SoundBlaster Cards?

I am looking into upgrading to a 5.1 surround speaker system, and need to find a (cheap!) sound card that will supply the 6 channels necessary for proper support. I have a G5 with PCI-X, so I have had little luck finding anything that actually comes out and says it is PCI-X compatible unless it's well over 100 dollars. I have heard that some PCI cards are -X compatible (3.3V?), but most cards don't specify what voltage they are. Does anyone know if any of the lower end SoundBlaster (or other branded) cards are compatible? If not, does anyone know of a device that can take an Optical Audio signal and break it out into 6 channel analog? Thanks!
Specs:
Dual 2.3 G5
OSX 10.4.6
1024 MB RAM
250 GB HD

The G5's optical port passes encoded Dolby Digital and DTS streams.
(The Toshiba isn't needed)
This can be connected to either a set of powered speakers with optical input, or a receiver with an optical input. The built in decoders will provide the 5.1 channels.
If, however, you want to output multi-channel audio from QuickTime movie trailers or need 6 discreet analog outputs from your G5, you can use a PCI card such as the M-Audio Revolution 5.1 that I use in my G5. (need to use the 1.1.1 Beta drivers for this).
Can be bought for less than $100 USD.
You then use the direct inputs of a receiver and 5 speakers.

Similar Messages

  • Pull out my soundblaster card.. now it doesnt work? (pics included)

    my soundblaster card was working fine. i had to change some sata cables in my computer and to get to it, i had to pull out the soundblaster card temporary. now the card doesnt produce any sound when i plug in my 3.5 headphone jack into it.
    fatality logo lights up.. so far so good..
    http://i.imgur.com/r1J6V.jpg
    everything on my computer says the soundcard should be fine.... so i have no idea why it isnt working
    http://i.imgur.com/du2tx.jpg
    http://i.imgur.com/OMFMs.jpg
    http://i.imgur.com/SITfI.jpg
    last off topic question.. im not sure which one of these cables to plugin into my mobo.. (hd audio or ac 97). when i use the 3.5 jack thats located on the front of the computer. is it using onboard audio instead?
    http://i.imgur.com/ctFad.jpg
    thank you so much!
    Attached Images
    r1J6Vl.jpg
    (44.9 KB, 5 views)

    OMFMs.jpg shows a problem, actually. "High Definition Audio Device" is your onboard sound - not the X-Fi. It's showing both outputs for the onboard, but only the S/PDIF output for your X-Fi. This either means that it's not detecting that anything's plugged in and automatically suppressing itself or that it's simply not working. Right-click on the Playback control panel in the centre part and check that both Disabled and Disconnected devices are showing and check for the X-Fi's speaker output to see if its existance is even being acknowledged.
    If nothing is showing, try reinstalling the drivers. Just the drivers - no need to bother with the rest of the software. You shouldn't need to uninstall anything, rather just install over the top of what's already there.
    Currently your sound is being directed through your onboard audio. Ideally, unless there's a specific reason for you having both enabled, you should probably disable your onboard audio through BIOS, or at least the Device Manager, if you're exclusively using the X-Fi for audio.
    As for your second question, you should be using the HD Audio plug. Electrically the two are compatible but there are extra features offered by the HD Audio setup which don't exist on the AC97 standard. However if you plug this into your motherboard than you will in fact be passing your onboard sound through to the front jacks, rather than your X-Fi's audio. Check your X-Fi card along the front and top edge - there should be a 10-pin (one missing) connector which also accepts the HD Audio plug, which will in turn feed your X-Fi through to the front jacks.

