Quick [tech] Questions Thread

[MisterNoisy]

Anyone have a Sidewinder X6 keyboard?  If so, couple questions:
Does it have any USB inputs?  
If no, could I use a couple male/female adapters to plug in a Logitech G13 on one side and my wireless mouse USB thing on the other?

No USB ports on the Sidewinder, and I'm not sure that you can connect anything but the number pad to the number pad interface and have it work (which I assume is what you're asking) - I've never tried it.

[apocrypha]

Yeah, the numpad connectors on the sides are totally proprietary, nothing else will connect there.

[SnakeCharmer]

Crap.

Thanks guys.

[Yegolev]

I have a new video camera which does not use tape.  This is fantastic, really, but new to me and my tired brain.  Without using the software that came with it, I'm copying off some .mts files which seem to be "AVCHD Video" according to Win7.  Supposing I purchase some BluRay authoring software, am I going to need some intermediate conversion software or is this standard enough that I might expect to hit the ground running?

[Trippy]

I have a new video camera which does not use tape.  This is fantastic, really, but new to me and my tired brain.  Without using the software that came with it, I'm copying off some .mts files which seem to be "AVCHD Video" according to Win7.  Supposing I purchase some BluRay authoring software, am I going to need some intermediate conversion software or is this standard enough that I might expect to hit the ground running?

You shouldn't need to convert it as AVCHD is the standard format used on Blu-ray right now so any relatively recent Blu-ray authoring program should support it directly (ancient ones might only support MPEG-2).

[Hawkbit]

New speakers are breaking in nicely.  It's time for a new sound card. 

Any recommendations?  I don't need to get crazy, but would like to see what options are there that might offer some better audio than onboard.  It's for 60% gaming 40% music.  Thanks!

[Trippy]

Which audio chipset does your MB have?

[Yegolev]

I'm finding that sound card shopping is a minefield and I will be interested to find how this discussion plays out.

[Hawkbit]

Asus P5K

http://www.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=yS3ZeqfUdCTCIFT2

Realtek ALC 883, 8 -Channel High-Definition Audio CODEC
Coaxial / Optical S/PDIF out ports
ASUS Noise Filter
Support Jack-Sensing, Enumeration, Multi-streaming

EDIT: Obviously looking for something that will go into a new system I build later this year.

[Sheepherder]

The software developers at Creative Labs are a bunch of turdburglars that deserve to be eaten by wolves.

[Sky]

And yet their drivers were miles ahead of the Auzentech, which was a far superior slab of hardware. I really miss my onboard 5.1 DD conversion output through optical. With the X-Fi, I need a converter box, which breaks the digital chain...but I can't tell how it's affecting anything in windows 7, since I don't have surround working at all in windows 7, FFS.

Maybe I should try the Auzentech in the w7 machine...

[Sheepherder]

Creative apparently has a fix for 5.1 and EAX.  Whether I'd trust it not to rape my OS is another thing

[Sky]

This one?

http://forums.creative.com/t5/Sound-Blaster/%C2%BA/m-p/516445?view=by_date_ascending

[Chimpy]

Anytime I think of Creative now I have my old boss (who worked at Creative in the late 90s) imitating the CEO of Creative chanting at a company wide meeting "D V D is good for porn!" in a bad asian accent.

[Sheepherder]

The actual download page has some stuff described as fixes, I may sort through it eventually, but at the moment I just thought it would be easier to pull the card out again.

[SnakeCharmer]

OK, so I do have a question...

All my TVs are modern flat screens with digital tuners.  Will the TVs not using the big Comcast HD box require the DTAs? 

[Chimpy]

Are you connecting the TV to the cable?

If you are conencting it to the cable without a box, you probably won't get any channels (or will only get them for a short period) as Comcast is rolling to a "converter box only" digital system in all markets nationwide. No a digital tuner won't resolve that as digital cable uses a different technology than digital over-the-air broadcast.

If you are just trying to get the local stations over the air you will be fine.

[SnakeCharmer]

Yes, connecting via coaxial.  Hell, the cable from the little DTA to the TV is coaxial cable.

Well.  Shit.  Goddamnit I hate Comcast.  U-verse is terrible here, can't get Verizon, and satellite is out of the question (massive freaking trees) and all three would require me to hook up one more goddamn thing than I should need or want just to watch TV.

[Lantyssa]

Give up on TV and your problem is solved!

[Sky]

Less than two months until the great No TV Experiment of 2011 begins. Should be interesting, I'm actually looking forward to it. It's already nice looking forward to no phone bill for another 11 months or so.

And on my surround issues...it's always fun being a dumbass. Windows 7 put an extra layer on the amount of speaker configuration selections (I think there were three places total). They all had to be ticked 5.1, I had only hit 2 of the 3. Poking around I found the one buried like four control panels deep and now it's working. Well, after I properly wired it, I had two connections backward but couldn't tell because it had been putting out a stereo signal. So...I'm happy now.

