version of kx. Digital output works in stereo!
I have been on holiday and could not believe my eyes when I returned home and saw that the new version was out. I installed it and was glad to see that my card was now recognezed correctly (SB0610). I immediately checked the digital out button and it worked! However, there are a few issues concerning the way it behaves.

First of all, when I activate the digital output, the button simply disappears from the mixer

)! That means there is no way I could return to analog output...The only way I can reach that button again is to reinitialize the device, which means I lose all settings I made, but the button shows up again and the card returns to analog output.

The other ting is that AC3 passthrough does not work. The indicator of passthrough shows up in sys tray, but there is no dolby digital sound coming out. The AC3 decoding does not work either... The indicator shows up in sys tray, just like it does in passthrough mode, but that's it!

The outputs from prologue are correctly assigned this time...there is no more analog sound being output through the spdif pins on the prologue...

Thank you for your kind attention, Eugene, and all those that replied.

Chris

chris.miller · Nov 14, 2006, 10:54 AM

The latest kx version still does not permit ths card to output ac3, only digital stereo, and the DOO switch must be activated after every reboot, otherwise the card works in analogue only (and it disappears after being clicked, but hey! it works...).

One other thing is I'm REALLY SORRY that I do not have the Line In slider anymore...I cannot control the volume DScaler or any other audio application. Playback mixer only shows Wave, CD and Synth...Can you put it back on, pleease

?

Jul 8, 2006, 09:32 PM	#1
chris.miller DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 14 Rep Power: 0	Audigy4 SB0610 Digital Output? I just bought this card (SB0610) and I can't get it to output digital at all. Analogue works ok, apart from the fact that analogue front outputs in fact on the Generic S/PDIF pins from the epilogue. When I installed the driver, I chose all values from Audigy 2 ZS and all turned out to work exactly the same. Nothing happened when I toggled Front and rear, nor when I toggled headphones to center. I connected it to a digital receiver. Whe I run ac3 passthrough my receiver lights the front L+R LEDs but that's it. It should light up all 5.1 LEDs and decode sound. When it outputs stereo the LEDs turn off again. I use the latest version of kx drivers (3538j) and I have been using kx drivers for a long time now. I used to have a Live! card (SB0102) which ran perfectly with kx, with digital output (no AC3 passthrough, of course...). Could this card be included in the next driver release, please? I can se that the card is partially supported and I would really like to use it with digital output most of all. Thanks in advance. (I use WinXPsp2) Chris

Jul 8, 2006, 09:57 PM	#2
Russ HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 5,563 Rep Power: 62	Does that card have digital inputs? If so, you might try connecting the card's digital out, to it's own digital in, and see if you get a signal, to verify that it is not a compatibility issue with the receiver. Additionally, you might try loading epiloglt_k2 (in addition to epilog), and test the pins on that as well, as I think that it has pins not available on epilog.

Jul 9, 2006, 06:50 AM	Thread Starter #3
chris.miller DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 14 Rep Power: 0	Thanks for the quick reply. I wasn't aware of epiloglt_k2's existence. Unfortunately, even if I tried all its outputs, the card could not output digital. As for its digital inputs, there are none. It is the Audigy4 bulk version with only the rear inputs (standard Line In and Mic) and one Aux input inside the case to which I connect the tuner card. There is no problem with the receiver, I can assure you. The original Creative drivers work fine on digital out. And my previous Creative board worked fine with the same receiver (Panasonic SA-HE75) using digital output. (I already miss that card...) The reason that's keeping me from switching back to Creative drivers is the multitude of plugins that I can insert between the AC97 pins from the prologue and the x_router to shape up the weak signal coming from Aux_in, that is the sound coming from the tuner. The cable company seems to enjoy sending very weak sound levels (I had to raise the AC9 gain to maximum and to increase output from the dynamics processor about 5dB to level it out with wave out level - that adds up to about 30dB increase!!!). It's rather uncomfortable turning the amp level up and down when launching and exiting DScaler... So I think that the current driver does not "see" the dgital out on the card or it does not use it accordingly. (Remember I tried outputting ac3 and it kind of activated digital out, but no sound was decoded in the receiver) Chris

Jul 13, 2006, 02:08 AM	#7
TheKezReturns HardwareHeaven Lover Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Gold Coast Australia Posts: 118 Rep Power: 0	A look at the quickstart guide and your link shows an interface with a coaxial and optical in and the same for out. Manual also states that your can connect only 2.1 digital speakers, and like you say, it's stated as 'stereo SPDIF output' suggesting 2 channels only. Ofcourse multiple digital speaker systems can be used with an external decoder. They could have left the damn CD SPDIFF in on the card. 3.5mm jacks are a bastard to solder, I can only imagine what a 4 pole one will be like.

Jul 18, 2006, 06:22 PM	#8
pb05 DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Sep 2003 Posts: 5 Rep Power: 0	Hi Chris, I've noticed the same pb (cf. http://www.hardwareheaven.com/general-discussion/108798-pb-digital-out-3538j-sb0610.html) On my Audigy 4 SB0610 / 3538j, there is no way to activate the digital output when all is perfectly working with the CL drivers I used 3538j with my old SBLive and it was working fine, so it seems than there is an issue related to the Audigy 4 dig out

Jul 23, 2006, 11:26 PM	#9
Eugene Gavrilov kX Project Lead Programmer and Coordinator Join Date: Dec 2002 Posts: 3,119 Rep Power: 75	sb610: digital switch is not functional yet I will add a kind of 'doo' switch to the next driver build - please re-check (this should switch 'doo' / 'line-in' mode, I guess) E.

Aug 2, 2006, 06:37 AM	Thread Starter #10
chris.miller DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 14 Rep Power: 0	Thanks, Eugene, for your reply and for the new version of kx. Digital output works in stereo! I have been on holiday and could not believe my eyes when I returned home and saw that the new version was out. I installed it and was glad to see that my card was now recognezed correctly (SB0610). I immediately checked the digital out button and it worked! However, there are a few issues concerning the way it behaves. First of all, when I activate the digital output, the button simply disappears from the mixer )! That means there is no way I could return to analog output...The only way I can reach that button again is to reinitialize the device, which means I lose all settings I made, but the button shows up again and the card returns to analog output. The other ting is that AC3 passthrough does not work. The indicator of passthrough shows up in sys tray, but there is no dolby digital sound coming out. The AC3 decoding does not work either... The indicator shows up in sys tray, just like it does in passthrough mode, but that's it! The outputs from prologue are correctly assigned this time...there is no more analog sound being output through the spdif pins on the prologue... Thank you for your kind attention, Eugene, and all those that replied. Chris

Nov 14, 2006, 10:54 AM	Thread Starter #11
chris.miller DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 14 Rep Power: 0	The latest kx version still does not permit ths card to output ac3, only digital stereo, and the DOO switch must be activated after every reboot, otherwise the card works in analogue only (and it disappears after being clicked, but hey! it works...). One other thing is I'm REALLY SORRY that I do not have the Line In slider anymore...I cannot control the volume DScaler or any other audio application. Playback mixer only shows Wave, CD and Synth...Can you put it back on, pleease ?