  • Help?! Fitting an old Soundblaster card into an XP machine

    I'm attempting to fit an antique?soundblaster li've platinum 3.0 into an XP machine. Works ok ,drivers are fine but obviously the softwear is DOS and doesnt work. Are there any updated versions for this old piece of tech?....... mainly to use it while I buy a newer one!!lol
    Ok I have found this http://www.fileshack.com/file.x/545/Sound+Blaster+Li've!+Driver+Pack+Full+Package+-+XP/2000
    But when I try install it tells me "handler Invalid" and that it cant find a soundblaster card on my system even thought in the device manager its there and working propperly.... hmmm any help here would be really apprieciated
    Message Edited by lbhorsman82 on 03-24-2008 07:25 AMMessage Edited by lbhorsman82 on 03-24-2008 07:5 AM

    hi tryagain,
    -for your first problem (hdd size) try a 160gb drive, this should work (your current drive is a 60gb?) but also 320gb should work
    in my expirience i found if a 60gb hdd runs on a controller a bigger one also works...
    -for the second (win install) you can avoid activating windows again by cloning your system to the new harddrive
    there are free clone tools available that you can use
    -for the last one (manuals for old Toshibas ) there is a point "archive" to choose in download area where the "real old" user manuals can be downloaded,
    but i think you are searching for further information to disasemble your machine - i cant find anything like that also...
    but hey! no warranty - no cry.... for your 430 ;-)

  • Crosshair Forumla IV and SoundBlaster card conflicts

    I don't know what the deal is the Crosshair Forumla IV motherboard and sound cards, but I cannot get my SoundBlaster X-Fi Xtreme-Gamer sound card to work properly. I get a loud scratchy glitched up sound, sound then promptely dies for several minutes, then another very loud scratchy sound and sound comes back, but I get popping and minor scratching sounds. I've talked to people and some say it is due to an IRQ conflict? I've attempted to disable the onboard sound which didn't work. I've had this problem for years now and have been using the onboard sound since I can't use the the soundblaster card. I've tried 2 different SoundBlaster cards, I'd have to look up the other card on newegg as it's been awhile. Unfortunately now my onboard soundcard died and I dont have money to put together a new rig, and I don't want to go through the hassle of getting a new motherboard just for the sound card. Either I need to get a sound card that is KNOWN to work with this motherboard, or I need help figuring this problem out so I don't have to buy a new motherboard just to fix this sound problem i'm at my wits end.

    Originally Posted by octopus-pancake
    I don't know what the deal is the Crosshair Forumla IV motherboard and sound cards, but I cannot get my SoundBlaster X-Fi Xtreme-Gamer sound card to work properly. I get a loud scratchy glitched up sound, sound then promptely dies for several minutes, then another very loud scratchy sound and sound comes back, but I get popping and minor scratching sounds. I've talked to people and some say it is due to an IRQ conflict? I've attempted to disable the onboard sound which didn't work. I've had this problem for years now and have been using the onboard sound since I can't use the the soundblaster card. I've tried 2 different SoundBlaster cards, I'd have to look up the other card on newegg as it's been awhile. Unfortunately now my onboard soundcard died and I dont have money to put together a new rig, and I don't want to go through the hassle of getting a new motherboard just for the sound card. Either I need to get a sound card that is KNOWN to work with this motherboard, or I need help figuring this problem out so I don't have to buy a new motherboard just to fix this sound problem i'm at my wits end.
    Hi octopus-pancake,
    Have you tried out the suggestion from other forum user?
    Problem solved: Crackling and Buzzing distortion sounds with SB Z on Haswell/Z87
    Although the suggestion is for Win 8 but you can try it on Win 7 as the driver signature verification happens in Win 7 as well. If you still don't get any replies from other forum users, you may try to contact tech support instead (link HERE)
    Cheers!

  • Frequency respons on soundblaster card

    At the moment i only have a integrated nVidia Soundstorm soundcard. Bass sounds from 45/50Hz and below works well with a subwoofer. But as soon as i disconnect the subwoofer, and only use the front speakers (that has a frequency range down to 32hz) the front speakers only recieve sounds down to 50hz. This "problem" is terifying annoying because the front speakers have so much more punch to give, and as they stand now, their only being used as tiny midle-tone speakers. Insted of the power they can give to the totalt soundpicture.
    Is this something that is possible to correct with a Creative Soundblaster card ?
    If there is, and if there is several solutions, could someone please write down the best solution, and the maby what would be the cheapest one too.Message Edited by gecco on 02-0-2005 04:30 AM

    alessandres wrote:
    I lost mine, and without it I cant install the card on my computer...Does anyone have an extra copy? Thanks!
    I have the ISO for the CD but it's big 540MB. If you can provide me a FTP site to upload the file then just PM me.

