help with 5.1 surround sound comp speakers

[JohnS.]

So I recently acquired logitech x-540 5.1 speakers and a sound blaster audigy se sound card. I got the speakers hooked up properly, everything is color-matched accordingly. On the sound card, the plugs are blue, green, black, orange in that order and labeled digital io, 1, 2, 3, respectively. I color-matched the wires and plugged them in (left the blue / digital io alone).

Now, when in normal non-matrix (non-surround), the speakers work great. But when I go to surround, the rears sound like s**t. They're choppy and cut in and out. I turned off my onboard audio function in bios. I have the latest drivers from creative's website. I even tried switching around the wires on my sound card. Nothing works. I went into the speaker settings program that was installed from the creative CD and when I do an individual speaker test, only the front left and front right work.

wtf am I doing wrong?

 

[Billy.]

could either be a software issue, or a defect with the sound card. when the X540 is in matrix mode it only uses the front left and right channels and ignores the rear channels, kinda like a 2.1 stereo mode. so if you are having issues in 5.1 mode and all the settings are correct i'd say its a prob with the sound card itself

did you get the system new? just curious cuz i got mine reman

*edit*
not sure if this will do much but did you turn off the onboard sound controllers?

 

[JohnS.]

could either be a software issue, or a defect with the sound card. when the X540 is in matrix mode it only uses the front left and right channels and ignores the rear channels, kinda like a 2.1 stereo mode. so if you are having issues in 5.1 mode and all the settings are correct i'd say its a prob with the sound card itself

I just bought the damn sound card . Ugh. I don't want to return it and try another sound card just to have the same problem.

I'd like to see if there are any other solutions before returning s**t.

 

[Billy.]

well if you return it and exchange it and still have the problem, at least you'll have narrowed it down to a software issue!

assuming youre on windows xp, what service pack are you running?

 

[JohnS.]

SP2. I don't have time to return it tonight. I got mass HW and studying to do for finals s**t.

I think I'll contact the seller of the speakers and just return it and go back to my shitty 10 year old 2.1 speakers lol. I need to contact the seller within 48 hours if there is a problem so I'll probably do it later tonight.

AND now my firefox is crashing left and right. I get errors CONSTANTLY. Somethings f**ked up.

 

[Billy.]

i doubt its a speaker problem. i think its a sound card compatibility or hardware issue

 

[JohnS.]

f**k it. I'll just return everything. f**k this s**t. I'll just save up for a nice sound card and nice 5.1 set next year.

 

[Matt.]

if only the front right and front left make a sound when you do a test your computer is set to 2.1 sound this may be the problem.

 

[JohnS.]

It's set to 5.1. I went into the speaker config and it's set to 5.1. When I do an individual speaker test, sound only comes out of the front left and front right. But when I listen to music and turn on matrix, I can hear sound out of all 5, the quality just isn't that great out of the rears.

 

[Mr. Jollypants]

It's probably software issues. Creative is known for always having software issues with their drivers. Uninstall drivers, download newest from the website and install.

Also, you're not going to get good sound quality out of a 30 dollar sound card.

I would've one with this personally: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102007

 

[Billy.]

i get great sound out of my X540 system using the onboard 5.1 sound. I have a creative sound card too, but the onboard actually sounds better so that's what i use. i only use the sound card for the joystick port on it

 

[JohnS.]

It's probably software issues. Creative is known for always having software issues with their drivers. Uninstall drivers, download newest from the website and install.

Also, you're not going to get good sound quality out of a 30 dollar sound card.

I would've one with this personally: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102007

It was $42 from Staples. It was one of the most expensive ones there. 24 bit, 96kHz, 100dB SNR (whatever that means lol).

It pretty much looks like the one in the link you have posted.

i get great sound out of my X540 system using the onboard 5.1 sound. I have a creative sound card too, but the onboard actually sounds better so that's what i use. i only use the sound card for the joystick port on it

I don't have 5.1 ports on my mobo which is why I bought the sound card.

 

[JohnS.]

Okay WOW cc is making my firefox crash EVERY time I visit here. This is really f**king annoying now...

 

[Billy.]

get a different type of sound card


when i was using my creative sound card, i remember it having issues with some games. the sound would get choppy or cut out altogether

 

[defvayne]

Make sure Windows is not controlling the audio function. Check the audio settings under Control Panel and check to see if the Sound Card is using the Windows or the Creative drivers.

 

[defvayne]

Oh...sometimes is better to post these types of question in the Creative forums or Logitech..you will get faster response or even a fix to the matter.

 

[Billy.]

Make sure Windows is not controlling the audio function. Check the audio settings under Control Panel and check to see if the Sound Card is using the Windows or the Creative drivers.

yeah that's why i was saying to disable the onboard sound

 

[JohnS.]

Make sure Windows is not controlling the audio function. Check the audio settings under Control Panel and check to see if the Sound Card is using the Windows or the Creative drivers.

Now, when in normal non-matrix (non-surround), the speakers work great. But when I go to surround, the rears sound like s**t. They're choppy and cut in and out. I turned off my onboard audio function in bios. I have the latest drivers from creative's website.

Oh...sometimes is better to post these types of question in the Creative forums or Logitech..you will get faster response or even a fix to the matter.

Good call on that.

Ugh now I'm on IE and wow is it slow as f**k. FireFox kept crashing on every webpage I visited. But my computer friend is coming over tonight to look at it. So we'll see.

 

[JohnS.]

Okay I'm kind of convincing myself it's my speakers now... I uninstalled EVERYTHING, even took out the sound card, went back to my onboard. Then put the card back in, this time I didn't install anything from the CD, I went straight to creative's website and got the latest driver and installed that.

Everything is still the same. It's weird though. When I use my onboard sound card and only plug in the green plug and turn on surround sound, it sounds EXACTLY the same as it does when I use surround sound on my new sound card. All 5 speakers work funny enough on my onboard, even when the rears aren't plugged in. They just sound exactly the same, whichever card I use.

 

[JohnS.]

I figured it out. Turns out, I can't use matrix lol. If I leave matrix off, everything works fine. Sweet.