ASUS A7N8X Deluxe and Audigy 2 - 11.2 Suround Sound.

[XVHellBound]

Computer Configuration. (Personally Built).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Antec 1080 SoHo Tower.
430 Watt TruePower Autec PS.
19 Inch, .24 DP Elements Monitor.
Razor Boomslang 2000 DPI Mouse.
Windows XP Pro (Corporate Edition).
Athlon XP 2500+ (Barton Core) 1.83 Ghz.
ASuS A7N8X - Deluxe.
1 GIG PC2700 (333) In a twinbank configuration.
MSI StarForce Geforce 4 Ti 4200 8X 128DDR.
Sound Blaster Audigy 2. (SC Only).
5.1 5200 Creative Surround.
2 80 GIG WD HDD's. (IDE).
2 80 GIG SeaGate HDD's (SATA) (RAID 0) (440 Total Space).
1 120 GIG IBM Deskstar HDD (IDE).
No Floppy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ok guys,
On this A7N8X I have the 5.1 SoundStorm From the South Bridge. The Audigy 2 is 6.1.
Currently as I stated above I have the Creative 5.1 5200 Surround.
My question for everyone is.....
If I purchase the new 6.1 Surrround from Creative and I connect the new 6.1 to the Audigy 2 and the current 5.1 to the Onboard SoundStorm, first of all is there any definitive reason that this would not work aside from the fact of XP wanting to use 1 sound device at a time?
Is there any software within the Soundstorm or the Audigy 2 that would assist me in getting the 2 sound devices, 2 Subs and 11 Speakers working in sync?
Is there any software out there that would enable me to do this?

Any information is, as always, much appreciated!
Thanks.

HellBound.

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

Well, you'd be gettin ght esame sound out of each pair of speakers... actually it will be a little different because of the difference in cards. I don't think there is any way currently to get 11.2 sound with independent channels on each.

 

[MasterHoss]

Well, you answered your own question (kind of). Can't use 2 sound cards at once.

Even if you could (which you can't), you won't be getting 11.2 surround sound... rather "11.2" surround sound (aka 6.1). That is, you would get 6.1 via your Audigy2 + the proprietary Creative 6.1 speaker system. From that 6.1 speaker set up, you would only be able to mirror those existing channels by using another speaker set hooked up to another sound card (again, this is not possible because you can't use 2 sound cards at once).

So, your other option, if you want that many speakers, use the Audigy2 and get that 1 and only 6.1 speaker system (and, yup, that's the only way to actually get 6.1 surround sound from the Audigy2) but split all the inputs on the Audigy2 using Y-adapters.

Don't get me wrong, it's fun to have lots of speakers for gaming... I played with a "12.3" solution for 1 night (PM v.2-400 + 2 x PM4.1) and I used a "9.2" solution for a year (PM 5.1 + PM 4.1). Just keep in mind that you're not really getting anything other than the limit of your sound card/speaker system. Again, in you case, it would be 5.1 surround sound UNLESS you bought that 6.1 speaker system from Creative... you would then have a 6.1 set up.

 

[Pariah]

You don't need any special speakers to get 6.1 with with the Audigy 2. You can use any combination of 6 satellites and a subwoofer if you wanted to.

 

[MasterHoss]

Originally posted by: Pariah
You don't need any special speakers to get 6.1 with with the Audigy 2. You can use any combination of 6 satellites and a subwoofer if you wanted to.

Are you sure? I'm pretty sure you need a "special" audio cable that allows you to plug in a 6th channel into the digital input of the Audigy2 (right?). I thought I tried every combination of inputs with 2 sets of ProMedias and couldn't get the 6th channel...

edit: Actually I think I remember someone saying that one of the miniplugs on the Creative 6.1 speaker system has 3 rings on it that provides, center/subwoofer/rear center channels. Creative calls it the "Triple Stereo Line In Audio Cable" on their .pdf file for the Inspire 6.1 speaker system.

 

[XVHellBound]

That has been the conclusion and advice I have received everywhere. If there's anything I'll be able to do it's gonna have to do with the speaker hardware configuration with the wires out side of the box. y-jacks as you put it.
Thanks bro!


God damn XP!

 

[Pariah]

It uses a 4-pole miniplug that can be found at any camera store. They are commonly used for camcorders to deliver stereo audio and video out of a miniplug.

 

[XVHellBound]

Also, this many speakers is definatly not intended for gaming. I have 80 dollar headphones for that heh. I don't mess around with location, stealth and sound when it comes to Half-Life Death Match or Spearhead. Head phones are the only way to go.
I was intending for this to be for movies and music. To be able to walk into the room and be engulfed with any of the 12,000+ MP3's or hundreds of DivX Movies I have stored.
I want it to work damn it!
But all in all I found the 6.1's online for 80 bucks, so it's not a bad or to expensive investment for what I would get anyway.


So, bro. Do ya have any breif instructions with what extra cables (y-jacks) or other materials I might need?


And I think your right. I do believe that there is a unique cable for the 6th channel, which frustrated me even further.

Thanks Again..


Hell

 

[LED]

I use both and the sound will work in Unison but they can not be combined to = the 11.2...I do have 6.3's running by splitting the input cables (slight loss in Volume) and 3 -2.1'speakers

 

[MasterHoss]

Originally posted by: Pariah
It uses a 4-pole miniplug that can be found at any camera store. They are commonly used for camcorders to deliver stereo audio and video out of a miniplug.

Hmm... I wonder if I would've kept my PM4.1s if I knew you could actually get a hold of that. 😉

Hell
Those Y-splitters should cost your ~$5 - ~$20 and are available at Radio Shack and Wal Mart and just about any other place that sells anything having to do with electronics.

 

[XVHellBound]

Sweet, thanks man! I'll do what I can.