Audigy 4 = Still no digital surround output for games? *si

C'mon guys. How long is it gonna take for you to add digital surround encoding, so we can plug a single digital cable from the sound card to a home receiver's Dolby Digital/DTS input? Before you reply and say that the current Audigy's already do this for DVDs and games with AC-3 sound, let me say that I am not talking about that. Nearly all games on the market have 4+ channels of sound (and are not DVD/AC-3 games) and there still isn't a sound card on the market that puts out a digital encoding of this multi-channel sound. The only solution that did this is the now discontinued nVidia Soundstorm on their AMD nForce 2 chipsets.
The only possible reasons I can think of are:
) Licensing fees from Dolby labs to encode content are cost-prohibiti've
2) The CPU overhead to encode everything in AC-3 would be high enough to have an adverse effect on games' framerate
3) No company thinks there is enough of a demand to engineer such an option.
Can we get a comment from Creative Labs, other than "there are no plans to implement this in the foreseeable future" =)
Having said this, I still like the Audigy sound cards, but I think this added feature would appeal to a larger audience than you might realize. At the very least, you could post a poll or do some online research in the enthusiast community to gauge possible demand.
Thanks

Bollwerk,
I will pass your suggestions on to our suggestion group.
Do take into account that currently real time Dolby Digital encoding results in a lower sound quality than what we currently are producing on our Audigy 2 ZS and Audigy 4 Pro cards from our analog outputs. The signal that is produced by the onboard sound cards that do this encoding is encoded at a quality that is below the standard quality found on DVD movies and Games that incorporate Dolby Digital content. This also does result in a higher taxing of the processor which then results in more potential for slower performance in games.
Jeremy

Similar Messages

Using built in optical digital audio output for 5.1

So, lets say i want to mix something in 5.1 using logic or soundtrack pro, can i use the optical digital audio output of my macbook to send the signal to a home theather or something to mix it?, or i need a special hardware card for this?
Thanks a lot!!

Hi alece,
Just to clarify something;
When using an optical cable there are several standards of audio that can pass through the cable:
S/PDIF - a stereo signal - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spdif
AC3 or Dolby Digital - up to 5.1 surround - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ac3
Dolby Digital Plus - up to 7.1 surround - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DolbyDigitalPlus
ADAT Optical - up to 8 channels of audio - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ADAT_Lightpipe
MADI - up to 64 channels of audio - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MADI
I´m sure other people can add more to the list if they want to, my point is that these signals can pass through the exact same kind of optical cable.
The important bit to know is what does your equipment and software support... in theory your question is quite logical, a software can play 5.1 surround to a optical output like Apple DVD Player does with the built-in sound card of a modern mac. However, Logic does not support live encoding of AC3. That is why you have to output the surround mix in Logic to a sound card with at least 6 channels (5+1 as in 5.1) connected to your speaker system. Typically this would be 5 active studio monitors plus a sub. If you were thinking to use an existing stereo I would not recommend it since most consumer speakers have no limiters to protect them from damage (but may be possible depending on your amplifiers inputs)
I hope this answered your question
Cheers Espen
http://www.midiamore.com.au/

HELP! I'm losing my mind - Audigy 2 ZS digital coax output to receiver

I've very close to throwing my Vista media center PC out the window trying to get my Audigy 2 ZS to output a digital signal to my home theater amp/receiver. I've read as much as I can find on the subject and, as far as I understand it, the digital out 3.5mm mini jack on the back of the ZS is actually a multi speaker output designed for connection to Creative speakers, but to output a digital signal to my amp I need to plug in a 3.5mm mini jack to RCA connector then connect my digital coax cable to it and the other end to the amp, so I bought this little guy to connect to the ZS and my RCA coax cable: http://www.rakuten.com/pr/product.aspx?sku=263718980
Then I went to Vista's Sound-Playback settings and disabled the onboard sound (which was working perfectly thru the amp via its SPDIF digital optical output) and made the "SDPIF Out Creative SB Audigy 2 ZS (WDM)" the default device. I had already installed Daniel's excellent driver/software pack 5 for it so I have the latest drivers and control software. Then I went to the Creative Audio Console and selected "SPDIF Passthrough (Dolby Digital / DTS Digital Out)". Then I did a reboot for good measure.
In the meantime I set my amp to the Digital Coax 1 input into which I'd plugged the coax cable from the ZS's digital out port. When I rebooted and played music I get the green bars flashing next to SPDIF Out in the Playback tab of Vista's Sound settings indicating that the sound card is outputting an SPDIF signal, but don't hear anything out of the amp. Interestingly if I change the "Digital Output (PCM) Sample Rate Setting" to 96Khz in the Creative Audio Console my amp recognizes the change and flashes 96Khz which makes me think there is at least some information coming down that coax (I then switched it back to 48Khz).
The most annoying thing about all this is that my crappy onboard mobo sound has a digital optical output which connects directly to the amp and just works immediately without any messing around - when my amp receives a DTS or Dolby signal it says it's receiving that type of signal and pushes it out to my 5.1 speakers nicely. And this ZS card is supposed to be an upgrade to give me more functionality but I can't get a peep out of it (digitally), although the analog speaker outputs do work on the ZS so it's not a completely faulty card and actually makes me think I'm probably just missing something very basic.
I'd be very grateful for any suggestions/ideas before my media center ends up as a new modern art feature in my yard.
Cheers
Simon

