Dolby Digital in Games (summary)

S

SirOwnzAlot

n00b
Joined
Aug 8, 2004
Messages
27
Let me summarize DD + Games. Save you the trouble of reading 4 pages of post.

1. Games with Dolby Digital such as Splinter Cell, are made for DD environments. Read #4
2. In order for you to get DD you need DD ENCODER(Called Dolby Digital Live!) and a DD decoder such as a home theatre receiver or a speaker combo with a decoder.
3. A DD DECODER is used for decoding DD Audio in DVDs for your computer speakers. Because they don't have a built in DD decoder (some do).
4. With DD encoder, any signal your computer outputs is encoded in DD. The Dolby Digital logo on games just means that with the right setup, you hear the way the game is meant to be heard. Games that aren't "supported" which don't have the logo can be in 5.1 Dolby.
5. In order to ENCODE DD, you need an nforce 2 motherboard. nforce's don't support Intel CPUs. Only AMDs. Intel's new motherboards have DD encoding.. But Intel's don't have AGP slots.
6. Cmedia made a PCI sound card with DD encoding. The CMI8768. It's a cheap taiwanese piece of crap. I currently own one but the checkbox that enables DD encoding is missing.

And comments I should reply to that were posted earlier.

"everyone wants a card with DD encoding, but nobody makes one. why?? " - bjornb17

Cause the computer audio industry sucks and doesn't have a standard.
My ranting on how crappy the industry is
 
Forgot to add

7. A big myth about DD is that you need an Audio Processing Unit and it's only possibly on motherboards. The fact is you don't even need a new sound card with DD on it. You only need SOFTWARE to encode it. If a computer can encode DD for DVDs it can encode it for whatever is going onscreen. Cmedia's DD on the fly encoding they were working on only uses 7% CPU and has no noticable lag. (My source: 3dsoundsurge.com go look through the archives, should be in 2004) The PS2 doesn't have a DD hardware encoder (source Dolby.com look at gaming technology, PS2 can't do DD) but there's a software encoder in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. The whole game is going to be encoded in DD on a system that doesn't have a hardware encoder.
 
And comments I should reply to that were posted earlier.

"everyone wants a card with DD encoding, but nobody makes one. why?? " - bjornb17
Click to expand...

hey i patented that phrase, i'll sue your a$$!! (thats what i would say if i was Creative). but since im a nice guy, im flattered ;)
 
So the cmedia card...
You say the card can to HW DD encoding.
Yet there is no check box to do so..
If there is no option to, how can you make it encode a DD signal for spdif out?
I only ask cuz I would really like a card to do DD encoding.. and I'm not about to drop $ on a cpu/mobo (nforce2 option).
 
OK, I'm confused. I have a sound card (see sig) that has a C-Media chip. It says it supports Dolby Digital. Does this mean I can get Dolby surround in games (Unreal Tournament etc.)? Or am I completely missing the picture here? It can decode Dolby, so does this mean I can get the surround?
I apologise for my ignorance and lack of underatanding on this :rolleyes:
 
In response to tech guy:
That's the problem, it's supposed to have the check box. But it's missing. The back of the box has a screenshot of the control panel and the checkbox is there. It also advertises on the back "Supports real-time Dlby Digital Live 7.1 output for all digital audio sources (Software Real-Time Content encoder)"
I look at the inf driver file that was on the CD and it's for CMI8738 when I have a CMI8768 could be why the checkbox is missing.

In response to 4keatimj:
When it says it supports DD it means when you play a DVD and use spdif out. You'll get DD audio. Can't get DD in games. Just means you get DD during DVDs.

We'd all have DD gaming right now if someone made a real time content software encoder. Currently someone developed Dolbyout DS, but it's only used for DD mp3's and it sucks.
 
SirOwnzAlot said:
Let me summarize DD + Games. Save you the trouble of reading 4 pages of post
Click to expand...

1. Games with Dolby Digital such as Splinter Cell, are made for DD environments. Read #4
> The game does not have natively encoded DD content, you need a hardware encoder to get DD output. " Requires nVIDIA® nForce™ or other otherboards/soundcards containing the Dolby® Digital Interactive Content Encoder required for Dolby Digital audio.", The XBOX version supports DD because it has the Dolby ICE in hardware.

