S/PDIF output ALC850 vs nForce4?

[Guest Kobalt]

The default jumper position for this board is the ALC850. I went and installed the nf4 platform drivers, but I didn't get any output on the coax S/PDIF. Then I went ahead and installed the 850 drivers, and now the output works.

 

I then realised that it didn't output before, because the jumper was set to the 850 and not the nf4.

 

Question is, has anyone made a comparison of the advantages & disadvantages are when using the 850 vs nf4 output jumper?

 

I checked other posts via serach, and most people don't use S/PDIF, and some say 850 is lacking, but nothing to back it up.

[Guest Kobalt]

I think I should add, and maybe this should be stuck in the FAQ

 

If you are using the S/PDIF out, expecting it to be 5.1 over coax digital, then your in for a rude surprise. Thanks Nvidia for butchering Soundstorm out of the NF4 chipset!

 

So in short, if the signal isn't already encoded, then the best you can have is 2 channel (stereo) using the coax digital.

Thus you MUST use analog output if you want 5.1.

:mad:

 

Now why did they include S/PDIF outputs, if we can't encode the signal? :confused:

 

================================================

(from: http://www.short-media.com/forum/showthread.php?t=28189 )

This is because these boards do not encode Dolby Digital Live.

 

Only the SoundStorm NF2 did this, it was (sadly) discontinued afterwards.

 

Not even the most expensive Creative Labs sound card will encode DDL and give you 5.1 over optical or coax digital. You can get 5.1 but the source has to be already ENCODED (ie. a DVD movie). If your source (for instance Winamp) is not DDL encoded, you will not get any more than 2 channels.

 

One of the (only? few?) cards that will do DDL encoding is the HDA X-Mystique 7.1.

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[Guest Kobalt]

Just to add:

 

"With any Creative Lab sound card (actually most sound cards on the market), if you connect your system with a coax or optical cable (S/PDIF), kiss surround sound good bye. Creative cannot do on the fly DTS (AC-3) encoding. Net results, when playing mp3 (which might be 5.1 or 6.1 or 7.1 encoded), games with 5.1 surroud or EAX 2-3-4 or the likes all you will get is stereo mode.

DVD with DTS encoded will on the other end play just fine. "

 

Bah! :mad: :mad: :mad:

[iamkoza]

Just to add:

 

"With any Creative Lab sound card (actually most sound cards on the market), if you connect your system with a coax or optical cable (S/PDIF), kiss surround sound good bye. Creative cannot do on the fly DTS (AC-3) encoding. Net results, when playing mp3 (which might be 5.1 or 6.1 or 7.1 encoded), games with 5.1 surroud or EAX 2-3-4 or the likes all you will get is stereo mode.

DVD with DTS encoded will on the other end play just fine. "

 

Bah! :mad: :mad: :mad:

 

this might explain why when i tried a coax i couldnt hear the grenade blowing up behind me in bf2.... lol

[Wwhat]

And it's all because of licensing, sad isn't it

[Guest Kobalt]

More pathetic than sad if you ask me.

 

I found a interview from Nvidia, and they said they killed soundstorm, since their partners wanted a cheaper solution. So can we blame DFI/Asus/Abit/MSI/whoever else for this?

[Wwhat]

As if motherboards got cheaper since nforce2..