Game Theatre digital problem....

[RedDeathDrinker]

Posting this to help my mate out. He just bought a Hercules Game Theatre setup, and new speakers to go with it (thanks for the SB Live! and surround sound speakers, Martin!)

Heres what he says his problem is:

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I have a Game Theater XP and just invested in a set of SoundMan Xtrusio 100 speakers.

Great sound through the analogue connections, so I thought I'd try the digital connector.

Even better sound generally, but when I switched to a game (Max Payne for testing) I noticed no sound from the rear speakers, i.e. standing in front of the fire and spinning round, left to right fine, but no rear sound.

4 speaker sound is enabled, everything seems OK, am I missing something stupid here or is this a general issue?


Thanks, Martin
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Any help would be appreciated guys and gals!

[Pinky]

There could be a lot of things wrong. First, do dvds play with surround sound? Does Max Payne have surround sound features and are they enabled?

Is the digital out being selected while gaming, or does the card default... there may be settings/profile you need to create for gaming.

[Violator]

To clarify :

When I'm using the analogue connections everything is fine, 4 speaker surround, all sounds coming from correct directions etc etc

When I switched to digital connector, only got sound from front 2 speakers, nothing from rear. I'm only using Max P as an example. When I stood in front of the fire and spun round (under analogue) sound rotated correctly through all 4 speakers. Under digital it only rotates through the front 2.

I'm going to work on it further tonight I just wondered if anyone else had had a similar problem.

:)

[RedDeathDrinker]

bump......

[!-=sky=-!]

i m thinking that it's something in the software that will allow you to use all speakers.........try looking for options in there

[Violator]

OK I just tried Max Payne again, it seems a decent test-subject.

At the start, when standing in front of the fire, I can hear it from ALL speakers, equally.

If I turn to the left, the sound moves to the front left and back left speakers and vice-versa.

However, if I turn around so the fire is behind me, I hear nothing.

This is only when the digital connection is on, under analogue it is fine.

MP3s and CDs play fine under digital, it appears to be the positional sound that is screwed.


Anybody??

[RedDeathDrinker]

Bump!

[Violator]

As an update it appears to be any game using EAX that won't position sound correctly. A3D games (Deus Ex, Elite Force) seem to be fine.

Anyone any ideas why this might be?

[RedDeathDrinker]

Yes. For all the reasons I've just spent an hour banging e-mails back and forward.....

"Because analogue is TRUE surround sound, with Front and Back channels, as well as left and right, so the sound can move from front to back, and left to right.

Your digital sounds like it only has Left and right channels, with no provision for forwards or backwards movement...."

[Violator]

And as I said, if that's the case, why does it work for A3D games then?

[Violator]

'You are best off using the analog connection instead of going to the optical or coax for gaming. The SPDIF outputs will only send sound in AC3 or stereo PCM format, so your receiver will only play the sound in the format it receives the signal. Since your speakers are 4.1 speakers, they will not be able to play AC3 signals, so i'd recommend sticking with the analog connection. This will provide your speakers with the best positional sound.'