[Sheepherder]

Windows 7 put an extra layer on the amount of speaker configuration selections (I think there were three places total).

Lolwut?

[Sheepherder]

So my front panel audio is AC97, which is shitty, because it means no auto-detection/configuration when I plug my headphones in.  My options are to have my headphones only receive 2/5 channels with the other three being lost, or have my soundcard have front and back as two separate outputs (need to change sound device every time I want to swap).  Does anyone know a way to force a Realtek onboard to output stereo and 5.1 simultaneously?

[Sky]

Get an X-Fi 

[Sheepherder]

Oh, that reminds me.  The hardware guys at Creative should die of syphilis for that horseshit proprietary Creative front panel output.

[Sky]

Yeah, fuck those assclowns who make a product that does what your onboard sound can't. They suck lolz. And Bill Gates, too.

[Sheepherder]

Yeah, fuck those assclowns who make a product that does what your onboard sound can't.

Well, you see: since neither my Audigy 2, nor my X-Fi actually have front panel connectors I can use without fabricating my own wiring harnesses and possibly a hardware codec, it would be kind of hard for them to clone a 5.1 signal, downsample it to 2.1, and output it to my front panel, wouldn't it?

[Sky]

Get USB headphones 

[Reg]

I bought a pair of logitech g35s for myself for Christmas and they're just great. They felt a little heavy at first but I don't even notice them now even after several hours.

[Sheepherder]

Kind of defeats the purpose of having a nice sound card, though.

Also, the entire reason I'm trying to do this is so that I don't have to fuck with sound settings ever time I plug in a headset.  I'm not certain that USB headphones allow that.

[Chimpy]

Kind of defeats the purpose of having a nice sound card, though.

Also, the entire reason I'm trying to do this is so that I don't have to fuck with sound settings ever time I plug in a headset.  I'm not certain that USB headphones allow that.

They probably won't.

USB sound devices still have to go through the system sound drivers to have audio routed to them. You might get away with having the USB dongle you get with some headsets plugged in and then you could plug your headphones in as you wish.

I know on my machine, the Realtek drivers allow for 2 outputs, one which is defined as a secondary one for VoIP applications, and one which the main system sounds are routed to. It is how I keep games/tv/music etc on the speakers while having Ventrilo come through the headset. But I don't have any fancy 5.1 or anything, just a set of studio monitors for stereo output.

[Sheepherder]

I know on my machine, the Realtek drivers allow for 2 outputs, one which is defined as a secondary one for VoIP applications, and one which the main system sounds are routed to. It is how I keep games/tv/music etc on the speakers while having Ventrilo come through the headset. But I don't have any fancy 5.1 or anything, just a set of studio monitors for stereo output.

Yeah, that's effectively what I have now, but reconfiguring the game's audio output every time I want to use headphones (or not) pisses me off.

[Chimpy]

Do your speakers have a headphone jack on them? If you just plug a set of headphones into there it should route all audio to the headphones and remove the sound card from the loop entirely.

[SnakeCharmer]

Wait...

Are you trying to route sound through your speakers and headphones at the same time?  Or just from the same source (i.e. a nice new sound card, or using onboard Realtek)?

If so, just get one of these and plug it in the output of your sound card.  Plug in the headphones to one side, plug the speakers into the other.  If your headphones have inline volume adjustment just turn it down when you don't want to listen to it.



And if this isn't what you're trying to do, ignore this post   

[Sheepherder]

Do your speakers have a headphone jack on them? If you just plug a set of headphones into there it should route all audio to the headphones and remove the sound card from the loop entirely.

If so, just get one of these and plug it in the output of your sound card.  Plug in the headphones to one side, plug the speakers into the other.  If your headphones have inline volume adjustment just turn it down when you don't want to listen to it.

That splitter is effectively the same thing as a headphone jack on the speakers, which is effectively the same thing as my front panel if I set it to play the same signal as my rear panel.  They both would result in my headphones getting only the front right and front left speakers, which means audio dead zones to front, rear right, and rear left.

Unless I reconfigured my audio to Stereo every time I want to switch, which is what I want to avoid, because a number of games seem to need a restart for output changes to take effect, and then I have to fuck with volume settings because my headphones will skullfuck me in the earholes if I leave it at 100%.  Then, when I want to enable my 5.1 again, it's a toss of a coin as to whether or not I've lost the +/- dB gain/loss on my speakers.  Creative's drivers in particular seemed to like wiping out settings once you change the output format.

My current setup uses my Realtek card with the front and rear outputs handled independently, which keeps the output and volume adjustments intact.  But it requires I change the sound device every time I make the switch, and sometimes it requires I change the system default sound device when the game doesn't have that setting.

[SnakeCharmer]

Ah, I didn't notice you had 5.1 headphones...Sorry

Which brand?