Zyphrax:

I think of buying a new MediaCenter system. It will have an Asus P5B Plus Vista Edition motherboard.

I would like to play stereo sound on my TV speakers and 5.1 audio through TOSLINK on my receiver.

Will this work?

If by work, you mean be able to send a surround sound source through the TOSLINK and also a downmixed stereo version of the same source to your TV speakers at the same time, then I suspect not. Vista, not the motherboard, is the root cause. What you will probably find if you try this is that there is no sound coming out of your stereo connection unless you are playing a stereo source.

Some folks are getting around this by switching audio settings on the PC between surround sound and stereo mode depending on what you are listening to. Others are no longer using the stereo out on the MB and instead are splitting the surround out externally and decoding one of the copies to stereo. And of course, others are waiting for MS to remove this 'feature' and go back to the way MCE2005 handled it.

Maybe you are already aware of all this, but I said it anyway.

It doesn't have to be simultaneous. I'd just like to have my stereo audio through the normal stereo jacket (to my TV speakers) and my 5.1 audio through toslink (to the receiver). I don't want to keep the receiver on all the time.

Because of the bloody audio endpoints I have to make a choice stereo OR spdif. I just want Windows to figure it out for itself, like in XP.

Has ayone tried this audiophile card in a Visa Media Center abd been successful in getting siuml digital+analog audio?

Anybody know if using a external sound card would allow simultaneous SPDIF and analog out?   I was hoping that the Sound Blaster Live External USB might solve this problem for me, but I don't know how Vista will manage such a device.

http://www.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=1&subcategory=206&product=10702

While not necessarily SPDIF + Analog, I think I may have found a solution for outputting sound to a television and AV receiver simultaneously.

The ATI 2600 XT video card can apparently output two audio+video streams over HDMI.

http://www.techpowerup.com/printreview.php?id=/ATI/HD_2600_XT

The HD 2600 XT has two dual link capable DVI outputs, so you can connect up to two widescreen high-res LCDs, for example with 2560x1600 each. In case you need an analog output, you can connect DVI adapter to any port to use your older CRT. It is also possible to connect up to two HDMI adapters for HDMI+Audio+HDCP output. Yes, HDCP works on both outputs at the same time.

mrbooaz:

Anybody know if using a external sound card would allow simultaneous SPDIF and analog out?   I was hoping that the Sound Blaster Live External USB might solve this problem for me, but I don't know how Vista will manage such a device.

http://www.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=1&subcategory=206&product=10702

I tried an external USB sound card with no luck. When I configured it to output SPDIF surround sound, all the other ports (on the USB unit and the MB) shut off and the controls grayed out.

andrewpmoore:

I hate it when that happens!

Try here: http://neosmart.net/blog/2006/vista-sound-drivers/

Post are by a user called Vigil

I have noticed this appears to be fix to get simultaneous digital and analogue outputs which appears to be working for lots of peaople with realtek sound onboard. I am running vista 64 and it does not appear to work for me. I have put the dat file in C:\Windows\System32 and still I can only get sound out of the default device. Does anyone know if this file works for 64 bit vista and if so am I putting the file in the correct place?

namtav:

andrewpmoore:

I hate it when that happens!

Try here: http://neosmart.net/blog/2006/vista-sound-drivers/

Post are by a user called Vigil

I have noticed this appears to be fix to get simultaneous digital and analogue outputs which appears to be working for lots of peaople with realtek sound onboard. I am running vista 64 and it does not appear to work for me. I have put the dat file in C:\Windows\System32 and still I can only get sound out of the default device. Does anyone know if this file works for 64 bit vista and if so am I putting the file in the correct place?

Where did you find the proposed fix?

I just followed the link and in that page is this paragraph:

It is possible to obtain both digital and analog audio simultaneously from a single Realtek audio device by downloading and extracting rtkhdaud.dat to C:\Windows\System32\

I have put this file where it states and it has not fixed my audio problem although reading posts in that forum and this, it appears to have worked for some people, I just wonder if this doesn't work on vista 64 or I am doing something wrong?

namtav:

I just followed the link and in that page is this paragraph:

It is possible to obtain both digital and analog audio simultaneously from a single Realtek audio device by downloading and extracting rtkhdaud.dat to C:\Windows\System32\

I have put this file where it states and it has not fixed my audio problem although reading posts in that forum and this, it appears to have worked for some people, I just wonder if this doesn't work on vista 64 or I am doing something wrong?

What link?

namtav:

andrewpmoore:

I hate it when that happens!

Try here: http://neosmart.net/blog/2006/vista-sound-drivers/

Post are by a user called Vigil

I have noticed this appears to be fix to get simultaneous digital and analogue outputs which appears to be working for lots of peaople with realtek sound onboard. I am running vista 64 and it does not appear to work for me. I have put the dat file in C:\Windows\System32 and still I can only get sound out of the default device. Does anyone know if this file works for 64 bit vista and if so am I putting the file in the correct place?

The link to the page I originally quoted (In bold now). On that page is this paragraph

It is possible to obtain both digital and analog audio simultaneously from a single Realtek audio device by downloading and extracting rtkhdaud.dat to C:\Windows\System32\

Sorted it now. The paragraph that I read in the post stated to put the file in C:\Windows\system32. Later on the page is the letter vigil posted and it states to put the file in C:\Windows\system32\drivers. Putting it there enbles the simultaneous digital and analogue outputs.

namtav:

Sorted it now. The paragraph that I read in the post stated to put the file in C:\Windows\system32. Later on the page is the letter vigil posted and it states to put the file in C:\Windows\system32\drivers. Putting it there enbles the simultaneous digital and analogue outputs.

This doesn't happen to work for DD5.1 sources (HDTV and DVD playback) does it?  I've not gotten that to work since the 3.5mm minijack to the TV wants to output L&R channel audio only, but most of the dialog comes from the center channel... i.e. it doesn't downmix the analog stream to 2-channel.

Yeh for DVD playback in 5.1 it's not a fix. Shame as in XP it's fine but thats Microsoft for you!

Still happy I can now output my music to both my sources in the house now!

Hello,
I have a Realtek onboard soundcard, and have the sound from my pci-tv-card connected to the line-in on my soundcard.
I only get sound from the analog 3.5mm jack. Not from the S/PDIF that I have connected to my amp. What should I do?
Everything else that I playback on the computer plays via the S/PDIF..:/

thanks!