no sound from subwoofer with audigy 2

[fieryavenger]

I have a set of Midiland 5.1 analog speakers. I picked up an Audigy 2 ZS soundcard, but there is hardly any, if at all, sound coming from the subwoofer. When I do the speaker test, there is faint sound coming from the sub channel, but hardly noticeable when playing music. This also happened with my older Live 5.1, but was NOT an issue with the built in 5.1 sound from my Abit IS7.

Any ideas?

 

[merkinofbaphomet]

I had the same issue with my Audigy 2 (non-ZS) and Klipsch Ultra's. I tried everything in the book, and never got it to work 100% properly. Music was okay, but the sub seemed muted, muddy. I tested the Ultra's with a signal from an MP3 player and the sub worked just fine. Speaker test gave no signal to the sub. Sub volume and frequency controlls had zero effect. Dell said that this was a hardware/speaker compatability issue. I say BS. Others have had the same issue with many types of analog speakers. Never got a straight answer from Dell, Klipsch or Creative.

-Merkin

(edit)

My best guess is either crappy drivers (10% chance) or that the Creative software is being broken by Windows updates (90% chance). I could swear that, on a fresh install of XP Pro, this problem went away until the first updated started rolling in. There is a brief mention of a compatability issue in the notes of one of the XP updates (as found on the Microsoft site), but I was never able to track the problem down.

Anyone who can solve this isse is a better man than I.

The Klipsch forum has a few posts about this issue. Don't know if that will be of much help.

 

[viivo]

Hasn't this always been a problem when using analog on a Creative card? I remember long ago, using a Live! 5.1 in analog, that I had to max the sub volume and use the software equalizer to turn up the low end signals to get sound, and even then it was too soft to be effective.

 

[Nebor]

Toying with any of Creative's settings can mess up the output. I'd recommend not touching anything but the Speaker Config panel, the EAX panel (to disable CMSS), and the Volume control panel, touching only the wave and master volumes. Adjusting subwoofer volumes, or even LOOKING at the bass redirect function can really mess up your sound, and WILL disable 24bit\96khz output.

If you've already fiddled with those things, I'd recommend uninstalling all Creative software and reinstalling it.

When you do the speaker test (in the Creative Speaker Config panel) there should be NO sound coming from the subwoofer. This leads me to believe that you have your center channel connection plugged into your subwoofer, and vice versa. Switch them around and see if that solves your problem. It sure would explain everything.

 

[babutiger]

Originally posted by: Nebor
the EAX panel (to disable CMSS)

Interesting you say to disable cmss - I have read that enabling CMSS 2 is one of the benefits of installing the EAX panel. I have a 2.1 system and to my ears mp3s sound noticebly brighter with CMSS 2 checked. Can you please elaborate as to why CMSS should be set to disable...

 

[Nebor]

Originally posted by: babutiger

Originally posted by: Nebor
the EAX panel (to disable CMSS)

Interesting you say to disable cmss - I have read that enabling CMSS 2 is one of the benefits of installing the EAX panel. I have a 2.1 system and to my ears mp3s sound noticebly brighter with CMSS 2 checked. Can you please elaborate as to why CMSS should be set to disable...

First off, CMSS is enabled by default, so actually, the advantage to installing the EAX control panel is to disable it. Second, CMSS is an upmixing technology, similar to Dolby Pro-Logic, but not quite as good. It adds bass, reverb and echo, and attemps to upmix sound to all available sound channels. Why someone would use CMSS on a 2.1 system is beyond me, since CD audio is all stereo.

Basically CMSS sounds like crap. CMSS 2 is ok for movies and games, sometimes. But hey, however you like it. :beer:

 

[RanDum72]

So how do you connect the Audigy to the Midiland? 5.1 analogue outputs? If you do and there is a seperate connection to the sub, you have to enable bass redirect. This enables a low pass filter so any low frequency sounds ( you can specify the cut-off frequency) is passed on to the sub. If the speaker has a direct digital input and in which it has its own pro-logic/dolby digital decoding hardware, bass redirect has to be turned off in the ZS.

 

[fieryavenger]

Originally posted by: Nebor
When you do the speaker test (in the Creative Speaker Config panel) there should be NO sound coming from the subwoofer. This leads me to believe that you have your center channel connection plugged into your subwoofer, and vice versa. Switch them around and see if that solves your problem. It sure would explain everything.

There are actually 2 speaker test 'modes' if you will. One is the channel test, and the other the noise test. There is no sound from the sub in channel test, but in noise test there is. The center and subwoofer lines share the same mini plug. I thought that was standard on speaker setups.

