Replacement for Titanium HD

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1 Dec 2009
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341
Am close to selling my Titanium HD and getting something else.

For gaming I use my Sennheiser PC 360 headphones mostly but have just bought a 'small' set of 5.1 Monitor Audio speakers for surround sound. These (and previously a set of Mission stereo speakers) are being driven by an old Denon 3805 AV Receiver.

I just can't get 5.1 via spdif optical output working correctly. The Creative control panel 5.1 test does not work unless I turn on DD or DTS encoding. After turning this on I get no no sound in games (tried Borderlands 2 and BF3).
With this encoding turned on I get great sound in a film, e.g. playing a 5.1 DTS track MKV via VLC. With this option off I do get sound from my speakers in a game but just doesn't sound like effects are coming from behind correctly, i.e. throw a grenade in Borderlands 2 and turn round...the sound still comes from center speaker. Maybe I just need a recommendation of a game that has proper surround sound implemented.

I have searched for a possible solution and then re-read reviews on the Titanium HD. I also agree that using the optical output means I am not using the DACs on the soundcard so a waste of money.

I'd like to go best sound quality possible, on board headphone amp, so maybe one of the Asus cards? Analog 5.1 connections to amp rather than standard optical worth it? My Denon 3805 was a very high end Receiver for it's time btw.
 
DOH!! My bad

I just tried playing again and got it work. In the Dolby Digital/DTS Encoding settings tab it quite clearly states "To enjoy Dolby Digital Live, ensure that you select playback device:

Speakers (Creative SX X-Fi)

I had my default sound output device set to 'SPDIF Out', and changing default device to 'Speakers' everything is now as expected.

Now when I listen to music and need High Quality I use the analog phono output to an input on my amp. For games I just select the optical input setting on my AV Receiver. Headphone use is as before connected to the soundcard headphone output.

Anyway, hope this helps someone in the future.
 
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