XP Pro SP2 Can't get SPDIF to work

[StoneColdWhat]

I have the a7n8x-e mobo, I can't seem to get the spdif connection to work, I have them hooked up via coaxial to the coax. part of the logitech z-5500, its SPDIF isn't muted in control panel, however when I try to play a dvd with 5.1/DTS via that, I dont get any sound at all. Any idea guys ?

[Krispy Kritter]

Ensure you have the latest MB chipset/sound drivers. Also make sure you are using DVD playback software that supports DTS.

[Heywould3]

you also have to tell your sound card to pass through spdif there will be settings for both your sound card and the decoder you are using. DTS is a little picky. try to play the dts dvd on your computer to see if you get sound. make sure decoders are loaded.

[StoneColdWhat]

Well I have tried Powerdvd, VLC, and MPC and still no go, well kind of I get sound now but now the sound studders really bad, it will play for 1 sec, studder that same sound for about 5 secs, and repeat. The drivers.. suppose I could try that tomorrow. The cable is ok because I tried it on a dvd player and it worked fine there. I'll look in my nvmixer tomorrow and see what I can find.

[JohnnyMalaria]

It could be a DRM thing. Although most people may of heard about it for Vista, the disabling of SPDIF output has been a "feature" of soundcards on XP, too.

If the SPDIF is connected to an A/V receiver that doesn't send back the right signals to prove that you can't copy the audio signal, the soundcard will simply refuse to play audio via SPDIF.

Hopefully, your problem will be down to drivers etc rather than DRM.....

[Video Head]

I had the same problem...tried different software, cables and settings. Nothing would make it work, although plugging it in analog it worked fine. Then one day I was playing with my Sony reciever and discovered that there is a control to select the input type for each input - analog/coax/optical - switched the input to coax from optical and the problem was solved. Not certain as to why I had to manually select, but I suspect it was because I already had my standalone player plugged into the optical input of the DVD input and I used the CD coax input for the HTPC. Hope this helps.

VH

[StoneColdWhat]

Well I have the nvidia onboard soundstorm sound card, initially I went into window's basic volume control and made sure everything looked good there and it did, then I opened up the nvidia mixer and it had alot more options, I enabled a few digital out and changed some settings from stereo to DD ac3 and now its partially working, I have the logitech z-5500 so its a 5.1 setup, most of the sound are comming from the center and rear, I don't hear much from the front 2 speakers, or they're just really low, why is this ? I have made sure that the cables were properly connected and cranked the volumes up.

Also an other weird thing is that when I played an mp3 in Coax, it sounded better and louder then it did when I was in Direct PL2 Music/Movie mode and I didn't make any changes to the config, volume or anything, why is this ? I don't think the mp3 has a digital signal..

[Krispy Kritter]

Do the nvidia drivers have a speaker setup option? You should be able to hear and adjust the volume for each speaker seperately to set your soundstage. If the rears are louder than the fronts, you have a configuration or cabling issue. Sounds like your fronts and rears are backwards.

[Xylob the Destroyer]

I have this same motherboard and have had no problems utilizing the onboard sound with SPDIF for dts and dolby-digital playback (using Media Player Classic as well as Media Player 10 and even in DVDShrink).

I'm at work right now, but when I get home I'll look at my configuration and post how I've got it set.

In the meantime, check your connection. On both of the cases that I've used this mobo in, the little "face plate" for the back of the case that goes around all of the I/O ports on the mobo has had the same problem -- the faceplate is made of metal, and the hole for the SPDIF is too damned small for the cable I use. I am unable to plug the cable in all the way and the outer terminal of the cable shorts/grounds on the metal face plate.
I wrapped a piece of tape around the outside of the plug to fix that issue because I couldn't figure out a way to enlarge the hole without completely mangling the entire flimsy-ass faceplate. It ain't high-tech, but it worked.

[StoneColdWhat]

Xylob the Destroyer: Thx for your help, looking forward to hearing from you later on

Krispy Kritter: I've cranked all the volume to the max as well I've tried the cables in both the rear and front portion of the reciever and still most of the sound is coming from the rear. I cranked it in the utility btw.

[Xylob the Destroyer]

oh yeah, one other thing....
Are you using a digital coax cable, or are you just using a regular old audio cable with RCA plugs on it?

[StoneColdWhat]

Its a coax cable.

[Zukeeper]

I had the same problem using a generic soundcard (Best Buy) with optical output on an older Epox mobo even while using the drivers that came with the soundcard. I installed ac3filter 1.11 and set it to pass all audio to the spdif output.

Works like a charm, plus I get 5.1 surround on all video files that have it.

[StoneColdWhat]

Well I get 5.1 as well, but the thing is that, the main sound is coming from the center and rear instead of center and front, I tried toggling a few things in the nvmixer but nothing really changed how the sound was coming from the rear instead of the front.

[Xylob the Destroyer]

sorry, I had a lot of crap going on this weekend and never even got a chance to fire up the HTPC, let alone dig into the nvmixer settings for ya.
I'll try to get to it tonite after work.