Trying to set-up the Audigy 2 with my subwoofer

[Pariah]

If so, the only way to get sound off your subwoofer is if it has speaker level inputs. You will have to wire it like this:
-From audigy2 to QSC amp
-from QSC amp to speaker level inputs of subwoofer
-from subwoofer speaker outs to main speakers.

No you don't, I have a Velodyne Sub, with line-level input which his subwoofer has (he provided a link above). So long as he sets it up as I described above it will work. The Audigy will act as a preamp and perform bass management functions as long as you have it set up properly.

 

[RanDum72]

I've already asked him this question:

OK, lets go back a little bit. You have a stereo miniplug connected to the 'line out 3' (right next to the firewire plug), correct? Then, you have one of the two RCA plugs connected to the sub. Have you tried both RCA plugs into the sub individually?

He answered yes to both. He's already tried bass redirect with 5.1 enabled. Some subwoofer amps needs a higher gain signal from a pre-amp in order to function properly. I have a cheapo KLH sub that I use to test stuff and it doesn't output sound when feed a signal directly from the Audigy2 sub-woofer out.

 

[BentValve]

Originally posted by: Pariah
After a bit of experimenting, here's what I found. Use a stereo 1/8 -> RCA cable. Plug the non-red (white/black) plug into your sub line-level input on your subwoofer. Enable 5.1 (or 6.1) in the speaker control panel, disable digital output only, click on bass management, and check the bass redirect box. That's how I got it working. From there you can adjust subwoofer volume and crossover in the bass management panel. Even when the sub is working, you will not get any audio from it using either of the speaker tests (channel/noise). In fact, if you do, you have it plugged in wrong. The Creative manual says the red connector is the sub while the white is the center. I tried that, and would get audio in the speaker test for the center channel from the sub, after changing to the other connector, it worked fine.

I had already tried this before and after reinstalling the software 3 times I got it working...I am not sure what happened.

So now it works fine but I could use a little more signal boost to the subwoofer buts its pretty close to where I want it.

My next question is this now that I have it set up on 5.1 since this is the only way to get my subwoofer working
will 5.1 games , DVDs etc downmix to 2.1 automatically or am I going to get crap sound?


BTW I appreciate the help you guys have given me, thanks.

 

[BentValve]

Pariah, one correction though ..the red is definately the subwoofer on mine. Maybe you have a goofy cable or something?

 

[Pariah]

It's not going to downmix, as it has no idea you only have a 2.1 setup. This shouldn't be an issue for DVD's as I believe the major software players will downmix for you.

As for the cable, I was using a 4 pole cable which assigns the channels differently. My mistake.

 

[BentValve]

Originally posted by: Pariah
It's not going to downmix, as it has no idea you only have a 2.1 setup. This shouldn't be an issue for DVD's as I believe the major software players will downmix for you.
.

What about games?

 

[chizow]

I don't think you're going to be able to get much more out of it. My only gripe about the A2 is the weak LFE output. You can max out all the settings in bass management and the surround mixer but its still a very weak signal. Only thing you can do is crank up the volume on your woofer.

 

[Pariah]

Originally posted by: BentValve

Originally posted by: Pariah
It's not going to downmix, as it has no idea you only have a 2.1 setup. This shouldn't be an issue for DVD's as I believe the major software players will downmix for you.
.

What about games?

Highly unlikely. The audio has no idea that 3 speakers are missing, so any audio sent to them is lost.

I don't think you're going to be able to get much more out of it. My only gripe about the A2 is the weak LFE output. You can max out all the settings in bass management and the surround mixer but its still a very weak signal. Only thing you can do is crank up the volume on your woofer.

Once again, we're not talking about an LFE channel here. Only DD programs have an LFE channel and you don't need a subwoofer to hear it. If your main speakers can reproduce the bass in the LFE channel, you don't need a subwoofer to get all of the audio. What the Audigy 2 has in non-DD programs is a subwoofer output which pulls bass from all the other channels based on what bass management is set to redirect to the subwoofer.

 

[chizow]

Originally posted by: Pariah

Once again, we're not talking about an LFE channel here. Only DD programs have an LFE channel and you don't need a subwoofer to hear it. If your main speakers can reproduce the bass in the LFE channel, you don't need a subwoofer to get all of the audio. What the Audigy 2 has in non-DD programs is a subwoofer output which pulls bass from all the other channels based on what bass management is set to redirect to the subwoofer.

Thanks for stating the obvious, but where in my post did I say LFE channel? The whole point of bass redirect and crossover frequency is to pull LFE from the satellites, which are better suited to handle mid to high ranges, and not LFE, which is why you have a subwoofer. The A2 does a poor job of either reproducing or redirecting bass, which leads to the poor LFE of the subwoofer. If you want to test it out for yourself, play a DVD using something like Power DVD. Compare using the 5.1 DD EX analog output vs. s/pdif to a dedicated receiver.

Chiz

 

[BentValve]

Thanks for the reply Chiz, you saved me alot of time. Even though this card does have some shortcoming I think I will keep it because it sounds pretty good and most importantly it gets along with Nascar 2K3 which is why I bought the card. Nascar 2K3 does not like my Nforce onboard audio and it did'nt like the Philips Seismic edge either, but it sounds perfect with the Audigy 2. I can get a signal booster for the subwoofer if have to but I think I can compensate enough by turning up the sub and lowering the output to my mains a hair.

 

[RanDum72]

Compared to the original audigy, the Audigy2 does seem to have weaker bass output but I would describe it as a 'flatter' bass response. The orginal Audigy as well as the Live! series seem to have prominent bass.

If he's going to play games with 2.1 speakers and the settings set to 5.1, he'll lose the sound intended for the other channels. Setting it to 2.1 on the speaker options disables bass redirect. If the Audigy2 can't redirect bass, then somethig else has to do it. Which brings back my suggestion of wiring his system from the A2 / amp/ subwoofer speakers in / subwoofer speaker out /speakers. The subwoofer most likely has a high pass cross-over that filters bass from the main speakers. The sub's low pass section is usually adjustable so he can blend in the sub to the main speakers. You also don't have to worry about the signal strenght being fed to the sub.

 

[Pariah]

Thanks for stating the obvious, but where in my post did I say LFE channel?

LFE output and LFE channel are the same thing and are not synonymous with subwoofer. LFE output just like LFE channel can be sent to all speakers capable of reproducing the audio.

The A2 does a poor job of either reproducing or redirecting bass, which leads to the poor LFE of the subwoofer. If you want to test it out for yourself, play a DVD using something like Power DVD. Compare using the 5.1 DD EX analog output vs. s/pdif to a dedicated receiver.

Must be hardware specific, the better the subwoofer amp the lesser the problem. There's no lack of bass in my system using either. The receiver does sound better overall, but considering the much better hardware it has, that's not really a fair competition.