Sound Blaster Audigy 2zs setup with Logitech Z5500

[PurdueRy]

all you need to know:

Gaming surround = ANALOG ONLY

Dolby digital encoded sources(Movies) = Digital or analog

Any Stereo source = Either

Your card only sends out stereo signals for non-dolby digital encoded sound. Use the Analog if you want surround in games. THIS INCLUDES THE SPEAKER CHECK

 

[PurdueRy]

Originally posted by: Hybr1dz
hey i have Z680s and Audigy Plantinum ZS pro. I have the optical cables hooked up from the hub and into Z680 controller. I went into Audio HQ and selected the Passthrough for the decoder. My logitech controller is set for optical input. I also set my speaker settings to use digital only. Basically everything straight from the instructions posted previously. However, I still only get the front left and right speakers to work in the channel test. I played LOTR dvd with dobly digital enabled and it seems to produce a surround sound effect but I wasn't very satisfied with it.

I tried Direct 6-channel using AUdigy's onboard decoder and the surround sound was a lot better.

Any suggestions for getting optical surround sound to work?

If you hooked it up with passthrough to a receiver than the digital surround is working. This is assuming that you have all the setting right in the actual program. Your receiver should say what type of signal it is receiving

 

[NightFalcon]

Ok, so just a quick question... I have my digital connection running perfectly fine (well, the Audigy can't test rear and center channels, but I get dts, dolby digital, etc. when playing movies), but now regarding games - the only way to get 5.1 surround is to connect the analog cables and then switch from digital to analog when playing a game, and back when finished. Is that about right?

Kinda sucks tbh, especially since the analog cables that come with 5500s are too short for me. Anyone know where I can by similar cables (maybe of higher quality) that are longer? The digital sound is very nice though, now if there was just a way to use the digital connection in games

 

[z1ross]

Ok NightFalcon,
You can have 5.1 Digital if your speakers support it, but the 5500s don't support a direct PCM 6 channel signal. (it's been covered in the above replys)

As for usinging the analog channels, you can find some fairly good cables at RadioShack. It you have the digital COAX or Optical hooked up for movies and have all the pass threw set up then your good to go. Just hook up the analog cables for gaming and change modes on the 5500s speaker control and leave Windows set to what ever analog speaker setup (4.1,5.1,6.1 or 7.1) that you're using for games. The Windows Speaker setting doesn't effect the SPDIF passthrew when your watching a movie.

 

[NightFalcon]

?

 

[z1ross]

Sorry I clicked the wrong button

Read the reply above i edited it.:thumbsup:

 

[NightFalcon]

So you're saying that the sound card still outputs analog signal even if I have the settings set on digital only??? Or did I misunderstand what you said.

Btw, can you show me a link to the cables you're talking about. I can't find anything like the cables that come with 5500s on radioshacks website.

 

[z1ross]

Ok First what card are you using??

Thats very important. most of the early Audigy and Live cards had to share the digital out jack with the center/sub jack so you couldn't use them in that type of configuration and needed to have the "Digital out only" option turned on to get the spdif to work right and come threw that jack, so you didn't hurt your sound card.
If you have any of these cards earlyer cards (anything before the 2ZS) and you have an external spdif optical/coax daughtercard or drive bay that has a dedicated spdif connections then the Digital out only doesn't need to be on to get the spdif signal out and the analog Center/Sub can stay being analog.

If your having truble i could set a ventrillo session and I can talk to you direct.

as for the cables for the speakers. you just need 3mm stearo extension cables for each of the connections to the card. They really don't have to be that high of a quality as they are a high impediance low loss signal not a amplified signal high power signal that large cables are needed for.

 

[NightFalcon]

Sorry, I have Audigy 2 ZS. Not that I'm really having trouble, just trying to figure out what's the best setup with these speakers and my sound card. Went through the instructions posted on the first page, though at step 4 there was still only front left and front right. Still not quite sure if this is normal with a digital connection.

A problem I am having is that if I'm watching a movie that has digital sound, any other sounds produced by my computer don't get played. Another side effect?

