I just bought a SoundBlaster X-FI Xtreme Media. Now all of my speakers work except the center and bass when I test it on volume configuration, but when I listen to music, my bass and center work, but my back 2 speakers don't work. Oh, and I have Vista. Any ideas to what is wrong? I enabled X-Fi CMSS-3D, but I don't know the difference between Stereo Xpand and Stereo Surround. So I pretty much have tried everything I am aware of, but nothing worked.
vista compatible sound card, no surrond sound
- Thread starter Ayatollah
- Start date
metallica7
New Member
alot of people lately have been saying that many songs arent surround sound compatible...though i dont see y it cant just play out of all of them anyways....its not like a car plays music out of 2 speakers 
The specifications on that model shows that it supports 7.1 surround sound as seen at http://www.soundblaster.com/products/product.asp?category=1&subcategory=208&product=15855&nav=1
The typical and first thing when going to setup an SB model whether X-FI or earlier was the speaker calibration wizard you have to go through before the surround sound is configured. Without doing this first you are stuck with the default 2 1/2 speaker configuration. Presently the Audigy 4 Pro model is set for both headphones and 5.1 while having to go into the audio console on every boot to disable and then re-enable the EAX effects option. When returning from the XP primary to reboot Vista again the BSOD has to be dealt with then due to only having beta drivers available for the Audigy line. Your problem is much easier to solve there.
The typical and first thing when going to setup an SB model whether X-FI or earlier was the speaker calibration wizard you have to go through before the surround sound is configured. Without doing this first you are stuck with the default 2 1/2 speaker configuration. Presently the Audigy 4 Pro model is set for both headphones and 5.1 while having to go into the audio console on every boot to disable and then re-enable the EAX effects option. When returning from the XP primary to reboot Vista again the BSOD has to be dealt with then due to only having beta drivers available for the Audigy line. Your problem is much easier to solve there.
i did obviously
I honestly did not understand what you just said. If you could restate i'd appreciate it.
When you first install any recent Creative sound card the software includes a configuration utility for verifying which speaker the sound is coming out of when you go to calibrate it. If this isn't done from the start the setting will stay at the default 2 1/2 speaker setting. To go through the process you go into the Creative startup folder found in the Start>Programs and click on speaker settings. Once the settings screen comes up you click on the speaker calibration button to test the speakers.
If you mean the audio console, and the speakers tab on it, I already checked there and clicked on 5.1 speakers. No luck.
When you first go to change from the default 2 1/2 setting to 5.1, 7.1, headphones, or one of the other settings you are usually prompted with the Creative speaker calibrator wizard for the basic or advanced. You should see that as one of the options in the Programs>Creative>X-FI-Xtreme folder like seen in the screen shot here.
The place to look for the list of options seen in the Start>Programs>Creative>Audigy 4 Pro used here should also see something similar for the newer model you have. At least you see the Creative diagnostics link inside the Start>Programs folder like ssen in this next screen capture. You'll have to excuse the large amount of programs and focus on how these options are seen here.
This may occur when you are playing a 2D MIDI file. When playing 2D MIDI content without the "pan" parameter or SoundFont-compatible MIDI content with zero panning, Sound Blaster X-Fi may channel sound through your analog center speaker only.
Speaker Audio output with older Creative audio cardsAudio output with Sound Blaster X-Fi audio card 2.1 Stereo Stereo 5.1 Stereo Front Left / Front Right / Center 6.1 Stereo Front Left / Front Right / Center 7.1 Stereo Front Left / Front Right / Center
Note
The above is when only hearing sound from the center while the THX consolde is apparently what is used for calbrating the speaker settings on the newer models.
4.
How to calibrate my speakers so that channels are assigned correctly in THX Console?
If you found that there is a mismatch between your speaker configuration and channel assignment, for example, audio intended for front right channel was heard in the front left speaker instead of the correct speaker, you can use the THX Console to calibrate and assign audio channels to the correct jacks...
http://193.95.171.83/SRVS/CGI-BIN/W...english_add,VARSET=ws:http://us.creative.com/
Speaker Audio output with older Creative audio cardsAudio output with Sound Blaster X-Fi audio card 2.1 Stereo Stereo 5.1 Stereo Front Left / Front Right / Center 6.1 Stereo Front Left / Front Right / Center 7.1 Stereo Front Left / Front Right / Center
Note
- 2D MIDI content is equivalent to the standard MIDI format. Use the 3DMIDI Player application to convert your 2D MIDI file to a 3D MIDI file.
- By configuring the MIDI pan parameter of a SoundFont-compatible MIDI content, you can channel sound through other speakers beside the center speaker. http://193.95.171.83/SRVS/CGI-BIN/W...eative.com/,Case=obj(11040),Kb=ww_english_add
The above is when only hearing sound from the center while the THX consolde is apparently what is used for calbrating the speaker settings on the newer models.
4.
