XtremeMusic, Vista 64 and FiOS (cable) box pass-thru

[greg20]

Hello,

I'm running Vista 64 bit, Asus P5W DH (onboard audio disabled in BIOS), and an X-Fi XtremeMusic. I have Verizon FiOS TV and a set-top box whose audio I want to listen to through my PC. The TV video runs via s-video into my Dell 2007WFP. I have the latest (May 30th) official X-Fi Vista drivers, and my speakers (old) are the Inspire 6600 6.1.

Everything works fine - Vista sounds, Winamp, etc. I can also use an analog mic with Skype through the Flexijack with no big issues.

My set-top box (Motorola QIP2500) has these outputs:
Digital Audio Optical (toslink)
Digital Audio Coax (RCA)
Audio L/R (RCA)

I was able to connect the box with standard RCA L/R cables, connected to an adapter and plugged into the Flexijack. I got sound this way, but of course, this is low-quality audio.

I ran a cable (RCA at one end, 'headphone' plug at the other) between the Digital Audio Coax and the Flexijack, and had no sound. In Vista "Recording Devices", I set the default as "Digital-In" and it shows "Working" but no activity on the green bar/meter to the right of that. The Motorola box has audio output options for "TV" or "Stereo" and I tried both with no sound from the PC's speakers.

Do I need the Digital I/O Module to make this work? http://us.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=1&subcategory=16&product=1780&nav=features

Or should it be working on its own without that (i.e. that module won't fix anything?)

Or should I be trying an optical connection, and if so what cable exactly do I need for that?

From what I read, I might not be able to get "true" DTS or Dolby 5.1 this way, and that's alright, but I would like to be able to listen on my PC speakers so I can get rid of the old TV I'm using in this room. Are any of the solutions going to require changing settings between channels (i.e. depending on what kind of audio the FiOS box sends on down the line)?

Thanks for the help and let me know if you need more details. I'm fairly experienced with PC building, but not with digital audio beyond installing a soundcard and its drivers and connecting the speakers!

-Greg

[whubbard]

i'm a liittle confused. You say there is no sound, right? or just no sound from the mic?

[greg20]

Sorry, I'll try to be more clear. What I'm saying is, I know that the jack is working and that connecting any old mic (not related to the TV) to the "Flexijack" port on the XtremeMusic (which is supposed to be either mic-in, line-in, or spdif in/out depending on what's plugged into it) works just fine. For example, I use a mic for Skype this way.

Running the audio out of the FiOS box using the red/white RCA cables and into the Flexijack with an adapter also kind of works, but the sound only comes out of the left speakers that way.

I'd like to run digital audio out of the FiOS box and into the Flexijack, using either the "Digital Audio Coax" or "Digital Audio Optical" output from the FiOS box. This is what isn't working. I have a cable which is an RCA plug at one end and a headphone-type jack at the other end between the Digital Audio Coax on the box and the Flexijack on the card. I have Vista "Recording" set to "Digital-In" and it says "Working" but there is no sound that way. I'm trying to get sound that way.

Basically since I can watch TV video on my monitor (fullscreen or picture-in-picture) and my monitor is better than my TV, I want to get TV audio running through my PC and its speakers so that I can ditch the TV entirely.

Thanks.

-Greg

[whubbard]

are you sure its not just your box which is sending just the left channel??
The best way to check (your using 64bit vista right?) is to right click on the volume icon in the taskbar, click playback devices, select speakers, click configure, and test. If you only get one speaker the problem is the card, or speakers. if you get two..then the problem is either the card input not being set-up or the box.

...let me know what you find and I'll help continue to troubleshoot.

[greg20]

Whubbard,

Thanks for your help and suggestions. The card and speakers are working correctly.

Anyway, I have a very old set of speakers, so I decided to upgrade to the Z-5500s due in part to their multiple inputs. This way I'll be able to route analog & digital coax PC sound, as well as an optical connection from the FiOS box, all into the system at the same time, and easily switch between them. I don't have to deal as much with soundcard SPDIF pass-thru and Vista Creative driver issues that way either. Thanks again.

-Greg

[XenaWP]

I just hooked up an XM radio to the audio input of my PC.

Had to check (enable) "monitor input" on the expanded Sound Volume Control tray widget to hear the sound. That's for XP, don't know if Vista is the same. Not all the options are shown by default, you have to enable them through Properties.