 

[PurdueRy]

The ONLY time you should get more than left and right audio from your computer via a digital connection and without any matrix decoding software put into play, is when you are watching a movie. So it sounds like everything is working fine. I don't know the answer to the second question because I don't usually watch movies on my computer as the TV is within arms reach

 

[z1ross]

Yea thats a side effect of the spdif passthrough, when your usnig the spdif passthrew it's only sending the Spdif ACM signal from the movie. If you really want your computer sounds to work when your watching a movie you have 2 options: 1 Use the analog connections to your speakers and let the audigy card decode the signal. 2: hook up a second set speakers to the analog front L/R speaker connection on the sound card to play everything else.

I use a Audigy2zs Pro in analog mode and it's great! Just get the extensions for your 5500's analog wires and connec them up, and you should be good to go! I think the Audigy2zs card does a better job of decrypting the ACM DVD signal then the speakers decoder does, and it can handle dolby digital up to 7.1 which your speakers can't do. Hook them up in analog mode and get another set of 2 speakers and hook them up as the rear or side left/right speakers for a good 7.1 surround.

 

[NightFalcon]

Yea, guess I'll stop by RadioShack on Monday and get extensions. Will leave the digital cable connected, if just to compare the quality. Thanks for the help

 

[FP]

I have read these threads on this subject but am left with one quesiton...

What is the point of the "Digital Output Only" option? If it has nothing to do with enabling pass-through when would someone want to enable it?

 

[z1ross]

Well if your lucky enough to have a set of speakers with digital inputs then you would use this option.

I have a set of Altec Lansing ATP5's and they have a front and rear digital input. They are a 4.1 speaker set (actually just a 4 channel because they have no seperate base input). I have used them in that configuration before and it was really good, but not so much that I had to have a true digital signal all the time.

There are also other speakers that have digital inputs as well and can take advantage of the connections, but they currently only support speakers up to 5.1 channels on all current sound cards including the Audigy 4. The Cambridge Soundworks DDT3500 can be used in full digital mode (with the special 3.5mm 4pole jack to DINN cable that is sold seperatly) and it switches to Dolbly surround sound SPDIF automaticly for movies. But like i said there is a special adapter cable to get it to work. My Friend has this setup but it's very hard to find.

Also there are a few digital Home Theater receivers that have digital inputs allowed for up to 5.1 channel surround sound, but I don't know the models.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

If you're sending a digital signal out of your computer, it's going to be a stereo output only unless it's a DD encoded signal.

If you play some music on your computer, it's going to be a PCM signal and only represent a 2 channel signal. If you want it to play out of more than stereo + sub, you're going to need something that can do its own manipulation to the singal and map it to the other speakers. Dolby Pro Logic is an example of this. Receivers with a digital input are going to have something like this to let you play a PCM signal on more than 2 speakers.

You don't need any special cable to get 5.1 output through digital. The output is AC3 when it's multichannel being sent. Just like you can set up a DVD player with a single digital optical or coaxial cable and get the Dolby Digital or DTS soundtrack off it, the same thing happens in a computer with a digital output. My Chaintech AV710 (nothing special, it's a $30 soundcard) detects when I'm playing something that was encoded for multichannel and outputs an AC3 stream.

Any speaker system with a DD decoder will be able to decode this and give you true surround sound. Practically all modern receivers have this ability. If it has a digital input and has been made within the last few years, it will be able to do this.

It's also not limited to 5.1 really. My receiver can take the AC3 signal from my computer and apply DDEX to make it 7.1

 

[z1ross]

Well here is a link to a speaker review that talks about speakers that can use the 6channel PCM Digital only mode on SBlive5.1 and audigy cards:

http://www.digit-life.com/articles/inspire5700vsdtt3500/

you have to have special speakers that can handle direct digital multichannel surround sound to get the Speaker settings, speaker test to work properly. I only know of a few of these speakers sets and I've never seen a 6.1 or 7.1 set. And currently none of the sound cards have the options thus far to provide anything more then 5.1 sound in the direct digital PCM signaling.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Oh, I didn't really know about those sets. I thought we were still on the subject of the z5500s that the thread started on. I'm pretty sure those work as I described and I know receivers work as I described.

 

[FP]

z1ross - i am still not understanding what the 'Digital Output Only' option does. does it actually change the signal being sent out through the digital port on the audigy?

i was under the impression that the digital port on the audigy can be used for two things...

1. with the appropriate cable and speaker system (like the creative inspire 5.1 digital 5700) you can connect your speakers to the card through this port and get full 5.1 surround sound through discrete digital channels provided by the audigy.

