ASUS Xonar U7 and 4.1?

[Deeky]

I recently purchased a Xonar U7, hoping the move to an external solution would solve a long standing and unstoppable ground loop issue within my tower (and I'm happy on that account, there is zero hum/hiss). I have a pair of Audioengine 5s up front, A2s for the rear, and a 12" Velodyne sub. I've never had a problem running this setup in 4.1 with a "phantom center" ... until now.

Is there really no option for 4.1 in the Xonar Audio Center? And, barring that, there doesn't appear to be a way to remove the center channel from the 5.1 configuration using the ASUS software. I'm stuck with Quadraphonic with no sub, or a 5.1 with no center. I've tried overriding this using the Windows 7 speaker configuration options (thus removing the center), but it seems the Xonar software trumps the Windows settings and I end up losing center channel audio due to a non-existent speaker.

I've ran numerous Creative cards and even an HTHD from Auzentech, and I've never had issues getting 4.1 to work properly. Very frustrating. Any suggestions? Am I missing something? I've emailed ASUS but have yet to hear back.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Deeky]

Received a reply from an ASUS rep:

Sorry, for this operation " "remove" the center channel to create a "phantom center"" you mentioned, it seems that you are referring to the LFE/Center Channel Swap function of this sound card, but for this card, I am afraid to say that this function is just available for 5.1 and above configutation.

Because I enjoy misery, I sent a response clarifying what I actually need.

...

So yeah, no help coming from ASUS on this one.