Creative X-Fi DDL (Dolby Digital Live)

[Djizasse]

I've finally got my X-Fi Fatality outputting Dolby Digital 5.1 on the fly (DDL), on Vista.
This allows me to use just one optical or coaxial cable instead of 3 stereo cables. As an added bonus, I no longer use the multichannel analog inputs on my Yamaha RX-V861, allowing me to use the receiver's bass management and DSP effects.

The funny part is that I bought the DDL pack from creative but only managed to get it working when I installed the unofficial drivers from daniel_k. Creative really needs some competent programmers Lol

I'm really happy to be using my sound card and receiver's capabilities

If you got a X-Fi and want to use this I can offer some assistance.

I've got another PC with an Audigy, I'm gonna try to install DDL on Windows XP.

 

[Audiacc]

I know there is a new card called Titanium that does it out of the box or you can buy DDL pack for $4.70 from buy.soundblaster.com fo any other X-Fi card. Did you find a different way to get X-Fi to output DDL?

 

[Djizasse]

The funny part is that I bought the DDL pack from creative but only managed to get it working when I installed the unofficial drivers from daniel_k.

You'll have to install daniel_k drivers and then unlock DDL.

 

[Hi Ho]

I just got the DDL pack. This is something I have been trying to achieve for quite some time. I tried Daniel K's drives a while back but I have issues. I never got the DDL function working even though it was enabled in the Creative control panel. Then the drivers started causing other strange and irritating issues so I gave up and went back to the Creative drivers. Now I have purchased the DDL pack and I'll see how it works.

 

[Hi Ho]

Well so far it's a no-go. What problems did you have Djizasse? I was able to install and activate the DDL pack but when I attempt to enable the encoder in the Console Launcher I get the following error:

"The audio device is busy now. Please stop playback and try again."

When I try to use the audio console I get this:

I click OK and the check mark goes away. I tried disabling WindowBlinds and viewing that error with Windows classic theme (grey boxes) but it was still blank.

I have emailed Creative but I don't have a lot of hope. I may have to revert back to the Daniel_K drivers again.

 

[mouettus]

I know it may be a little out of context but with such problems with sound cards and vista etc... shouldn't you just buy a new videocard that outputs the audio and video via HDMI?

 

[Hi Ho]

Video cards are not sound cards and they do not support the features I need (DDL being one of them).

In fact, many video cards with HDMI do not even output audio through the HDMI port.

The Asus Xonar HDAV 1.3 takes video from the video card and adds in the audio to output over a single HDMI port but the drivers are very buggy and the card is expensive.

I have given up on Creative. I'm sick of dealing with them. It takes an entire HOUR just to uninstall their drivers! It requires three separate applications to make the card work (two 70MB one 10MB) and 6 background processes. DDL still doesn't work after reinstalling the drivers three times today, each time completely removing them following THESE instructions. At one point the sound card drivers completely screwed up WindowBlinds and I had to do a system restore. WindowBlinds doesn't even make sounds! Now I have finally gotten the sound working again (sort of). The only thing is that the sound quality is horrible! There is no high end! Everything sounds like a 64k MP3. I don't know what is causing that but I'm at the point where I don't really care anymore...

My card is going on Craigslist.

So, I need a new card. My requirements are simple:

1. Excellent analog audio quality.

2. DDL and/or DTS Interactive

I began looking on Newegg. I had heard of the Auzentech cards that do DDL but they're basically X-Fi cards and I'd rather not have anything that even resembles my current card. The Bluegears looks OK but not that impressive. The Turtle Beach Montego with DDL is outdated and lackluster.

Finally I happened upon a brand that I hadn't heard of before. The HT Omega Striker 7.1 is very intriuging. It has everything I'm looking for and decent looking drivers to boot. The entire driver package is 28MB vs Creatives 150MB. The

Does anyone have any experience with these cards? I can't find many reviews other than user reviews.

 

[Djizasse]

Hi Ho, if you're still interested in keeping your current card:
- make sure the dolby decoding is not active (spdif pass through)
If it still does not work I can give you the urls for the unnoficial drivers. It worked for me.
If you go to the creative forums you'll see that some people just give up trying to get the damn thing to work with the official drivers.

tbh I haven't replace my card just because I'm too lazy to open my box and navigate through the cable/water cooling mess. I'm not happy with my sound card.

 

[Hi Ho]

I ordered the HT Omega Striker 7.1 from Newegg and I hope to get it before Friday. I'll see how it goes. I've been perfectly happy with the hardware/sound quality of the Creative card. They really just need to get their act together when it comes to software.

One other thing I did not mention above. I emailed Creative about this issue since I paid extra to unlock this feature. I received the following response:

Thank you for contacting Creative Technical Support Service; we appreciate the opportunity to assist you.

I understand that you are having issue on your X-Fi XtremeMusic that thetrying to activate the DDL encoder in the console launcher it have error. I apologize for any inconvenience caused.

Based upon your product's date of purchase, it appears you're beyond thecomplementary telephone (60 days) and e-mail (1 year) support period.

If you are covered under a Creative Care Protection Plan (CCPP) and are within the warranty and service coverage of your plan, please reply backwith the e-mail address the plan was purchased under, as well as your CCPP order and reference number.

