ATI 4550 HDMI Sound Issues

Ok so here is what I am trying to do (maybe i just can't do this)...

My motherboard has two PCI-E 16x slots, I currently have a 8800GTS 512MB as my video card and I due to limitations with surround sound from PC Games and SPIDF Optical I have purchases a ATI 4550 for my second PCI-E 16x slot just to perform HDMI sound to my receiver...

I only had an hour after the packaged arrived to try to get this setup working (I'm not at work unfortunately) and I feel I may have rushed a few steps and have done things in the wrong order but I will explain what I have done and in what order I have done this...

First off I installed the card in the second slot, booted up Vista 64bit, then checked the Device Manager and the device was there. In the Control Panel under Sound Windows had picked up an HDMI device.

2. I installed the drivers for the Realtek audio, version 2.06 and then Rebooted.

3. Everything checked out great in the Device Manager (minus the VGA adapter since I didn't install the Catalyst drivers since I don't want to use this card for video).

4. Under the Control Panel in Sound the device now showed up as a Realtek HDMI Sound Device... I thought Great!

5. Everything now hooked up I tried testing the sound, through songs to just using the testing features under the sound device... I could see the meter moving as if the volume was going up, but nothing came out of my receiver... (I was on the right input)...

6. Bypassed the Receiver I went straight to my TV, played an MP3 file and once again Windows acted like it was pumping out the sound but it still was not coming out even on the TV this time...

7. I realized that I didn't disable the on board audio which is also Realtek... Rebooted and Disabled it.

8. Back in Windows I no longer had any devices under playback for Sound, checked Device Manager, there was an HD Audio Device and something else that I can't remember. No driver issues.

9. Tried reinstalling the Realtek drivers and no luck... Still no device...

10. Rebooted and turned back on the on board audio through the BIOS (again) and once again it showed up under the Sound Devices... But still didn't work at all even though it acted as if it was pumping out the sound...

11. I did install the Catalyst drivers right before I had to leave, didn't get a chance to play around in them to see if that would help but I just checked to see if that resolved the issue and it did not...


Am I doing something wrong here guys? Here is a list of my specs...

OS: Windows Vista 64bit SP1
Motherboard: Gibabyte P35-DS4
CPU: Intel Q6600
RAM: 4GB DDR2
Video Card: 8800GTS 512MB
Receiver: Sony Bravia Home Theatre System link: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....=1200703057943
TV: Sharp Aquos 1080P

If you guys need anything from me to try to help me out feel free to ask.

I appreciate any help you guys can give me!


EDIT: When I get home from work I am going to try removing my 8800GTS 512MB and see if the sound works with the ATI Card as the only Video / Audio card in the system... Maybe I am attempting to do the impossible...

I should have mentioned that I read my manual thoroughly for my receiver. It does and only supports 8 Channel LPCM through HDMI. It specifically states this even though its a 5 channel system...


This is my dilemma... Through SPIDF optical my previous sound card did send audio through Dolby Digital Live and DTS but in Windows it would not give me the option to choose how many channels I wanted the card to push out so games like Crysis and Unreal Tournament automatically assume that I have a 2.1 setup and only send out a 2.1 signal to my receiver...

I spent two days trying to get that to work... I had read on another forum that SPIDF Optical only supports 2 channel to begin with...

I have a SPIDF coaxil on my motherboard but this would be my last option in hopes of a real result...

I'm also leaning towards a 4870X2 for my next graphics card upgrade when I get my next check in 2 weeks so if this 4550's HDMI audio does work when I boot up the system with only that video card in... Then I will just wait until my graphics card upgrade to have real surround sound in my PC games...

All in all though this has put me a bit in the hole for this pay period that has past I will say this is an enjoyable learning experience...

Thanks for the input.

Yea it may also be the fact that my Creative PCI-E card is a piece of junk...

I will try my motherboards SPIDF Optical again with updated drivers and see if that works...

I'm also not defeated with the two card solution I am attempting... I only had an hour at most to fiddle around with it and I like much more time with it before I give up...

I'm going to go with just the ATI card and see if I can get sound, if I can't then there is a problem with just the card and my motherboard (possibly) if it works then I know I'm just limited here...

I will post my final results in a bit just in case someone down the line attempts or thinks about attempting the same thing...

I've decided to stick with the 8800GTS 512MB after exhausting all of my options over the past few hours.. I did try the 4550 for a while but I had my first "red" screen of death in Vista........

It also is not friendly with the 1080P resolution of my TV (I looked this up and it seems to be a current issue with all 4 series ATI cards)... Unfortunately that will steer me away from the 4870X2 which I had been getting excited about purchasing...

I'm back to using my Motherboard's SPIDF (it gives me more options than my Creative Audigy Audio Xtreme PCI-E card)... I have my games coming through in DTS Interactive but from what I read the card is still receiving a stereo (I'm assuming they mean 2.1 channel) signal and it is converting it to 5.1... It actually sounds quite nice in my games though I am sure it's not going to match up to true in-game surround sound.......

I'm left with little options... The time spent with the Radeon 4550 still provided me with no options to choose how many speakers were in my setup leaving my games to output once again a 2.1 channel signal to my receiver... (I tested this before I received my Red Screen of Death).

I may take a gamble and get the newer version of my sound card that Creative has made that does not use the CPU at all but is fully hardware supported... I just hope it gives me more options with the SPIDF Optical Out as to setting how many speakers I actually have..........