  • Cant detect soundblaster card

    Hey i installed my soundblaster pci 28 in my asus computer but i cant update the drivers becouse it says it cant find the soundblaster card installed and i have tried to move it into another pci slot but dident work either can anyone please help me! dont have sound on newer games

    Your problem almost like me, but my problem was unknown source, so I couldn't use my SIM card, that happen because I did downgrade autoloader from OS 10.3.2, the result fail and made my device error, so I reflash using autoloader again and that works fine again. About your network operator block it, if you're running OS 10.3.2 now, you can't go back to OS 3.1 or OS 10.2.

  • KT4 Ultra--Replacing C-Media with SoundBlaster Card

    What's the best way to replace on board audio with a sound card? Do I have to go into the bios or fool with jumpers and turn off the on board audio  before I install the card and drivers? Or do I just uninstall the c-Media drivers?
    Thanks.

    Hi!
    Soundblaster is definately great card. I have owned several of them, latest one being Live Player 5.1. The sound quality of those cards were okay, but nothing spectacular. The situation was the same with Hercules Fortissimo II card I had.
    Now I'm using the 6 channel C-Media chip of my KT4 Ultra BSR -motherboard. After comparing the sound quality of Live Player, Fortissimo II & C-media chip I was quite surprised because the integrated chip delivers equal quality throught the speakers I use (SB 5100 5.1).
    So I sold thouse other cards & I'm very happy with the sound I have. One bonus with C-Media has been reliable & solid drivers (IMHO SB could learn something here
    PS. This KT4 Ultras BSR is rock solid & i really love it! :D

  • External soundblaster card model sb1090...

    Hey guys, brand new here. I have a soundblaster model sb 1090 that I installed on a windows 8 desktop machine.
    An HP Pavillion, model p7-1421 pc to be exact. This machine runs win 8.0, I have NOT done the 8.1 "Upgrade".
    Now, I used the Creative Labs "Sound Blaster X-fi surround 5.1 installation CD that came with the product.
    I thought the CD install went fine, until I opened the program. I get an error saying I need the "Latest version of
    Adobe Flash Player Installed on my PC", which I DO!
    My question is, do any of you guys know how to get the program to run correctly? Do I need a new driver for the Win 8 machine, and if so, where can I download it?
    OR, am I totally screwed over by purchasing a clearance item that will NEVER work on this machine, no matter
    what I try?
    Any and ALL replies will be greatly appreciated, good news OR bad. That way, I will at least know what I am dealing with.
    Thanks for reading my post and I look forward to every comment/suggestion!
    jmmjr

    The CD was meant for XP, and Vista most likely. Here is the newest driver which you could have found easily by going to "support" at the top of the page, choosing your sound card model, and looking in the driver and application portions of the product page for the card. Here is a direct link for the driver.......
    http://ccftp.creative.com/manualdn/D..._1_02_0000.exe
    Best of luck to you. I know that my post sounds condescending in tone in the first sentence, but I simply state it that way so you can go back to the product page again if you need to for this sound card or any other Creative product you have.

