[Pexter]

Hi,
My external Sounblaster Audigy USB sound card have past away, so I replaced it with a new Auzentech X-Studio 5.1 PCI card instead. Now, I am able to play music using the analog output from my new soundcard but I am unable to activate the optical spdif output. When in alsamixer I see a whole lot of levels and options but nothing that will turn on the optical output. When I change the volume level the music changes, so Alsamixer is connected.

Alsamixer recognize the new card as this:
Card: ICEnsemble ICE1724
Chip: VIA Technologies VIA1617A

Any ideas what it could be? (I didn't change anything when I installed the new card, it was recognized immediately in Alsamixer)

Thanks!

EDIT:
I now noticed that videos with AC3 sound plays really fast for some reason with no sound on either digital or analog, and if I play a video with normal sound (non 5.1) it plays with normal speed with sound through the analog port but not the digital.

EDIT 2:
By setting the value plug:iec958 in audio preferences I am now able to play both music and videos with non 5.1 audio over the optical output, however the music is pitched up and plays to fast. Video plays okay. Menu sounds are gone and alsamixer seam to be disconnected when using this setting. The search for Dolby Digital / DTS continues...

[slash]

Posting a debug log would help.
Also did you try outside xbmc (VLC, mplayer ...) ?

[Pexter]

I noticed that I'm able to play stereo sound when playing a DVD in the DVD-player, but MP3 and movies with stereo sound is still silent unless AC3 or DTS.

Ideas anyone? Anything I can check/change?

[LoloMc²]

I noticed that I'm able to play stereo sound when playing a DVD in the DVD-player, but MP3 and movies with stereo sound is still silent unless AC3 or DTS.

Ideas anyone? Anything I can check/change?

Did you tried this solution ?

[spozen]

Are you running the latest alsa version?

[Pexter]

I run the latest release of XBMC, downloaded and installed 5 days ago. When I first posted about this problem I ran an old XBMC version. With the old XBMC I was able to play everything but AC3 and DTS, but with this new version I am able to only play AC3 and DTS, but nothing else.

So it's most likely a configuration problem in XBMC.

[spozen]

My post was about ALSA not XBMC.

[duckdiver]

hi,

i can acknowledge, i have the sam problem with alsa and xbmc over spdif optical output.
i can not get 5.1 DTS sound, but other channels over pvr-testings are with sound...

when i start alsamixer i can see the spdif volume levels but i can get them up
do you still habe found a solution??

how do i have to setup the Audio settings in XBMC??
THX all

[alexb38]

You can't raise the SPDIF volume because it's a digital output not an analog, so there's no volume to raise as the content is transmitted as-is. You can just raise the master volume which will have an effect on PCM sound but not on AC3 or DTS (if those 2 formats are configured in passthrough mode).

In XBMC you have to select IEC958 as the audio output and activate (or not) "this device supports AC3/DTS" whether if your amplifier supports the decoding of those formats.

[xbmcuser01]

Tried this? http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=83614