Dual sound cards?

[Osiris]

I just gotten some new 6.1 speakers, which use up all my sound card ports.
The input and mic are both used along with the usual output for the 7 channels, (2/2/3)
I want to plug in say for example a games console, and i have the adapter so that the sound is a single RCA plug, but now where can i plug it in on my computer!
I have a SB Live 5.1 from a while ago and have be trying to figure out how i might use that to input my gamesconsole's sound, but ive come to the conclusion that only one of the 2 cards can work at the same time.

My first sound card is the onboard sound that comes with the ASUS A7NAX-E, Soundstorm, the second is Creative SB Live 5.1. Is there any way to allow to input from the SB live card to be used with the soundstorm output?

Thank you

 

[Crashman]

The single RCA plug is called "S/P-DIF" in the computer industry and "Digital Coaxial" in the audio industry. It's a digital signal. Many motherboards have them. Those that don't have S/P-DIF onboard often include adapters that fill a case slot and plug into a header on the board. Some boards don't come with the adapter though, because some companies (like Asus) want you to purchase that separately.

Newegg offers the S/P-DIF port plate for Asus boards. If you move your sound outputs to that, your sound inputs will be freed up.

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[Osiris]

Well.. heres the config i have,
the input RCA socket becomes rear output,
the output is used for the front speakers,
and the mic socket is used for the Centre,rear centre and subwoofer channels.

Would i need an adapter to change those 3 wires into a single coaxial? If its a digital signal, im not sure my speakers support digital signal..



<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Osiris on 09/20/04 02:51 AM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[Crashman]

What speakers do you have?

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[Osiris]

I have some creative Inspire 6.1 6700 speakers.
Not the best speakers money can buy, but i find them great for the price.
A note from the product info, "When combined with a Sound Blaster Audigy 2 sound card it also supports Dolby Digital Surround EX playback".
Therefore it wont support digital signals with my current setup right?

 

[Crashman]

The speakers aren't digital no matter what sound card you connect. They rely on the soundcard to break up the digital signal into analog channels.

"Digital speakers" do the same thing, except that the digital to analog converter is inside the amp, rather than on the soundcard. Creative would have you believe only their cards can use digital signals with your speakers, but the fact is, any soundsystem is digital if it breaks the combined channels into Dolby 5.1, 6.1, etc. Creative's card of course garuntees 6.1 sound rather than 5.1.

You CAN have 2 soundcards present in your system. If all you need is input jacks, does it really matter what soundcard you add?

Asus's add-in adapter plate might have extra analog jacks as well, I'd check newegg to see. If not, you can just add a soundcard.

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[Osiris]

well thats the thing, i have tried adding another sound card, but only one can be used at a time it seems.
I need to send the input from the second sound card (SB live S)) to my primary onboard sound so that it can then output it.

 

[Crashman]

That's odd, other people have used multiple cards. They've had to configure the outputs per application, but using only the inputs should work if those are the only inputs listed in device manager.

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[Osiris]

how can i set up the input from another card to playback on a different card? With the answer to that my problems will be solved.

 

[Crashman]

If Windows only sees one set of outputs and one set of inputs you should be set! I have an idea but I'm not certain it will work: Try disabling the ports you WON'T use, in Device manager. That "should" make the remaining ports the "active" ports.

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[Osiris]

Ive had a look in Device manager, but the ports arent separate for each signal etc. They are in groups of which i cannot determine which controls output etc.
Im surprised this problem does not have a simpler solution, i cant be the only one that has had it.
I would have thought that sound card producers would develop a device to extend the amount of sockets their card can utilise.

 

[Crashman]

Did you check to see if the add-on bracket Newegg sells has extra analog ports?

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[Osiris]

I have indeed.
Ill try contacting creative, though i dont know if they know much :s
Theyll probably tell me to buy a new expensive sound card..
Ill let you know

 

[silverpig]

I have the asus deluxe nvidia board and a 5.1 digital live card as well. You certainly can do what you want. I'm not in windows right now so I can't give you exact directions but in the sound properties you can select your input source and your output device quite easily. There's a little roll down menu where you can pick which device you want to output to and which device you should get your input from. It's just a matter of finding it. I've had it set up successfully like this before.

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[Osiris]

Im running XP Pro, and in multimedia control panel is the closest to what you talk about as i can find.
You can only select between sound playback, sound recording, and MIDI music playback device.
What OS did you notice this feature?

 

[silverpig]

<A HREF="http://www.silverpig.net/files/sound.jpg" target="_new">Screenshot</A>

Change the recording device to the live. Then click on the volume icon in the systray (or control panel/sounds, speech, and audio devices/advanced volume controls on left) and make sure your levels are set correctly.

I've had it working in xp before just fine, and in linux, you can use alsa to get a similar thing happening. It's harder to set up, but works better.

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