  • No Audio Output after Upgrading to windows 7; Soundblaster Card is installed

    After upgrading to Windows 7 Ultimate (64-bit), I found that my speakers (which are built into my HP w2207 monitor) are not recognized.  In the notification area I have the speaker with a red x in it, and it says “No Audio Output Device is installed”.
    I have a HP Pavilion D4890Y with the Sound Blaster Audigy X-FI 24-Bit Xtreme sound card.  I tried looking in Device Manager, and found “Multimedia Audio Controller” under Other, which states no drivers could be found.
    I tried following some of the advice online, and downloaded the latest Realtek High Definition Audio drivers, but and the download seems to run successfully, but I don’t notice any differences.  When I reboot as prompted, I’ve still got the same error.
    I then tried forcing the Audio Device to use a Realtek driver, but Windows protests (saying it’s not sure it’s compatable with my device, and I end up with “Realtek High Definition Audio” under “Sound, video and game controllers”, but it has a yellow exclamation point.  If I click properties, the device status says “This device cannot start (Code 10).” If I try to update the driver I get the message that it cannot find the driver software.   If I uninstall the driver I’m back to the original problem (multimedia audio controller under original devices, with no known drivers).
    I also tried downloading various files from the Creative site, but it’s not clear which one to use, and the 4 or 5 different ones I tried (including their recommended beta version for Windows 7), when each of them opens it says it can’t find any supported devices.
    Suggestions?  Thanks!
    This question was solved.
    View Solution.

    Hi,
    "If the driver is a previous revision install it using the TROUBLESHOOT COMPATIBILITY tool that is part of the Windows 7 OS.
    To use the tool, uninstall any drivers for the sound card you show listed in Control Panel/Programs/Uninstall Programs  list.  Delete the Device from Device Manager. 
    Download the revision of the driver from www.creative.com  website to a folder you've created and placed on your desktop.
    After the driver is downloaded, navigate to the "setup.exe" of the driver and Right Click - select Troubleshoot Compatibility  ----
    Let the compatibility tool select a possible solution then use its suggestion of TRY RECOMMENDED WINDOWS SETTINGS, if it does not find a solution it will submit only CUSTOMIZE SETTINGS and let you install it as you designate."
    The preceding information comes from a Microsoft Windows 7 forum regarding an issue similar to yours.
    the information you provided did verify that it is a sound blaster XiFi Extreme card as checked against the Vendor / Device list.
    regards,
    erico
    ****Please click on Accept As Solution if a suggestion solves your problem. It helps others facing the same problem to find a solution easily****
    2015 Microsoft MVP - Windows Experience Consumer

  • What Soundblaster Card Should I Buy?

    $? Hello
    I currently have a Chillblast Fusion Sidewinder Desktop PC (http://www.chillblast.com/product.php?productid=8737)?fitted with a Creative X-Fi Extreme Audio?Card. I use my PC mainly for gaming and for music recording/production. The gaming side of things are fine though I have experienced lag on occasion when i really shouldn't have. The main problem is with recording audio. The mic is either too quiet to hear and if I do tweak all the settings, modes, launchers etc (i've trawled through them all!) i just get tons of static which isnt conduci've to a good recording.
    So I want to get a decent new sound card. I have looked for reviews on the net and they're pretty sparse. If you guys could suggest a?great card?for Games AND Audio Recording that would be great.
    Thank you for your time.

