AWE64 can do S/PDIF out! Creative said it's impossible! Read and jump in joy!
Mathias C. Hjelt
Sorry about the extensive cross-posting & mailing, but I really want
to get the word out before falling asleep (3:30 am).. Here we go:
On the SoundBlaster AWE64 Preview Team Forum for privileged Creative-
worshippers, a Creative employee said loud and clear that you can't
add S/PDIF output to the non-Gold AWE64 (which does not have one as
it is), when I asked if it was possible. He also denied my suspicions
that this only would be a software limitation making the Gold version
look more attractive than the non-Gold. So, I figured that they
somehow had blocked the feature on the non-Gold, perhaps by putting
in a lousier version of the chip containing the EMU8000. This would
indeed make the difference between the AWE64 and the AWE64 Gold more
distinct. However..
** ..all that stuff was a stinking wan-load of garbage.. **
At this very moment I'm listening to sweet music being played by
my AWE64 (serial # 10) through my external 18-bit D/A converter
prototype. It works just like on the SB32 and AWE32 (and WaveBlaster
II) - it gives you nothing but EMU8000 stuff. That means it's not
as fancy as the digital output of the AWE64 Gold, which mixes EMU
+ wave audio channel. The reason for this is of course that the
AWE64 uses the old and lousy (not to mention NOISY) CT1745 CODEC
-- well known from the SB16. This chip does not have any sort of
digital output interface so it can't be fed into the EMU's digital
inputs or anything.
Another thing which may differ from the AWE64 is the number of
active bits in the output stream. The AWE32/SB32 was supposed to
output 20 bits of audio data, but I can swear that my SB32 PnP
CT3600 leaves the two LSB zero all the time, so in practice it
was only 18 bits of audio data per channel. I haven't checked
what the AWE64's output is like, so I won't swear about that one.
My guess is that it's 18, though. But definitely not 16, so trash
all your MDs and DATs and get a real DAC.
Basically, adding S/PDIF output to a right-out-of-the-box non-Gold
AWE64 is just as easy as adding one to a Waveblaster II (which I
presume each and every one of you has done a million times just for
the heck of it). Locate the trace that emerges from pin number..
number.. shit, I forgot what number it was. (Oh well, it remains
a mystery forever.. 'till Mulder and Scully find my AWE64 somewhere.
Shit. I sure am getting tired.). OK, so don't locate the trace that
emerges from the pin whose number I can't remember, instead locate
the soldering pad. You can't miss it. Looking at the card like you
usually look at cards, there are two considerably large soldering
pads spaced at 0.1", surrounded by a white box drawn on the board
and headed by a white text saying "SPDIF", approx. at the same
place where the SB32 PnP CT3600 has got its S/PDIF output - close
to the huge chip with the funky AWE logo. The pin to the right (ie
more towards the back panel of the card with the line in/out etc)
is labeled "1" - following the old convention from the 32-days, this
is the gound pin. The pad 0.1" left to it is labeled "0", and no
matter how stupid it sounds, this is a perfectly healthy S/PDIF
signal.
So the only difference from the S/PDIF output of the AWE32/SB32 is
that this one doesn't have a jumper-like header connector soldered
in for you. An important similarity with it, is that shorting it,
or just f*cking it up in general, will permantently kabooom the
output. It comes directly from the chip which contains the EMU8000
plus some other crap, at the well-known pin whose number I can't
remember, so there's no buffers or any replaceable parts at all to
take the shit if you mess it up. So be careful when you start
hacking & modding.
What to do: solder a piece of wire to the soldering pad labeled "0",
and connect the other end of the wire to the center pin of an RCA
jack which you mount in a back plate used to cover up unused card
slots at the back of your computer. If you are a sissy, get an
isolated RCA jack or an all-plastic back plate, and connect the
ground of the RCA to the soldering pad labeled "1". That way you're
safe even if you put in reverse gear on the highway.
What to do then:
- blow the dust off your 18-bit or 20-bit DAC and start rocking.
- call Creative's tech support and ask why there was no connector
from the very beginning.
- call all your friends and tell them how great it feels to be one
of the first AWE64 users to go S/PIDF
- send me a few bucks (or an Antex SudioCard) for being cool enough
to figure out this kind of crap instead of sleeping in the nights
like regular people do.
Now excuse me, but I gotta have some sleep before it's time to get
up, take a shower, jump on the the bus and spend a joyful day at work.
