Surround Sound problems

[the_lone_wolf]

Right, i have a Creative 6700 set up in 5.1 surround mode, but although i have masses of house shaking bass i have so little coming through the front centre sepaker i can't tell if it's working or not ;(

in my windows volume controls i have the centre on full and the surround/LFE/Fronts set to less than the lowest bar and still the centre is near silent.

I'm using onboard sound, cause thats what my comp came with, could that be my issue? if so what's good (cheap) 5.1/6.1 sound cards do people recommend

please help

 

[Heppyruk]

I have no idea I am afraid. You could try updating your drivers to see if that helps and i'd recommend contacting Creative and Steam to see what they say. The new soundcard that I am getting (as i'm having suround probs myself) is this: http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/prod...2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=82109.

I asked for peoples opnions and apparently it's a good soundcard and a great find at the price . Hope i have helped ya.

 

[the_lone_wolf]

Heppyruk - thanks for that, i could try getting in touch with steam but the problem isn't just during HL2 play, should have specified, it happens even in my 5.1 test program - the soundcard you have there is funnily enough the exact one i was looking at (gotta love ebuyer hey?)

hey ho, more spending awaits

edit: one thing i should mention is that one person i spoke to said if you have the money you should get the Audigy2 based card - you can see the comparisions by clicking here. looks like the cheaper card still uses system resources, that and the fact i actually have a 6.1 system might tempt me to blow the extra £20

 

[`unreal]

First off, EBUYER RULES! No seriously it does, its managed to build my whole household worth of computers.

the_lone_wolf, i have the exact same speaker set up as you, and infact my centre-front speaker is too loud. Im getting a replacement subwoofer from Creative aswell, (I have already spoken to them etc) because there is some kind of problem with the amp inside, where I am getting alot of noise from the front centre.

I am not sure what your problem is though, I myself am using onboard 5.1 sound, on my Asus A7N8X Deluxe v2. I am going to be purchasing an Audigy 2 ZS soon enough (only £20 more than the value one) to secure audio fidelity on my computer

One thing i found out is that it CAN be the soundcard *remembering previous probs* but not because it it faulty or anything - you just need to set it up right. If you set it up wrong, using the wrong output arrangement, etc, you will run across speakers that appear to be off or very quiet. The Centre (front) speaker is actually supposed to be at least double the volume of the rest (hence the larger size).

 

[the_lone_wolf]

thanks for everyone's help here, i've fixed the issue with the quiet centre speaker, all seems well balanced now, might still end up getting a decent sound card though if i find the audio is £50 better quality than my onboard