    Depends on what card you currently own.
    If you own an Audigy 2 or 4 I can't honestly say you wont get an improvement equal to the cost of the new cards.
    I used to own an X-Fi but it got damaged so I had to plug my old Audigy 2 back in.
    I can't really hear the blindest bit of difference. The only feature I miss is the simulated 3D audio for headphones - is that really worth the cost of the whole new card? I don't' think so.
    If you're currently stuck with old onboard audio, then buy yourself one of the [url="http://us.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=209&subcategory=669&product=7 79">cheaper X-Fi'[/url]s, you'll love it. If not I'd wait. Also it's worth bearing in mind that in order to hear the difference you'll need speaker capable of producing high quality audio.
    A lots changing since Vista regarding 3D sound. A lot of developers are starting to opt for a purely software based audio engines simply beause the vast majority of PC gamers don't know any different and stick with their motherboards on-board audio. So if you're playing a game using a software sound engine, your soundcard (whether it be onboard or not)? doesn't really make a great deal of difference.
    Just play GTA IV and you'll see what I mean. It uses a purely software based audio engine and sounds absolutely stunning.
    I can honestly I've never heard anything like it and it makes no use of my soundcard other than using it to send the audio to my speakers.
    This is taken from the specs of a modern 3D games engine:
    Sound manager:
    ? Fully spatialized 3D sound effects.
    ? Doppler shift and other frequency effects.
    ? High-precision sound travel delay.
    ? Atmospheric absorption effects.
    ? Reverberation with multiple simultaneous environments.
    ? Directional sounds with cone attenuation.
    ? Obstruction attenuation applied to direct and reflected paths.
    ? Frequency-dependent volume settings for all effects.
    ? Permeation system determines how far sounds travel through interiors.
    ? Unlimited streaming music channels with seamless looping and concatenation.
    This is all done by your CPU, it makes no use of any audio hardware. Fairly ****ing evidence for the death of the dedicated sound card.
    Unless Creative does something special, and more importantly useful for developers, I can see their soundcard department going the way of 3DFX.
    It's interesting to see that they're buying into companies such a [url="http://www.ziilabs.com/">ZiiLABS[/url]
    Maybe we'll see soundcards based around this kind of fully programmable tech, who knows. Maybe Creative's just moving on to other stuff.
    Message Edited by Meocene on 07-03-2009 04:32 [email protected]

  • Which soundblaster card to b

    I have done much research and I am confused on which sound blaster card to buy.
    Can someone please help me, my main reason for getting a sound card is for
    music and movies. I have a set of 5. speakers with no dolby digital decoding.
    My Dvd player has no 5. outputs. All it has are the two analog outputs for stereo and optical/coaxial output for 5. speakers.
    So I thought about getting a card that will allow me to hook up the speakers to the card, then connect my
    external dvd player to a the sound card using SPDIF. If i was to play a dvd on my dvd player would there be any cards out there that will allow me to play the audio through all the channels or is this not possible.
    Any advice or suggestoins is greatly apprcieated.

    Hi
    Search this forum (use card modell as a seach criteria, all modells through one by one).
    Take the one that has had less unresolved troubles
    .jtp

  • Two Soundblaster cards, still no sound. Please he

    I was running a Sound Blaster Li've! -24bit card when I noticed my comuters Startup sounds were not playing... I subsequently checked several other audio formats through various programs.
    I also checked all the usual "Whoops, I'm an idiot" solutions - Making sure nothing is muted, up-to-date drivers, hardware conflicts and can find nothing out of the usual. On a whim, I signed into a Ventrillo server to discover that the Microphone input was working fine, only the output was having an issue.
    (I checked the output on 2 sets of headphones, each tested on another computer, and my speakers.)
    Since there seemed to be no software issues or hardware conflicts (Creative Diagnostics tests came back perfect, but still no sound), I assumed that the output jack must died after the 3 years I've had it.
    I replaced the card with a Sound Blaster Audigy... And the same problem persists. The Mic works, the sound does not. I also assumed it may be an issue with the PCI slot and tried installing the card on a different slot. Sadly, I'm still without sound.
    I'm at a loss of what more I can do, and I'm praying that I don't have a motherboard issue. Can anyone help?

    I was running a Sound Blaster Li've! -24bit card when I noticed my comuters Startup sounds were not playing... I subsequently checked several other audio formats through various programs.
    I also checked all the usual "Whoops, I'm an idiot" solutions - Making sure nothing is muted, up-to-date drivers, hardware conflicts and can find nothing out of the usual. On a whim, I signed into a Ventrillo server to discover that the Microphone input was working fine, only the output was having an issue.
    (I checked the output on 2 sets of headphones, each tested on another computer, and my speakers.)
    Since there seemed to be no software issues or hardware conflicts (Creative Diagnostics tests came back perfect, but still no sound), I assumed that the output jack must died after the 3 years I've had it.
    I replaced the card with a Sound Blaster Audigy... And the same problem persists. The Mic works, the sound does not. I also assumed it may be an issue with the PCI slot and tried installing the card on a different slot. Sadly, I'm still without sound.
    I'm at a loss of what more I can do, and I'm praying that I don't have a motherboard issue. Can anyone help?

