SPDIF problem on Asus Maximus IV Extreme-Z Motherboard

OLD JUD · 6 Feb 2014 at 03:33

Hi folks,
I've just purchased a Beresford Bushmaster MK2 DAC, it has Toslink and phono connections (no USB), i tried connecting it up to my Asus Maximus IV Extreme-Z Motherboard through the Toslink port but i can't get the sound to work.

I intend to solely use the headphone socket on this device.

In Realtek HD Manager Digital output (optical) is enabled, VLC media player is also set to this, when i right click on taskbar volume control that is also showing Realtek digital output (optical) as default audio device? :confused:

I disconnected the Toslink cable from the Bushmaster and tried playing an audio file to see if the cable was illuminated....Nothing.

Trawling the internet throws up a large number of people with similar problems, anyone know the solution please?
If there is no sure 'Cure' for the problem, would i be better off using either a SPDIF to USB adaptor, or Phono to USB adaptor? And could anyone suggest a cheap option? Would the adaptor have an impact on sound quality?
Thanks in advance for any help.

Purgatory · 6 Feb 2014 at 03:58

Make sure in your motherboard BIOS that SPDIF is enabled and not set to HDMI . Screen shot added of area you need to check.

OLD JUD · 6 Feb 2014 at 10:09

Purgatory said:
Make sure in your motherboard BIOS that SPDIF is enabled and not set to HDMI . Screen shot added of area you need to check.

Hi Thanks for your reply. SPDIF is enabled, i did this yesterday hoping it would cure the problem but it didn't.

Marsman · 6 Feb 2014 at 11:14

OLD JUD said:
If there is no sure 'Cure' for the problem, would i be better off using either a SPDIF to USB adaptor, or Phono to USB adaptor? And could anyone suggest a cheap option? Would the adaptor have an impact on sound quality?
Thanks in advance for any help.

If you can't get it to work for whatever reason, a USB to SPDIF converter will do the job. Shouldn't affect quality as it's still digital output from the converter.

OLD JUD · 6 Feb 2014 at 12:15

Marsman said:
If you can't get it to work for whatever reason, a USB to SPDIF converter will do the job. Shouldn't affect quality as it's still digital output from the converter.

Thanks for that, could you recommend a cheap but good model please?

Purgatory · 7 Feb 2014 at 03:57

Have you tried updating the sound realtek drivers ? It should work with what you have. Also have you made sure the programs you are using are set to output correctly to Spdif and at the correct settings. Have you tried http://mpc-hc.org/ as the player that is what I use and powerdvd and they both work well. It sounds like you either have the settings wrong or the player you are using is not outputting to Spdif for some reason.

Marsman · 7 Feb 2014 at 11:16

Just had a look at the specs for your DAC, to see if it can use 192k sample rate. Some DACs can't, and I did wonder if that was the reason, that you might have had it set to 192k and the DAC couldn't use it. Anyway, that can't be the cause because it can use 24bit 192k.

Try updating the drivers first, if possible, see if that helps. If you have the latest or it doesn't make any difference, try different software. Windows media player would be good, as it's built in, you don't have to download it. If the SPDIF is set to default in the Windows sound properties, then the program will use the default.

OLD JUD · 7 Feb 2014 at 12:13

Hi Guys,

Tried my usual VLC media player and Windows media player with optical connection set as default, still no joy.

Latest drivers installed, this has really got me puzzled and frustrated.
So it seems i have two options, either get a budget sound card with SPDIF out, disable on board sound and see if that cures it. Second option, just buy one of these........CLICK
It seems this is the option laptop owners are using, and are pleased with the results, so it looks like i'll buy one.