Audiophile and 4 speakers?

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Grotius

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My new Audiophile 2496 is generally working well, and it sounds nice through a pair of speakers. But I cannot get it to play correctly through my Klipsch Pro-Media 4.1 speakers -- 4 satellites, one subwoofer. It plays on only the front-left and rear-left satellites. I'm using Windows XP Home, whose Control Panel does have an option for four speakers, but while that option works when I enable my Sound Blaster Alive (which has only 2 analog outs), it is grayed out when I use my Audiophile (which has 2 analog outs plus a SPDIF out).

Does anyone know how to get an Audiophile to play a stereo signal on four speakers at the same time?
 
Grotius said:
Does anyone know how to get an Audiophile to play a stereo signal on four speakers at the same time?

SoundBlasters have surround drivers that enable them to do that. Pro cards are not meant to be used that way. If you want a signal sent to all 4 speakers then you need software that will assign the output to the different speakers.

You should be able to get both cards to work in your system. Then you can use the SB for multimedia stuff and the Delta for recording. See if they are sharing an IRQ. If so then that is probably why only one card can work at a time.
 
Thanks, Tex. The cards are sharing the same IRQ, even though I seem to have a number of free IRQs, but it is okay; they are both working fine. Your reply confirmed what I guessed -- that the Audiophile simply does not support surround sound.

It's probably just as well; I should be testing my masterpieces on stereo speakers that resemble those of my audience (friends and family) -- boomboxes and car stereos. (grin)
 
Those Klipsch's are great music and game speakers. I have the same set. I wouldn't recomend trying to mix on them because they have a pretty hyped sound to them.

If you really want to hear the music on all 4 you could get a splitter and just combine the rear and fronts for each side. There may be a slight loss in quality but for screwing around it's no big deal.
 
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