Audio snafu on HTPC?

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luthierwnc

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Hi All,

I recently got a combination HTPC and light gaming rig. When in PC mode we have either been using the TV or a smaller monitor but not both. In experimenting to see what kinds of cords I need to use both, I managed to disconnect the sound.

Here's a little more detail; the PC has a Radeon HP 7750 card that has one DVI and one HDMI port. I had the monitor connected to the HDMI and plugged a pair of headphones into the 3.5 mm stereo port on the motherboard (Z68) to see how that would work in combination with a DVI to HDMI adapter for the television. Plugging it in brought up a Realtek display but killed the sound. Unplugging it didn't help. Plugging a male-male cord from the PC to the TV didn't work either. No sound from anything. i5 processor, 16GB RAM, W7, SSD and HDD.

In the Device Monitor there are three audio adapters and all of them show as working. I put YouTube on and the sound levels were bouncing. I also checked the TV through the cable box and it was working fine. Mutes are all off.

This one has me stumped. From what I've gathered here and elsewhere on the web, the way to get a two monitor setup with either capable of independent sound you generally take a common mini stereo cord and run it from the green port on the PC to the same jack on the TV. I suppose it is just as well this flopped before I sunk any cash into hardware.

I'm sure it is something simple. Those are the solutions that give me the hardest time. If anyone has a suggestion, I'd really appreciate hearing it.

Thanks, sh
 
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mattius92

mattius92

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Typically with a HDMI setup, the sound is sent through the HDMI cable and you don't need a 3.5MM audio cable. However, with a dual monitor setup you wanna use HDMI and DVI to HDMI and also have sound. It sounds like the system is confused.

Do you get sound when you just have your TV connected via HDMI?
 
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luthierwnc

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Thanks Mattius92

I pulled up the Catalyst Control Panel. In Audio settings I had a choice of the Realtek optical output or the ordinary one as defaults. There were also six or seven AMD HDMI-related icons -- all of which showed disconnected. Those didn't have the choice of being default devices. I'm as sure as someone without a clue can be that when I plugged the 3.5mm cable in the motherboard the system said something like, "Finally!" and reset itself to some secret former arrangement.

I wish Tom's had an ability to attach JPGs. Then I could attach a sketch of what I'm thinking. BTW, neither the TV nor the monitor have a DVI port. Here is the hopefully less than a thousand word replacement:

This is a PC among the cable box, a VHS machine, a Blu-Ray Player, an ATV3 and a 40" HDTV. We'd like to configure things so we can multi-task in that room without disturbing the other of us.

Possibilities:
I can watch TV through the cable box and my wife can game on the PC using the monitor and a wireless headset

She can use both the TV and the monitor for a two-screen game experience with either the headphones or the TV sound

She can use either the TV or the monitor in the same arrangement.

I'd planned to get a longer HDMI cord to go to the monitor (when in use) and then use the DVI line into an HDMI converter from the PC into the TV along with a 3.5mm stereo cord from the mobo to the audio in on the TV. At least, that seems to be a good formula. First I have to see if I can get any audio at all again and if the mobo will supply audio when the the GPU is supplying the graphics.

Thanks again for helping me on this, sh
 
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mattius92

mattius92

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Okay, this might work, go to your Windows Control Panel (Not the CCC) and then click "Sounds" In there you should get a list of devices, if you right click on a device you should be able to disable it.
 
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luthierwnc

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Thanks again, I finally found that setting the AMD HD audio as the default worked.

But now there is another issue. I'll repost it to get some fresh views as another topic. Cheers, sh
 
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