soundblaster 5.1 and audiophile question?

mikenel · Aug 8, 2003, 12:24 PM

ok, i was using my soundblaster 5.1 with kx drivers(3534c) with no problem but i came across and auidophile 2496 so i tried it out. The only problem is the drivers for the audiophile don't have the surround sound control for my surround sound speakers like the kx drivers did! If its possible i would like to install both cards and plug my surround speakers into the soundblaster with the kxdrivers for output of sound, but use the audiophile for everything else.

It's kinda funny when i ask this question because it doesnt look like it makes since to me. I mean i want the audiophiles quality but just use the soundblaster for the speakers. yeah thats it. Is this possible??

scottdru · Aug 8, 2003, 02:02 PM

I have never done this myself (though I know of numerous people who have, both with the Audiophile and with other cards), but you should be able to install both of these cards in your system and they should have no problem running side by side. Just to be clear (though I assume you know this already), you will need to use the speaker outputs on the audiophile when you are using your midi/recording apps, and the speaker outputs on the soundblaster for games and multimedia stuff, etc. You won't, for example, be able to use the inputs of the audiophile and then the outputs on the soundblaster while using ASIO drivers in Cubase.

One thing, though . . . you may want to go into your BIOS and manually assign them each their own IRQs to avoid conflicts.

wilho · Aug 8, 2003, 03:23 PM

I'm guessing here.

You cannot use 2 cards directly with asio, but shouldn't it be possible to go around ASIO problem by connectting audiophile's digi-out to live!'s digi-in?

I'm planning to get audiophile, or maybe Hoontech DSP 24 VALUE+- Which one would you recommend btw? Which has better drivers? Hoontech seems to be littlebit cheaper, but has allso larger minimum asio latency, 2ms vs. 3ms or something...

Anyway, I'm not willing to do that above, but am I able to use Lives dsp as a effect with asio with connection:
audiophile digi-out->Live! digi-in & live! digi-out -> audiophile digi-in?

THE question is, is it possible to route line-in to ASIO1&2 _and_ to digi-out, and then route digi-in to asio 3&4 - with it's drivers of those cards, or with cubase?

scottdru · Aug 8, 2003, 04:17 PM

I've wondered about that, too . . . either just using another card as an A/D converter and running the signal in via SPDIF, or simply using the SB card as an effects unit. I'm not sure. Only thing is, though . . . the Audiophile has better converters, and a more stable digital clock (which does account for a noticeable difference). Since you cannot clock the SBLive to another card, the only way to get a sample accurate digital transfer is to clock the Audiophile to an SBLive . . . which means you will lose some of the higher sound quality you paid for with the Audiophile.

Aug 8, 2003, 12:24 PM	#1
mikenel DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Jun 2003 Posts: 5 Rep Power: 0	soundblaster 5.1 and audiophile question? ok, i was using my soundblaster 5.1 with kx drivers(3534c) with no problem but i came across and auidophile 2496 so i tried it out. The only problem is the drivers for the audiophile don't have the surround sound control for my surround sound speakers like the kx drivers did! If its possible i would like to install both cards and plug my surround speakers into the soundblaster with the kxdrivers for output of sound, but use the audiophile for everything else. It's kinda funny when i ask this question because it doesnt look like it makes since to me. I mean i want the audiophiles quality but just use the soundblaster for the speakers. yeah thats it. Is this possible??

Aug 8, 2003, 03:23 PM	#3
wilho DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2003 Posts: 48 Rep Power: 0	I'm guessing here. You cannot use 2 cards directly with asio, but shouldn't it be possible to go around ASIO problem by connectting audiophile's digi-out to live!'s digi-in? I'm planning to get audiophile, or maybe Hoontech DSP 24 VALUE+- Which one would you recommend btw? Which has better drivers? Hoontech seems to be littlebit cheaper, but has allso larger minimum asio latency, 2ms vs. 3ms or something... Anyway, I'm not willing to do that above, but am I able to use Lives dsp as a effect with asio with connection: audiophile digi-out->Live! digi-in & live! digi-out -> audiophile digi-in? THE question is, is it possible to route line-in to ASIO1&2 _and_ to digi-out, and then route digi-in to asio 3&4 - with it's drivers of those cards, or with cubase? Last edited by wilho; Aug 8, 2003 at 03:39 PM.

Aug 8, 2003, 02:02 PM	#2
scottdru DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: New York, NY Posts: 21 Rep Power: 0	I have never done this myself (though I know of numerous people who have, both with the Audiophile and with other cards), but you should be able to install both of these cards in your system and they should have no problem running side by side. Just to be clear (though I assume you know this already), you will need to use the speaker outputs on the audiophile when you are using your midi/recording apps, and the speaker outputs on the soundblaster for games and multimedia stuff, etc. You won't, for example, be able to use the inputs of the audiophile and then the outputs on the soundblaster while using ASIO drivers in Cubase. One thing, though . . . you may want to go into your BIOS and manually assign them each their own IRQs to avoid conflicts.

Aug 8, 2003, 04:17 PM	#4
scottdru DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: New York, NY Posts: 21 Rep Power: 0	I've wondered about that, too . . . either just using another card as an A/D converter and running the signal in via SPDIF, or simply using the SB card as an effects unit. I'm not sure. Only thing is, though . . . the Audiophile has better converters, and a more stable digital clock (which does account for a noticeable difference). Since you cannot clock the SBLive to another card, the only way to get a sample accurate digital transfer is to clock the Audiophile to an SBLive . . . which means you will lose some of the higher sound quality you paid for with the Audiophile.