Generally i found this thread because i've also got troubles with coax output my problem is in choppy sound with scratches and clipping in Windows 7, when i try to play Dolby Digital or DTS audio in movies or even test sounds from speaker control panel. In win xp all works fine - and in win7 only pcm stereo can normaly being output.
I try with different drivers (official and from daniel) and nothing helps...
yep...bios of my motherboard was configured to lower CPU ratio and voltage when idle (C1E option). I turn this option off and all works fine now)

Optical digital audio output for mac book?

Hello, I am wondering if MacBook pro Retina version has the Optical digital audio output or thunderbolt adapter? so i can use optical cable to do output for my music.

Hi alece,
Just to clarify something;
When using an optical cable there are several standards of audio that can pass through the cable:
S/PDIF - a stereo signal - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spdif
AC3 or Dolby Digital - up to 5.1 surround - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ac3
Dolby Digital Plus - up to 7.1 surround - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DolbyDigitalPlus
ADAT Optical - up to 8 channels of audio - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ADAT_Lightpipe
MADI - up to 64 channels of audio - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MADI
I´m sure other people can add more to the list if they want to, my point is that these signals can pass through the exact same kind of optical cable.
The important bit to know is what does your equipment and software support... in theory your question is quite logical, a software can play 5.1 surround to a optical output like Apple DVD Player does with the built-in sound card of a modern mac. However, Logic does not support live encoding of AC3. That is why you have to output the surround mix in Logic to a sound card with at least 6 channels (5+1 as in 5.1) connected to your speaker system. Typically this would be 5 active studio monitors plus a sub. If you were thinking to use an existing stereo I would not recommend it since most consumer speakers have no limiters to protect them from damage (but may be possible depending on your amplifiers inputs)
I hope this answered your question
Cheers Espen
http://www.midiamore.com.au/

Hooking up MBP to home theater receiver: Surround sound for games?

I'm looking for a way to hook up my MBP to my home theater receiver to play games in surround sound. From what I've read, it sounds like the digital optical out will only provide 5.1 sound for DVDs, not games.
I have also read about the Griffin Firewave which supposedly provides 5.1 sound from the firewire port...however, it looks like there are five separate outputs from that device (center, and both front and rear speakers), and my receiver's inputs are not arranged in this way, so I don't think this will work for my setup.
Anyone know of a way to do this successfully? It's looking like it's not possible, but wanted to see if there were any solutions I was missing. Thanks!

Peep this...http://www.forums.bestbuy.com/bb/board/message?board.id=TV_Home_Theater&thread.id=1153
Disclosure: Former BBY employee.

Digital Audio output for W series - Alternatives

There's a thread talking about the displayport does not have audio-output. Its true and some people get victimized by ill-trained sales people who think their displayport is standard. There's no literature on Lenovo website warning users about the audio issue either - such thread is closed with the fact that (some) other manufacturers in the same period does have have audio either and Lenovo think they should be in the same boat.
Let's not go into the blamish again, but discuss what we can do with existing options with alternative digital audio out and line-in that the W series really really missed.
We have (1) mini-dock and (2) USB soundcard listed as options
I currently use a USB DAC (digital to analog) system and it do really good in terms of stereo music enjoyment. However my particular system does not have digital manupilated sound like 3-D surround or multi-channel output and not suprisely, laptop USB generally produce greater latency than desktop USB ports.
Besides USB, we have 1394 and express card 34 as expansion options.
What's your setup for digital audio out? Anyone know any internal soundcard that fits the slots of Wireless USB/Turbo memory PCI ports that all W-series have?

