5.1 Surround issue

[qazaq]

I own a logitech 5.1 surround setup.

It...kind of works.

It has worked fully in the past, but very recently (I cant think of anything that may change the situation), the forward two speakers and the rear two speakers stopped putting out...loud sound.

But only under certain circumstances. When I listen to music, or watch a movie, all of the speakers play.

But when I do something like play a video game, where the sound is dynamic in relation to the speakers, the sound comes out as a very low, almost not audible sound.

Not good for a gamer such as myself.

Also, I am using AC97 software, and there is a test on there that test each speaker to see if it works. All of them work normally, according to the test. But there is also another test, in which a bee flies around an animation of the user, and the bee's buzzing sound is supposed to correlate on the speakers like it is in relation to the user on the screen.

Here, all you can hear from my satellite speakers is a very low buzzing sound, however, when the bee is positioned in front of the user on the screen, my center speaker (also positioned in front of the user) works fine, put out a nice, loud, annoying, bee buzzing sound.

Also the subwoofer works fully...no surprise, seeing as how the cables are grouped as such: center-sub, front-left-front-right, rear-left-rear-right.

Yes, it is set to 5.1 both on the ac97 audio driver thing and on the windows control panel. The volume for all speakers works fine. All the wires are tightened...and the speakers themselves are not physically damaged in any way. They all work, just not when I need the surround sound part of them.

I have used this software and configuration for quite some time...I don't understand why it suddenly decided to screw up.

So what I have gathered is that the speakers functionality seems to be related somehow to the dynamic surround systems...when sound can be played out of different speakers at any given time.

And that simple, unchanging sound output like music or video seems to work fine.

Thanks in advance for all your replies and help.

qazaq

P.S. Sorry for such a lengthy post, but I felt I needed to explain the situation a little more than "It doesn't work," given the amount of problems that can go wrong with speakers...or with any computer components.

[Raptor]

But only under certain circumstances. When I listen to music, or watch a movie, all of the speakers play.

But when I do something like play a video game, where the sound is dynamic in relation to the speakers, the sound comes out as a very low, almost not audible sound.

You're either:

1. Using AC 97 '(Quickly scanned your post and this seemed to be the case)
2. Or you're using the wrong software.

It's number 1. Get a Creative soundcard that costs >40 dollars and install their (latest) drivers.

Surround sound will only work with DVD's and video games, music and normal movies never have surround sound simply because they miss the files to tell the PC its surround, but with Creative drivers you can emulate surround sound.

[honvetops]

But only under certain circumstances. When I listen to music, or watch a movie, all of the speakers play.

But when I do something like play a video game, where the sound is dynamic in relation to the speakers, the sound comes out as a very low, almost not audible sound.

You're either:

1. Using AC 97 '(Quickly scanned your post and this seemed to be the case)
2. Or you're using the wrong software.

It's number 1. Get a Creative soundcard that costs >40 dollars and install their (latest) drivers.

Surround sound will only work with DVD's and video games, music and normal movies never have surround sound simply because they miss the files to tell the PC its surround, but with Creative drivers you can emulate surround sound.

I didn't know this !  If I had, I might have gotten to sleep before 1 am last night- pulling my hair out   , Thanks  Rap*

[qazaq]

Ah I was afraid of that.

I guess I really need a new sound card anyway...I am using the onboard card that only has 3 ports...which, with 5.1 surround, doesn't allow for a microphone.

Well, I'm off to Radio Shack...

Thanks for the help.

[Raptor]

Just don't forget;

Get a Creative soundcard that costs >40 dollars and install their (latest) drivers.

[honvetops]

Just don't forget;

Get a Creative soundcard that costs >40 dollars and install their (latest) drivers.

QUESTION: >  I have the 29.00 (us) creative audigy se  model.......  it supports up to 7.1/ 24 bit   &  I read reviews on their  xf-hi fi  and other higher priced cards......
what difference is there?  It says the higher priced cards are "better" for gaming but,  what do they specifically have besides more RAM that the cheapo doesn't have?  The Logitech z5300 e  i got sounds pretty darn good (Huge bass) but the hi-end  (like tweeter sounds)  < lol,  sounds very week... does not get good hi-end sounds out of the satelite speakers.....will a more expensive creative card help me out there -  "significantly" ?

[Raptor]

I've read about some 'defects' in pre-Audigy 4 models.

It's pretty hard finding information on soundcards, but more advanced models allow you to use EAX 2 and other very high sound quality settings in games that some lower-range sound cards do not support. Or when used the entire PC slows down or the sound starts to crack because they can't handle it.

[honvetops]

I am "hoping"  the 8800 gts & the  6600 conroe might be the turning point, giving me better sound out of those   beasts !!!!