Creative X-Fi Titanium (Fhaktality version)...

- Balthazor

I have used NOD32 in the past on this system but I uninstalled it after realizing that NOD's LLR's wrap themselves around my KillerNIC's LLR's (dll file that allows bypass of the windows TCP stack)...basically interfering with my Killer's performance. Anyway back to the point...

No, now I am using Avast Antivirus, a Logitech G-15 Classic with GamePanel and Keyboard Profiler TSR's, active.

Some of the hardware we have is similar, it should hopefully be updated in my sig below.

Oh! I remember that Auzen mentioned in their driver release notes that the volume not working on DDL on a digital connection is a known issue... figures. Maybe Creative *cough* will decide to fix it in an upcoming driver release.

-Z
 
Actually, I double checked, and I do experience the same thing... however, I dont think its a quirk/bug... I think it is done like that for a reason.

On Winamp for instance, the volume control/mute in the creative panel as well as the buttons on the keyboard are bypassed. The control is direct through winamp. It makes sense though... The 3D and DDlive still work, and make everything come out as 5.1/7.1, but the EQ through creative is also disabled. This makes sense though, as otherwise, if run in series, the effects would be compounding. The EQ would be 2x and everything would be out of whack. It seems that when there is an application that has its own full sound control like this, some of the creative/main controls are sent directly to the application's controls. It seems like that is a good thing though, and its not like I dont still have a dial on my Z5500s to be the final control. But yeah, it appears it is on purpose, and it makes sense. When playing CoD4, the volume/EQ in the creative panel gets used because those controls arent in CoD4 otherwise. Even in winamp though, all the other features are still in full use... my speakers dont go back to 2-channel or anything. So it seems that Creative made the controls to work with the other applications, (not parallel, but not series either), as even in winamp, I can still control the other things that winamp doesnt control... like sub gain, X-Fi Crystalizer, etc.
 
I'm not sure I buy into the 'its done on purpose' argument.

Because if there were so, why have the 'bypass windows volume control' only over Dolby Digital? By your reasoning wouldn't Creative bypass the windows volume control for all output? Because you could still have the chained EQ effects or whatever using an analog connection or even unencoded digital out, both of which function fine with the windows volume controls (which are the same as the Creative audio controls.)

I have no problem with setting modes, EAX, crystallizer, or CMSS-3D; all that stuff works using Dolby Digital. Its just the windows volume control that is slightly annoying.

I am heartened by the fact that at least Auzentech has acknowledged it as an issue. I'm using my Z-5500 speakers' remote for the time being, so its not a huge deal, just an annoyance - so used to just using the windows volume control via my keyboard's mute / volume buttons.

I could temporarily swap to analog cables, but optical just sounds a bit clearer... and its digital, and marketing tells me digital is better, so it must be, because marketing never lies.

Zsheezor - sending you a PM about the Killer, had a question about it.
 
I dont know... it seems to make sense to me... if its just windows or something that just uses the windows volume controls, then the creative controls do work, but if it is something else that normally has its own control built in, the creative drivers take a back seat. I suppose its a little different, but there might still be some way to set the keyboard binds for volume control to those other applications still. I seem to remember being able to do that through the keyboard software (I know, who actually uses that stuff?). MS Intellitype let me set up the keys on my board so they would work on winamp and stuff instead... not sure... maybe it was just manipulating the master controls then... not sure. Maybe creative HAD to have the software 'take over' like that (rather than keeping the master + application in series) for the constand-volume feature to work or something.
 
Auzentech has this on their FAQ:

Q : After installing the sound card and connecting it to my surround sound system using S/PDIF output, keyboard and Control Panel adjustments to Volume and Balance either do not work or have minimal affect. Is that normal?
A : With Digital Audio output, output levels are controlled by the wave volume settings. Multimedia keyboards and remote controls only adjust the master volume. The third-party application "Volume Tracker" corrects the situation by linking wave volume and master volume. Volume Tracker is compatible with Windows 2000, XP and Windows Media Center.

I also found this article:

"Another direct consequence of transmitting a compressed audio signal instead of an uncompressed audio signal (more commonly known as PCM) is that the volume of that signal cannot be modified once it has been encoded. Because the bits in an encoded signal no longer directly correspond to the volume of that signal, it is impossible to increase the volume until it is decoded. This explains why your PC cannot control the volume of your sound when you are using Dolby Digital or DTS as the output. The connected device will be the only place where the volume can be changed."


http://windowsvistablog.com/blogs/w.../using-s-pdif-to-send-audio-from-your-pc.aspx

So it would seem that this behavior is not only intended, but apparently unchangeable in Vista. In XP there is a utility (Volume Tracker) that can fix this, reportedly. This utility has no effect in Vista.
 
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