M1330 and 5.1 Surround Sound?

Hey all, I know I've already posted this in the M1330 Owners Thread, but I figured I'd see if anybody would answer me by making a separate thread...

Quick question about hooking up a 5.1 speaker set up to the M1330. I've plugged in all 3 cables (front, center & rear). SigmaTel loads up an application so I can alert it which cable is the front, center and rear speakers by using the two headphones and microphone jack. The only problem is I don't hear anything out of my rear speakers, only the front and center speakers. When I open the Creative Audio Center I only have the option for 2.1 Speakers. All my connections are wired correctly. Has anybody else encountered this or know how to make all 5 speakers work?

 

please don't double post.

As for your question, you need a sound card that specifically supports surround to make you speaks work.

 

So the internal sound card that comes with the M1330 isn't compatible? I'd need that Creative Express Card? I could swear other people had this working on their M1330s.

 

Besides the X-Fi Express card, I think you also need the speaker docking module
http://www.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=1&subcategory=16&product=16779&bypass=1

 

no its fine...mp3 audio isnt pumped through the rears...

unless you set it to stereo mix which i dont know if yours can do. play a dvd movie and see if you hear it our the rears.

 

Just tried it out, nothing coming from the rear speakers... What's strange is theres an option to have the microphone jack be used as rear speakers... Any other suggestions out there?

 

I was originally going to purchase the X-Fi Express card but decided against it. Is it really that much better than the alternative internal sound card on the M1330? I know it's integrated. I could just pop the X-Fi Express card into the slot even though I have the onboard sound correct? Maybe I'll have to go that route. It just doesn't make sense, the machine should be doing this already...

 

The poster who said you need a separate sound card was not accurate. The M1330 can do surround sound without any changes (ie. standard factory sound card)... As to why yours doesn't work.. I'm not sure.

 

This makes no sense then, I haven't a clue what to do now... Maybe reinstall the software for the sound card?

 

When you plugged your rear speakers into the jack, it popped up for you to switch between Mic and Rear Speakers. Did you choose rear speakers?

 

Yep! I even used my wife's 1420 to hook up the speakers, again, the rear speakers don't work... I moved around the wires to make my rear speakers the center speaker, sound did come out of them, so I know it's not the wires at all... This is very frustrating. If the Creative express card is a major improvement, I would go that route and save myself this hassle of trying to figure this out. Anybody out there a fan of that card?

 

I found the issue. Upon going to "Sounds" in the control panel, I had to configure my speakers. It was set for 2 speakers, I changed this to 5.1 surround sound, and now the rear speakers work perfectly. I thought I was loosing it!