Delay and thumps with Boston Acoustics BA735 speakers

Computer Audio Asylum

Music servers and other computer based digital audio technologies.

I recently acquired a set of Boston Acoustics BA735 digital speakers from a relative. These are active speakers with both an analog and digital input into the sub, which then parses out appropriate signals to the two satellites. I assume the sub contains a DAC and then an amplifier section along with its crossover, or perhaps it just uses a digital (Class D) amp section. I am using these with my MSI K8NGM2-FID motherboard with integrated Realtek soundcard using the ALC880 chipset. It has an S/PDIF header on the board that I connected to the included S/PDIF bracket on the back of my PC, and that has a typical RCA connection for a digital signal out. There is a similar RCA connector for the digital input on the back of the sub. I am using Windows XP Pro.
The analog input works fine. I am having an issue with the digital input, though. I connected them using an RCA/RCA cable, and overall I get good sound from these speakers (for their price). The problem is that I have a short delay between a soundâ€™s beginning and the time that the speakers actually produce full-volume sound. Once a sound has stopped, I can then hear a thump as the speakers seem to turn off again. It seems as though the speakers are set to mute the internal ampâ€™s output in the absence of any signal, and that once they detect a signal they take a moment to crank up. This is no big deal when playing music or a video, because the signal is continuous once it starts. But for the short sound effects, like the Windows â€œasteriskâ€ sound, most of the signal is lost. This is annoying to say the least. I donâ€™t see any setting to force the speaker amp to stay on all the time, nor do I see a way in the soundcard software to force it to always generate a digital signal (a constant stream of 0s â€“ aka â€œdigital blackâ€ or â€œdigital silenceâ€ would create no sound but would keep the speakers on). I am able to see the S/PDIF slider control, but it is grayed out and I canâ€™t change the settings. Can anyone help?
PS â€“ Iâ€™ve searched a lot, and the only problem most Realtek users had is that the speakers didnâ€™t work at all on digital because their card didnâ€™t support digital and/or didnâ€™t have a full-duplex capability. My card does have duplex capability, as I can open two instances of the Windows player/record and simultaneously generate a sound and record it. And I am getting sound, just with a delay.
PPS - I can just use analog as a workaround, but the sound is clearer and better with the digital input. This is probably because that eliminates a DAC/ADC process, so I'd prefer to use the digital input if I can.

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Topic - Delay and thumps with Boston Acoustics BA735 speakers - Msquared 13:16:43 03/13/07 (3)

Re: Delay and thumps with Boston Acoustics BA735 speakers - Presto 16:58:31 03/13/07 (2)

Re: Delay and thumps with Boston Acoustics BA735 speakers - Msquared 08:18:59 03/14/07 (1)

Hey good catch. That might work... try demo and report back! :o) nt - Presto 21:04:21 03/15/07 (0)

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