newbie SB Audigy 2 SPDIF out question

philharmonic · Dec 24, 2004, 11:45 PM

Hello,

I just downloaded the kx drivers for my plain vanilla Audigy 2 and I have to say that not only is the sound so much better, but now my Media Center 2005 does not crash while playing Live TV. It did using the creative drivers.

My question is, i got this card a while back, but never had a chance to use the SPDIF out. The port looks like a standard 1/8" jack, and my speakers have an coax digital input. Is the SPDIF out port on the Audigy only optical or can I use a 1/8" to single RCA type cable for digital coax? I tried that, but no sound goes to the speakers.

I did a search, but found nothing on this. Any help would be appreciated.

**dj_stick** · Dec 24, 2004, 11:49 PM

you can use a coax cable, but remember to turn digital output only on

philharmonic · Dec 25, 2004, 12:28 AM

where do i do that in the kx drivers?

**dj_stick** · Dec 25, 2004, 12:37 AM

on the main kX mixer page, the icon of the speaker with the 0s and 1s and an arrow

philharmonic · Dec 25, 2004, 04:57 AM

Sorry for asking the obvious, but I can't see the icon you are referring to. What is it labeled as if I mouse-over it?

Thanks again.

**dj_stick** · Dec 25, 2004, 06:29 AM

oh sorry, its not on A2 boards afaik.

the digital out jack *should* be working then

philharmonic · Dec 26, 2004, 08:51 PM

Thanks for your help. I got the Spdif to work. A normal 1.8" to rca connector worked fine. But now another problem popped up. Every time I start listening to something. The sound is fine for the first 2 seconds and then it goes all crackling and popping and eventually conpletely degrades to random noise. I tried lowering the SPDIF output frequency to 44100, but no effect. The same thing happens with creative drivers. Any ideas?

Nappylady · Dec 27, 2004, 12:15 AM

How long is the cable you're using? Do you know what its characteristic impedance is? (Is it really thin and scrawny, or thick and meaty?)

You might try getting some higher-end cable. SPDIF transfers at a very high frequency, and many lower-end cables act like capacitors, shorting out those frequencies. This *might* be what you're experiencing.

nauticus · Dec 27, 2004, 12:24 AM

Ypu could also try increasing the playback buffer size.

R-Click on the kX icon in the taskbar: Settings > Setup buffers

philharmonic · Dec 27, 2004, 12:30 AM

The cable is thin, but i have an m-audio sonica usb theater card, and the same cable works fine with it. Mind you, it has a native coax spdif output, but the adapter i'm using with the audigy is barely 5cm in length, so i doubt there's a lot of signal degradation.

Further, as i was trying to troubleshoot, the sound miraculously started to be normal again, but this lasted all of 5 minutes before it went bad.

Thanks for your reply though. Any other ideas?

**dj_stick** · Dec 27, 2004, 02:10 AM

it could be the adaptor, make sure there is a good connection with it, and if yuo can open it check that the wires inside are not damaged

Dec 24, 2004, 11:45 PM	#1
philharmonic DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 5 Rep Power: 0	newbie SB Audigy 2 SPDIF out question Hello, I just downloaded the kx drivers for my plain vanilla Audigy 2 and I have to say that not only is the sound so much better, but now my Media Center 2005 does not crash while playing Live TV. It did using the creative drivers. My question is, i got this card a while back, but never had a chance to use the SPDIF out. The port looks like a standard 1/8" jack, and my speakers have an coax digital input. Is the SPDIF out port on the Audigy only optical or can I use a 1/8" to single RCA type cable for digital coax? I tried that, but no sound goes to the speakers. I did a search, but found nothing on this. Any help would be appreciated.

Dec 25, 2004, 12:28 AM	Thread Starter #3
philharmonic DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 5 Rep Power: 0	where do i do that in the kx drivers?

Dec 25, 2004, 04:57 AM	Thread Starter #5
philharmonic DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 5 Rep Power: 0	Sorry for asking the obvious, but I can't see the icon you are referring to. What is it labeled as if I mouse-over it? Thanks again.

Dec 26, 2004, 08:51 PM	Thread Starter #7
philharmonic DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 5 Rep Power: 0	Thanks for your help. I got the Spdif to work. A normal 1.8" to rca connector worked fine. But now another problem popped up. Every time I start listening to something. The sound is fine for the first 2 seconds and then it goes all crackling and popping and eventually conpletely degrades to random noise. I tried lowering the SPDIF output frequency to 44100, but no effect. The same thing happens with creative drivers. Any ideas?

Dec 27, 2004, 12:15 AM	#8
Nappylady DriverHeaven Addict Join Date: Jun 2003 Posts: 257 Rep Power: 0	How long is the cable you're using? Do you know what its characteristic impedance is? (Is it really thin and scrawny, or thick and meaty?) You might try getting some higher-end cable. SPDIF transfers at a very high frequency, and many lower-end cables act like capacitors, shorting out those frequencies. This might be what you're experiencing.

Dec 27, 2004, 12:24 AM	#9
nauticus Carpcarpcarpcarpcarp Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: nauticus Posts: 232 Rep Power: 0	Ypu could also try increasing the playback buffer size. R-Click on the kX icon in the taskbar: Settings > Setup buffers

Dec 27, 2004, 12:30 AM	Thread Starter #10
philharmonic DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 5 Rep Power: 0	The cable is thin, but i have an m-audio sonica usb theater card, and the same cable works fine with it. Mind you, it has a native coax spdif output, but the adapter i'm using with the audigy is barely 5cm in length, so i doubt there's a lot of signal degradation. Further, as i was trying to troubleshoot, the sound miraculously started to be normal again, but this lasted all of 5 minutes before it went bad. Thanks for your reply though. Any other ideas?