 

[Nebor]

Originally posted by: fieryavenger

Originally posted by: Nebor
When you do the speaker test (in the Creative Speaker Config panel) there should be NO sound coming from the subwoofer. This leads me to believe that you have your center channel connection plugged into your subwoofer, and vice versa. Switch them around and see if that solves your problem. It sure would explain everything.

There are actually 2 speaker test 'modes' if you will. One is the channel test, and the other the noise test. There is no sound from the sub in channel test, but in noise test there is. The center and subwoofer lines share the same mini plug. I thought that was standard on speaker setups.

I'm aware of the two tests, and just ran them myself to check. The subwoofer is not highlighted\played in either test. I realize that the center\sub share a miniplug, but I want you to take the other ends of that miniplug and switch them. See if that helps.

 

[Pariah]

Fieryavenger is correct. The subwoofer should be highlighted and play audio in the noise test. The lack of bass problem seems to affect some and not others. I haven't seen anyone give a definitive answer as to why, or what causes the problem, so I can't really help you there.

 

[Nebor]

Originally posted by: Pariah
Fieryavenger is correct. The subwoofer should be highlighted and play audio in the noise test. The lack of bass problem seems to affect some and not others. I haven't seen anyone give a definitive answer as to why, or what causes the problem, so I can't really help you there.

My subwoofer doesn't light up for the noise or channel test.

Fieryavenger, does your subwoofer light up, or get oulined with yellow during the test?

 

[Nebor]

Also, ensure that control panel > sounds and audio devices > speaker settings > advanced

Is set to 5.1. If windows is set incorrectly, your sound won't output correctly, no matter what your Audigy Speaker Settings say.

 

[merkinofbaphomet]

This has been an issue for quite some time. Creative has known of this issue for EVER without responding. I went as far as calling Creative a couple of times. They deny the problem exists. There are tons of references to the low subwoofer output issue on Creatives European forum, but they still deny the issue exists.

I would had assumed this issue was fixed in the ZS cards, I guess not. I hate to think I will have to use onboard audio on my next system, but I am not buy another creative card unless they fix this issue.

 

[Nebor]

I'll repeat, if you touch Bass Redirect, you will no longer get 24bit/96khz output, it will pass your sound through another DAC that resamples it to 16bit/44khz. Ironically, it is then resampled to 16/bit-48khz before final output...

 

[V00D00]

Nebor, you rock my world.

 

[Nebor]

Originally posted by: V00D00
Nebor, you rock my world.

It's like, there's some kind of divine connection or something.

 

[merkinofbaphomet]

Hmm, I posted that earlier bit thinking they were talking about ticking an AC-3 box, and not the Bass Redirect box. Shoulda read that a little closer. Sorry 'bout that!

I tried every single possible patch, driver set, update and mod suggested on a handful of sites, and still never had decent sound from the sub. Dell claimed it was my Klipsch Ultra 5.1 speaker that were incompatible with the Audigy 2, but quite a few seem not to be effected. Many still have the same problem with different analog speaker sets.

Like I said, onboard sound for now.

 

[alrocky]

Originally posted by: Pariah
The subwoofer should be highlighted and play audio in the noise test.

Works for me. The Bass Management allows you to adjust the Subwoofer volume. I raise that from the default setting.

 

[merkinofbaphomet]

BTW Nebor, I tried the cord swap thing. Actually I built a "custom" cord from bits in my "big ball of cables and crap", still no dice. And yes, I fully uninstalled and reinstalled all drivers after each experiment, tried again without touching any settings and still nothing. I have changed every possible setting, used a few sets of drivers, done reg edits, used Dell provided utilities, scrounged every possible forum, spent hours with Dell's US tech guys, called Creative tech support, called Klipsch tech support and did a couple reinstalls of XP Pro.

The center/sub swap is a good idea, but not the solution. I will stand buy the "Widoze Update Broke It" theory for now. I am still not sure how it ever worked in the first place?

-Stumped for now!

 

[Nebor]

Did you confirm that your windows control panel is set for 5.1 sound, as well as your audigy's speaker settings?

 

[merkinofbaphomet]

That was maybe #3 on my list of 20 or so different possible causes. I did a uninstall/reinstall of all drivers/software between almost every change, just to make sure I wasn't breaking something by twiddling controls. I pretty much followed a very scientific method of only changing a single setting at a time. I really wanted my sub to function, having just spent big $$$ on speakers. Dell even sent me a new card.

I spent more time and put more effort into this (with zero payoff) than any harware problem in my 7-8 years as a PC user. Makes me wanna rip my hair out.

 

[Nebor]

Oh, duh, this is a Dell PC. Try it on another PC. Or using a non-dell Audigy. Hell, just buy a new PC.