Other alternatives include
I know on mackbooks I've seen firewire used as an input for a Weiss Dac if you're into two channel audio. Do any reiceivers take firewire as an input for hometheater? Has anyone tested Firewire outputs on their W series? I'm told that firewire is sometimes preferable to USB, I'm not sure why this would be, can USB support passthrough of DTS encoded signals?
In the case that firewire works and you Do not have a firewire source, maybe something like this would be of value It converts firewire to digital coaxial s/pdif and allows passthrough of DTS and AC3.
http://www.m-audio.com/images/global/manuals/FireWire-Audiophile_Manual.pdf
As I'm into audio the critical thing here (and what you're paying for when you purchase blue-ray, is maintaining the digital information from the disk in an unconverted form. You want a direct bit pass through, and you want as little jitter introduced to the signal as possible. You most certainly don't want the sound card getting in the way, Digtital to Analog converting and then reverse packaging it up and putting it out over the soundcard digital out. My problem is I'm not familiar enough with computer audio to know how exactly the sounds is transmitted from your blue ray drive to the digital interface you've chosen.
Anyone know why USB digital out would not be a prefered method?
Moderator note; comment removed which contravened forum rules

Anyone got 5.1 surround working for games in OSX or Windows 7 on 2010 Mac P

I got mine earlier this month have been trying out games in bootcamp on windows 7 they work really well with amazing graphics but no 5.1 sound in either OSX or W7, through the onboard sound card. Has anyone managed to to do this. I have only tried via optical. I can not yet devise a way to get 5.1 from the ATI 5770 MDP has anyone tried this?

1. Run Windows Update like you would on any other PC.
2. Windows is Windows no matter how it's installed so it's susceptable to the same viruses you could get by running it on any other PC.
3. Both Parallels and Fusion can boot from an installation of Boot Camp. you don't nee to install Windows twice.

Audigy 2 Value Digital Output O

Hello
I recently bought an Audigy 2 Value and connected it into my expternal amplifier via the digital out connector. Is there a digital output only option hidden somewhere that would mute all the other outputs? It isn't under the advanced window of Play Control, that's where my old SBLi've used to have it. Thank you!

alright, i read the knowledge base articles and saw that the tests won't output more than left and right, but still, it's not working for my dvd's. i have my receiver set to "direct". is that right? i'm using windows media player for the dvd playback, should i try something else? do i have to install an AC3 codec? do i have to enable something in media player? anything please

No sound output in games with "advanced effects"...Audigy 2 ZS...HEL

<SPAN>Hi there.... I have a soundblaster audigy 2 ZS installed with the drivers and EAX console. I have noticed that if I enable "advanced EQ" in the "enable audio effects" menu, i get no sound output from games or other software, although windows noises and sound files play fine!!If i use other features from the "enable audio effects" menu such as "environment" then the sound works fine....Surely this is not meant to happen?Anyone else check this for me?

*bump*

Creative Surround Mixer for Audigy SE / Vist

Hello
I've got a Creative Audigy SE on my computer, but I still haven't found Surround Mixer for Vista.
Where can I get it ?
Regards,
k_iowas

creative are force all us to change to x-fire, i cant belei've creative cant make software for audigy when vista is about year old.
Creative just lies to us. (as alchemy that supose to by only for x-fire)
PD: i have audigy2 SZ and i wont change to x-fire or another creative product, this is simply the last creative product for me

Audigy 4 pro digital connection but no l

Hi
I have a soundblaster audigy 4 pro and i connect it to my amblifier denon with optical cable but when i play a dolby digital or dts sound i can't get the logo on the amblifier. I test it on clean install win xp sp2. The sound seems to bo ok but no logo. I use Power dvd latest version.When i play the same dvd on my desktop dvd player with optical connection everything is ok sound and all logo's display.
Do i have to enable cmss?
Please help.
Thank you
P.S sorry for my bad english.Message Edited by ASTRAPI on 06-2-2005 0:30 AM

CMSS is an effect used for stereo sounds, to emulate surround sound for them. It has no effect on the DVDs you're playing as you're just outputting the AC3 signal so the speakers can decode it.
If you're using a digital connection, then CMSS will not have any effect for other sound either, you need to connect through multiple analog connections to get that sound. A standard digital connection (coaxial and optical SPDIF) can only pass over either a stereo PCM signal, or an encoded AC3 stream (like on your DVDs). Normal sound like music or games will only be passed over as stereo PCM, so there is no CMSS effect there.
If you can connect your amplifier through several analog connections, then you can use CMSS aswell, otherwise your amplifier might have it's own upmix option like ProLogic.
Cat

Audigy 4 Pro digital input 16 - 24

I have a Sony MDS-JB920 minidisc deck hooked up to my Audigy 4 Pro through the external box. Works fine.
However, the Minidisc deck allows one to set both the digital input and output to either 6, 20 or 24 bit. As the Audigy 4 Pro is 24 bit, I've set the deck to 24 bit for both in and out. So far no problems. If I watch the settings panel whilst playing a minidisc however, it indicates that the signal coming from the MD deck is 6 bit, although the deck is set to supply 24 bit through the SPDIF out.
When I put the MD deck on rec mode whilst the PC is supplying audio feed, the MD deck loops it back to the SPDIF input of the Audigy and then the software does display 24 bit signal coming from the MD deck.
This is very confusing to me, does anyone have an explanation?