2. In order for you to get DD you need DD ENCODER(Called Dolby Digital Live!) and a DD decoder such as a home theatre receiver or a speaker combo with a decoder.
> agreed, you need a hardware encoder (Dolby ICE) with a digital connection to a decoder (receiver or speakers w/ decoder)

3. A DD DECODER is used for decoding DD Audio in DVDs for your computer speakers. Because they don't have a built in DD decoder (some do).
> Correct. There are software DD decoder solutions that will process pre-encoded content from DVD's and AC3 files.

4. With DD encoder, any signal your computer outputs is encoded in DD. The Dolby Digital logo on games just means that with the right setup, you hear the way the game is meant to be heard. Games that aren't "supported" which don't have the logo can be in 5.1 Dolby.
> See #1 for the common disclaimer on game boxes. Any audio content will be converted to a Dolby Digital stream by SoundStorm

5. In order to ENCODE DD, you need an nforce 2 motherboard. nforce's don't support Intel CPUs. Only AMDs. Intel's new motherboards have DD encoding.. But Intel's don't have AGP slots.
> The Intel HDAudio spec seems to only support Dolby Pro-Logic IIx, a format for expanding 2-channel audio to 5.1 or 7.1 channels. It is unclear whether it will be able to encode to Dolby Digital.

6. Cmedia made a PCI sound card with DD encoding. The CMI8768. It's a cheap taiwanese piece of crap. I currently own one but the checkbox that enables DD encoding is missing.
> Good luck with this! We're all waiting to see the results

7. A big myth about DD is that you need an Audio Processing Unit and it's only possibly on motherboards. The fact is you don't even need a new sound card with DD on it. You only need SOFTWARE to encode it. If a computer can encode DD for DVDs it can encode it for whatever is going onscreen. Cmedia's DD on the fly encoding they were working on only uses 7% CPU and has no noticable lag. (My source: 3dsoundsurge.com go look through the archives, should be in 2004) The PS2 doesn't have a DD hardware encoder (source Dolby.com look at gaming technology, PS2 can't do DD) but there's a software encoder in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. The whole game is going to be encoded in DD on a system that doesn't have a hardware encoder.
> This is incorrect. A computer does not encode DD content when watching a DVD, it decodes it - this is a much simpler process. As far as real-time software encoders go, there aren't too many options, there's a pre-alpha one on the sourceforge site (can't find link right now) but otherwise there's only the C-Media specific one that hasn't been released
 
1. Don't really know how to comment on this. Basically you need an encoder to hear the game the way it was ment to be heard.
5. http://www.intel.com/design/motherbd/software/ias/ Intel audio studio which is being used on their new boards has DD Live.
6. I looked at the INF files of other drivers and here's 2 things I've noticed that were wrong with mine.
a. I own a CMI8768, all over the driver it says CMI8738. Not a single mention of 8768.
b. On other Cmedia drivers it says

(;;;; DDInstall for C-Media 9738 AC/97 Codec
[AC97]
AlsoInstall=ks.registration(ks.inf),wdmaudio.registration(wdmaudio.inf)
CopyFiles=CMUDA.CopyList, CMUDAProp.CopyList, C3D.CopyList, Audio3D.CopyList
AddReg=CMUDA.AddReg, CMUDAProp.AddReg, Audio3D.AddReg, UDA_NAMES.AddReg)

So I conclude that the missing checkbox is a driver problem. I don't have whats pasted above in my driver.

7. When I said your computer can encode DD for DVDs, I meant you can get DVD authoring software and encode a DD soundtrack for DVDs. Making your own DVDs with DD soundtracks.

Cmedia's site is finally back up. You can read about DD encoder. http://www.cmedia.com.tw/e_t_twp.htm Basically with a software encoder anyone with a spdif out can get DD audio. Sadly there isn't alot of options. There's an encoder called Dolbyout DS which is for mp3s but it sucks.
 
SJetski71 said:
heres a cmedia specific forum right here: http://www.3dss-forums.com/cgi-bin/wwwthreads/postlist.pl?Cat=&Board=Forum21

Apparently dolby ac3 support is still in development BUT here's a plug-in that might actually work:
Source: http://www.3dss-forums.com/cgi-bin/...=142326&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=0&fpart=
Cmedia/Dolby plug-in: http://acidbao.free.fr/isoft/dlpage.php?prog=DolbyOutDS
Click to expand...
i posted this hack info in another thread. Some can supposedly run Dolby AC3 with it installed. Hope this helps
 
It is a shame that it's taken this long for DD encoding to even show up on the radar. However, keep us posted about that CMedia card, and whether you can get it to work.

