Connecting DVD to SB Live [Drive] via Optical

Please...

Should I be able to connect external DVD player to LiveDrive optical input
for true 5.1 surround with compatible disks?

Any quirks or common probs I should know about?
Are there any URLS or tricks/tips/tutorials/help.

It doesn't seem to be happening.

....and thanks.

[SB Live Platinum/LiveDrive2 + Cambridge 5.1 Speakers]

--
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/futureworld/

> Should I be able to connect external DVD player to LiveDrive optical input
> for true 5.1 surround with compatible disks?

Other way around is how it usually works; you connect your PC's digital
output to an external surround decoder. This was a rather novel way of doing
things.

> It doesn't seem to be happening.

Probably because the Live isn't really Dolby Digital-enabled; it has no
built-in surround decoder (that accepts external input anyway). I don't know
what kind of program you'd need to make this work. Like I said, it's a very
novel solution you've come up with, so novel you seem to have outsmarted the
designers of your soundcard!

I'm not going to outright say this doesn't work, but I'd be surprised if you
can somehow make it work this way, because I've never heard of anyone doing
this before. You'll have a much more comfortable experience by buying a
software DVD player and run DVD playback through your PC instead, that way
you will definitely get surround sound working, and a lot less hassle to
boot.

If you watch your DVDs on a TV, you may need to make sure your graphics card
has a TV out connector, but pretty much all of them do these days.

I think you can do this with an Audigy 1 upwards. The decoding would be
still be done on the host CPU by the soundcard's drivers. However, some
people who've actually tried this have complained that there is a
significant amount of lag between the Dolby Digital bit-stream and the
output audio, so yer video and audio might not be in sync.

The Void wrote:

> Please...
>
> Should I be able to connect external DVD player to LiveDrive optical input
> for true 5.1 surround with compatible disks?
>
> Any quirks or common probs I should know about?
> Are there any URLS or tricks/tips/tutorials/help.
>
> It doesn't seem to be happening.
>
> ...and thanks.
>
> [SB Live Platinum/LiveDrive2 + Cambridge 5.1 Speakers]
>
> --
> http://homepage.ntlworld.com/futureworld/
>
>

"Lenny" <> wrote in message
news:fBCZc.2124$...
>
> > Should I be able to connect external DVD player to LiveDrive optical
input
> > for true 5.1 surround with compatible disks?
>
> Other way around is how it usually works; you connect your PC's digital
> output to an external surround decoder. This was a rather novel way of
doing
> things.

Thanks for responding.
What would the Optical In on the LiveDrive be used for then?

<snip>
> I'm not going to outright say this doesn't work, but I'd be surprised if
you
> can somehow make it work this way, because I've never heard of anyone
doing
> this before. You'll have a much more comfortable experience by buying a
> software DVD player and run DVD playback through your PC instead, that way
> you will definitely get surround sound working, and a lot less hassle to
> boot.

Yes, that would seem a stress-free alternative.
I'll probably head that way once I've totally exhausted ALL other options.

> What would the Optical In on the LiveDrive be used for then?

Recording SPDIF format audio from for example a CD or DAT player or such
mainly. I've never heard of a program that accepts a SPDIF stream in dolby
digital format, decodes it and then sends the output in real time to the
speakers of the host PC. I'd think there are programs that can take a DD
format stream and decode it, but they'd likely want to save the data to disk
instead, not send them out the speakers. Like I said, yours is a very novel
way of doing things!

"Lenny" <> wrote in message news:nwWZc.102440$...
> > What would the Optical In on the LiveDrive be used for then?
>
> Recording SPDIF format audio from for example a CD or DAT player or such
> mainly. I've never heard of a program that accepts a SPDIF stream in dolby
> digital format, decodes it and then sends the output in real time to the
> speakers of the host PC. I'd think there are programs that can take a DD
> format stream and decode it, but they'd likely want to save the data to disk
> instead, not send them out the speakers. Like I said, yours is a very novel
> way of doing things!

Not really. What I'm trying to do is not particularly 'novel'.

Simply trying to connect a 'source' audio, in this case a DVD player with appropriate outputs to an amplifier/speaker(s) in this case a SB sound card with appropriate inputs using an appropriate cable. Pretty basic stuff that I'm still convinced *should* work.

Here's a snippet from from the Creative Site (about Extigy)

Onboard Dolby Digital hardware decoder transforms your PC and notebook to a home theater receiver with true 5.1 multi-channel playback.
Discrete digital and analog connectivity to Creative Inspire speaker systems.
As a stand-alone device, simply connect your external DVD player, Game Console or Music playback device to the Coaxial/Optical SPDIF IN for Dolby Digital decoding or analog inputs.
Auto-detection of Dolby Digital signals for discrete multi-channel playback.
Up-mix stereo music to 5.1 surround sound with CMSS(Creative Multi-Speaker Surround Sound) for a home-theater-like experience!
EAX game effects such as Occlusion and Obstruction add the thrill of realism to gameplay.
Works even without turning on the PC/notebook

Standalone sound processor for external portable digital audio players and equipment.
Standalone Dolby Digital decoder for external DVD set-tops or game consoles.

