Hooking X-Fi Prelude up to Receiver via analogue for surround sound in games?

hughythomas · 20 Jul 2010 at 15:09

Hi guys

Could I borrow one of the resident sound experts here please?

I hate to ask this as I work in sound but more the audio production side of things rather than the home cinema area!

I have in my studio a pair of Monitor Audio BR-2s which I use for stereo mastering and am thinking of expanding into their range to achieve surround sound.

Have a look here to see what speakers I would be thinking of buying:

http://www.monitoraudio.co.uk/products/bronze-br

Obviously I would need the Center, surround and sub to complete the set. However, I am lacking a home cinema receiver as well.

I was looking at the SONY STRDA2400ES amplifier as it also sports some RCA analogue audio inputs.

http://www.sony.co.uk/product/hcs-home-cinema-receiver/str-da2400es#pageType=Overview

The reason I am saying all of this is because I currently run an X-Fi Prelude as my gaming card and in Windows 7 x64 I find that you have to set the analogue speakers as your main default device so that games properly output surround sound. Or at least this is what happens with my ageing Creative Inspire 5.1 5700 speakers.

I cannot seem to get the games to do surround sound in digital (say for example if I set the SPDIF OUT of the control panel to the main default device) and load into Just Cause 2, GTA4 or TF2. None give me surround sound via digital. However, DVDs, AC3, Blu-Ray etc do!

So, with this in mind - does anyone know how best to connect my X-Fi Prelude to this Sony receiver if I wanted to use both analogue AND digital from the computer?

So, games/general windows use is analogue and then Winamp/VLC are set for digital?

Here is a picture straight from the PDF of the Sony:

And here is a picture straight from the PDF of the Prelude:

Is it possible to get these two connected via analogue so that I can still enjoy surround sound in games or am I barking up the wrong tree?

Many thanks in advance and sorry for the length of the post!

Tom

jkulas · 20 Jul 2010 at 16:21

I used to have my amp connected with the analogue out using three 3.5mm jack to RCA phono cables, so it is certainly possible. However you will be better off using the SPDIF or HDMI if you have those available.

If you have a look in the creative control panel you should see options for upmixing to things like DTS or Dolby Digital, and selecting one that your card/amp support should give you surround sound even when you're using a stereo source.

Creative also have 2 packages on their website, I think they are called the DTS connect pack and Dolby Digital Pack (not 100% on the names).

I'm no expert on this but I have spent a while tinkering and this is what I've learned so far, so hopefully it's helpful.

Uriel · 20 Jul 2010 at 20:28

You say you're having difficulty outputting 5.1 in games over spdif with the Prelude. That shouldn't be the case.

Make sure you're running the latest drivers. For games you should run gaming mode. Here's the important bit. Go to settings, encoder and enable Dolby Digital Live or DTS Connect. That should get 5.1 working for over optical in games.

You're lucky to still have dolby and DTS working on your 5700s. Mine don't detect them any more so I'm stuck with stereo digital or analogue hence have retired mine. Have heard of a few others in the same boat.

Uriel · 20 Jul 2010 at 20:42

Sorry for double post. My phone won't let me edit. Make sure device is set to analogue speakers on the prelude. DDL and DTS connect work by duplicating the analogue channels and encoding the content over spdif. Make sure nothing else is using spdif too.

gareth170 · 20 Jul 2010 at 21:51

i have 7.1, i use four 3.5mm jack to RCA phono cables to my amp which works perfectly.

but for 5.1 just use three 3.5mm jack to RCA phono cables from the sound card (socket 3, 4, 5) to the amp.

jkulas · 20 Jul 2010 at 21:53

Uriel said:
Go to settings, encoder and enable Dolby Digital Live or DTS Connect. That should get 5.1 working for over optical in games.

Under either Dolby Digital Live, or DTS Connect you need to hit the settings button and make sure SPDIF is selected too, then you should get the sound coming through.

hughythomas · 20 Jul 2010 at 22:27

Uriel could it be a sample rate issue?

If I output anything above 48Khz 24-bit the Inspire 5700 just produces this sort of distorted farting.

Guys, thank you so much for your posts - I was only looking at that particular Sony receiver due to the wealth of analogue inputs...can I save myself some money by buying a cheaper receiver and using say SPDIF or Optical to receive the full surround experience in games if I get this Dolby Digital Live malarky working?

Again, thank you for your replies!

Tom

P.S Thanks for the posts regarding Dolby Digital Live and setting SPDIF - I thought this must be the way but wasn't sure. It's shocking to think that I spend most of my professional life working in music production and my knowledge of home cinema systems is so basic...the thing is I still work 90% of the time in stereo for the stuff we do so it's not really relevant. Hope to fix that thanks to your posts!