PCI Audio Through HDMI?

Dunceiam

Dunceiam

I made one post
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May 11, 2009
Messages
9
Alright - this may be too technical for some of you, but I'm giving it a shot.

Using a DVI/HDMI dongle, ATI cards support transmitting 7.1 audio along with 1080p video through an HDMI because ATI cards have an onboard Realtek chipset. Nvidia don't, and therefore you need an S/PDIF in order to get audio through.

Now here's my issue - I need both audio and video to go through a single HDMI into the A/V receiver for my theater in the basement. Currently - it works, the only flaw is that the ATI card itself is rendering the sound, versus my PCI sound card. I've played with practically every sound option in Win7 RC1 64bit, and nothing will let the PCI card render the audio - all the work's being done in the graphics card. Any suggestions on how to fix this?

Computer
  • Core i7 920 OC'd to 3.5Ghz
  • 6GB G.Skill DDR3 1333
  • ATI 4870x2 2GB
  • MSI X58 Pro Mobo
  • Corsair 620HX Modular PSU
  • Omega Striker 7.1
  • Thermaltake SpinQ CPU Cooler
  • (2 x) Patriot Warp V2 32GB SSD's (RAID0)

Thanks.
 
Dunceiam said:
Alright - this may be too technical for some of you, but I'm giving it a shot.

Using a DVI/HDMI dongle, ATI cards support transmitting 7.1 audio along with 1080p video through an HDMI because ATI cards have an onboard Realtek chipset. Nvidia don't, and therefore you need an S/PDIF in order to get audio through.

Now here's my issue - I need both audio and video to go through a single HDMI into the A/V receiver for my theater in the basement. Currently - it works, the only flaw is that the ATI card itself is rendering the sound, versus my PCI sound card. I've played with practically every sound option in Win7 RC1 64bit, and nothing will let the PCI card render the audio - all the work's being done in the graphics card. Any suggestions on how to fix this?

Computer
  • Core i7 920 OC'd to 3.5Ghz
  • 6GB G.Skill DDR3 1333
  • ATI 4870x2 2GB
  • MSI X58 Pro Mobo
  • Corsair 620HX Modular PSU
  • Omega Striker 7.1
  • Thermaltake SpinQ CPU Cooler
  • (2 x) Patriot Warp V2 32GB SSD's (RAID0)

Thanks.
Click to expand...

I'm a little confused on what exactly your problem is...

If your audio is being rendered and output on the ATI card isn't A/V being sent to your receiver?

I have (2) ATI 4870 in X-fire. When I want A/V sent to my LCD TV I must change the setting in SoundMAX CP ( SupremeFXII on board sound control panel) from "Speakers" to "Digital Output Device".
 
The problem isn't that audio isn't being sent - the problem is the audio itself.

I want the sound card's audio to be outputting through the HDMI, not ATI's onboard audio being outputted through the HDMI. Because right now, all the audio is being generated and outputted by the ATI card - I want to make it so the sound card is the one generating audio, and the ATI card is only outputting the audio, not generating it.

Does that clear it up? :)
 
Uninstall and then disable the audio driver and device for the video card and keep only the sound card driver.
 
I don't think it's possible unless there's an audio input jack/plug somewhere on the card.
 
Well, you can also try to disable audio in bios. But just go into System and Device manager, find the on ATI sound device and disable it. Then there will be only one audio device left, being the PCI card.

Dunceiam said:
Positive? I don't really want to play with the drivers unless I'm fairly certain it'll work. :)
Click to expand...
 
Dunceiam said:
The problem isn't that audio isn't being sent - the problem is the audio itself.

I want the sound card's audio to be outputting through the HDMI, not ATI's onboard audio being outputted through the HDMI. Because right now, all the audio is being generated and outputted by the ATI card - I want to make it so the sound card is the one generating audio, and the ATI card is only outputting the audio, not generating it.

Does that clear it up? :)
Click to expand...

I was under the impression that ATI HD Audio output over HDMI was only allowed by its own audio controller... But I could be wrong.

http://www1.sapphiretech.com/us/productfiles/Catalogue_HDMI_Sound_output.pdf

This is from ATI Site :

"Integrated HD audio controller with support for stereo and multi-channel (up to 7.1) audio formats, including AC-3, AAC, DTS, DTS-HD & Dolby True-HD4, enabling a plug-and-play audio solution over HDMI"


If you want Audio from your sound card and Video from your ATI card I think you may need (2) cables.
 
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Newer ATI drivers have HD audio drivers packaged with the CCC installation.

Install and then disable the ATI HD audio drivers VIA control panel (If you don't install it can be very annoying to disable, this is the easiest way).

Connect sound card to video card via input cable if your sound card supports it (if it doesn't you are SOL I believe).

This is how I have mine set up and the audio is generated via sound card, the video via video card.

As the above poster said, if your sound card doesn't support my above method, you need 2 HDMI cables.
 
Kaine said:
Newer ATI drivers have HD audio drivers packaged with the CCC installation.

Install and then disable the ATI HD audio drivers VIA control panel (If you don't install it can be very annoying to disable, this is the easiest way).

Connect sound card to video card via input cable if your sound card supports it (if it doesn't you are SOL I believe).

This is how I have mine set up and the audio is generated via sound card, the video via video card.

As the above poster said, if your sound card doesn't support my above method, you need 2 HDMI cables.
Click to expand...

'sound card to video card via input cable' ?

By input cable, do you mean an internal S/PDIF? If you do mean an S/PDIF, I was under the impression ATI cards don't have any type of internal audio connection?
 
Dunceiam said:
'sound card to video card via input cable' ?

By input cable, do you mean an internal S/PDIF? If you do mean an S/PDIF, I was under the impression ATI cards don't have any type of internal audio connection?
Click to expand...

