Running PS3 audio through PC - Complicated post!

Meoricin

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Dec 12, 2012
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10,510
I currently have my PS3 set up to send audio to my PC, and my PC then outputs to my speakers and headphones. This enables me to use both PC and PS3 without worrying about unplugging things.

However, I've been reading - and if I'm correct, my soundcard can't receive 5.1 input from the PS3.

I've spent the better part of the day trying to find out if it was possible, playing with custom drivers, paying Creative for a software pack that should work with my hardware but doesn't, and have all but given up. Apparently doing exactly what I want used to be possible, but Creative patched it out of their drivers prior to Windows 7.

The items I want to link together are as follows:
PS3 Slim
Logitech z906
Sennheiser HD170
Windows 7 PC, with Creative X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Sound Card.

I want to have 5.1 sound output to the speakers from both sources at once - so that I can do two things without swapping any plugs or changing settings:

1. Play PS3 games with 5.1 audio from PS3, and music from PC.
2. Watch media on PC with 5.1 audio. (This I can actually do already, but I don't want to give that ability up for the above option)

Does anyone have any suggestions as to how this might be achieved?

I realise that the post is a long one, and there might not be a simple answer - but I would really appreciate it if someone with more knowledge of audio than I could provide their input, as this has been frustrating me all day.

Many thanks for reading all this!

 

Meoricin

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Dec 12, 2012
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10,510
It didn't occur to me that there might be an actual hardware limitation! I'd sort of assumed that if Creative had removed the feature, that it must have worked well prior to that.

Hmm. The only possibility I've been able to come up with would be some form of external mixer - but googling around those suggests they tend not to be able to combine two Dolby or DTS streams into one!
 
in the link i gave it seems as if they came up with a sort of "fix" to get things working. not sure if it is applicable to you though.

using analog cables with splitters in reverse may work in the same way a mixer does.

not sure about spdif but chances are there is a mixer for that as well but its going to be more pricy i would think

 

Meoricin

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Dec 12, 2012
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10,510
If I read it correctly, their fix involved losing the 5.1 in favour of 'simulated' 5.1 through stereo, which is the situation I currently have. To be honest though, I've been tweaking it a bit and I'm actually starting to think I was being overly fussy.

Pretend 5.1 sounds pretty good anyway, and if I'm gaming and want 5.1, odds are I'll be on headphones anyway, which can only fake 5.1.

It is a shame that Creative removed the functionality though.