Help with subwoofer setup

Crumbly · 12 Mar 2011 at 14:59

I've recently invested in a subwoofer for my studio PC but can't get any sound through it. The device itself is working fine, as well as the cable (i've tested it with other devices). I'm using a Terratec Aureon 7.1 universe audio interface which i gather has been discontinued so there's no customer support from Terratec themselves. I've definitely got the sub connected to the right out but when i pull up the mixer there's no sound being routed to it. When i hit the test button, the signal does reach the sub however. I'm utterly stuck with this one and have tried everything i can think of (not that im particularly knowledgeable in this department). Any help or suggestions at all would be appreciated at this point. Thanks in advance.

PS. I realise that as a last resort i could get some extra cables and split the signal that's currently routed to my main monitors but obviously i'd like to avoid this if possible.

Surveyor · 12 Mar 2011 at 15:12

You'll need to have set your speaker setup to 2.1 (stereo plus subwoofer) using the sound card software and Windows control panel.

If you leave them set to stereo no sound will be sent to the subwoofer.

Crumbly · 12 Mar 2011 at 15:29

OK thanks, that makes sense. Not sure how to do that as of right now but i'll get on it.

Crumbly · 12 Mar 2011 at 16:22

Ok iv tried what you suggested, via the windows control panel i am presented with the options 7.1 surround, 5.1 surround, and stereo. If i alter the 5.1 or 7.1 systems at all (via the windows control panel) the aureon control panel reverts to a 2 speaker stereo system. Surely the pc should still output sound to the subwoofer in a 7.1 system? No matter what configuration i choose, no signal is sent to the subwoofer, although it works when i hit the test button. I'm totally confused. Any other suggestions?

james.miller · 12 Mar 2011 at 18:48

how are you testing this? music, games or films?

Woden · 12 Mar 2011 at 18:51

Do you have a cross-over frequency setting? The sub (the .1) isn't really treated as a channel in of itself, anything below what your normal speakers cant handle goes to the sub.

Crumbly · 13 Mar 2011 at 13:08

What i've now realised is that if i were watching a film or playing a game this setup would work fine but i only use the PC for music which obviously isn't in surround sound format. This means that the signal is only sent to the front speakers. What i need to do is find a way to route all sound to the subwoofer as well as the front speakers, most soundcards seem to have a "speaker fill" option whereby the signal is sent to all channels but, as far as i can tell, the aureon 7.1 doesn not have this feature.

My new question would be, does anyone know how to send the audio signal to all channels, without using the software provided with the soundcard?

This is my current understanding of the problem, if i'm wrong in any way please let me know. Thanks again.

james.miller · 13 Mar 2011 at 13:44

if you cant do it with the drivers or the speakers then you should be able to do it with your music software. Foobar2000 has a couple of crossovers plugin, for example. this is one of them http://xover.sourceforge.net/

Crumbly · 13 Mar 2011 at 16:49

Thanks, that particualr plugin would do the job for playing music through the Foobar media player which is a start but i'm looking for something more general as i use several audio applications. I'll start searching for something similar, thanks again, i'll post back if i find something.