No sound from Cambridge Soundworks DTT2200 5.1 speakers

itm · 29 Jun 2021 at 23:19

I'm trying to set up my Cambridge Soundworks DTT2200 5.1 speaker system with my Windows 10 PC. I have used stereo cables to connect the 3 outputs from my onboard soundcard (B450 Aorus Elite) to the subwoofer unit of the speaker system:

- PC soundcard "Side" output to Front input on DTT2200

- PC soundcard "Rear" output to Rear input on DTT2200

- PC soundcard "C/Sub" output to Centre/Subwoofer input on DTT2200.

I can see sound levels for the on-board soundcard in Windows Sound Settings when I play back a Youtube clip, and I have the default output set to the onboard soundcard in App Volume Device preferences, but all I get is a loud buzzing from the speakers. If I disconnect the Front speaker input ("Side" output from the soundcard) the buzzing goes away, but I get no sound from any of the other speakers.

If I connect my laptop audio output to the Front input on DTT2200 I get stereo sound from the front speakers, so the DTT2200 seems to be working correctly.

Any idea why I get buzzing but no sound from the PC on the DTT2200?

The speaker volumes are all set to 100% in the Speaker Properties.

drichardb · 1 Jul 2021 at 00:54

You've got the front input on the DTT's connected to the wrong output. It should be connected to the Green 'Line Out'. Page 11 of the manual lists the outputs that should be used for each configuration (Stereo / 2.1 etc)

Standard colour codes for PC sound outputs are Green = Front, Black = Rear, Orange = Centre/Sub. Side outputs are exactly that - side channels in a 7.1 surround setup.

itm · 1 Jul 2021 at 09:51

drichardb said:
You've got the front input on the DTT's connected to the wrong output. It should be connected to the Green 'Line Out'. Page 11 of the manual lists the outputs that should be used for each configuration (Stereo / 2.1 etc)

Standard colour codes for PC sound outputs are Green = Front, Black = Rear, Orange = Centre/Sub. Side outputs are exactly that - side channels in a 7.1 surround setup.

Thanks for that - the Line Out works fine. It turns out that one of the other cables that I was using was also dud, so I had 2 problems. I now have audio from the PC to the DTT2200.
Is there any software out there which will convert 2-channel audio (e.g. music) for listening on a 5.1 speaker setup? (i.e. simulate a 5.1 source from a 2 channel input). My AV amp in the lounge has a setting which does this and I really enjoy listening to music that way. I'm looking for something which will convert the audio signal on the fly, rather than converting the source files.

drichardb · 3 Jul 2021 at 00:03

Hopefully you have the Realtek HD Audio Manager software installed. If so, open it up and on the Speaker Configuration page (should be the first one) look for a toggle switch for Speaker Fill. This should force stereo sounds out of all connected speakers.

Another way to do it, which may disable some parts of the Realtek software, is to install Equalizer APO which you can get from sourceforge.

This is a very comprehensive 3rd party EQ which I used when I had an EVGA Nu Audio Pro sound card for a short time (returned it when I realised it was faulty!). I realised quickly that the EVGA did not offer any kind of "blending" facilities in its software which I was used to having on my old Creative sound card. One of the EQ APO features allows you to duplicate sound from certain channels on other speaker channels. So in my case I paired the sound from the Fronts to both the Centre and Sub, wasnt bothered about the rears, the priority was getting the centre and sub back in action. It worked but I still prefer the simplicity of the surround dial in the Sound Blaster Command software.

itm · 3 Jul 2021 at 11:18

drichardb said:
Hopefully you have the Realtek HD Audio Manager software installed. If so, open it up and on the Speaker Configuration page (should be the first one) look for a toggle switch for Speaker Fill. This should force stereo sounds out of all connected speakers.

Another way to do it, which may disable some parts of the Realtek software, is to install Equalizer APO which you can get from sourceforge.

This is a very comprehensive 3rd party EQ which I used when I had an EVGA Nu Audio Pro sound card for a short time (returned it when I realised it was faulty!). I realised quickly that the EVGA did not offer any kind of "blending" facilities in its software which I was used to having on my old Creative sound card. One of the EQ APO features allows you to duplicate sound from certain channels on other speaker channels. So in my case I paired the sound from the Fronts to both the Centre and Sub, wasnt bothered about the rears, the priority was getting the centre and sub back in action. It worked but I still prefer the simplicity of the surround dial in the Sound Blaster Command software.

For some reason Realtek have removed Realtek HD Audio Manager from their downloads area, but I managed to find something called Realtek Audio Console, which seems to do what I need (i.e. it has the Speaker Fill option, plus a range of "Environment" choices (e.g. Auditorium, Concert Hall, etc).
I did try Equalizer APO, but could only get it to output 2-channel stereo. I posted a question here but so far haven't had any luck:
https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/...o-surround-upmixer.276608/page-2#post-4553037
It sounds more flexible than the Realtek app, so I would be interested to see what it can do.

drichardb · 3 Jul 2021 at 13:38

From the main configuration window, each section (labelled 1, 2, 3 etc) has a green + button. Click on that, on the drop down go to basic filters and then click on Copy.
This should add a section which has two rows of symbols, one row green and one row red, which represent the available channels. You should be able to drag from the green and drop on the red to copy the channels to the intended destination. In my case I copied the L+R channels to both the C and LFE channels.

If it won't let you drag and drop, underneath the green + button there is an edit button which lets you input a text string. Mine shows this

# Copy: C=L+R LFE=L+R

You can use the "power" button to toggle the effect on and off to see if it helps.

itm · 3 Jul 2021 at 13:45

Thanks. I managed to find and do all of that - I copied the L+R to RL and RR. I still get nothing from the rear speakers though:
https://imgur.com/LJcLCAK

drichardb · 3 Jul 2021 at 14:08

No problem, probably worth having a search on reddit for help on that, I only used it for a few days before I sent the EVGA back and got my Creative AE-9.