Yours sleepily,
Mathias "found-an-AWE64-in-my-trashcan" Hjelt
a.k.a MC Murex (AWE32 Pages of Naked Truth, you know)
mhj...@iki.fi
Claus Dominik
Mathias C. Hjelt wrote:
>
> Sorry about the extensive cross-posting & mailing, but I really want
> to get the word out before falling asleep (3:30 am).. Here we go:
>
> On the SoundBlaster AWE64 Preview Team Forum for privileged Creative-
> worshippers, a Creative employee said loud and clear that you can't
> add S/PDIF output to the non-Gold AWE64 (which does not have one as
> it is), when I asked if it was possible. He also denied my suspicions
> Mathias "found-an-AWE64-in-my-trashcan" Hjelt
> a.k.a MC Murex (AWE32 Pages of Naked Truth, you know)
> mhj...@iki.fi
So, the EMU8000 SPDIF output is 18 bits. That is good news (to me at
least).
Now, all I need is an 18 bit DAC. Any suggestions about making one
yourself? These things do not seem to be available or very expensive in
Belgium.
Dominik Claus
Christopher L. Estep
On Thu, 05 Dec 1996 12:49:04 +0000, Claus Dominik <"Claus
Dominik/center"@bekaert.com> wrote:
>Mathias C. Hjelt wrote:
>>
>> Sorry about the extensive cross-posting & mailing, but I really want
>> to get the word out before falling asleep (3:30 am).. Here we go:
>>
>> On the SoundBlaster AWE64 Preview Team Forum for privileged Creative-
>> worshippers, a Creative employee said loud and clear that you can't
>> add S/PDIF output to the non-Gold AWE64 (which does not have one as
>> it is), when I asked if it was possible. He also denied my suspicions
>So, the EMU8000 SPDIF output is 18 bits. That is good news (to me at
>least).
>Now, all I need is an 18 bit DAC. Any suggestions about making one
>yourself? These things do not seem to be available or very expensive in
>Belgium.
For the life of me, I can't see why the "base" AWE64 COULDN'T do
S/PDIF "out" as even the SB32 PnP has always been able to do so!
Possi
On Sat, 22 Feb 1997 06:26:01 GMT, jcc...@olg.com (Christopher L.
Estep) wrote:
Sorry for my ignorance, but what's S/PDIF out??
Thanks.
The Lord Leto II
It's a digital output for use with Digital Audio Tape players
and external Digital to Analog Converters. The advantage to
this is that the computer only outputs a digital signal, leaving
the D/A conversion to a physical location far away from the
relatively electromagnetically noisy internals of the computer
(power supply, hard drives, video card, etc).
**** The Lord Leto II *** God Emperor of Arrakis ****
* Check out my and other Yamaha XG MIDI files: *
* http://www.ids.net/~marshall/xg.htm *
* "Notice shells ails the well -- Skinny *
* Smell of hell dosed phantoms will Puppy, *
* Future answer, does it matter? "Ice *
* Death's the only thrill" Breaker" *
Dreamflight
Sony/Phillips Digital InerFace.
Uses optical or coax cable to transmit a stereo digital signal.
Being digital means no loss of quality no matter how many times you use S/P
DIF to transfer the data.
--
Edd Deegan (Dreamflight)
dream...@dreamworld.demon.co.uk
... eat well, stay healthy, die anyway.
Possi <ax...@geocities.com> wrote in article
<331eff3...@noticias.ibernet.es>...
> On Sat, 22 Feb 1997 06:26:01 GMT, jcc...@olg.com (Christopher L.
> Estep) wrote:
>
> Sorry for my ignorance, but what's S/PDIF out??
>
> Thanks.
>
Christian Victor
On Thu, 06 Mar 1997 20:04:56 GMT, ax...@geocities.com (Possi) wrote:
>On Sat, 22 Feb 1997 06:26:01 GMT, jcc...@olg.com (Christopher L.
>Estep) wrote:
>
>Sorry for my ignorance, but what's S/PDIF out??
>
>Thanks.
Hmmm - as far as I know my SB32 and the AWE32 have S/P-DIFout too! I
am unsing it a few times a day! :)
Chris
Martin Pilny
vic...@szene.com (Christian Victor) wrote:
My new AWE64 Gold has its own SPDIF cable included and it sounds much
much better than AWE64 ... even with the usual line out output. A/D
part se completely remade and it's no more noisy.
This card is going to be a real killer!
Regards
Martin Pilny aka Pina/Torture Of Music
--------------------------------------------
AMP2.01 SUPERB AWE32 XM!!,S3M,MTM,PTM,MOD PLAYER
So Far The Best Player Available
incl. antialiasing downsampl. filter
Get it NOW!
