Help grrr, dolby digital, SB Live question

[Big G]

All,

I've just purchased a nifty piece of kit, an external dolby digital AV decoder/amp (Sony STR-DE695). I've connected the SPDIF on my SBLive! to the SPDIF in on the decoder and i'm getting sound, but it keeps cutting out and cutting in, as if the signal is dropping.

I've connected the decoder to the Sony DVD seperate in the living room and it works no problem at all, so the decoder/coax lead must be fine.

So what else could be wrong? Does the SBLive not have a decent enough SPDIF? Is it the DVD software? (i've tried nvDVD and media player)?

Any ideas?

Gaz

 

[Testin da Cable]

um is it an intermittant cutout or can you reproduce it? my decoder used to drop signal on certain DVDs but that got fixed by a firmware update from the manufacturer.

 

[GDW]

Make sure that the DVD software is also set for SPDIF so that it sends out a single undecoded signal.

 

[Ch3tan]

The Sb live control panel ahs a digital only check box, you'll need to check that as well as do what GDW says.

 

[Big G]

I had SPDIF selected already in the software. As for the digital only signal, you don't have to select that unless you want ordinary windows sounds (mp3's n such) to be directed through the SPDIF channel also.

I've tried many things, including posting on creative's forum with no joy. It turns out the problem may lie with the DVD player.

The thing about my decoder is this: when it receives an AC3 signal via SPDIF on the soundcard, it automatically changes to the correct decoding (for example, if i select DTS or Dolby Digital). What seems to happen is that if there is CPU overhead (if i browse directories, or load another programme whilst the DVD is running) is seems to very slightly disrupt the digital bit stream. When this bit stream gets disrupted for a split second, the AV decoder thinks "oh theres no signal, switching to 'standby' " but as soon as the bitstream returns it says "oh theres a DTS signal, switching back on again". It's obviously not been designed to be connected to a PC and should be connected to a DVD player where the coaxial signal will be totally undisturbed.

To eliminate, i borrowed my mates LG GDR-8161B 16x DVD rom (since my DVD drive is a 4 year old Hitatchi GD2500 4x DVD) drive. It was very smooth, with only the very rare hitch in the sound. I opened task manager and killed of tasks i wasn't needing (nortons AV, kazaa p2p stuff, background processes etc) and that seemed to work perfectly.

So my DVD drive doesn't cut the mustard, and is fucking up the bitstream in some way along with other CPU hogging tasks that disturb it enough for my decoder to think the signal has gone.

Problem (kinda...) solved.

Gaz