how do you enable optical audio out on the PCI Express X-Fi Audio xtreme?

I have been reading for hours trying to figure this thing out...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16829102017

i got it working but it only works on my front 2 channels... no matter what I am doing... DVD, Blu Ray, mp3, whatever

What operating system and what sound system are you connecting it to?
Is this for gaming?

win xp pro sp2

denon avr 3300

I had it working on all 5 channels and the sub with an onboard realtek with optical out and with a chaintech av-710 with optical out

From all that I've been reading about this card, I'm left scratching my head too.
According to the Creative site, the Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio PCI Express has a note that says: "Digital Out supports stereo SPDIF out and pass through of multichannel DVD sound".

I'm no expert, but it would seem that (according to your Denon AVR 3300 User Guide) you need to connect the Optical Out from the sound card to the Opt.-1 input on the Devon receiver (bottom left of page 7 in the manual).

There's a note on page 39 of the manual that says:
Input mode when playing DTS sources
Noise will be output if DTS-compatible CDs or LDs are played in the ANALOG or ACM mode.
When playing DTS-compatible sources, be sure to connect the source component to the digital input jacks (OPTICAL/COAXIAL) and set the input mode to DTS

There are more instructions about Digital Input on page 46. Mostly says switch to Auto unless using a DTS source.

The blasted X-Fi Xtreme Audio PCI Express manual from Creative is a windows .chm (Windows Help file) document and I can't get the damn thing to download correctly. Had the same problem when I worked for HP.

So... I also read this from Creative's site:
http://support.creative.com/kb/ShowArticle.aspx?sid=11040
Problems with Digital Audio Devices
Make sure you select the sampling rate of the PCM SPDIF output of your Digital I/O connector to match the requirements of the receiving device. You may need to select a lower digital output sampling rate. The choices available are 48 kHz and 96 kHz. To solve this problem:

In Creative MediaSource Go! Launcher:

1. Click the Product Settings tab.
2. Double-click the Audio Console icon.
3. Click the SPDIF I/O tab.
4. Click the required sampling rate from the Digital Output (PCM) Sampling Rate list.
5. In Entertainment Mode, click the Digital I/O button, and click the required sampling rate from the Digital Output Sampling Rate list.

I've also seen this on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-Fi#X-Fi_Xtreme_Audio

Looks like it's a pretty crappy card, anyway.

On a side note, looking through some of the reviews about this sound card, I keep coming across the beginning of this review:



However, when you click on the through-link, you come to a moved page error. You can still access the review by searching for it on the site, but the original beginning quote from the review has been deleted.

Thought that was kind of funny.

It will work bro. Just try to configure it from the system. Or try restarting it. It will work.
kanne11
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