If you are beyond your complimentary support period and not covered by aCreative Care Protection Plan, there are helpful support options that are still available to you.

1. You may take advantage of our free web support services by visiting www.creativehelp.com to access the following resources:

Knowledge Base of expert solutions, frequently asked questions, and reference materialDownload drivers and application updates

Auto update will automatically detect and download the latest updates for you (not available for all products)Product documentationTutorialsUser-to-user customer discussion forums

2. You can purchase a Creative Tutor session to receive expert help and advice from a Technical Advisor by phone. Each Creative Tutor session isonly $12.99 and covers one support issue for up to 30 minutes. To start,simply call 1-405-707-8777 Monday through Friday from 9AM until 6PM Central Time. Please have your credit card ready when calling.

3. If you believe your product is having issues and needs to be repaired/serviced, but is no longer covered by the warranty, you may optto visit our Savings Center for interesting great deals to replace your product. Get big savings at a limited time offer on our various range ofRefurbished, On Sale and On Clearance products at http://us.creative.com/shop/shopcate...p?category=84&.

Alternatively, you can check out our newest products at http://us.creative.com/products/.Grab one today and continue to enjoy your Creative experience!

If you still require assistance, please utilize our extensive knowledgebase resource which usually has the solution to issues that youmight encounter with your product, you could also visit our public forums and interact with the millions of Creative users all around the globe at http://forums.creative.com/creativelabs. Thank you for choosing Creative Labs.

Best Regards,

Rong

Technical Support
Creative Labs Americas

Right after I received that email I ordered the HT Omega card. Creative wants me to pay even more money so that I can talk to someone that probably won't solve my problem anyway.

 

[mouettus]

?!

ATI 48xx has the audio passthrough via HDMI!!!!

 

[Hi Ho]

1. I don't need a new video card. In order to upgrade from my current card I would need to spend well over $200.

2. No video card will encode game audio to Dolby Digital or DTS. A sound card is required for this task.

 

[Hi Ho]

Here's an update on the sound card. I received the HT Omega last week and it is exactly what I wanted! The analog sound quality is excellent. The drivers installed in under a minute and the just work! They aren't fancy and full of useless features. They required less than 3 MB of space and less than 1 MB of RAM. That is such a wonderful contrast to the Creative drivers it's just amazing.

DDL/DTS-I work wonderfully. I am sitting in my living room as I type this on my 42" plasma with the sound running through my receiver. Crysis and COD 4 sound amazing on my theater system. I could not be happier with this card.

 

[Ito]

Wait wait wait, I always thought that DDL was hardware based, not software based! Or atleast that's what I had read before.

 

[Hi Ho]

It is hardware. The X-Fi cards always had the DDL chip but it was never enabled.

 

[Ito]

Oh, ok, I got ya.
I was going to say, only reason I am lookng at a new sound card is because of DDL. I'm planning on avoiding creative though.

 

[Audiacc]

Wait wait wait, I always thought that DDL was hardware based, not software based! Or atleast that's what I had read before.

Do you mind sharing a link? I always thought any encoding and decoding can be done in software or in dedicated hardware. I doubt there has always been a DDL chip on the X-Fi cards. I know they were sold with hardware decoding capabilities but never heard they could encode to DDL - not until the software DDL pack was released...

 

[Djizasse]

To make short a long story:
Creative made the X-Fi with the DDL feature locked (to save on royalties to Doby).
A guy called Daniel_k unlocked it.
Creative now sell the unlocker for less than 5usd.
http://buy.soundblaster.com/_creativelabsstore/cgi-bin/pd.cgi?page=product_detail&category=Software&pid=F2222DDN6Z2H2ADDEZD

There's also a free software version (haven't tried) that works(?) on any soundcard with spdif passthrough:
http://www.driverheaven.net/general-discussion/90887-redocnexk-released-realtime-5-1-ac3-encoder.html

 

[Ito]

There's also a free software version (haven't tried) that works(?) on any soundcard with spdif passthrough:
http://www.driverheaven.net/general-discussion/90887-redocnexk-released-realtime-5-1-ac3-encoder.html

That may be exactly what I have been looking for! Thank you!

 

[lsiberian]

I've finally got my X-Fi Fatality outputting Dolby Digital 5.1 on the fly (DDL), on Vista.
This allows me to use just one optical or coaxial cable instead of 3 stereo cables. As an added bonus, I no longer use the multichannel analog inputs on my Yamaha RX-V861, allowing me to use the receiver's bass management and DSP effects.

The funny part is that I bought the DDL pack from creative but only managed to get it working when I installed the unofficial drivers from daniel_k. Creative really needs some competent programmers Lol

I'm really happy to be using my sound card and receiver's capabilities

If you got a X-Fi and want to use this I can offer some assistance.

I've got another PC with an Audigy, I'm gonna try to install DDL on Windows XP.

My advice is to avoid creative products they create conflicts and cause problems with other things on your machine. I remember one card I had caused me to go Linkdead while playing Everquest. The day I removed it the problem disappeared.

However I use one of their USB cards but only use the driver portion of their software and let Vista manage the sound output. I have much better results with that then with anything else.

Funny thing is that since it's install I notice IE crashes on occasion.

I just love creative. The name is fitting. Creative software doing creative things lol.