Bah wow totally lost my train of thought half way through typing that.

What I was trying to say was connect the fiber optics cable for the audio and the HDMI for the video.

I guess I had a flashback to my last computer in which the video card and sound card supported an internal input connection.

Yes you are correct tho, no 4870 series cards that I am aware of support the S/PDIF connection and the solution is 2 cables. Either 2 HDMI or the F/O cable and an HDMI depending on what screen you use.

Rest of the post should still be correct for that card however, easiest way to deal with the cards onboard sound is to install the newer HD audio drivers and disable from windows.

Just to clarify since the 4870X2 should have the same makup more or less as my 4870... I am running a similar setup as you are trying to do. I use 1 HDMI for the video and the F/O cable for the sound. Alternately you could use 2 HDMI cables depending on your sound card.

Short of those 2 solutions I don't believe anything else would work with that hardware configuration. I see you can only use 1 HDMI slot on your receiver, does it perhaps have a F/O input slot? If not than I am at a loss :(

*Sorry again about that mixup, flashback to my old rig I guess :facewall:
 
Would this help me at all? - Taken from ATI's Help.

"Enabling System Audio Device Windows? Volume Control for DTVs
To enable normal audio through Windows Sound and Audio Device Properties, revert the audio output device to system audio.

1.Right-click the Speaker icon in the Taskbar, which is usually in the lower-right corner of your screen. If the volume icon is not in your Taskbar, do the following:

•Click Start and then click Control Panel.
•Double-click Sounds and Audio Devices.
•In the Volume tab, select the Place volume icon in the taskbar check box.

2.Click Adjust Audio Properties.
3.In the Audio tab, select the system audio device as the Mixer Device.
4.Click Apply."
 
I'm not sure, to be honest I don't quite understand what the "mixer device" is referring to (I guess it could be windows name for a sound card although mine show up as the card's name).

I was under the impression that for the sound to be processed by a pci sound card the playback device had to be psychically connected to the sound card via internal connection or cable connection at the back of the card.

Audio isn't my strongest point so don't take the above as law as I very well could be wrong.

Sorry I wasn't more help on the matter, still may want to check to see if your receiver has a connection that will allow you to connect the sound card directly. Most sound cards have at least 1 output format compatible with most receivers.

Anyways good luck.
 
I don't think this can be done. Your options are going to be both through the video card, or run two different cables.

That being said, if you have the optical port open on your receiver, I would recommend two cables. I use an hdmi + optical to hook my macbook up to my onkyo 606, and it works very well.
 
I realize two cables out would be ideal - the only reason I'm negligent is because our receiver is mounted in a server rack. We have an HDMI header up front, but to access all the backports of the receiver - I'd have to pull the entire thing out, and take out a few bays just to be able to access. So a non-single-HDMI solution would be hassle.

http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs...10151&langId=-1&productId=8198552921665532067

You can see by the rear photo, we have plenty of ports. :)
 
Dunceiam said:
I realize two cables out would be ideal - the only reason I'm negligent is because our receiver is mounted in a server rack. We have an HDMI header up front, but to access all the backports of the receiver - I'd have to pull the entire thing out, and take out a few bays just to be able to access. So a non-single-HDMI solution would be hassle.

http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs...10151&langId=-1&productId=8198552921665532067

You can see by the rear photo, we have plenty of ports. :)
Click to expand...


Is the sound quality output from the ATI card that bad over HDMI?

Or are you just hellbent on getting the audio from your sound card? :cursing:
 
rippir said:
Is the sound quality output from the ATI card that bad over HDMI?

Or are you just hellbent on getting the audio from your sound card? :cursing:
Click to expand...

Well I'm certain the audio from the sound card would be better, not to mention that it would be stealing some of his GPU's processing power.
 
Dunceiam said:
I realize two cables out would be ideal - the only reason I'm negligent is because our receiver is mounted in a server rack. We have an HDMI header up front, but to access all the backports of the receiver - I'd have to pull the entire thing out, and take out a few bays just to be able to access. So a non-single-HDMI solution would be hassle.

http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs...10151&langId=-1&productId=8198552921665532067

You can see by the rear photo, we have plenty of ports. :)
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, it's not only ideal, it's the only way for it to work. If you want the audio to be processed by the SPU, then the output has to be from the SPU itself. You can't have the SPU render it, and the GPU send it.

I suppose if you're hellbent on having it on a single HDMI cable, you could buy a breakout box like this. Just do DVI out of your GPU, and SPDIF out of your SPU, and the box will convert the signals to a single HDMI cord which carries the audio. Works in theory, but you end up with another piece of equipment, and who knows how well it works in practice (I've heard some people have run into HDCP compliance issues with such converters).

As far as what you're looking to do, however, that would be your only option. To be honest, though, I would suggest just sucking it up, and running another cable to your receiver... That is, if you really must have the sound out of your SPU, in the first place.
 
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FreakingHell said:
Well I'm certain the audio from the sound card would be better, not to mention that it would be stealing some of his GPU's processing power.
Click to expand...

I disagree with both statements based on my own personal experience with these cards. I think sound quality is fine ( I do NOT consider myself an "audiofile"). GPU "processing power" loss will be minimal on his card.
 
rippir said:
. I think sound quality is fine ( I do NOT consider myself an "audiofile").
Click to expand...

Onboard sound(or in this case from the GPU) generally sounds perfectly fine to 90% of people. But to an audiophile it'll sound like mud. I don't really consider myself an audiophile either, but I know several and they are very picky about where there sound comes from(usually a $100+ sound card). However, I can tell the difference and think a good dedicated sound card(Personally, I use the Auzuntech X-Fi) is necessary for good music, movies, and gaming. Also, to an enthusiast every little bit of power counts.;)
 
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