speaker problem

[hakeem5454]

im trying to connect my home theather system to my computer. I bought an optical cable to connect it to my computer but when i connect it, i get no sound?

what am i doing wrong?

[ripken204]

i think that you need some program to set this stuff up. it should be included in a package with teh audio driver, at least for me it did.

[hakeem5454]

i have a creative sound card

the only programs it came with are:

Creative playcenter2

creative wave studio

keytar

rhythmania

sound blaster live!(which contains: audio hq, creative restore defaults, diagnostics, EAX animation, speaker preset setup, surround mixer)

Oozic Player

[ripken204]

take a look at playcenter, im guessing thats it

[hakeem5454]

no, well playcenter is basically like windows media player

[ripken204]

sound blaster live:speaker preset

[LiquidSage]

i too tried a creative card for optical, but you might find it to be a bit of a let down.

From their site....

Should I Connect a Digital or Analog Speaker System to My Sound Blaster card?

If you are looking to purchase a speaker system to compliment a Sound Blaster audio card, it is important to clarify the function of the Digital Out jack on the sound card. The Digital Out jack on Sound Blaster Live! 5.1, Sound Blaster Audigy, Sound Blaster Audigy 2 or Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS card is a 4-pole mini jack. Note: the Digital Out jacks on the original Sound Blaster Live! are 3-pole only, 4 channels only.

One of the most common misconceptions about the Digital Out jack is that it can send 5.1 or more sound from a single digital connection to a receiver all the time. In fact, the Digital Out jack could only send multi channel audio (5.1, or 4.1) under either one of the following conditions:

When the Digital Out jack is connected to the Digital In (Digital Din) of a compatible speaker system such as Creative Inspire 5700, Creative DTT3500, Cambridge MegaWorks 510, or the Creative decoder DDTS-100, it will deliver multi channel audio via three discrete streams (Front SPDIF, Rear SPDIF, and Center/Subwoofer SPDIF) to individual speakers.

When you are playing a multi channel DVD movie or a DVD game, and that the audio source is sent directly from your DVD decoder application or DVD decoder card to Digital Out jack on the Sound Blaster card, then a to decoder box. A single digital connection cannot carry a 5.1 signal UNLESS it is encoded into a bitstream format such as on a DVD or .AC3 file. In addition, not all DVD movies are encoded as 5.1, some DVD movies may be stereo.

Another misconception is that the Dolby Digital light on the receiver should be on all the time the receiver is connected to a multi channel Sound Blaster card. Receivers use this light to indicate they are getting a Dolby Digital bitstream (NOT decoded). The light will only come on when playing a Dolby Digital DVD or AC-3 file and you are using a digital connection; not an analog one. If you are using the sound card to decode AC-3, the light will not be on.

On the other hand, when it is connected to a Digital Input jack found on common home theater receivers, it will only play multi channel audio (5.1) when your are playing DVD games, or DVD movies, or standalone AC3 files. The commonplace multimedia files such as MP3, MID, AVI, WAC, or WMA etc, are of stereo format: right and left only. It is common to hear only front right and front left channels from a multi channel capable receiver when it is connected to the Digital Out jack on a Sound Blaster card. This is because these connectors are not capable of sending multi channel audio signals that have been decoded already by the sound card to individual speakers. When the receiver receives such signals, it will output the front channels only, and disregard other channels.

In addition, the DVD-Audio playback is restricted to analog out only. The Digital Out will be automatically muted when you start to play a DVD-Audio file.

The digital output should be used when you want to add another decoder box and bypass the sound card. If your receiver has discrete multi channel analog connections, it is recommended that they be connected to the Analog Front-Out, Rear-Out, and Center/Subwoofer Out on the audio card.

Getting a a better grade audio card (M-Audio for example) or a specialized audio card add on or external audio boxes are not so limited by design.

Also, set the output to spdif out in the advanced properties of the volume tab. Some prog's like WMP have option in their prefrences that enable optical out as well.

[hakeem5454]

so ur saying i need a new sound card?