Xtremegamer Xfi 5.1 surround issue

[minisam66]

I have a soundblaster xtremegamer Xfi on a win 7 64bit, its setup with a samsung 5.1 home theater system hooked up through flexi jack on the xtremegamer by a toslink to mini cable, even on 5.1 surround mode, the sound only comes front the 2 front speakers, when a cd is played directly from the amp (includes DVD player), 5.1 clearly works from all speakers. the issue is not the sound system so it must be software or hardware related? Ive tried all the settings i can see in the creative software, and when doing the channel testing, the voices come from those 2 speakers alone, regardless of which angle is said.

any thoughts on a solution for this problem?

thanks in advance,
sam

 

[jedimasterben]

The sound card can only pass through audio over S/PDIF, it does not do any decoding to send the sounds to the proper channel.

I had the same problem, but with a set of Klipsch GMX-D 5.1's, and the only way I could find to fix it was to buy another sound system that has the three 3.5mm plugs.

 

[minisam66]

My system does have the RCA/3.5mm plugs, its this model:

http://www.samsung.com/ca/consumer/...s/HT-TZ322T/XAC/index.idx?pagetype=prd_detail

and when plugged using them i didnt have 5.1 either, infact the creatvie software didnt even think the center and back speakers existed

 

[jedimasterben]

Not RCA plugs.

3.5mm, headphone jack-sized, the green, black (or gray), and orange jacks are the ones you want. Now, if they are connected to an RCA adapter (to make it the red and white cables), it will be converted to static left and right channels, effectively giving you 2.0 sound.

 

[minisam66]

So essentially i need the equivalent of the bottom illustration for my system to work? Where each of the 3.5mm go to their respective ports on the sound card and the 2 RCAs lead to the amplifier. That would give me 5.1?

 

[outlw6669]

The problem is that your X-Fi is not capable of DDL or DTS Connect encoding with out purchasing a separate driver package.
As such, it will only output a stereo PCM signal (uncompressed 2 channel audio) or pass through a pre-encoded DD or DTS signal.

If you want to give Creative more money, they will enable the encoding features present on your card
The driver package is $4.72 and can be Located Here.
After installing, you will be given the option to output 5.1 surround through your cards TOSLINK.

 

[jedimasterben]

Even then, it may not work properly, knowing Creative.

 

[minisam66]

The problem is that your X-Fi is not capable of DDL or DTS Connect encoding with out purchasing a separate driver package.
As such, it will only output a stereo PCM signal (uncompressed 2 channel audio) or pass through a pre-encoded DD or DTS signal.

If you want to give Creative more money, they will enable the encoding features present on your card
The driver package is $4.72 and can be Located Here.
After installing, you will be given the option to output 5.1 surround through your cards TOSLINK.

yesss! outlaw you are my savior, i installed the patch from creative, and meesed around with the settings and it finally worked, 5.1 surround for my games and movies and my music now hits each speaker, thank you very much, all this with an optical link, no need for the green, grey and orange outputs in my case

 

[outlw6669]

Glad it worked.
Make sure to not lose the activation key,.
If you do and you need to reinstall Windows or your drivers, you will have to shell more cash out to Creative.

Quick tip, enable DTS connect over DDL.
DTS encodes the audio stream at a higher bitrate and your receiver is capable of decoding it.
I doubt you would be able to tell the difference between DD and DTS just by listening to it but might as well go for the top settings available

 

[jedimasterben]

I just wish that I would have known that a year ago. I had a badass set of Klipsch GMX's and could never figure out how to get 5.1 to work, other than in DD which was only during movies. I've since put that set in my living room and bought a Logitech Z-530's. *is sad*

 

[outlw6669]

Creative and their *wonderful* business models
I would be willing to bet that if they have any truly satisfied customers it is only because said customers have never tried any of the competitors products.
Really, making you pay extra to enable a feature that should have been working from the beginning?

 

[jedimasterben]

Yeah, that's pretty much shitty. But, honestly, I did notice better sound quality than my Realtek output on my motherboard. Plus, Realtek only just recently came out with their "3D Soundback" or whatever it's called to let DirectSound3D audio run in Vista/7, which Creative has had through ALchemy for a long time now. This in itself is worth it for me, as I love positional audio, and was the reason I bought my XtremeGamer.

 

[outlw6669]

Perhaps, but just about anything aftermarket sound better than onboard sound.
Try comparing the similarly priced Xonar DX (which supports EAX 2-5 and enables it much easier in Vista/7) to the XtremeGamer and the Creative card will be made to sound like your old onboard

 

[minisam66]

Best answer selected by minisam66.

 

[viio]

+1 for that link, best £4 I ever spent!

 

[HEXiT]

i just plugged everything into the back of my sound card and got 5.1 surround. but the front panel is stereo...
i have the same card and it is capable of 7.1 surround