It would be nice to see a sound card that could encode DTS...might as well use the superior sound format =]
 
fingers crossed that the nforce4 has some sort of multichannel digital encoding on it.

its a pain having to run 3 cables from my pc to 6 analog inputs on my amp when 1 digital could do.

thats the only benefit though (getting rid of some wires), although to some its not even a benefit, as the digital encoding uses compression technologies you lose some detail from the sound (albeit minor).

I understand why people dont see this as an issue, but for those without multichannel analog inputs on their surround sound amps, it is.

pez
 
Well, one other benefit is that you'd get to use your receiver's DACs for the audio, instead of what's on your mobo/sound card. If you have a reasonably decent receiver, the DACs will probably blow your sound card's DACs away.

Also, pretty much pre/pro or amp under 4000$ only has one set of 5.1/6.1/7.1 analog in, and damned if I'm going to hook up my comp to it, once I get a decent DVD-A/SACD player.
 
but your receivers DACS are still processing a compressed signal that originates from your sound card.

pez
 
Looking up my sound card, I found I have that C-Media chip (and I beg to differ about the Taiwanese peice of crap remark :( ). And I have a few games that have Dolby Digital sound. Can it uncompress the Dolby Digital signal in games or just DVDs? It has only analouge out (no digital out port).
 
alex pez said:
but your receivers DACS are still processing a compressed signal that originates from your sound card.

pez
Click to expand...


Well, I'll tell you that when I switched from a GTXP to an Emu 1212M, you could easily tell the difference, even on 128Kbps MP3s [Sadly, I still have a few laying around] Those DACs blew the old card out of the water, and I doubt that they are even as good as the ones in my receiver.

I'd rather have superlative DACs in a EMI shielded chassis, driven off a toroidal power supply doing the heavy lifting, than a 100$ sound card.
 
4keatimj, you can't get DD in gaming OR DVDs unless you have spdif out. Cmedia is a cheap Taiwanese piece of crap. I've been trying to get my sound card to do what it's supposed to do for 2 weeks now. I think in that time I've become the world's leading expert on DD and gaming.
 
Now remember, don't discriminate:

ALL countries make cheap pieces of crap =]

I will agree, it sucks that they fed you a line of bullshit about DD encoding, and you had to fork over cash to find out if it was true.
 
SirOwnzAlot said:
Forgot to add

7. A big myth about DD is that you need an Audio Processing Unit and it's only possibly on motherboards. The fact is you don't even need a new sound card with DD on it. You only need SOFTWARE to encode it. If a computer can encode DD for DVDs it can encode it for whatever is going onscreen. Cmedia's DD on the fly encoding they were working on only uses 7% CPU and has no noticable lag. (My source: 3dsoundsurge.com go look through the archives, should be in 2004) The PS2 doesn't have a DD hardware encoder (source Dolby.com look at gaming technology, PS2 can't do DD) but there's a software encoder in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. The whole game is going to be encoded in DD on a system that doesn't have a hardware encoder.
Click to expand...

A Computer does NOT encode DD for DVD, the data is ALREADY encoded as DD on the DVD. With a game the data can NOT be pre-encoded since it is an interactive game, so it must be encoded on the fly. Very big difference.

AFAIK all PS2 games with DD are only DD during the Cutscences, but I could be wrong.
 
7. When I said your computer can encode DD for DVDs, I meant you can get DVD authoring software and encode a DD soundtrack for DVDs. Making your own DVDs with DD soundtracks.
 
I have and it's terrible. Only works for mp3's on matrix mixer.

I have some progress with my missing checkbox problem. CMedia gave me a crappy CMI8738 driver on the CD. The file for the properties of my soundcard is system32/udaprop3.dll I've opened up other drivers and they have the DD stuff in it. I've tried replacing udaprop3.dll with other udaprop3.dll from other drivers but it doesn't work. So I need Cmedia to come out with a real CMI8768 driver or I need someone with programming ability to edit the file to do what it's supposed to do.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top