BeBopLoco

Ack, one more thing.

I haven't installed WIN DvD or WINRIP, because I will install other programs to do that. Could that be a cause here? Is the ENVY24 looking for something that those programs would provide? Just a thought.

jmke

I'm convinced that ain't the cause, they have nothing to do with audio output; they're just tools , nothing more

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BeBopLoco

UPDATE: On the BIOS front, I got an email from Chaintech (less than 2 days wait time) with the new BIOS and Flash. I de-RARed it and installed that (parallel with what Kerry said---while the Chaintech email says to boot from a: and use command functions (awdflash ...bin), that just doesn't work, but the ALT-F2 does. Score: BIOS 1, Chaintech 0.

A point of clarification: the bios is Version 6, but a newer date----you were right about there being Nov 03, Feb 04 and May 04 dated "sub"versions. I now show the May (most current) version on my bootup screen. Thanks for the guidance here. Why Chaintech doesn't just post these updates to the webpage, I dunno.

As for the 4 channel sound on a 4.1 system, I don't really know what to do. Maximum PC's February 2004 issue (page 40) has a good explanation of how MP3/CD audio works, i.e., the source audio is stereo only (2 channel, front only) and so you have to enable audio expansion/stereo surround/CMSS or whatever you have to get it into 4 channel. I guess I never had to learn this, because in my old system I had an Audigy 2 card that worked great (other than IRQ conflicts!) from the gitgo. There is no explanation for the missing woofer (.1), and maybe its just not supported for an analog speaker setup. I'm way beyond my core competency here, so that's where the trail ends for me, right now.

Kerry

That's good news about your BIOS, so glad. Our posts might save others some wasted time. Given that they don't have the latest BIOS on their site suggests that there are not as many 9cjs owners as we might think, else they'd be overworked emailing BIOS'. It appears others have been able to achieve stability using the older versions. No doubt Chaintech will post the latest version shortly.

My PC is still rock steady. I finally have what I envisioned. I get high scores when compared with other top notch systems using aida32's Benchmark tests. A few more months of stability and I may get up the nerve to tweak it. I haven't dared to because I havent wanted Chaintech to tell me my problem was becuase I tweaked it. That, and I haven't the faintest idea of where to start. New curriculum.

I'm equally pleased to hear about Chaintech's much faster response time. I also have been receiving articulate and useable replies of late. Perhaps they are on a service roll.

With aloha,

Kerry

BeBopLoco

Looking around the web, the answer to the .1/subwoofer issue on MP3 playback is confirmed as being the simple answer: MP3 is not a surround (x.1) based signal; it's stereo. In order to get surround sound from it, you need to tackle it with software. I guess that software isn't in the VIA package, which I find to be a remarkable goof.

E.g., from Sudhian's site:

"I have an Envy 24 based card. Physically, a MP3 can't be played back on more than one stereo channel, since the source itself is only one stereo channel. Only the soundcard-software might emulate the MP3 signal into a 5.1 signal by routing it to all line outs. Ergo: it depends on the exact card you have, and the software that accompanies it. "

http://forums.sudhian.com/messagevie...nterthre ad=y

jmke

maybe there is a Winamp plugin for the sound on 5.1 boxes?

edit: here's an interesting read http://www.neowin.net/forum/index.ph...ic=177455&st=0

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Kerry

That's good to know. I've been keeping my eye out for a low cost quaility 5.1 - 7.1 speakers.

Thanks,

Kerry

BeBopLoco

Excellent article, JMKE.

I think a potential issue is legacy speakers. I have non-digital (analog) 4.1 speakers, and they're somewhat old. I don't have a separate subwoofer (.1) or LFE jack to plug into the MOBO's expansion card. If I did, perhaps I could get them to work? :grum:

BeBopLoco

Given the fact that I could only get 2.1 or 4.0 out of the ENVY onboard setup, I decided to install my Audigy 2 from another PC. What a difference! The Audigy 2 gives me 4.1 playback (hello, bass) and a better, cleaner, deeper sound. No real surprise there, but I had high hopes for the onboard sound. Too high, it seems.

Other than the sound, this is a great board. Very solid. Haven't tried any OCing, but I'm happy with my current speed, so I don't think I'll do much there.

A new question for the group: if I want to rip my CD collection onto the PC, what encoding should I use, at what rate? I usually do MP3 at 128, but have experimented with MP3PRO at 96 (didn't really like it). I've also tried the MediaPlayer 9.0 "lossless" WMA, which is incredible for the quality, but also incredible for the space usage. (Although with EIDE harddrives getting substantially less that $1/GB (e.g., Maxtor 160GB for ~$100 at Costco or Newegg), I don't know why I spend too much time thinking about this).

BeBopLoco

JMKE, you're beautiful! Thanks for changing pictures.