--------------------------------------------
E-mail:rys...@login.cz
http://frodo.hiof.no/~gislemm/tom/tom.html
ftp://sdc.wtm.tudelft.nl/pub/music/groups/T_O_M/
--------------------------------------------
David L Moore
Christian Victor wrote:
>
> On Thu, 06 Mar 1997 20:04:56 GMT, ax...@geocities.com (Possi) wrote:
>
> >On Sat, 22 Feb 1997 06:26:01 GMT, jcc...@olg.com (Christopher L.
> >Estep) wrote:
> >
> >Sorry for my ignorance, but what's S/PDIF out??
> >
> >Thanks.
> Hmmm - as far as I know my SB32 and the AWE32 have S/P-DIFout too! I
> am unsing it a few times a day! :)
>
On the SB32 WAV files will not play to the S/PDIF. I believe
they will on the SB64. Can anyone confirm this? On the 32, only the
output of the emu chip goes to the digital interface.
Simon Edmonds
Sorry for the bad news but it's emu chip only again...
Simon Edmonds
Patrick R. Mullen
David L Moore wrote:
[snip]
> On the SB32 WAV files will not play to the S/PDIF. I believe
> they will on the SB64.
Wrong.
Only the AWE-64 *Gold* model uses a digital WAV/Synth mixer chip
that produces S/P-DIF compatible output. The AWE-64 lacks the
proper hardware.
--
Cheers!
Patrick R. Mullen
Dir. of Engineering
Mullen Scientific Software
1686 State Route 69
Parish, NY 13131
Rob Thomas
This is a response I got regarding digital I/O last week:
> I understand the SB32, AWE32, and AWE64 have digital
> =>OUTPUT<= capability.
>
> Does Creative Labs have a PC audio card that has digital
> input as well as digital output?
Not yet, no.
--
Jennifer Smith
j...@clok.creaf.com
Creative Labs Webmaster
OBTW, I got a TB Fiji, and it's fantastic!
On Fri, 07 Mar 1997 02:50:49 GMT, "Dreamflight"
<dream...@dreamworld.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>Sony/Phillips Digital InerFace.
>
>Uses optical or coax cable to transmit a stereo digital signal.
>
>Being digital means no loss of quality no matter how many times you use S/P
>DIF to transfer the data.
>
>--
>Edd Deegan (Dreamflight)
======================================================================
Advanced Data Analysis, Est.'89. Over 19 years experience with general
statistical consulting and multi-platform SAS programming. Also: data
conversions across platforms, media, and applications. Data storehouse
and conversion for '90 census, health, nutrition, and other government
databases. //www.his.com/rltstats, rob.t...@his.com, 301-949-8065
======================================================================
FYL
> Sony/Phillips Digital InerFace.
>
> Uses optical or coax cable to transmit a stereo digital signal.
>
> Being digital means no loss of quality no matter how many times you use S/P
> DIF to transfer the data.
>
> --
> Edd Deegan (Dreamflight)
So how do you actually do it??? Do you need to build an extra component
or what??? Thanks...
Vincent Lin
Simon Edmonds wrote:
>
> David L Moore wrote:
> >
> > Christian Victor wrote:
> > >
> > > On Thu, 06 Mar 1997 20:04:56 GMT, ax...@geocities.com (Possi) wrote:
> > >
> > > >On Sat, 22 Feb 1997 06:26:01 GMT, jcc...@olg.com (Christopher L.
> > > >Estep) wrote:
> > > >
> > > >Sorry for my ignorance, but what's S/PDIF out??
> > > >
> > > >Thanks.
> > > Hmmm - as far as I know my SB32 and the AWE32 have S/P-DIFout too! I
> > > am unsing it a few times a day! :)
> > >
> > > Chris
> >
> > output of the emu chip goes to the digital interface.
>
> Sorry for the bad news but it's emu chip only again...
>
> Simon Edmonds
wavetable and digital.
--
Vincent Lin
------------------------------------------------------------------
|Magus Dragon -=<UDIC>=- vl...@cco.caltech.edu|
| |
|Jr. Chem (who shoulda been a CS) |
|California Institute of Technology |
| |
|DISCLAIMER: Any stated opinions are my own and are not being |
| pushed as facts. Any belief otherwise is purely the readers |
| imagination. All stated facts are such to the best of my |
| knowledge. Any corrections are appreciated. Please excuse |
| my mangling of any EE/CS terminology. |
------------------------------------------------------------------
Vincent Lin
Patrick R. Mullen wrote:
>
> Martin Pilny wrote:
> >
> > My new AWE64 Gold has its own SPDIF cable included and it sounds much
> > much better than AWE64 ... even with the usual line out output. A/D
> > part se completely remade and it's no more noisy.