  • Will A Soundblaster card work in a Boot Camp Mac Pro?

    Just what the topic says I run my surround sound on the Mac 10.5 side through the Griffin FireWave gadget to the Klipsch 5.1 speakers and that works great for WoW on the mac side but I have started playing games under Boot Camp and Windows XP and the only sound I can get is via the mac output to an old pair of cheap computer speakers... having access to surround sound is a big help both in shooters like Orange Box and in MMORPG like Lord of the Rings Online and it seems that there are no windows drivers for the FireWave

    I wrote Creative Labs asking about a sound acrd solution for the Mac. They suggested getting their 2.1 speakers with the Creative Xmod. I looked it up on Amazon.com. It looks like a decent solution for now.

  • MSI KT3 Ultra ARU 5.7 BIOS and SoudBlaster Cards - Audigy

    I have flashed my BIOS to 5.7 Version and my sound card start to make a lot of noise (crackling) when play AC3 or DVD. If you dont want to use the new AMD CPU 333 FSB you dont need to flash the BIOS - I have Flashed to 5.6 again but, if you want to use a 333 FSB CPU you can flash the BIOS to version 5.7 and if have sound problems use the PCI latency patch for VIA chipsets.
    VIA chipset MotherBoard owners who have through all of the above and still have sound problems with their Soundblaster cards, might want to look into the PCI latency patch for VIA chipsets - get it here:
    http://www.georgebreese.com/net/software/
    (scroll down the page there just a little to get to it).
    There's also a similar page about resolving sound problems on Via chipset based computers here:
    http://www.deinmeister.de/mvp3_zlt_e.htm
    I hope this post help somebody
    Mário Silva from Beja - Portugal
    My System:
    MSI KT3 Ultra ARU
    Athlon 2400+
    512 Kingston PC2700 DDR SDRAM
    MSI Geforce4 Ti 4200
    SoundBlaster Audigy
    Windows xp Pro SP1
    400W PSU
    Creative Drx3
    Pinnacle PCTV pro
    HDD Maxtor 80 GB UDMA 133
    DVD Pioneer slot in
    RW Samsung 48x16x48
    Creative WebCam Go
    UPS 500 VA
    Monitor Sony 19" E400E

    Since my chip is an unlocked, I cannot easily run it at the default, but I can underclock it. At 100x6.0=600mhz, USB does not work, as well as 100x12.5. Same with 133x6.0 and 133x12.5. It appears to make no difference underclocking or overclocking.
    I downloaded the right BIOS listed on MSI's KT3 Ultra-ARU page. I don't think the BIOSes are different anyway, since the same files, changelog, and etc are also listed for the Ultra-2 board.
    A thing to note, that this is the onboard VIA-controller USB ports doing this. My Ultra-ARU's NEC-controller USB 2.0 ports work fine in both Win2k and Linux if I hook my mouse and keyboard up in those. This is not an ideal solution for me though.

  • Is it possible to acquire audio data in Real-Time using a standard sound card?

    For the control of a Laser manufactoring process it is necessary to acquire and analize the typical sound. I realized this with a normal Soundblaster Card using the "SI CONFIG/READ.VI". The only disadvantage is that short parts of the signal are always missing because of the finite buffer size. Is it possible to optimize this without buying a DAQ card?

    Labview RT works with three different types of targets:
    -RT series DAQ (Traditional Data Acquisition board with a processor board attached to it. Connects on a PCI slot of your machine)
    -Field Pointistributed modules for Data Acquisition
    -PXI factor: Systems where you need a chassis and a controller then you can start filling the slots with the type of hardware that you need for your application.
    Then using a traditional SoundBlaster Card to acquire data under Labview RT is not going to be possible at the moment.
    Blasioz Valenzuela
    National Instruments
    Labview RT Applications Eng.
    *Note: Did you try the same application in a faster machine, this can improve the performance and hopefully not miss data.

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