X-Fi Xtrememusic and all X-Fi products

Question

I have been corresponding with CL techs via email and telephone re: the connection of my xbox360 to my X-Fi XtremeMusic soundcard via optical cable to produce 5. DD from my analogue speakers (Creative T7700). After doing ALOT of research, many ppl (CL lab techs, other sound card companies, forum members) have stated that this is NOT possible as the decoder of DD lies within the software and NOT the hardware of the X-fi soundcard. Thus, the X-Fi XtremeMusic CAN NOT DECODE 5. DD from an xbox360 and you would need an external decoder like DDTS-00. HOWEVER, I came across several CL techs by email and this is what they told me:
Email :
I understand from your email that you like to know if there is specific driver for X-Fi Xtreme Music sound card. I am sorry for any inconvenience this is causing you. Please let me assist you. For your information there is a built-in decoder on the X-Fi Xtreme Music sound card. Therefore the signal from a game console such as an Xbox can be decoded & output to analog speakers. There is no need for an I/O Dri've. You may use a digital Toslink cable to 3.5 mm plug.
Email 2:
With regard to your email, please be informed that the X-FI Extreme Music sound card is able to decode the 5. DD signal via optical connection to analog speakers. Instead of purchasing the I/O Console, you can get a Tosslink to Minijack adaptor for the connection from the Xbox to Xfi Extreme Music sound card. Please be informed that the decoding will only work on Win XP and not on a Windows Vista PC. In case if you need any clarification, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Email 3:
Prior to getting to the email form on our website, you were asked to try some basic troubleshooting for the issue that you identified. The steps that you were walked through resolve some issues with your product. Some of the information that I provide in this message may be repetiti've but it is still valuable information for troubleshooting your device. Yes it can since the X-Fi XtremeMusic has a built-in decoder.
Email 4:
With regard to your email, i believe that you are enquiring on a sound card which is suitable for Xbox connection so that it can output 5. sound via the analog speakers connected to the sound card. To do that, you would need to purchase a XFi Extreme Music sound card and an Xfi I/O Console.
So this concludes my message. I do not know who is right. I deliberately wrote the names of the authors of the emails above so that other Creative techs can clarify with them. The emails have stated that I can connect use the digital connection from my 360 to the flexijack of the x-fi XtremeMusic and get 5. DD sound but others have stated that I cant since the decoder is in the software. Can someone from CL tech explain to me this discrepancy? Thanks, I appreciate it alot.
Message Edited by turok_t on 0-0-2009 0:58 AMMessage Edited by turok_t on 0-0-2009 02:00 AMMessage Edited by turok_t on 0-0-2009 02:05 AMAdmin Notes: Thanks for letting us know, please understand that I have to remove the name of the Customer Support Advisors for their privacy.
Message Edited by KokChoy-CL on <span class='local-date'> 0-2-2009<span class='local-time'> 02:02 [email protected]

Answer 1

turok_t wrote:
...the sound card itself can not decode the signal so its useless.
I wouldn't say that. The card doesn't need to. It's nicer if it appears to do so than if application programs have to be relied on.
Yes, I have heard that previous?sound cards (not just Creative) had built in decoders to the hardware. This was for 2 reasons. ) Privacy and copyright reasons from Dolby Digital themselves. 2) Codecs change very quickly which means that the hardware will be obsolete once a new codec is released. Thus, it is more efficient to embedd the codecs in software itself. This is based on one of the correspondences with a CL tech staff member.
There may have been soundcards that included hardware decoding, but I've only heard of one, which was an early USB-interfaced one by CL which was almost stand-alone in character. I have a vague memory of some card with a DSP chip being programmed for it, but I also have this sense this was vaporware or a baseless claim.
Almost all soundcards punt and say they support decoding but really just include a copy of PowerDVD or similar that actually does it (which CL has started doing recently, unfortunately), but CL has pretty much been unique in including a driver-based decoder which makes the card look like it does do decoding. As far as I can tell, the Xtrememusic is one of those. ? In most cases these support digital-in decoding from an external digital input, but you usually needed the I/O dri've to have the digital input it supported that for. As I said, the formal manual shows explictly how to make an optical connection from a DVD player to the I/O Dri've or I/O console expressly so the card's decoding can be used to hear DD/DTS on the computer's analog speakers.
As far as your comment about hardware becoming obsolete, why haven't I heard about this being a problem for DD/DTS receivers. That's hardware,
isn't it's
Yes, you will need to specify the source if multiple sources are connected to the sound card.
Only if more than one is supported and it is not the default. It is entirely possible that if there is more than one external digital input, only one of them is actually supported as a decoding input.
Well, I think its kinda dumb to put a flexijack that is nonfunctional for digital I/O unless you buy the I/O console or dri've separately. Many consumers, including me, thought that external devices can be directly connected to the flexijack since it is Digital I/O. IMO, this is a bit misleading.
There is only so much real estate on the card's slot cover, and you can't help that some people are apt to jump to unwarranted conclusions. In fact, you can connect external devices to the flexijack directly, in the output direction such as connecting the card to a receiver's coaxial digital input, but you need the Digital I/O Module to do that optically, or to do either form of digital input. You can do so without the I/O console or dri've in addition. The question is not that the flexijack cannot be used for digital input, it's whether the card's decoding feature supports decoding from it, or only from the digital inputs on the dri've/console. It might, but to say it does or doesn't would be an unwarranted conclusion, since I don't have confirmation either way. I also don't know the effect of Vista, if you're using it, but I know that once again drivers had to be rewritten for it, and when that happens, esoteric features may get broken or not work for awhile. (Microsoft seems to be quite incapable of architecting a stable driver environment.)? Plus, drivers rewritten for Vista might force CL to renegotiate the Dolby licensing, which even might be the reason CL has stopped supplying driver-based decoding in some cases.
To me, it doesnt really matter how many external digital inputs are connected or whether you can switch between digital inputs?from multiple input sources. The fact remains that the Xtrememusic currently can not decode 5. DD li've regardless if you have an adaptor (optical>3/5mm), I/O module, I/O console. In other words,?you can find many ways to connect external devices to the sound card, but the sound card cant INTERPRET and DECODE those digital inputs.
It can.
-Dave
[email protected]