X-FI, 5.1 and DTS?

willhub

willhub

willhub

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Hi, i may have said somthing about this in another thread or two, but thought i should make a thread just for this.

Ok, so i want Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS in movies, after installing Intervideo dvd thing i managed to get 5.1, but the thing is, yea its 5.1, but i go into the Creative Entertainment thing with the Hi-Fi and Gaming looking thing were you switch modes, and i disable Dolby Digital and DTS, and i still get Dolby Digital, this tells me that the actual decoder on the sound card aint been used and its been software decoded or somthing, and i want to use 5.1 and DTS on the sound card, not some Intervideo Audio Codec, as when i go into Start/All Programs/Creative/Creative Entertainment Settings, then entertainment center, Dvd Playback settings (InterVideo Audio Decoder) then properties, then i set it to 6 speaker mode (5.1ch), so its using this for surround sound, so if i uninstall Intevideo, i wont have surround sound again, and your proberbly thinking whats the problem, your getting surround sound aint you?, well yea, but i payed £150 for this sound card so i expect to be using all of its fetures and not some crappy software decoder :s.
 
you dont need a £150 soundcard for that willhub. the intervideo decoder is fine and i very much doubt you can tell the difference between them.

what speakers are you using?
 
Logitech Z5500 connected to X-FI Fatal1ty, i want to use the fatal1ty's decoder, not some crappy intervideo thing, how do u use the cards decoder with analoug?
 
your not listening to me. its fine.

now, since you have the z5500's, you should have the spdif lead hooked up and have the software to spdif passthru and letting the speakers decode the signal.

as for letting the card do the decoding, i'm pretty sure you have to set the software (that your using to watch dvd's) to spdif anyway and have the soundcard drivers set to decode that to a 5.1 analouge signal. But somebody with an x-fi can confirm and tell you how. its been a while since i've played with one.


using software decoders and whatnot really is not worth worrying about. if you bought the card for software dts decoding then im sorry but you wasted your money. Onboard sound hooked up to speakers via a digital cable will sound exactly the same as your £150 xfi when playing a dvd.
 
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no i did not buy it for software decoding, i bought it for DTS, and Dolby Digital 5.1 with analoug and for coax and optical connections. I want to use the Decoder in the X-FI Fatal1ty, i dont want to use a software decoder.
 
listen to me!

i bought it for DTS, and Dolby Digital 5.1
Click to expand...

what exactly do you think dts and dd5.1 support entails? all it has to do is send the bit stream out via the digital connection, be it optical or coax. ANY soundcard, on board or pci can do that if it has a digital port. and any certified software decoder can do they job perfectly well.

you dont buy a soundcard for DD and DTS support mate. you can do that by spending £15 on a basic c-media soundcard. somebody else help me, please.
 
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I'm assuming he's using the analogue connections, since that's really the only way do make use of all of the X-Fi's features.

Install FFDShow http://www.free-codecs.com/download/FFDShow.htm
This decodes a load of different audio and video codecs, including AC3 (DD) and DTS.
Once installed, go to FFDShow->Audio decoder configuration on the Start Bar.
Under codecs, set AC3 and DTS to SPDIF.

Now in the Windows Control Panel, go to the Audio Console, and under the Decoder tab, make sure it's set to use the onboard decoder.

You can use Media Player Classic to playback DVD's using FFDShow http://www.free-codecs.com/download/Media_Player_Classic.htm
Alternatively, individual players will have some method of setting themselves to SPDIF, since stuff like PowerDVD use their own codecs.

Job done! No more software decoder using up precious CPU cycles.
 
well tough, i bought it and i cant change that, i also use it for games and the eax stuff.

Now what is 5.1 and DTS decoding in the creative entertinment thing then?, there is an option for the sound card ot do it, or an externam decoder, so your telling me, i dont need a sound card that supports dts or dolby digital to even have dolby digital?, just forget that i even have the z5500 digital for the moment, i have some crappy £10 5.1 speakers as far as your concerned, so no decoder on the speakers ok, i disable dolby digital 5.1 and dts on the sound card, and still get dolby digital 5.1 in movies, before i got the sound card i could not have Dolby digital or dts in movies or games etc...

Ok Ok, i dont quite understand what you are saying. Also, i dont have a digital coax cable or optical, and dont want to buy one becouse i was told i could have full dolby digital and dts support using my analoug cables.


Thanks shakey jake, i will give all that a try :), one question, were is the audio console, and were is the decoder tab? :s
 
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You can download it from the Creative page if it's not there. Bizzarely, important stuff like that isn't included in the driver set.

It's on the driver CD too, but it's an outdated version.

You don't have to use FFDShow, that's just what I use for everything. Any codec or app that lets you choose SPDIF will be fine, as the card will either use the onboard decoder or external depending on what you choose in the Audio Console.
 
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To watch DVD's i actually use the creative entertainment center when you press the power button on the remote, on the intervideo codec thing, there is an option to use spdif, is that the option that makes it use the decoder on the card?, if so, how can i tell when its using the card and not software?

Also when using the creative entertainment center, i get loads of parts were there is really low fps, its like a slideshow, the audio is the same tho :\.
 
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I don't think there's an easy way to know tbh. At one point it used to display the DD/DTS logo in the corner, but mine doesn't do that anymore for some reason.

To test it, set the Audio Console decoer tab to use the external decoder... if DD/DTS sound no longer works, you know the player is using the onboard :)
 
Ok, i disabled dolby digital and DTS, set it to externam decoder, and i got no sound at all, thats a good sign right? and in the corner the thing still came up, it said Dolby Digital Bitstream out.
 
OK to many newbs here, a lot of people don't know this, i didn't know this till a year or so back, but the x-fi dolby/dts decoders are usefull if you do not have a 5.1 system wiht built in decoders or do not have a spare digital connection so you have to use the 5.1 analogue input, the advantage of the xifi decoders over the windvd one is that they are higher quality and give much better detail, so it would be better to use the x-fi decoders, not to use it, simply go to "Control Panel/Audio HQ" make sure you set the X-Fi to use it's inbuilt decoders for dobly/dts instead of passthrough, this way the card will do the decoding instead of passing out as a digital bitsream, anyway once that is done simply set the software DVD player i.e Win DVD to SPDIF and the card will decode the audio..., noet that the sound will be passed out of the 5.1 analogue output not the spdif connector, if you want to output via spdif so your amp can decode go to the AUDIO HQ and switch to dolby/dts passthrough....
 
Ok, now i got that problem out of the way, i got another one, with my current settings, on some songs, i need to turn the sub tottally off becouse of the bass coming out of the speakers is enough :s, infact, i think its too much really for the speakers to cope with even tho it sounds ok, the thing is, i dont know what settings to change so the bass is the same on the sub but not the speakers, there is far far too much on the speakers, you should see the center speaker go at half volume, moving in and out about 1cm coz of the bass, and i dont want that to happen.
 
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