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How to get Dolby Digital sound on PC?

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  • How to get Dolby Digital sound on PC?

    Anyone have this kind of setup with their box? I have a DVD drive and a SB Live value. Using Power DVD now (cuz the Cinemaster 2000 won't work under w2k). Do I have to grab the DTT series speakers from creative & the new SB Live 5.1? Or is there a better way of doing this???

  • #2
    As far as Windows 2000 and Dolby Digital go it's not an easy answer.

    First off: AC-3 and 5.1 are not necessarily the same thing when it comes to computers.

    AC-3 is a compression and encoding format for audio. No soundcard I am aware of outputs a 24bit 96 kHz AC-3 stream for outputting sounds from a computer directly to a receiver for decoding. (DVD Movies Excepted.) I'm told that it would be nearly impossible to do this because the bitstream does not correspond to realtime like a convential S/PDIF interface.

    5.1 channel output from a PC's soundcard is done one of two ways: On the SBLive! you can use the digital DIN connection that gives 5.1 channels of discrete output. Or, with the SBLive! 5.1 you can use the analog outputs to a receiver with discrete inputs.

    I'm not certain if Creative has made a workaround for the analog output/mixer problems (only a finite number of Analog Source "in" when outputing analog signals) with the Latest Liveware for the 5.1 series cards.

    Windows 2000 complicates things: First off Liveware 3.0 doesn't like Windows 2000, and Windows 2000 sure doesn't like Liveware from a sound quality standpoint, severe sound degradation is common. This is especially prevalent with SMP machines. But, in order to get digital output, you have to have Liveware. This is a Catch-22 situation until we get drivers and a version of Liveware that works 100% in Win2K.

    I am told that DirectX 8 will make it possible for Creative to make a full-featured Driver/Liveware release which avoids the pitfalls Liveware currently has in Win2K.


    Hey, Donny! We got us a German who wants to die for his country... Oblige him. - Lt. Aldo Raine

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    • #3
      I have the SBLIve 1024 and the Cambridge/Creative DTT2500 dolby digital 5.1 speaker set. Under win9x, the sblive does great dgital out. Under win2k, creative hasn't got it working yet, which is DAMN ANNOYING!! The only reason I have winme on my PC now is to watch DVDs...

      ------------------
      Cheers,
      Steve

      "Life is what we make of it, yet most of us just fake"

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      • #4
        Still a bit confused...so bear with me guys.

        I want to get DD and looking forward to get the SB Live 5.1 mp3+ or xgamer. The problem is with the speakers...they just came out with a new bundle called the DTT 2200 and it's alot cheaper than the DTT 2500. Wondering if I get grab the 5.1 sound card and the DTT 2200 and get what I want. The specs on creative's web site is confusing. They say the 5.1 has DD decoding on the card, so does that mean I can get the DTT2200 and forget about the 2500 since the difference between them is the 2500 came with an external DD decoder?

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        • #5
          The DTT2500 has a dolby digital decoder in the amplifier.

          The SB Live 5.1 Has the DD decoder on the card itself (and so I assume the 2200 speaker are simply just a 6 channel amp?)

          ------------------
          Cheers,
          Steve

          "Life is what we make of it, yet most of us just fake"

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          • #6
            I am also very confuse with Creative's product.

            I have SB Live! MP3+ 5.1 and DTT 2500 5.1. I understand spec of EACH equipment, but I just don't understand how to get them to work together.

            There's analog 6 channel out from the above soundcard, and there is 6 RCA jack for each channel (L/R/SL/SR/B/C). However, if you turn on digital output in mixer for this card, you SHOULD be able to get the same 6 channel output to this speaker via the DIN output. I am actually able to play AC3 samples from the installation CD, and the Dolby Digital light did light up in the DTT 2500 console, and indeed I hear 5.1 output.

            The odd part is when I go into speaker setup, and choose 5.1 speaker, and go into speaker applet in AudioHQ, I don't get center channel output. All I hear is "left channel, mute, right channel, left surround, right surround" (or something like that). Also, I think I get the above input from CMSS 4 speaker setting. If I set CMSS to music or movie, I don't get surrond channel test output too!!! To make matter worse, if I stay with Music/Movie/4 speaker CMSS setting, both surround speaker WILL produce sound when window's system sound, or mp3!!!!

            So here's my setting:
            1) DIN OUT from soundcard to DIN IN and RCA Digital IN in DTT 2500 console
            2) SB Live! speaker setup is 5.1
            3) AudioHQ speaker applet setup is 5.1
            4) AudioHQ speaker applet Digital out is CHECK
            5) AudioHQ speaker applet AC3 decoding is UNCHECK

            If I want to hear AC3/Dolby Digital sources, I make sure CMSS setting is off. This will allow me to hear 5.1 output from SB's AC3 samples

            If I want to hear anything else, I set CMSS to music or 4 speaker. This allow me to hear 4 speaker output from mp3/emulator/window system sound

            Now here is my question:
            1) How the heck do I get 5.1 output OTHER AC3/DD? Or I am looking for the impossible
            2) What the hell is going on with the test tone in AudioHQ's speaker applet test tone?? I can never get the center channel output, even though I THINK I have everything set correctly.

