Chaintech AV-710 Setup Thread, Including True 44.1kHz Wolfson Output in XP

[music_man]

new windows 7 64 bit drivers on audiotrak korea. 4.60a. use wasapi in foobar now. i am using sox resampler 192/24. 32 bit does not work with my stream and is just a cpu hog. it does not make a difference over 24 imo. if you do not see 192 in hi-output replace file enmix.cpl from the 5.40a driver. copy/paste file and replace. manually install driver from amd64 folder after install from device manager or intel driver.
 
i might not find this thread again if anyone replies due to the search on this site being bunk.
 
4.60a is actually newer than 4.60b from via.

 

[nagual]

Are there new sound-cards with the same chipset ?

 

[music_man]

yes. audiotrak.net it is still a great chipset but these are not $15. the spdif is as good as anything but for the analog outputs i'd be looking at a xonar or pro card.
 
i couldn't edit my post. the driver in the 4.60a package is newer than the one in the 4.60b package if you can even find the b.

 

[jaba1337]

So what is the best option for using the Wolfson DAC under windows 7?  Right now I have installed the drivers from http://www.jp.onkyo.com/support/pcaudio/download/se90pci.htm (5.60C) and then installed the driver and followed the instructions listed in the first post of this thread, which does seem to work fine.  Is there a better option currently?  I know audiotrak (http://www.audiotrak.co.kr/kr/customer/Dprodigyhd2.php) has a set of drivers, 5.50a, too.  I guess all it comes down to is, what is the best combination of driver and control panel?

 

[infinitesymphony]

Just to clarify, this thread is about getting bit-perfect stereo audio from the Wolfson DAC portion of the card. This means no 5.1-channel audio, no upsampling, no resampling, etc. If you want those features, you'll have to sacrifice getting the best audio quality.

 

[pleshy]

Hi. I bought an AV-710 about a week ago and thanks to this guide managed to set it up properly. Now I've no problem kernel streaming with foobar2000. However, I have another question.
 
I mostly use headphones for movies and TV series and that's the most important aspect to me. That begin said, is there a proper way to set the AV-710 for movie watching? Do I have to set something in the drivers or use some kind of special software (player, codec, etc.) I'm lost so any help would be much appreciated. I have a pair of Ultrasone HFI-780s.
 
I'm taking my first steps into the "hi-fi world" (I've never used high-quality hardware before) and I'm pretty confused. I try to read as much as I can but my knowledge is still low to none and therefore I apologize.

 

[infinitesymphony]

Most of the time, downmixing is done in software. Either the movie player you use or Windows itself will downmix multichannel content to 2.0 stereo. Basically, you don't need to worry about that part.

 

[pleshy]

Is downmixing a good thing? I realize I'm using 2.0 stereo but how can I get surround sound with the HFI-780s? I listened to some impressive Dolby Headphone samples and I'd very much like to get such effects in movies. Maybe that's not possible with the AV-710?
 
Another thing came up. I booted into Windows 7 64-bit and followed the guide in the first post and managed to get it working through the back surr. jack but I noticed the sound quality wasn't nearly as good as on Windows XP 32-bit. Does this mean I'm not using the Wolfson DAC? Is there a way to use the Wolfson DAC on Windows 7 64-bit?

 

[infinitesymphony]

Quote:

Is downmixing a good thing? I realize I'm using 2.0 stereo but how can I get surround sound with the HFI-780s? I listened to some impressive Dolby Headphone samples and I'd very much like to get such effects in movies. Maybe that's not possible with the AV-710?
 
Another thing came up. I booted into Windows 7 64-bit and followed the guide in the first post and managed to get it working through the back surr. jack but I noticed the sound quality wasn't nearly as good as on Windows XP 32-bit. Does this mean I'm not using the Wolfson DAC? Is there a way to use the Wolfson DAC on Windows 7 64-bit?

You can't get surround sound from two transducers because it's physically impossible. Surround sound content is encoded in six or more (5.1) discrete channels, so in order to fit all of that info into two channels (2.0), it must be downmixed; there's no way around it. You can fake surround using phase tricks, which is the basis of Dolby Headphone, SRS TruSurround, et al. The AV-710 drivers do not include that feature but you may be able to find a plug-in for whichever software player you use that can approximate the effect. Additionally, CyberLink PowerDVD software has Dolby Headphone built in.
 
Are you using WASAPI output through Foobar to play music?

 

[pleshy]

Thanks for the info! I tried Arcsoft TotalMedia Theatre's headphone options, unfortunately they were disappointing so I assumed PowerDVD was similar. Now, I'll definitely look into it. Is Dolby Headphone available on all sources or is it exclusive to special content only? I'll try to find some plug-ins as well, are they specific for a given player or rather a codec that works with all players? Can you recommend any?
 
On the topic of Windows 7 64-bit. I followed the directions word for word. Both WASAPI and Kernel Streaming work in Foobar but the sound quality is the same - nowhere near as good as on Windows XP 32-bit. Even the volume itself is lower. Is there a workaround this or is true 44.1kHz Wolfson output exclusive to XP 32-bit?

 

[infinitesymphony]

I don't use any enhancements, so I can't tell you too much about what's available. Dolby Headphone is just real-time DSP, it's not actually a part of the content itself, so it should affect everything when it's on.
 
If Kernel Streaming works at 44.1 kHz then everything should be set up correctly. I don't have much experience with Windows 7 at this point, so maybe someone else could chime in about possible setup problems or differences between XP and 7.

 

[faceless007]

Has anyone found a way to make 6-channel mode work in the 4.60b drivers for Win7 64-bit ?  I'm trying to make it so I can select 2-channel mode for music, but switch to 6-channel mode for games.  Yes, I am trying to have it both ways, but when I was on XP, the 4.73 drivers allowed me to do this.  I would use 2-channel mode, enable PCM for music listening and plug my headphones into the back-surround jack.  Then for games, I would use 6-channel mode and it would give me full surround.  But I've just upgraded to 7x64, and it seems like I have to choose: the 4.60b drivers for the good Wolfson DAC disables 5.1 surround in Windows (for some reason Windows will only show Stereo speakers), but the 5.40a drivers disables the Wolfson and nothing is output over the back-surround jack.  Has anyone found a way around this?

 

[cosmickid09]

Hi all
 
as my first post.... thanks to anyone who fullfilled this thread during these years  !
with plenty and useful information and test !
 
Now seriously :
 
since this Chaintech is getting "old" .....and after being so satisfied with this wolfson dac !
do you guys ever considered an upgrade thinking to an external DAC ?
HRT streamer ...or V-DAC ....DAC magic ....r DAC
 
mind that all Arcam Cd player have mostly the newest wolfson's Dac !
 
any of the above mentioned could be a worth upgrade ...loooking at their values !?!?
 
 
THANKS to ALL....seriously
 
ciao

 

[cloudcws]

Hey there,not sure anyone still using this card.
Recently got one AV 710 but didn't manage to install as my motherboard couldn't detect..
And my motherboard PCI slot should work well.
Does anyone know what causes such prob?

 

[infinitesymphony]

Either the PCI slot is bad or the card is bad. All motherboards should at least detect it even if the OS doesn't recognize what it is. Use compressed air to blow any potential dust out of the slot and off of the card's contacts, then try re-inserting it.