>
>
> Could you tell us all what chips are being used on *your* Gold card?
> Some people are reporting the CT1745A is still being used.
Mine still has the 1745A chip. There's also another chip (don't
remember the number) which the box calls a 20 bit digital mixer. I
think things go through this first, then to the S/PDIF and the 1745A and
from the 1745A to line out.
>
> Thanks!
>
> --
> Cheers!
>
> Patrick R. Mullen
> Dir. of Engineering
>
> Mullen Scientific Software
> 1686 State Route 69
> Parish, NY 13131
>
> (315) 625-4660
> prmu...@dreamscape.com
--
Mimmo Nocera
On Sun, 09 Mar 1997 18:47:01 -0500, "Patrick R. Mullen"
<prmu...@dreamscape.com> wrote:
>David L Moore wrote:
>
>[snip]
>
>> On the SB32 WAV files will not play to the S/PDIF. I believe
>> they will on the SB64.
>
>Wrong.
>
>Only the AWE-64 *Gold* model uses a digital WAV/Synth mixer chip
>that produces S/P-DIF compatible output. The AWE-64 lacks the
>proper hardware.
>
so, for a final word, AWE64 GOLD SOUNDCARD HAS A PLUG TO OUTPUT
DIGITALLY THE AUDIO CREATED AND SAMPLED? thx 4 xplainin'...
Mimmo Nocera
-> noc...@unisi.it
____
| ...and by the way...
| If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is [too good to be true].
| Also stated as ``There ain't no such thing as a free lunch (TANSTAAFL).
----------
The Lord Leto II
In article <332533...@cco.caltech.edu> Vincent Lin <vl...@cco.caltech.edu> writes:
>Patrick R. Mullen wrote:
>>
>> Martin Pilny wrote:
>> >
>> > My new AWE64 Gold has its own SPDIF cable included and it sounds much
>> > much better than AWE64 ... even with the usual line out output. A/D
>> > part se completely remade and it's no more noisy.
>>
>> Martin:
>>
>> Could you tell us all what chips are being used on *your* Gold card?
>> Some people are reporting the CT1745A is still being used.
>Mine still has the 1745A chip. There's also another chip (don't
>remember the number) which the box calls a 20 bit digital mixer. I
>think things go through this first, then to the S/PDIF and the 1745A and
>from the 1745A to line out.
If that's true, it's worthless.
******** The Lord Leto II *** God Emperor of Arrakis ********
** Check out my and other Yamaha XG MIDI files at **
* http://www.ids.net/~marshall/xg.htm (which is not my page) *
*"In future dreams could you have stopped it from happening? *
* Best left a spectator spectacle traitor; All the time spaced*
* Fast paced farther down all that trigger, gauging *
* Cause kills at will" -- Skinny Puppy, "Hexonxonx" *
Bashar
Your right, I don't think that SB32 has SPDIF, Does the AWE 64 use a
different A./D? And whats the signal to noise ratio on it??
Simon Edmonds <si...@terratec.co.uk> wrote in article
<3321DF...@terratec.co.uk>...
> David L Moore wrote:
> >
> > Christian Victor wrote:
> > >
> > > On Thu, 06 Mar 1997 20:04:56 GMT, ax...@geocities.com (Possi) wrote:
> > >
> > > >On Sat, 22 Feb 1997 06:26:01 GMT, jcc...@olg.com (Christopher L.
> > > >Estep) wrote:
> > > >
> > > >Sorry for my ignorance, but what's S/PDIF out??
> > > >
> > > >Thanks.
> > > Hmmm - as far as I know my SB32 and the AWE32 have S/P-DIFout too! I
> > > am unsing it a few times a day! :)
> > >
> > > Chris
> >
Patrick R. Mullen
FYL wrote:
[snip]
> So how do you actually do it [S/P-DIF interface on the AWE]??? Do you
> need to build an extra component or what??? Thanks...
Mathias Hjelt has taken down his "AWE: The Naked Truth" web page, but
his *excellent* discussions on AWE S/P-DIF can be found still at:
I just printed out his "make your own S/P-DIF bracket" article, and
it was very useful (I'm making several S/P-DIF brackets for all
the blasters in my lab).
Hope this helps!