HOW to set up Dolby Digital 5.1 via Spdif/optical with an ASUS Card.

tom_gr7

Life Serving
ok, so I have spent ages trying to get DD in games, through my tritton ax pro's.

Things you need,
1. Soundcard with SPDIF output, sound card should support Dolby digital live. I have recently bought a Asus DX, works a treat. Clicky
2. 5.1 speaker set, or digital headset such as tritton ax pro's, link for trittons clicky
3. Optical Cable, has two square ends.

So you need to ensure that ya sound card is fully up to date with the latest drivers, ensure that ya hardware is connected up.

Then using the software that comes with your card, in my case Asus dx center,
1. Ensure that speakers are set to 5.1
2. Ensure that Dolby digital live is ticked too.

Then on ya pc sound panel (bottom right) ,
1. Ensure that the speaker selected for default is the sound card device, in my case it's "asus xonar dx audio device" Make sure that this is set as default NOT SPDIF Output, sounds stupid I know.
2. Then right click on SPDIF output and ensure Dolby Digital, so that's "SPDIF out", "properties", "supported formats" then ensure Dolby Digital IS selected/ticked.

Then in the game sound settings
1. Ensure that you select home "cinema surround system" or "headphones"
2. Do not select stereo enhancement.

Then everything should work fine. You could download this http://www.wooferbasstest.com/download/test-tool-ac3-dolby-digital-5-1ch-sound-test which is just a short video that tests each of ya sound channels.

Hope this helps people out, It took me ages to find a solution.

Also Note that Dolby Digital sounds AMAZING in bf3!

Tom

screen%u00252520of%2520dx%2520and%2520sound%2520panel.png

Edit, this should be the same for ALL ASUS cards that output with Dolby 5.1!
 
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Buzz

Master
Nice Tom,

+Rep. I know how annoying sound card configuring can be so I'm sure this will help loads out there.
 

keynes

Multiverse Poster
I assume that to benefit from DD you need to have speakers that are DD compatible with optical cable. If that is the case I believe those are quite expensive unless someone can give me a cheaper option since I got the same card as Tom.
 

Wozza63

Biblical Poster
Im pretty sure my headset already does it in surround and DD and i run it through onboard and its not even designed for PC either
 

Wozza63

Biblical Poster
According to that video, my headset is 4.0 or something i only got sound from the front and sides, no subwoofer or back ones, ive just changed a setting so ill see what that does

Tom, you said you needed an optical cable, and yet according to the picture, your sound card doesnt have optical?
 
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tom_gr7

Life Serving
I assume that to benefit from DD you need to have speakers that are DD compatible with optical cable. If that is the case I believe those are quite expensive unless someone can give me a cheaper option since I got the same card as Tom.

yes that is correct mate. If you want DD in game then you will need a headset similar to that of mine, although you could still get a analogue gaming headset and connect it to the sound card that way, similar to how corfate has his rig setup. i will have a look online with some suggestions.


Im pretty sure my headset already does it in surround and DD and i run it through onboard and its not even designed for PC either

you will not be able to get Dolby Digital 5.1 unless you have a soundcard that output's DD over optical, however, you may still get surround sound in form of pro logic II which is simply 2.0 converted into 5.1, It ispossible that your headset is doing something similar, (as was mine) you can still get surround sound but its not a awesome as DD. Unfortunately Mobo's cannot encode DD to output via optical, but you can get 5.1 via analogue channels on the mobo. Although I do not know how this performs in game.

What headset d you have wozza?


Tom, you said you needed an optical cable, and yet according to the picture, your sound card doesnt have optical?

It does mate, its a shared port with the mic/line in and optical port.

"Digital S/PDIF Output:
High-bandwidth TOS-Link optical transmitter (shared with Line-In/Mic-In jack) supports 192KHz/24bit "

Look on the specifications bit page here.
 

Wozza63

Biblical Poster
yeh i think that may be whats happening, looks like ill have to invest in a sound card then

ill have a look on the internet for some sound cards

The name of headset is in my signature
 

Wozza63

Biblical Poster
is this the same as yours tom?

please reply quick as ill have to remove the link
 
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tom_gr7

Life Serving
Any advice on speakers and headset with optical input?
Personally I'd only get a headset or speakers, I wouldn't break the bank getting both, maybe 2.0 speakers for music, musics best over 2 channels anyway (speakers like you have now, ones you showed me on steam)

Or if you wanted 5.1 speaker setup, I'd look at logitech's stuff, http://www.logitech.com/en-gb/speakers-audio/home-pc-speakers/devices/speaker-system-Z906 that's the only one i can find.

So there's headset wise trittons like me, http://www.trittonusa.com/prod/axpro.asp
Turtle beach dx12 http://www.turtlebeach.com/products/xbox-gaming-headsets/ear-force-dx12.aspx
Turtle beach px5's http://www.turtlebeach.com/products/ps3-gaming-headsets/ear-force-px5.aspx (for ps3 but wozza has them as says work on pc)

I looked at razer's headsets but they do not use DD. http://store.razerzone.com/store/razerusa/en_GB/pd/productID.169420200 or http://store.razerzone.com/store/razerusa/en_GB/pd/productID.242705100/categoryId.35096300 But not sure how they work as they connect via USB and not SPDIF

ill have a look on the internet for some sound cards

if i were you i'd either get a asus xonar dx (like me n rubensolo) they bout 50quid ish and work a treat. Or look at creative's new recon 3d range (dont go for the titanium range, they been discontinued)

The headset you have now, (see link above) is DD certified! Are you using optical cable at the moment? if so you are probably getting pro logic II,

Yes it is wozza, can get it cheaper elsewhere.
 

Corfate

Author Level
yes that is correct mate. If you want DD in game then you will need a headset similar to that of mine, although you could still get a analogue gaming headset and connect it to the sound card that way, similar to how corfate has his rig setup. i will have a look online with some suggestions.

Aye, i have the black, pink, green and red jacks on the headset plugged into the soundcard and then a usb cable into the back of my rig :)
 

nathanjrb

Prolific Poster
Urgh, I'm having a nightmare with my D2X again :p

So I have my Logitech z5500's connected via optical cable, and I have sound playing through my speakers.

If I look in Windows 'playback devices' - I can see the levels bouncing happily up and down beside the "S/PDIF Pass-through Device: ASUS Xonar D2X Audio Device". This is also selected as my default audio device.


Yet - when I open Xonar D2X Audio Center, I'm not getting any levels.

Audio Channel: 6 channels.
Sample Rate: PCM 192KHZ
Analog out: 5.1 speakers
SPDIF out: PCM

Any ideas? :/
 

tom_gr7

Life Serving
hmmm, i'd try downloading and installing the latest version of sound card drivers/software. If only to rule out driver issues.
 

nathanjrb

Prolific Poster
Well, the weird thing was it was working fine the other day. I noticed it stopped working when I set up a dual screen to my telly (the audio started playing through the TV instead of the speakers). The drivers are the latest ones...
 
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