GA-P35-DS3 digital and analogue sound simultaneously?

Hi,

Just a while ago I bought a Gigabyte P35-DS3 mobo. Currently I am just using the onboard audio as I find it decent enough. The only problem is that I would like the digital and analogue signals to be output simultaneously. The reason I want this is because on an older Gigabyte mobo I had used to do this, and this was also connected to a set of logitech z-5500 5.1 speakers. In this setup I could easily switch between digital for music/dvd/videos and then analogue output for games in 5.1.

With the current mobo I have and z-5500s, I have to "set default device" in the Realtek audio settings software which was provided on the mobo driver cd. It's a bit of a pain in the back having to swap around clicking buttons if I feel the urge to play some games etc.

Has anyone got similar problems or any ideas on how to do it?

Cheers guys,
Winston from NZ (newbie to the forums)

if above doesn't work, i've found this as well:

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I dunno if anyone is still watching this thread, but thought I would share my setup which sends out both SPDIF and analogue at the same time. Quick snapshot:

Vista 32bit using onboard AC'97 audio from motherboard. Driver date is 11/29/06 and is 6.0.1.6202
Optical SPDIF output sends PCM to my receiver (which then decodes to 5.1)
Optical cable from SPDIF optical out on motherboard to SPDIF optical in on receiver
3.5mm to left/right RCA to second receiver
3.5mm is connected to "line out" on motherboard, RCA is on receiver
I have tested the above, and it works perfect for everything (TV, DVD, FM, music, etc). 5.1 is sent out via PCM and is sent to my surround sound speakers, and at the same time analogue stereo is output to another set of speakers in another room.

I've got screenshots of how everything is configured in Vista, and can post if people are interested. Basically:

Abit KN8-SLI motherboard
Realtek sound configuration utility indicates:
Audio Driver Version: 6.0.1.6202
Audio Controller: nVidia(0059)
Audio Codec: ALC850
Vista Control Panel --> Sound has the following:
Speakers (Realtek AC'97 Audio) as Working and Primary (little green check)
On the "Advanced" Tab is has checkmarks in both "Allow Applications ..." and "Give exclusive mode ..."
Realtek Digital Output (Realteck AC'97 Audio) as Working
On the "Advanced" Tab is has no checkmarks in "Allow Applications ..." and "Give exclusive mode ..."
I can confirm 100% that it is doing both SPDIF and ANALOGUE at the same time due to using seperate inputs on the receiver. Even after rebooting. I'm happy to answer any questions or provide other configuration settings if it'll help anyone.

source: http://thegreenbutton.com/forums/1 [...] hread.aspx
Poster: notyouraccount
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Excellent post! It never occurred top me to right click on the speaker task-bar icon...
Thanks for the tips!