[cpete]

I searched for several hours last night on getting the SB Live card to do DD passthrough and DTS passthrough under W2K. I got much conflicting information. So let me ask a few basic questions about where we stand today.


1) I understand that W2K and SP 2 are required. Correct?

2) Which drivers work and where can they be found?

3) Do I need to get a CD first from Creative, or can I just download the driver?

4) Does DD and DTS passthough both work?

5) Does WinDVD and PowerDVD both work? If WinDVD works, does v3.x work? I guess I'm ulitmately interested in the ATI player too, but frankly I much prefer WinDVD and PowerDVD.

6) Do certain versions of SB Live cards work and others don't?

7) Am I better off trashing this card and getting a m-audio card?


Chris

PIII-850

SB-Live Full edition (original) w/ Hoontech daughter card

Radeon VE

 

[niggenz]

Trash it. The original SBlive cards don't do SPDIF under Win2K. Simple as that. It's too bad too, since I have 3 of these lying around.

 

[apnar]

I have the SBLive Platinum (origional) and it does DD & DTC pass through fine in WinDVD. I had to use sp2 and new drivers (don't remember which).


-apnar

 

[cpete]

niggenz,


In my searching, I found another thread that hinted at the same thing - that the original cards don't work with the new passthrough enabled drivers from Creative. It seems crazy, because I have passthrough working on W98SE.


apnar,


I'm not sure what the Platinum Live card is, but I'm pretty sure it came after my card. At the time I bought mine, there was a SB Live Full, and a SB Live Value and that was the only choice. They have come out with countless other variations since then, which only adds to the confusion.


Chris

 

[HokeySmoke]

I can also confirm that my SBlive Platinum has no trouble with DD pass through under Win2k SP2 and using WinDVD.

 

[cpete]

I don't have a SB Live Platinum.


Chris

 

[niggenz]

apnar,


The two original cards were the SBlive! Value and the SBlive! (w/digital i/o card). They did not have any type of "Platinium" moniker, or "5.1" or "MP3", "Gamer", etc. These were the first generation boards, and they do not support SPDIF under Windows 2000. Like I said, it sux because I have a bunch of them lying around. Only 2nd and 3rd generation SBlive cards support SPDIF under Win2k. Here is a page that tells you what cards do support SPDIF under Win2K.

http://alive.singnet.com.sg/drivers/win2k.htm


BTW, if you need to know for sure, the model number of your SBlive is silk-screened on the top right hand corner of your SBlive card.

 

[cpete]

I guess I'll have to open my computer up and check the rev number. But it does sound like I have that first generation SB Live card. Again, it seems odd that I can get DD and DTS passthrough to work fine with Win98SE, but not W2K. So it doesn't appear to be any deficiency in the hardware - but who knows what's going on under the covers.


Chris

 

[cpete]

Opened up the case and my model number is CT4620, which is not on the list of supported cards. Here is the list - CT4760, CT4790, CT4830, CT4832, CT4870 CT4872, SB0060, SB0100 and SB0102.


I'm pretty dissapointed with the investment I made in this card. I paid $199 for it originally and then paid another $30 or $40 for the Hoontech adaptor on top of it. I don't think I'll recommend Creative Labs to anyone again and they lost me as a customer due to their crappy support.


Chris

 

[niggenz]

cpete,


Yup it sucks. Maybe in the future we will get some drivers that will allow for AC3/DTS passthru under Win2K for the original series of SBlive cards. But it definitely is not a hardware deficiency. We just need drivers to be developed for those boards. But don't feel so bad, I have three of the those same cards lying around (actually 4, one is a Value card) hoping Creative will some day come out with a driver solution or maybe some nice LINUX developers will write a DVD decoder that supports all the SBlive cards fully .


BTW, Hello fellow Silicon Valley-er! Where the traffic sux big-time!

 

[cpete]

Just to be sure I downloaded the latest LiveWire 3.0 and installed the drivers. The install went fine, but sp-dif selection is greyed out as predicted. Oh well, time for the m-audio card I guess. I don't trust Creative Labs to ever come out with these drivers.


Yup, traffic sucks in Silly-con Valley. But it's getting better with all the dot bombs.


Chris

 

[ugg]

Chris

I had DD DTS working with W2K and Live card, I have moved on to XP now. You dont need SP2. If you have Liveware 3 installed and Powerdvd, You just need an upgrade file called LW3AC3UP.exe. I can't remember where I got it but if you want it I can email it to you. There was a thread on it here months ago but I could not find it for you.

Phill

 

[cpete]

Before I jump ship to the m-audio card let me ask a few more questions regarding the 1st generation SB Live cards.


1) It sounds like PowerDVD will pass DD under W2K, WinDVD won't. From reading I've done, it sounds like WinDVD and PowerDVD use different approaches for passthrough. What about DTS passthrough for PowerDVD? Does that work?

2) What about XP? Will I have the same issues as W2K?


Chris

 

[niggenz]

ugg,


What version SBlive do you have? BTW, could you send the patch to me as well?

 

[chrisssss]

im a bit confused....


what makes a sb live card a first or second generation?


i have a sb live mp3 +5.1. i installed a hoontech adapter and now output audio through the optical output directly into my denon receiver. it seems to work fine under windows 2000 professional with sp1 installed. the only thing i have come across is that the live ware 3 now avaliable says it will not support cards with 5.1.


does anyone know which are the most recent drivers? the website isnt much help

 

[cpete]

Yours is definately not a 1st generation card.


Chris

 

[ugg]

My card is Sound Blaster Live CT4830. I did not know what model I had untill I just opened the case to look for you so I am pretty sure that where I got the program there was no mention about it only working for special models. You must have Liveware 3 installed for this patch to work, Also it asks where Powerdvd is installed so have that installed to then run the patch. It looks like an official type program. I did not bother going in to the liveware program to alter any settings just went to the taskbar to open the sound control panel and made sure digital output only was selected under advanced options. I did not have SP2 installed.

Phill

 

[cpete]

I finally got DD and DTS working with my old SB Live card and W2K SP/2 with the TheaterTek player. It was quite simple actually. I just upgraded the WDM driver as described on this site - http://shs-sound.paraknowya.com/


I guess I will hold off that m-audio upgrade for a while longer.


Chris