Pawelp

I am getting a bit despaired. As some of you might have noticed I am trying to accomplish a digital xover where each driver pre-filtered signal is fed with an individual SPDIF channel. So I need two independent SPDIF outs for a two-way. I have tried Audigy 2 Value (SB0400) and 4 Value (SB0610) but I could not achieved ANY sound via SPDIF. OK, I thought, they are new, not fully supported. Then I bought an old SB0090. Well, On the card it reads SB0090 but kx recognizes it as SB0092.
I get the front SPDIF but no trace of the rear one nor the third one. I am using a proper 4-pole jack - should not be the culprit. And when I set up anything else than stereo config I am not getting any SPDIF output. Can someone confirm, please, having actually used SPDIF out other than front or more than one concurrently ? What SB model were you using ?

Russ

Just so it is clear:
What kX settings are you using? (DOO mode, Surrounder, AC3 Passthru, SPDIF Bypass, etc)
Is it only an issue when trying to use 3 seperate signals, or do you still only get output from the front when using the same signal (i.e. 5.1 Movie Mode or similair setting)?
What are you connecting the outputs to (i.e. how are you testing?)?
How are your directing the seperate signals to the various outputs?

I do not know what issues may exist with all the cards, and I am not an expert on this, but it seems logical that if the Creative digital speaker packages can do it, then it should be possible.

My card (SB0228) is not fully supported as of yet, and I do not really have a digital setup to do proper testing, but I can get at least seperate front and rear (but because of the support issues, it requires additional setup, and again, I cannot do proper testing (I cannot test all the outputs at the same time (I am connecting them to CD_SPDIF In to test). I still need to do more testing, but with the support issues, and without the proper equipment it is difficult)).

As I do not know much about the other card models, obviously it would be better if someone with one of your specifc models could reply (and someone who had the proper equipment for testing). Also, it would be good if someone could reply, just to let you know if they were able to do it successfully on any model (like you asked).

In any case, try driving all the ouputs with the same signal ((using kX Wave (0/1), upmixed to 5.1 using Surrounder+ (5.1 movie mode or similair)), and see what that does. Then try it with 3 different signals (Surrounder+ in 5.1 direct path mode, and seperate signals sent to kX Wave (4/5), kX Wave (6/7), and kX Wave (8/9)) and see if you get different results. Make sure that DOO mode is ON, AC3 passthru is OFF, and SPDIF Bypass is OFF, when testing the Digital Outs.

PLease let us know if you manage to get it working.

Russ

BTW: What kind of cable are you using?

I went down to the local Radio Shack, and tested both camcorder cables that they have for sale (a RS brand, and a Monster brand), and both of those cables had the ground connection on the second ring, and not the sleeve.

According to this picture, the Creative 4 Pole mini jack has the SPDIF ground on the sleeve. So with those particulair cables, the Center/Subwoofer SPDIF and ground connections would be reversed (and that seems to be consistant with the testing I have done with my card).

Russ

More info:
I did some more testing with my card and positively can get three seperate signals.

Some notes:
I have a cable similair to the ones I mentioned above, and I was using it for most of my previous testing (because it proved easiest and I adjusted my connections to compensate for the swapped connection points of the cable), but this did not work right. I am guessing that due to the swapped connection points, it is causing some kind of problems with the internal jack sensing (or something). To test for this I decided to connect directly to the solder points on the card. Doing this with the bad cable still plugged in, resulted in the same issues (I am not going to go into details on the issues, but just say that you would not want to use one of these cables). I then unplugged the cable and tested again and was able to get a seperate signal from all 3 SPDIF outputs.

Here is my testing procedure (minus the SB022x specific issues).
Again, I do not have a digital setup, so I had to use an alternative testing method (using CD_SPDIF IN).
In the DSP, I disconnected all the analog connections to epilog (leaving only the digital connections from Surrounder+).
I then connected prolog (CD_SPDIF In (unmuted and volume adjusted on the 'Ins and Outs' page of kxmixer)) to one of the analog connections of epilog so I could listen to the signal.
I set Surrounder+ to 5.1 direct path mode.
I enabled DOO mode, but used kxctrl to unmute the analog out that I was using to monitor the signal.
I played 3 different songs, set to play to the 3 different kX Wave devices (4/5, 6/7, 8/9).
I connected jumpers to the CD_SPDIF connectors on the sound card, and connected the ground to the computer case.
I then moved the (+) connection to each one of the (+) SPDIF solder points (for the digital jack) on the card, and could hear a different song at each output.

So this shows that it does work. The only thing I could not test was listening to all 3 signals at the same time, as I only have one SPDIF input that I can use for testing.

Maddogg6

@Russ:

Did you EVER find a brand that does have GND connected correctly?

@Anybody:
Can a KNOWN TO WORK/BE CORRECT brand/model be suggested? Or maybe a particular camcorder brand/model - that requires thes same connections?

Russ

I have not found one, but not many places will allow you to test a cable without buying it, so I have not tested many cables. It is too bad that they do not print the pinout on the back of the package. I am hesitant to splice the one i have just for testing, considering it is a perfectly good cable (and I do not have a digital receiver or anything, so it would be only for testing).

Russ

@Maddogg6
I tested another couple of cables and from my testing, and info on the internet, it looks like this wiring is failry standard for camcorder cables, and finding non-standard one's would be difficult. However, it looks like an iBook AV cable may have the ground connection on the sleeve, and thus may be a solution.

Maddogg6

According to this - it seems your right..

Just thought I'd add the warning that it IS different from iPod AV cables.

Tril

I bought a camcorder cable at a Dumoulin store in Canada and it has the ground on the third ring, not the sleeve. I never though about testing the pinout of the wire before.

Pawelp

Russ:
great thanks for all the effort and troubles you have have gone to to help me out !
I have finally managed to make it work :-)) The bloody 4-pole cable was to blame. I am not sure if it is simply broken inside or not fit for the purpose. Actually SPDIF outs work also with ground and signal reversed, I checked it, so I am not sure what is the reason. So now it is double-confirmed - multiple SPDIF outs do work, I am playing with them concurrently by feeding sample blocks of music using Wave xx-s under DirectSound. Thanx once again !
Pawel

TravelRec.

Another possible solution is to get some 4-pole jacks from "Digikey" or a store in your neighbourhood an then make a fine cable for yourself - finally you would need a solder iron and some solder wire I´ve done this - before checking 1000s of cables - and it works fine. The solder-pins in such a 4-pole jack are quite a bit small and you can easily produce a short circuit, so be careful. Good luck!

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