help with chaintech av710 optical out issue?

[tenax]

hi folks..new to this site and i hope i posted this in the right area for help. i've just got into htpc stuff in the last few months and bought the chaintech av710 card for it's optical out and the price..i'm happy with the card and it performs fine for my needs with the my speaker system. i'm running 2 channel through a sub and 2 desktop speakers only..what i want to do is run audio out to my stereo which includes a new jvc hometheater amp with optical inputs labelled as: dvd, cd, vcr, tv, tape/cdr..i've enabled digital out in the vinyl audio deck for the sound card and i'm using the latest envy 24 drivers available at the via site.

now, call me naive, but this is my first optical cable experience..i know there's signal in the cable and it's fine, but no matter which input i select on the jvc amp (which is almost brand spanking new..bought in late dec 2004) i don't get any audio. i've doublechecked to make sure my amp inputs are correct so i think it's fine there. any ideas? do i have to change a jumper on the card? ( i have not touched the jumpers) incompatibility with the amplifier in some way?

i have read the setup guides and any other threads i could find on the card but found nothing that points me to a solution to my issue.

excellent site, by the way!

thank you

 

[boodi]

I've used the optical out of the av710 with very nice results.
Be sure to install av710 disk driver and to switch to *s/PDIF : Optical Out* on the Sound Effect icon that appears on the winxp right bottom task bar once you've installed the drivers

 

[tenax]

thanks for the help...i have the audio control deck icon on my bottom right task bar...i did not bother installing the disc version of the drivers as everything i've read says get the ones straight from viaarena site..is there something on the disc drivers that the others would be missing? i guess i can always reinstall the other ones if i find the disc versions flakey?

thanks

T

 

[tenax]

ok..still on the hunt..here's what i did:

-cleaned out old driver (latest version) and installed one off disc that has no audio deck..so uninstalled that and installed the 1.43d which was recommended at one point.

-looks good..see an earlier version than what i had of the control deck program, that's fine.

-config set to 2 speaker (again, i only have a sub and 2 satellites for now and one output plug going from the satellites to the sub to my "green" output jack gives me audio on the 3 speakers even though set to 2..always has been this way)

enable digital output with the default AC3 OR PCM with auto selection enabled.

-verified signal from cable from optical out on card to optical in to my jvc amp is there.

-no jumpers on the card touched at any point.

selected my input source on amplifier..nothing..sound only through the desktop speakers and sub as usual..nothing else plugged into the outputs on the card except for the optical cable and the desktop/speakers sub using the green output jack?

 

[philly4]

It should not matter what version of drivers for your card you have. All support SPDIF just fine as far as I know. Make sure the windows slider for SPDIF is ALL THE WAY UP. If it is down even just a little bit, it will decrease the output volume significantly. At normal volume, I can't hear a thing if it is down 1/3.

Second guess. It might be a setting for your reciver. I don't know how JVC does thier input assigning, but on many recivers, there are analoge inputs for all input sources as well as some digital sources. On my denon, there are four digital inputs. All of them are assigned to their input source through a setup menu. Any of them can be set to any input source. Likewise, it is possible to disable all of them and have none of them assigned to any input source.

Last thing, check if you are getting a signal at all from your soundcard. If you have one end of your optical pluged into your soundcard, the tip of the other end of the cable should glow red.

 

[phoenix808]

I've also experienced the same problem with my new av710. It works beautifully w/ the other types of outputs, but I cannot get it work with the optical out in XP Pro SP2.

I'm at a loss...

 

[Zoofy]

Here's someshing to try to solve the problem:
- Try different audio/video players and file formats (mp3, ogg, avi)
- Try if spdif works in hi sample rate mode (multichannel audio wont work but stereo sound should work)
- My receiver (yamaha) has different input modes (auto/analog/dts) for dvd, make sure you dont have similar settings set to analog ( I think philly4 said already about this).

 

[phoenix808]

Yea, I feel like I've (personally) tried everything. I'm not sweating it too much, since the sound w/ non-digital outs is still amazing to me. But I've even tried fresh installs of XP (eh, was gonna do it anyways).

Currently, I have VAC util working in HiSample Rate 2 channel @96khz (out of 7&8).

No luck w/ optical out (tried 2 diff. cables). Tried Winamp and Foobar, receiver is a Technics DA8 w/ a ton of optical ins. Tried switching b/w digital input and analogue on the receiver (button option). No dice. I'm sure I'm being dumb...

 

[tenax]

thanks to the gentlemen who suggested i doublecheck my inputs on my amp! as i was rechecking things, noticed that there was an analog rather than digital indicator...changed it..hmmm..some noise...cranked up further and there it was..clean, loud and clear..now my video capture/playback is complete on my htpc! thanks a bunch, folks! only thing i've noted now (and yes, all sliders are right up) is that i need to crank my ank up pretty good compared to other sources...that being said, there seems to be enough headroom even though not as comparable to my analog inputs...i assume there are no settings that will make a difference on this on the soundcard beyond jacking up all my mixer settings?

thanks again for the help!!!!!

 

[philly4]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tenax only thing i've noted now (and yes, all sliders are right up) is that i need to crank my ank up pretty good compared to other sources

What player are you using on your computer and what settings do you have on that player. This can happen for several reasons and I experiance the same thing (although its not real significant, but noticable) unless I use asio or KS output. It could because you have replaygain turned on or if you use winamp, the DS output attenuates the signal by about 3 dB even when the volume is all the way up. With the combination of that and replay gain, the output is quite a bit lower than it really should be. The windows mixer messes with stuff to, but I don't really know enough about that to say wheather that might have anything to do with it. If you do set it up to bit perfect output (ASIO or KS), volume should be the same as any digital input from your home theater DVD CD etc.

 

[tenax]

god help me..i've read about those 2 options some but they sound complicated..well, i guess i'm into it this deep so far..just tried it with windows media player..off to do more reading on how to set one of those up, i guess!

 

[tenax]

well, i recorded a few programs using snapstream trial version today and the audio output from a recorded program is normal volume. (the other i had complained about low volumes on was a dvd played on windows media player) it was the quick source available..should have tried more before i complained..i'm a happy camper now and things are working fine enough to make me happy..thanks again, guys!