2. connecting to an external DD decoder like a receiver or certain speaker sets (like the Logitech Z5500). the signal sent in this case is an encoded DD signal that has to be decoded externally.

are you saying that in order to get #1 to work you have to tick the 'Digital Output Only' option? i guess my ultimate question is why does ticking the 'Digital Output Only' option have to disable the analog ports on the audigy...

 

[z1ross]

no yuo don't have to tick the digital only option.

The digital only option just stops all analog signals from being generated if they are not being used.

 

[gshock888]

i think i fried my Z5500. after plugging in all optical and coax and direct 5.1, now i get "effect: Detecting" on all my computers and it wont detect any signals.

hmmm i'd hate to return this big box speakers...

oh why am i not satisfied by analog audio!!! why must i tinker with everything till i break them.

sorry but google for the problem simply brings me back to this thread that i started

 

[FP]

What are you connecting up to the Z5500's and how?

 

[gshock888]

optical. i smelled something burning and asked my gf if she was cooking. shessaid no then i was like oh shit...

i turned it off, then on again, its stuck on "detecting" even when i use analog..

i went to compusa got a new unit and returned it with my defective unit. flame if you want but i'd hate RMA something that big

 

[gshock888]

anyhow i wont try anything anymore, coax for my internet/multimedia rig and 5.1analog for gaming rig. im leaving optical alone

 

[Mike89]

To hook up the Z-5500 to the Audigy 2 for digital you need a "mono" adapter that is a 1/8" male on one end and a female RCA on the other. Then just plug it into the Audigy 2 SPDIF jack and plug a 75 ohm coax cable (with male RCA jacks on both ends) to that adapter and the other end into the Z-5500 control panel.

You can get both the adapter and coax cable at Radio Shack. That's where I got mine. I first made the mistake of getting a "stereo" adapter and it does not work (no sound). After reading a forum and seeing my mistake, I went back and got the "mono" adapter.

Now I have both analog and digital and freely switch back and forth between them (through the Z-5500 control panel) depending on what I want.

A few more things.

As mentioned already, make sure the Audigy 2 is set to "spdif bypass" to disable the Audigy 2's decoder.

Hook up the Audigy 2's three analog outputs to the Z-5500 control panel also (to be able to switch between analog and digital anytime you want).

Do not check the "digital only" box in the Audigy 2 control panel (if you do you will only be able to have digital and not analog).

To have Digital from DVD's, you also have to disable the decoder on the DVD software (I use Cyberlink and have the spdif checked in the speaker settings which disables all the settings below that, which the Z-5500 will then control).

Be sure to have that digital wire connected inside the computer from the DVD player to the Audigy 2 (or you won't have digital. The analog wire is not needed because the analog signal goes though the PCI bus on Windows XP).

Use analog for all games because EAX does not work through the digital connection.

BTW, don't worry about the speaker test on the Audigy 2 control panel. It does not work correctly for the digital connection. It will only sound through the 2 front speakers. Dunno why but that's just the way it is. The Digital plays correctly through the 5.1 speakers when the source is 5.1 digital.

Do not have the CMSS checked in the Audigy 2 control panel. Let the Z-5500 control panel do all that.

That's it.

I scrambled through all this myself when I got the Z-5500's. All I can say is I'm happy as a clam now and slightly deaf!

I have all the options I could possibly want. Playing a stereo source I can have stereo (both fronts), stereo x 2 (all four speakers) and then have a nice option of Dolby Pro Logic (simulated 5.1 sound from a stereo source or even a mono source). True 5.1 sound from a DVD movie or DVD audio is only available from a digital source so to get that benefit you have to have the digital connection (Dolby Digital or DTS Digital). 5.1 sound through analog is available from games. If the game has 5.1 sound, set the Z-5500 control panel to "Direct 6Ch Direct" and you will have it (like Farcry for example being in that ship and hearing all the creaks and pops coming from all around you is incredible). If the game does not have 5.1 sound, this setting will only produce sound through the front 2 speakers. If this is the case, you still have the stereo x 2 (4 speakers) and the Dolby Pro Logic (simulated 5.1) options.

I can't imagine anything sounding any better than this. This PC system sounds better than my home entertainment center, it's that good.

 

[boborich]

There is nothing wrong with your configration. The only sound card which support real time AC3 encode is nvidia sound storm. You can only here surround speaker when playing AC3 or DTS movie/music(when the audigy decoder is set to spdif pass through).