sb live and modem

WhiteWashMan

well, i got me sb live.
only problem now is that it conflicts with my modem. it seems the sb live doesnt like irq 5, the default soundcard irq, and not only that but all the emulator crap takes over other irqs as well. my modem is external and resides on com2, irq 3.
should be no problem i hear you wail. indeed, should be no problem, however, ive had to disable al the soundblaster stuff, 16bit emulation, and 2 other options in device manager to get it to work.
now, can anyone tell me what these other options are, and what they do. i have purchased myself the cambrigde surround speakers and would like to actually get surround sound out of the yokes. not much good if i have to disable it whenever i want to use my modem.
oh, and any good games out there that really use the eax to full effect. want to prove to myself that iot wasnt a wsate of money
just one last thing. there is no headphone option on the speakers. 4 speakers and a subwoofer, and no heaphone jack. anyone have any idea how i cn hook one up without having to unplug the front and rear speakers, change the settings to headphones only and plug the headphones into the soundcard. but messy if your pc is tucked away.
cheers

lphchild

I had the same problem.
Install the sblive card first disable dos emulation and then install the modem.

lph

iar_xeno

As for what the other drivers do I am not at my PC but disabling the 16Bit legacy should be fine.
Do you have the SB Live value/player or full/live drive? The Dolby digital surround is sent via either a S/PDIF output or
the proprietary connector from Creative (Multiconnector? or some such) either of which I'm not sure the value/player supports, but may do
via optional digital daughterboard.

That leaves the analogue front card output for earphones, for which I'd recommend a set of
cordless radio headphones (Philips are pretty good).

If you were talking about surround sound in games (4 speaker analogue as opposed to
Dolby digital 5.1) then either use the Multiconnector output as above or connect
the two analogue outputs (front and rear outs) to the speaker system, putting a headphone
splitter on the front out to take a head phone feed as well, you just switch off speakers to
listen to earphones.

EAX support is pretty standard (Half-Life [underwater sound, cavern echo etc] or
Unreal [unpatched version I think only though]) just make sure it's enabled in game.

Hope that helps a bit, the back of your PC may look like your intestines after it though.

TinCool

Eamo,

Are those the white cambridge speaker set with the 4 satellite speakers and one sub woofer ? If so, it's the same as mine (nice little volume control on it) and as far as I can see there's no way to have head phones going at the same time, ah well, just turn down the sound so as not to annoy your neighbours.

WhiteWashMan

yea paul, its the same one.
as for the headphone splitter, thats a nice idea. it would work well.
it is the front and rear speaker thing, not a full blown dolby surround digital system. im not that bloody rich!

oh, and its the live 1024

[This message has been edited by WhiteWashMan (edited 14-08-2000).]

OctaviaN

Yeah Whitewash
Take out the modem and reinstall the SB Live
Also check the BIOS settings normally theres an IRQ reserved for such purposes ie Modems

Anyway the speakers you got r they the Altec Lansing ADA880r's if so that is a surround sound system which also supports Dolby Digital 5.1,If it is the above system then you should have got an Optical digital connector (marked S/PDIF) which goes from the black coloured socket on the sb and goes to the corresponding socket on the Subwoooouuuufff!
Youll know when you play a DVD! ))

TinCool

The speaker system may "support" dolby 5.1, but there's no way that it produces dolby 5.1 A Dolby 5.1 surround sound box would cost in the region of 500 beans

OctaviaN

Well...not true that system might not!however that was another problem I faced after purchasing the PC and experiencin DVD
i had to buy the whole kit for the TV!
Sourced all info on DVD players and the Sony 325 was the cheapest drive that supported S/PDIF! Which is the Digital line...then the speaker system hmmm as ya said 500 squid is the cheapest decoder...however not true!!
After ringing the UK i sourced a dealer for Video Logic equipement and Osmosis Ireland...based in/near swords ind. estate.
(yeah thats what i thought sound like a virus you'd catch...(Osmosis?)back to the point) They were very helpfull in there and i got a hold of a Video logic system with a seperate Decoder box and a subwoofer and 2 fronts with tweeters and 2 rears.
Even tho the unit is linked to the dvd, there is an analogue mode for TV Input which when enabled draws in the TV analogue and bobs yer uncle every day TV in Dolby Digital!!! and pro logic. As well as the DVD signal its gorgeous! Price a mere wait for it!....£150 squid!! So if any1 here looking for a nice speaker kit for PC/TV/DVD or even CD via the DVD its the biz at a fraction of the cost of sony etc decoders!

elexes

just wondering what watt those speakers are ???

_CreeD_

The Creative/Cambridge DTT 2500's are a full 5.1 speaker set, with separate Amp/Dolby Digital Decoder. And they have SPDIF or analogue inputs (BTW You do know you're only getting your TV in Prologic right? Thats as much as you can ever get on an analogue signal). If you get the add on Control Bay for th live it has a proprietary connector for the kit too. Don't know how much they are now but I picked some up from the UK 6 months agao for under 200.

Dont worry about the wattage on the speakers, it has nothing to do with Loudness. It only dictates how much power they can handle without blowing up. What you want to check for is Speaker sensitivity/efficiency and the max wattage on the Amp. (I know everybody yells about speaker wattage but it's just a common misconception). So long as your Amp-Wattage doesn't majorly exceed your speaker wattage you shouldn't have any sound distortion at the highest volumes, or risk of damaging them.

WhiteWashMan

the big black cambridge set is 307 in pcworld at the moment.
want gonna fork out an extra 230 quid just for prologic. the surround sound out of the 4point surround sound one i have is really good, even if it is only anologue

sutty

all i have to say is make a friend in Creative and you'll never have to worry about Creative products being so much. (i did) just ask sonic

as for sblive 16 and stuff thats only for dos games when there in dos(who use's that for games now?) so you can turn that off with no prob, or you could see if theres a tab lets you share the irq with a other device in the device manager

---

Ciaran Sutcliffe
aka: sutty
[HIV]sutty
For a good time goto:
http://www.hotinternetvirgins.com

iar_xeno

Further on the Altec ADA880s (which I have), Altec site says they are Dolby Digital, which in their glossary they explain is Dolby 5.1. This is BS, much as I love them, they are not 5.1 speakers, the first clue is that there is only 4 speakers and a subwoofer (4.1 anyone) with the Narrative "speaker" supported by the two front speakers, having a separate "central" setting which controls volume on narrative etc (4 amd a half.1 ?)
The second reason is the two rear speakers seem to share the same channel (3 and a half.1??).
And also the two rear speakers are rubbish, being passive.
I'm thinking of replacing them with a L/R Y cable feeding into a Philips Cordless speaker duo (amped via batteries and no wires!) anyone any experience of anything similar?

Xenophobic

_CreeD_

Are there any ode settings on your speakers Xeno?
Combined rear-channel is for Dolby-Prologic, some speakers let you set this instead of D-Digital.