If you found that there is a mismatch between your speaker configuration and channel assignment, for example, audio intended for front right channel was heard in the front left speaker instead of the correct speaker, you can use the THX Console to calibrate and assign audio channels to the correct jacks...
http://193.95.171.83/SRVS/CGI-BIN/W...english_add,VARSET=ws:http://us.creative.com/
i don't know where the THX console is, and none of those links work.This may occur when you are playing a 2D MIDI file. When playing 2D MIDI content without the "pan" parameter or SoundFont-compatible MIDI content with zero panning, Sound Blaster X-Fi may channel sound through your analog center speaker only.
Speaker Audio output with older Creative audio cardsAudio output with Sound Blaster X-Fi audio card 2.1 Stereo Stereo 5.1 Stereo Front Left / Front Right / Center 6.1 Stereo Front Left / Front Right / Center 7.1 Stereo Front Left / Front Right / Center
Note
- 2D MIDI content is equivalent to the standard MIDI format. Use the 3DMIDI Player application to convert your 2D MIDI file to a 3D MIDI file.
- By configuring the MIDI pan parameter of a SoundFont-compatible MIDI content, you can channel sound through other speakers beside the center speaker. http://193.95.171.83/SRVS/CGI-BIN/W...eative.com/,Case=obj(11040),Kb=ww_english_add
The above is when only hearing sound from the center while the THX consolde is apparently what is used for calbrating the speaker settings on the newer models.
4.How to calibrate my speakers so that channels are assigned correctly in THX Console?
If you found that there is a mismatch between your speaker configuration and channel assignment, for example, audio intended for front right channel was heard in the front left speaker instead of the correct speaker, you can use the THX Console to calibrate and assign audio channels to the correct jacks...
http://193.95.171.83/SRVS/CGI-BIN/W...english_add,VARSET=ws:http://us.creative.com/
Sorry about the links there. Apparently you have to be at Creative to get to certain pages by clicking on the various links seen for the knowledge base. But Creative does have a page for the THX console and how to use it.
Whenever you need product information the quick trip to the manufacturer's own web site generally does work. http://www.soundblaster.com/resources/read.asp?articleid=53875&cat=4
You think you are bad off. According to Creative's own forum they are getting slam dunked for being late even with the Vista drivers for the X-FI series cards. http://forums.creative.com/creativelabs/board/message?board.id=Vista&message.id=8919
EDIT:
Upon paying a followup visit to Creative's support site, http://us.creative.com/support/downloads/ the beta drivers previously seen were now removed. The link here is for selecting the series and model followed by the next page for OS 32/64 alike and finally the download and license agreement page.
These include the Audigy and Live series cards. "someone" must have read a thread or two? oh well got them now!
Whenever you need product information the quick trip to the manufacturer's own web site generally does work. http://www.soundblaster.com/resources/read.asp?articleid=53875&cat=4
You think you are bad off. According to Creative's own forum they are getting slam dunked for being late even with the Vista drivers for the X-FI series cards. http://forums.creative.com/creativelabs/board/message?board.id=Vista&message.id=8919
EDIT:
Upon paying a followup visit to Creative's support site, http://us.creative.com/support/downloads/ the beta drivers previously seen were now removed. The link here is for selecting the series and model followed by the next page for OS 32/64 alike and finally the download and license agreement page.
These include the Audigy and Live series cards. "someone" must have read a thread or two?
oh well got them now!
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Verify that CMSS is enabled.
It is normal to hear sound only from left and right speakers when playing stereo sources such as CD Audio, MP3, WMA, MIDI, and Wave since these files are typically recorded in stereo format.
To receive sound from surround speakers, you must enable CMSS (Creative Multi-Speaker Surround).
The above is seen when clicking a link in the knowledge base with the "no sound from surround speakers" title on the second page when starting the "Sound Blaster and Speaker Troubleshooting Steps".
It is normal to hear sound only from left and right speakers when playing stereo sources such as CD Audio, MP3, WMA, MIDI, and Wave since these files are typically recorded in stereo format.
To receive sound from surround speakers, you must enable CMSS (Creative Multi-Speaker Surround).
The above is seen when clicking a link in the knowledge base with the "no sound from surround speakers" title on the second page when starting the "Sound Blaster and Speaker Troubleshooting Steps".
enabled from the start.
There are two settings in that section to look at. One is the default CMSS and the one for dvds called the CMSS2. If you have it set on the second one the rear sound drops off on the 5.1 setting. If that is set to the CMSS setting you may have to start looking the antivirus or firewall programs you are running. If there is no fault with the card itself something else is interferring with the sound settings or preventlng a good install of the software. Was this the 2/07/2007 update you installed?
i only see x-fi cmss-3d tab on the audio console. no cmss2. the update was from 02/16/2007.
http://us.creative.com/support/down...&driverlang=1033&OS=26&drivertype=0&x=35&y=14
you know....i actually tried watching a movie with vlc media player and the surround sound works. the only problem is that there are no voices when people speak. other than that, the back 2 speakers aren't working. i got this vista codec pack but the voices still don't work.
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Not having an X-FI series card here makes it a little harder to compare. But you may be seeing some type of bug in that release. The one thing I could advise here on that is to email their support staff directly with the problems seen there outlined in some detail. Tell them the steps you have taken so far like reinstalling and trying the various settings. The US link is seen at http://us.creative.com/support/custsup/askus/emailformcs.asp