CMSS is an effect used for stereo sounds, to emulate surround sound for them. It has no effect on the DVDs you're playing as you're just outputting the AC3 signal so the speakers can decode it.
If you're using a digital connection, then CMSS will not have any effect for other sound either, you need to connect through multiple analog connections to get that sound. A standard digital connection (coaxial and optical SPDIF) can only pass over either a stereo PCM signal, or an encoded AC3 stream (like on your DVDs). Normal sound like music or games will only be passed over as stereo PCM, so there is no CMSS effect there.
If you can connect your amplifier through several analog connections, then you can use CMSS aswell, otherwise your amplifier might have it's own upmix option like ProLogic.
Cat

Audigy 2 ZS digital out, 4 pole 1/8" adap

Please help. I've been looking around for a while.
I have the Audigy 2 ZS card. I want to use the digital out of the soundcard to connect to my 'coax in' of my component home theater system. I was reading and looking at the Audigy 2 ZS documentation, Chapter 'Connecting Speakers' and the sub-chapter 'connecting digital speakers systems.' It shows that I need a 4-pole /8 jack.
I found this part on creative's store: is this the correct part to hook up a digital coax to my component system and get 5. surround sound?
<IMG height= alt="" src="http://images.americas.creative.com/images/dot-clear.gif" width=3 border=0>
/8 inch to Mini Din and RCA Adapter<SPAN class=legal>PN 0400005

Optical and digital coax connections can't carry multichannel audio, only stereo. The only way to get multichannel via digital is if it is an AC3 bitstream. Creative also use a 4-pole connector that can carry multichannel digital but your speakers must have a digital DIN connection to use this feature. Otherwise for games, you must use the analogue connections. For your movies, you can use your digital connection, but you must select SPDIF output in the DVD software and select SPDIF pass through in the soundcard options. This way your speakers will decode the AC3 bitstream.
You might want to look at this: http://us.creative.com/support/kb/ar...p?l=2&sid=5035
A suggestion to Creative moderators: I think it would be a good idea for Creative to supply a guide with the sound cards and speakers on the various types of connections. Stuff like the capabilities/limitations of each connection and details on AC3 and the way games output audio. There seems to be so many people confused by the multitude of connection possibilities (I was at first).
Message Edited by pjc on 02-26-2005 01:10 AM

GD580 + Audigy 2 ZS + Digital Out 5.1 = only stereo

Alright, I didn't think this would be so complicated, but maybe it is. I just purchased a Creative Inspire GD580 5.1 surround speaker setup. I have an Audigy 2 ZS PCI sound card. I want to connect the digitial out to my speaker setup using the digital out on my Audigy 2 ZS. My main reason for the surround setup is for gaming. So far I have only been able to get stereo sound with both gaming AND DVD movies.
Anyone who can enlighten me on how to do this, I would be very grateful.
Thanks!

Optical and digital coax connections can't carry multichannel audio, only stereo. The only way to get multichannel via digital is if it is an AC3 bitstream. Creative also use a 4-pole connector that can carry multichannel digital but your speakers must have a digital DIN connection to use this feature. Otherwise for games, you must use the analogue connections. For your movies, you can use your digital connection, but you must select SPDIF output in the DVD software and select SPDIF pass through in the soundcard options. This way your speakers will decode the AC3 bitstream.
You might want to look at this: http://us.creative.com/support/kb/ar...p?l=2&sid=5035
A suggestion to Creative moderators: I think it would be a good idea for Creative to supply a guide with the sound cards and speakers on the various types of connections. Stuff like the capabilities/limitations of each connection and details on AC3 and the way games output audio. There seems to be so many people confused by the multitude of connection possibilities (I was at first).
Message Edited by pjc on 02-26-2005 01:10 AM

Is there a pure digital signal path from Game to Receiver (using XiFi and DD

Hi Everybody,
when using Dolby Digital Li've on one of the later XiFi cards: Am I fortified against electrical interferance within my computer? That is, is any of the analogous part of the soundcard still working?
I'd like to use the card mainly for games. It will be connected to a receiver via digital output. Therefore, everything up to the receiver could be digital: Game sound (Multiple spatial sound sources), sound processing in the card (resulting in 2-8 digital channels), encoding into a dolby digital stream (via DDL processor), transfer to receiver. Only there, qualitity digital/analog transformers start to work and the analogous signals are well protected from the electrical pollution within my PC.
Does ist actually work like that? Is part of the signal path on the card always analogous? I really fear the interferance of the electrical field within my PC with the sound signal. I could imagine that the DDL-Processor takes analogous signals as input. I did find nothing contrary on the dolby web site.
Thanks for any help,
Oli'ver

actually DDL is software encoder and yes if U use it the analogue section of the card will not be used at all the bit stream will be passedthrough to your receiver.

Audigy 4 = Still no digital surround output for games? *si

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for