Audio passthrough via DVI... do I need D or I?

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themaskedman

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#23480 30-Jun-2008 17:48

Hi guys,

I'm trying to hook my HTPC up to my plasma. I've got an XFX 8500GT with SPDIF pass through via DVI.

I have a DVI->HDMI cable but it is DVI-D, should this be able to carry audio, because as of now, all I have is silence.

Do I actually need DVI-I?

Tom.

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#141606 30-Jun-2008 17:58

First question is. how are you connecting the audio to the Video card? This is the most likely place for you to have problems.

DVI-D should be fine.

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themaskedman

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Master Geek

#141609 30-Jun-2008 18:11

Using the SPDIF out on my motherboard (connected to GND and SPDIF).

Does anyone know which side is ground on the XFX card? Is it the one with the little arrow?

Dingbatt

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#141619 30-Jun-2008 18:41

From what I can tell the only difference between -I and -D is that the -I has analogue pins, and I don't think they would be used by hdmi.
When I connected my graphics card to the spdif header on the motherboard I had settings in the bios and in the onboard audio controller software I had to set. Different brand from yours tho'.

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1gkar

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Ultimate Geek

#141622 30-Jun-2008 18:47

Have things changed: I was under the impression that only HDMI could carry video+audio signals & DVI=video only.

Does you're motherboard not have either coax or optical SPDIF out? And if so, does you're Plasma have a coax input?

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#141623 30-Jun-2008 19:04

1gkar: Have things changed: I was under the impression that only HDMI could carry video+audio signals & DVI=video only.

Does you're motherboard not have either coax or optical SPDIF out? And if so, does you're Plasma have a coax input?

Yep they can do. The ATI card I tried intially had dual DVI ports and an adapter DVI-HDMI that plugged into it. And it did indeed carry audio as well as video. The card didn't work out (ATI probs covered ad nauseum on GZ threads) so changed to 8500GT with hdmi out but I still had to connect the spdif on the mobo to the card.

Are the gnd spdif pins not named on the card?

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Nety

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#141657 30-Jun-2008 20:06

rixth: Using the SPDIF out on my motherboard (connected to GND and SPDIF).

Does anyone know which side is ground on the XFX card? Is it the one with the little arrow?

Trying to remember now.. I cant get at the media centre right now to check without risking life and limb but I think the ground is the other pin so the one with the arrow is the spdif pin.

Other thing is at least in Vista I had to set digital out as the default (and then reboot) before I got sound out of it.

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1gkar

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Ultimate Geek

#141665 30-Jun-2008 20:25

I'm pretty sure Nety is right & the arrow indicates the live pin; at least on the motherboard front panel headers of my Gigabyte mobo.

themaskedman

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Master Geek

#141694 30-Jun-2008 21:37

Just did some diagnostics with a multimeter (very basic), I tested the SPDIF out, and the voltage was around .3-.5v.

My motherboard does not have coax out on the back, though it does has TOSLINK. I do not have any toslink (or coax for that matter) compatible equipment.

I'm thinking it's plausible I have a bad GFX card. Sound via the onboard HDMI works OK, but when I try to use the XFX 8500GT, it does not. I assume these both use the same digital audio chip.

Any thoughts?

1gkar

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Ultimate Geek

#141706 30-Jun-2008 21:55

Try this:

Click on: start>settings>control panel>sounds & audio devices

Click on advanced button. On options menu, click properties. Check SPDIF in "show the following volume controls". Is SPDIF greyed out? Or is it muted or volume slider down to zero? Probably not as you have sound with system, but never know.

Or is there an option hidden somewhere in the video card control panel?

themaskedman

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Master Geek

#141713 30-Jun-2008 22:06

I'm using Vista, so I couldn't find those specific areas.

One thing I noted though, that under the digital out->levels there is just a mute button, no slider. I'm guessing this is to be expected though?

Nety

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#141811 1-Jul-2008 10:46

rixth: Just did some diagnostics with a multimeter (very basic), I tested the SPDIF out, and the voltage was around .3-.5v.

I'm thinking it's plausible I have a bad GFX card. Sound via the onboard HDMI works OK, but when I try to use the XFX 8500GT, it does not. I assume these both use the same digital audio chip.

Any thoughts?

Maybe the soundcard needs to be set to output via the header rather then the hdmi? I have found that if you right click in the output devices window and tell it to show disabled devices it can help as it may be that the output that you need is disabled so not showing up.

The XFX does have a chip on board for the passthough to work which could be faulty but I think it is much more likely a config problem.

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themaskedman

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Master Geek

#141816 1-Jul-2008 10:59

I had high hopes for that, as it is something I had not tried, however, I do not see any other playback devices when I tick show disabled devices.

I have:
Speakers
Realtek High Definition Audio
Realtek Digital Output (this one is the default, and I see the little green volume meter moving)
Realtek High Definition Audio

Nety

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#141824 1-Jul-2008 11:25

Nothing in the bios or does the sound card have its own control pannel?

Also I take it that if you send the test sounds to it that you do not get them either?

Dingbatt

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#141830 1-Jul-2008 11:56

rixth: I had high hopes for that, as it is something I had not tried, however, I do not see any other playback devices when I tick show disabled devices.

I have:
Speakers
Realtek High Definition Audio
Realtek Digital Output (this one is the default, and I see the little green volume meter moving)
Realtek High Definition Audio

Selecting Realtek High Definition Audio is how I got my sound out through my graphics card (not an XFX one tho'). I also had to configure it in bios.

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Nety

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#141845 1-Jul-2008 12:25

Hate to state the obvious but you have tried changing it back or to something else in the bios...?

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