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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 sound’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 amp’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 “asterisk” sound, most of the signal is lost. This is annoying to say the least. I don’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 – aka “digital black” or “digital silence” 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 can’t change the settings. Can anyone help?
PS – I’ve searched a lot, and the only problem most Realtek users had is that the speakers didn’t work at all on digital because their card didn’t support digital and/or didn’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.
Follow Ups:
I had a similar problem when using a SPDIF output with MLS software. The sine-wave sweep was short, and by the time the digital interface "linked up" the sweep was already half done!! DOH!!So what I did was play a very long file in Windows Media Player, but turn the volume off. This kept the digital interface "hot" between sine-sweeps. Problem solved.
I know it's a P.I.T.A., but it worked for me...
You might even be able to set something up where you monitor a mic or line level input, but keep the input level at minimum. This may also keep the digitla output "hot".
Whether or not these methods work with kernel streaming / ASIO and allow for bitperfect playback is another unfortunate can of worms...
Hope this helped.
Interesting ideas, Presto. I would wonder about interference with the sound files I want to hear, as you mentioned. I just read the thread immediately below this one regarding Rogue Amoeba's Airfoil software. Adam Verver wrote:"After a bit of experimentation, I found that Airfoil, an inexpensive software by Rogue Amoeba, that allows transmission of any audio stream from the computer, offers an elegant solution for this problem. It allows, by its default settings, for sending a stream of 'silence' when the source is not transmitting. This eliminates the need to re-synch and the loss of data at the beginning of the stream."
Boy, this is _exactly_ what I really need: software to send a stream of zeros when no source is being played. I wonder if their product would work for me as a plain sound manager application, even though I'm not using AE? I guess I can download the trial version and find out. Then my only issue might be the resource usage by a constantly running sound management application, but I bet this is a low-resource software.
nt
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