detecting if a soundblaster live! has been upgraded to 5.1

[sk8bloke22]

basically i got my live! card second hand a while ago, and the bloke in the shop (CEX in london) told me that my live! card, although not an official 5.1 soundblaster, had been upgraded to be used with 5.1 speaker setup. i just needed a sound card quick, so i thought this to be useful wheneva i wanted to upgrade to a 5.1 setup...

anyway, now my rusty old cambridge soundworks 4.1 speaker setup is getting old (one speaker input has fused or something, so now only 3 speakers work) i was thinking of getting some new 5.1 speakers. but im not so sure if my card really was upgraded by the previous owner of the card...how do i check?

these are the ports

1) Gameport
2) Rear Speaker Input <-- Gold
3) Front Speaker Input <-- Gold
4) Not Sure <-- Gold
5) Line In <-- Gold

help???

[blizz]

the thing I'd recommend it to get a good look at your card, and check for a pic of your card online.

[Redah]

I'm pretty sure you have:

1) Gameport
2) Rear Speaker Output
3) Front Speaker Output
4) Microphone Input
5) Line Input

Even if the 4th isn't a Microphone Input, which I think it is, you still wouldn't have a 5.1 card. If you'd have a 5.1 card, the Rear and Front shouldn't have been next to eachother, but there should have been a Center plug between them. Front, Rear, Center.

These usually also are color coded.

[sk8bloke22]

Originally posted by Redah
I'm pretty sure you have:

1) Gameport
2) Rear Speaker Output
3) Front Speaker Output
4) Microphone Input
5) Line Input

Even if the 4th isn't a Microphone Input, which I think it is, you still wouldn't have a 5.1 card. If you'd have a 5.1 card, the Rear and Front shouldn't have been next to eachother, but there should have been a Center plug between them. Front, Rear, Center.

These usually also are color coded.

dang...goddman computer Exchange lying out of their arses again

ok im still not convinced though...ill continue to research...

[Reznor007]

On the real Live5.1 cards, it goes like this:

MIDI Port(Joystick)
Rear(analog stereo)
Front(analog stereo)
Mic
Line
DigitalOut or Center/Subwoofer analog out depending on the settings in the SB Live Surround Mixer program


If your card doesn't have the digital output jack, then it probably won't work with the 5.1 audio.

[sk8bloke22]

Originally posted by Redah
If you'd have a 5.1 card, the Rear and Front shouldn't have been next to eachother, but there should have been a Center plug between them. Front, Rear, Center.

These usually also are color coded.

ah, but im not talking about a regular 5.1 card, it was an upgraded live! card (which is possible to do as the 5.1 later series were just a firmware update) which is why my connectors aernt colour coded, as they were modified by someone. i think the reason why the bloke told me that it was able to use 5.1 speakers, was becos it didnt hav colour coded connectors. if it was modified, then the center doesnt hav to be in between the front and rear connectors...i think...

[Redah]

Originally posted by Reznor007
On the real Live5.1 cards, it goes like this:

MIDI Port(Joystick)
Rear(analog stereo)
Front(analog stereo)
Mic
Line
DigitalOut or Center/Subwoofer analog out depending on the settings in the SB Live Surround Mixer program


If your card doesn't have the digital output jack, then it probably won't work with the 5.1 audio.

Nope, not true, check the attached image for proof. His card is probably a regular SB Live! card, which has the ports I illustrated in my post above. The Live! 5.1 card, as pictured below, has from top to bottom:

Front (or Rear, dunno)
Center
Rear (or Front, dunno)

There's also another line of Live! 5.1 cards, which is the Live! 5.1 Digital series...

I think the salesman at the CEX meant that there's software now (I think it's on the CD) that will mix 5.1 signals into 2 outputs. It won't give you the real experience tho

[sk8bloke22]

although i think ur right redah...its not completely wat i meant. my card, according to the dickhead salesman, was not a typical soundblaster live! value card...actually he compared to another one, and the ports were different colours. he believed that someone had personally modified the card. i just realised that i can test this...my brother has a fucking amazing speaker setup on his new pc, hes going to america tommorow, so i can fuck around with it...i test his speakers on my pc. i once saw an article that showed and described how to modify the 1st generation live! cards to make them into 5.1 cards. ur probably right, and my card is just a regular crappy live! card, but maybe it was modified. ill check tommorw.

[Reznor007]

Originally posted by Redah


Nope, not true, check the attached image for proof. His card is probably a regular SB Live! card, which has the ports I illustrated in my post above. The Live! 5.1 card, as pictured below, has from top to bottom:

Front (or Rear, dunno)
Center
Rear (or Front, dunno)

There's also another line of Live! 5.1 cards, which is the Live! 5.1 Digital series...

I think the salesman at the CEX meant that there's software now (I think it's on the CD) that will mix 5.1 signals into 2 outputs. It won't give you the real experience tho

No, it's true. I have a SB Live 5.1 Xgamer card, and can verify that. The center/sub output is also the digital audio output jack. I have my card outputting into a home theater receiver for 5.1 in games. Look at my setup(old pic though...many new toys added since that pic )

[sk8bloke22]

goddamn arsehole shitty CEX ... Ok i dunno if its a 5.1 card or not, the centre speaker did work, pretty much as it should, but the sound card is most probably a regular 4.1 live! card. ok thats not the problem. i thought my speaker port had fused or something, but no, i had the exact same problem in my brothers top-notch digitheatre LC speakers, where the Front-Right Speaker was VERY VERY faint. they sold me a dodgy sound card the arseholes. well, im gonna part exchange back to them...i only really lose £10 as they'll take £30 for it and i originally paid £40. so thats not too bad. ill trade a few more games in so i can get something else..

im not sure about the audigy, as it costs £70 and i dont think ill be able to afford it...wat are other good choices at a slightly cheaper price???

/me looks at renzor's pic

oh my flipping god, those speakers are bigger than my dog.