"Sharanga Dayananda" <> wrote in message
news:cILZc.138$...
> I think you can do this with an Audigy 1 upwards. The decoding would be
> still be done on the host CPU by the soundcard's drivers. However, some
> people who've actually tried this have complained that there is a
> significant amount of lag between the Dolby Digital bit-stream and the
> output audio, so yer video and audio might not be in sync.

I'd settle for a delay.
At least long enough to establish I have a connection between PC and DVD.

Thanks for replying.

On Mon, 06 Sep 2004 07:00:31 GMT, "The Void" <> wrote:

>
>"Lenny" <> wrote in message news:nwWZc.102440$...
>> > What would the Optical In on the LiveDrive be used for then?
>>
>> Recording SPDIF format audio from for example a CD or DAT player or such
>> mainly. I've never heard of a program that accepts a SPDIF stream in dolby
>> digital format, decodes it and then sends the output in real time to the
>> speakers of the host PC. I'd think there are programs that can take a DD
>> format stream and decode it, but they'd likely want to save the data to disk
>> instead, not send them out the speakers. Like I said, yours is a very novel
>> way of doing things!
>
>Not really. What I'm trying to do is not particularly 'novel'.
>
>Simply trying to connect a 'source' audio, in this case a DVD player with appropriate outputs to an amplifier/speaker(s) in this case a SB sound card with appropriate inputs using an appropriate cable. Pretty basic stuff that I'm still convinced *should* work.
>
>Here's a snippet from from the Creative Site (about Extigy)
>
>Onboard Dolby Digital hardware decoder transforms your PC and notebook to a home theater receiver with true 5.1 multi-channel playback.
>Discrete digital and analog connectivity to Creative Inspire speaker systems.
>As a stand-alone device, simply connect your external DVD player, Game Console or Music playback device to the Coaxial/Optical SPDIF IN for Dolby Digital decoding or analog inputs.
>Auto-detection of Dolby Digital signals for discrete multi-channel playback.
>Up-mix stereo music to 5.1 surround sound with CMSS(Creative Multi-Speaker Surround Sound) for a home-theater-like experience!
>EAX game effects such as Occlusion and Obstruction add the thrill of realism to gameplay.
>Works even without turning on the PC/notebook
>
>Standalone sound processor for external portable digital audio players and equipment.
>Standalone Dolby Digital decoder for external DVD set-tops or game consoles.
>
>



NO HTML NO HTML NO HTML



CAN YOU READ..

"Karen Parker" <> wrote in message
news:...
> NO HTML NO HTML NO HTML
>
>
>
> CAN YOU READ..

1. Yes, I can read. I could read before you were born.
2. It isn't HTML. It's 'Rich Text'.
3. Entire posts comprising capital letters are considered rude akin to
'shouting'. Ergo; YOU are considered rude.
4. It is normal to <snip> (that's 'trim') posts before responding.
5. You forgot the question mark at the end of your second line.
6. FOAD.

Have a nice day.

>> Like I said, yours is a very novel way of doing things!

>Not really.

Yes, REALLY. It's not something I've ever heard anyone doing before, and
it's not something I've seen advertised as a feature with any soundcard on
the PC. Like I said, it might be possible, but its use is so unusual/obscure
I've never heard of anyone actually doing it this way. Most people have
enough trouble trying to get digital OUTPUT from a SBlive when they play DVD
movies ON THE PC......

> Simply trying to connect a 'source' audio, in this case a DVD player with
appropriate outputs to an amplifier/speaker(s) in this case a SB sound card
with appropriate inputs using an appropriate cable. Pretty basic stuff that
I'm still convinced *should* work.

Basic? Not really. Like I said, you have to understand you're doing things
"backwards". It's one thing taking a stereo input and get that to play on
the PC's speakers, but dolby digital is an encoded compressed audio format
that needs a decoder to process the audio first, and there is no such
decoder on the Live/Audigy series cards. Creative supplies a software codec,
but the typical use for that is to take a file stored locally on the PC (or
on a DVD) and decode it and send to the speaker outputs, not read the
digital input, decode and send to the speakers. This might seem like a
trivial or even silly distinction but really, it is NOT, not to a computer
and/or the software that runs on the same.

Like I said last time, easiest solution is to play the DVD on your PC
instead and use the TV out feature of your video card because god knows
where you will find a program that does what you propose! :P Some audio
studio software might be able to if you put it in monitor mode and select
the digital input, but that's not its intended use, and it could get
expensive to buy such a program, especially if all you want to do is to
decode multichannel audio.

> Here's a snippet from from the Creative Site (about Extigy)

The extigy is an entirely different beast altogether. It's got little to
nothing at all in common with internal soundblaster cards, and I've only had
the briefest of experiences with those beasts.

Chances are when they say the Extigy has a hardware decoder is they're not
exactly being entirely truthful, Extigy might still use the same software
codec that the Live/Audigy cards employ. Wouldn't be the first time Creative
'bent' the truth if that is the case.