SPDIF and analog stereo at the same time

[JackTramiel]

Originally Posted by Dann

Hi!

Here is some info:

Switch audio config from within MP - MediaPortal Forum

Simultaniously Audo on both speaker and SPDIV - MediaPortal Forum


...since now i did not heard that analog and spdif out will work at the same time on any soundcard. I have myself an onboard soundmax too - i'll try that.
However now i'm about to build a new HTPC, so i wonder if spdif out from the onboard sound and the sound from HDMI output of an ATI HD 2600 pro will work at the same time? Can anyone please confirm this?

THX in advance!

This will not work. You can either choose spdif or the HDMI output since the ATI Driver install a virtual soundcard.
It was one reason for me to choose an nvidia card. (Had a 2600Pro before) There i can use the optical out for the connection to my receiver and the coaxial out to connect to my graphic card/hdmi.
This way it works perfect except that i have no sound on my tv (HDMI) if i play something with AC3/DTS sound.
Also i have sound on my analog stereo out, too. Its a realtek ALC850 (AC97) onboard device.

Funny that this virtual soundcard solution was presented as an advantage of ATI cards.
I do not see any.

[cics]

After reading this post I just want to try it out.... So I went to my HTPC with the motherboard from Abit (ABIT IP35 PRO, P35) It has build in sound card with optical SPDIF and 7.1 analog output.

I tried several settings and got it working with both SPDIF and analog at the same time. Here how I config my HTPC:
1. Goto Window's Control Panel -> Sound Configuration-> And set my Realtek HD audio as default sound device
2. Enter Realtek sound manager and enable SPDIF.
3. Enter MP config -> Television (can be DVD, Movies or Music) -> Set Audio Render to "Default DirectSound Device"

I got both analog sound to my TV set and digital SPDIF output to my DAC and AMP.

I also tried the setting with my Onkyo 200 PCI sound card. I did the same setting but Onkyo doesn't support digital output and analog output at the same time.

Final words: Digital and analog sound output is possible depending on your hardware.

EDIT:
I upgraded my Onkyo driver and successfully get an output for both SPDIF and analog at the same time.

[yahoodee]

unfortunatley that doesnt work in my case, couse i have to "feed" two soundcards simultaneously.
i think thats impossible... therefor i asked for a work-around via batch to change the audio renderer in mp config...

[dbit]

I also want to ouput analogue & digital spdif simultaneously but have almost given up. I can get it working with everything except ac3/dts. I am using onboard sound (Asus p5k-e) and have also tried using a Chaintech av-710 pci card.

[cics]

Originally Posted by yahoodee

unfortunatley that doesnt work in my case, couse i have to "feed" two soundcards simultaneously.
i think thats impossible... therefor i asked for a work-around via batch to change the audio renderer in mp config...

Understood.

Please let us know if anyone is able to make a MP patch/plugin so we can have feed two sound cards simultaneously.

(Side note: I believe WinAmps has this feature)

[duffy6]

Is there any news regarding this issue?

[rtv]

With most realtek HD-Audio chips this is no problem at all ;-)
Both of my boards seem to output analog and digital fine with XP and using the "headphone" jack type.

If you need to use vista you might be interested in "Vigil"'s posts here

[riadmelb]

Outputting to spdif and analogue simultaneously works only as L+R stereo.

You cannot output 5.1 channels through spdif and down-mix it to L+R to analogue simultaneously, it's hardware limitation I think.

[rtv]

5.1 PCM sound can never be used with S/PDIF as it's bandwith is not sufficent.
You can only use Dolby Digital / DTS "Live" or "Plus" functionality of some cards or AC3Filter to encode multi-channel-sound. I know some people like to have as much speakers as possible to listen to music but anybody looking for quality won't do that...

[duffy6]

Originally Posted by riadmelb

Outputting to spdif and analogue simultaneously works only as L+R stereo.

You cannot output 5.1 channels through spdif and down-mix it to L+R to analogue simultaneously, it's hardware limitation I think.

ok, but can I change the setting for spdif or analog output within MediaPortal?
Otherwise I would have to hop into windows and change it there.

I am looking for a solution inside mediaportal that i can do it just with the IR-remote.

Thx,
duffy6