            As you can see, I've struggle with the setup for quite sometime to reach where I am now, and I don't know if I am getting the full potential of this setup. I know I am wasting one of the AC3 decoding feature, but I don't know I would get into this kind of mess, if there's more resource I can read up on regarding SB's product

            Cheers

            K.K.

            PS BTW, I don't have DVD drive yet, so I can't test DVD sound output, but I am patiently waiting one of MURC'er to send me his

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            • #7
              Step 1: Put DVD Disc in DVD Drive.

              Step 2: Turn on Dolby Digital equipped receiver.

              Step 3: Turn on TV.

              Step 4: Push "play".

              Oh, did you mean on your COMPUTER?

              Why on earth would you want that?

              - Gurm

              P.S. I'm only being a little sarcastic. I can't figure out why people want to spend a couple hundred on a 5.1 speaker system for the PC instead of a couple hundred on a nice Dolby Digital or AC3 tuner...

              ------------------
              Listen up, you primitive screwheads! See this? This is my BOOMSTICK! Etc. etc.
              The Internet - where men are men, women are men, and teenage girls are FBI agents!

              I'm the least you could do
              If only life were as easy as you
              I'm the least you could do, oh yeah
              If only life were as easy as you
              I would still get screwed

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              • #8
                Gurm.... thank you.

                Was just about to say the same thing myself
                If a kid asks where rain comes from, I think a cute thing to tell him is "God is crying." And if he asks why God is crying, another cute thing to tell him is "Probably because of something you did."

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                • #9
                  Here's the reason: I live in a 250 sq ft room.

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                  • #10
                    250 sq. ft room? So? Here's what I've got in my approximately 256 sq. ft room:

                    Panasonic 31" TV
                    Panasonic DVD player
                    Panasonic VCR
                    Sony DD/DTS receiver
                    Sony CD changer
                    Kennwod VCR
                    Kenwood THX amplifier (for my subwoofer)
                    Five full size/full range satellite speakers - my own design, 12" round by 65" tall each
                    Dual 12" isobark subwoofer - approximately 16" x 16" x 30"

                    Of course then I add in my computer system:

                    Full tower ATX case
                    19" Samsung monitor
                    15" Daewoo monitor
                    Kenwood integrated amp
                    Audio control EQ
                    The first speakers I ever made, 14" x 30" x 8" each

                    And naturally, my computer is plugged into the full home theater setup via the coaxial S/PDIF output on my sound card!

                    Oh and don't forget I've got a couch and a loveseat, as well as a kitchen table for four and a coffee table the size of the loveseat.

                    A little crowded? Perhaps, but sure is fun!

                    Aaron, Home Theater Freak

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                    • #11
                      No bed? Is this a bed vs. home entertainment center situation?

                      Paul
                      paulcs@flashcom.net

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                      • #12
                        Ah well this IS a one bedroom apartment (681 sq. ft), not a dorm room, so I still have a place for the bed. Sucks though, not being able to turn the volume of my receiver over about 1/4 without the neighbors complaining. My hometheater is so under-utilized! 800w of amplification and 12 woofers going to waste.. ah well it's the sound QUALITY that matters most, and I've got that at least!

                        Aaron

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                        • #13
                          Ahhh...I forgot to mention what's in my room...so here it is:

                          1. Queen size bed, which took up most of the space.

                          2. Desk and chair.

                          3. Computer housed in an Antec SX1030

                          4. Sony G500 monitor.

                          5. HP 5200C scanner + Epson 900 printer

                          6. An audio system consist of the following:
                          Marantz CD67-SE CD player
                          B&W CDM1 SE speakers on 42" stand
                          Parasound HCA1000 amp + PLD1100 pre-amp

                          So you see why I don't have the space to put a "real" DD system in my room. I rent this room cuz it's near to the place I work. But there are other ppl in the house and I can't dump my stuff anywhere I like.

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                          • #14
                            Gurm,
                            It would be more expensive to do what you say.
                            Some of us do not live in our own homes, like we have a room in a house where other people also live.
                            Ideally I'd like to have a nice Dolby Digital receiver, and a TV and a standalone DVD player, but this is beyond my financial reach at this time, This is mainly because the equipment I want to buy is not sold here and the Customs duty on electronic equipment is prohibitive. There is no Customs duty on computer parts
                            [size=1]D3/\/7YCR4CK3R
                            Ryzen: Asrock B450M Pro4, Ryzen 5 2600, 16GB G-Skill Ripjaws V Series DDR4 PC4-25600 RAM, 1TB Seagate SATA HD, 256GB myDigital PCIEx4 M.2 SSD, Samsung LI24T350FHNXZA 24" HDMI LED monitor, Klipsch Promedia 4.2 400, Win11
                            Home: M1 Mac Mini 8GB 256GB
                            Surgery: HP Stream 200-010 Mini Desktop,Intel Celeron 2957U Processor, 6 GB RAM, ADATA 128 GB SSD, Win 10 home ver 22H2
                            Frontdesk: Beelink T4 8GB

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                            • #15
                              Stop the presses sportsfans...check out the linkage:
                              http://www.gamersdepot.com/hardware/...c_edge/001.htm

                              This JUST MIGHT be "IT".
                              Hey, Donny! We got us a German who wants to die for his country... Oblige him. - Lt. Aldo Raine

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